# High prey drive issue?



## lisasgirl (May 27, 2010)

Is there any way to separate Elvis from the rats when you're not there to supervise? Put up some tall baby gates, close them in separate rooms, something like that? 

You can train a strong "leave it" and otherwise reward ignoring the rats (I had good results with a dog who was fixated on some parakeets by just keeping treats on hand and rewarding EVERY TIME she looked at the birds without lunging at them, plus bonus rewards if she looked at them and then looked away), but personally I wouldn't ever trust them together without you available to intervene.


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

I would put the rats in a closed off room. That's what I do with my tortoise to keep her safe from the dogs. 

And you should get that boy in barn hunt! Being obsessed with rats is a good thing in this sport. My dogs are actually not very interested in the rats. The ones that are excel at the sport.


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## Verve (Oct 31, 2016)

I would just put another physical barrier between the parts of the cage that he can access--baby gate, window screen, or something.


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## Jokerfest (Mar 23, 2017)

Yeah I have a baby gate on the room they're in just wanted to train him off them in some way too. I'll try the leave it, he doesn't seem interested in anything but them though when he's like that.
Might just be I need to find a food he CANT resist.

So far as barn hunts go as a rat owner I find them cruel because I know the species on a personal level.. Even the ones with rats in protective tubes. So I wouldn't be interested in such a sport. Rats are like toddlers on the intelligence scale. Although I know they are pests in some parts of the world and I understand the need for ratting dogs I have no need for one and dont want to participate.


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

From one animal lover to another, I didn't mean to offend you. I had pet rats also and know how intelligent and sweet they are. The ones that mine do barn hunt with have been raised from babies in the tubes and they LOVE getting in them and "working." They have no fear of the dogs. They are the beloved pets of the people who put on the barn hunts. Dogs are never allowed to harm them!


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## Jokerfest (Mar 23, 2017)

zooeysmom said:


> From one animal lover to another, I didn't mean to offend you. I had pet rats also and know how intelligent and sweet they are. The ones that mine do barn hunt with have been raised from babies in the tubes and they LOVE getting in them and "working." They have no fear of the dogs. They are the beloved pets of the people who put on the barn hunts. Dogs are never allowed to harm them!



I'm glad theres actually good places who do it right and train the rats to be okay with it. I just know not all barn hunts are like that and I'd be horrified if I went to one and found out they bought feeder rats and stuffed them in tubes. :afraid: I actually read about the sport once and was turned off by what I read. I know if I ended up at a place like that it'd really test my self control to not get in someones face so best not to take a risk! 

I know Elvis has great hunting potential in general it's not just rats he's interested in. So I have been trying to think of how to put that potential to use. I'm just such a softie I'm not sure I could shoot anything.


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## snow0160 (Sep 20, 2016)

There are some pets that really just don't mix together. I have an african grey parrot and the dogs are never left alone with her. She could seriously hurt them or vice versa. She does hang out on her grapevine stand but I always supervise. Poodles seem to all have very high prey drive. It is rather hard to train it out of them but they can be taught leave it. You can refocus their prey drive instincts by playing ball. Retrieving balls is Lucky's favorite activity!


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## lisasgirl (May 27, 2010)

Jokerfest said:


> I know Elvis has great hunting potential in general it's not just rats he's interested in. So I have been trying to think of how to put that potential to use. I'm just such a softie I'm not sure I could shoot anything.


Have you ever tried playing with a flirt pole? It's kind of like those wands they make for cats with feathers on them, but sized up for a dog. So you get something prey-looking and attach it to a long string on a pole, and then you wiggle it around to make it move and jump just like prey. Those can be GREAT fun for a prey-driven dog. Just make sure you have enough space available.

You could also try lure-coursing. Lure coursing is a little controversial because there is a relatively high rate of injury in the sport (as expected from a sport in which dogs run as fast as they can after a little fake animal, I guess), but it can be a ton of fun under the right circumstances.

And if he likes using his nose, then tracking or scentwork can be great. Pair it with a good game of tug or the like to release some prey frustration and there you go.


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## Jokerfest (Mar 23, 2017)

lisasgirl said:


> Have you ever tried playing with a flirt pole? It's kind of like those wands they make for cats with feathers on them, but sized up for a dog. So you get something prey-looking and attach it to a long string on a pole, and then you wiggle it around to make it move and jump just like prey. Those can be GREAT fun for a prey-driven dog. Just make sure you have enough space available.
> 
> You could also try lure-coursing. Lure coursing is a little controversial because there is a relatively high rate of injury in the sport (as expected from a sport in which dogs run as fast as they can after a little fake animal, I guess), but it can be a ton of fun under the right circumstances.
> 
> And if he likes using his nose, then tracking or scentwork can be great. Pair it with a good game of tug or the like to release some prey frustration and there you go.


I'd never heard of a flirt pole! That sounds like something he would LOVE he seems to be more sight motivated then by scent, he points and stalks things including our other dogs. 

I'll read about lure coursing too, he's only 3 months old though so would be a couple years before his joints are ready for such intense running though.


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## Charmed (Aug 4, 2014)

Since you are dealing with a young pup, I think you should be able to train him to "leave MY rats alone". It will take some intense work, but he's young. Now, I am not talking about having him run loose with your rats, but I am talking about having him safety proofed, so that if the rat cage ever got knocked over(and say the top popped off) he would not pounce on them. We had a Martin's cage that was about four feet high with three pet rats, and multiple poodles, an Airedale and a Rottweiler. All the dogs were trained to leave "inside rats" alone. Outside rats and any other vermin were fair game. The Martin's cage got knocked over several times by the kids (not by the dogs), and none of the dogs ever touched a pet rat. The Rottweiler, bless his poor sensitive soul, ran to his crate for fear he was in trouble because the rat cage fell. Now, Sailor (was a young pup when we got rats) actually loved the rats, and he would lay down and allow them to crawl on him. I would not trust any of our other dogs to have a rat on them. No amount of training could stop most of our dogs from killing outside rats.We also trained the dog to leave our chickens alone. I never did feel comfortable with the dogs and the rabbit out together, though. Something about that hippity hop just drove them wild!


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