prey drive help?

[2greys]

Hi

I adopted 2 gorgeous greyhounds a couple of years ago and, in general, apart from the shoe stealing from one of them, things have been great except for one sticking point - their prey drive.

The smaller female barks and goes mad around other dogs or cats or hedgehogs or squirrels or..... or..... and basically calls the big male who never barks, just straight out attacks.

I always walk them with muzzles on (I live in the countryside, hedgehogs and other wild animals are quite frequent around here) and things are mostly ok, although if I miss the moment to redirect, passing other dogs can be difficult.

However, my problem remains with the garden when they aren't on the lead and often not muzzled.  They have already caught a cat, 3 hedgehogs, a sloe worm and 2 magpies.  All the animals survived except the birds who were too stupid to fly away in time.

Can they be trained out of this prey drive?  I now muzzle them whenever they go out to play in the garden, but sometimes the children forget 

[savvyPRchick]

Prey drive can't really be trained out. You aren't going to train out thousands of years of breeding. My Lulu (who was rescued from a coyote hunter when she was only a few months old and therefore never raced so never cultivated prey drive) caught and killed a rabbit with a muzzle with a stool guard--she literally caught it with her paws and beat it to death with her muzzle. She was fine with cats in the house (and even shared her bed with them) and actually loved them. Chase, my amazing Grade AA racer who was also great with cats in the house, caught a bird mid-air in the backyard and killed it. 

Bottom line: even small-animal safe greyhounds in the house are not to be trusted outside of the house. It's a different environment. So if you have non-small animals safe, it's even more of a prey drive outside. 

[2greys]

Thanks, that's what I thought, just thought I'd ask just in case

Muzzles in the garden it is then - just wish the neighbourhood cats would learn not to come into the garden...

[savvyPRchick]

1 hour ago, 2greys said:

Thanks, that's what I thought, just thought I'd ask just in case

Muzzles in the garden it is then - just wish the neighbourhood cats would learn not to come into the garden...

I used to take an air horn and beep a few times to warn animals in the yard before letting my greys out. It seemed to help. Otherwise, it was survival of the fittest. 

[racindog]

savvyPRchick is right. It is a survival of the fittest situation . It can't be trained out anymore than you can put it in. It genetic. It's also a highly prized attribute in the working dog world because a dog that has great prey drive is usually a top working dog.

[Banjoman]

I do my best to make sure cats have fair warning I am letting my two out into the garden but the stupid things still come in after the mice. I warn any neighbours with cats that if their cat comes into my garden then I cannot be responsible for its safety. Often I am more worried that a cornered cat will turn and scratch my dog’s eyes.

I have found dead birds and a live hedgehog in Chancey’s cage where she’s brought them indoors. Thankfully she’s not brought in any of the Slow Worms that inhabit the compost heaps.

She was a nightmare around other dogs for several years after she came to me and always wore a muzzle when out walking. I read somewhere that it took 18 months for a dog to calm down after they finished racing and a good 2 years for a bitch. It took the 2 years and after that time, attending training classes (still wearing a muzzle), for her to relax when out. Seven years after joining my family and age twelve she is quite a staid old lady but if she sees a cat outside on our walk I have to hang on to her.