Understanding and Managing Prey Drive
Prey drive refers to an animal’s natural desire to chase and kill prey animals for food.
This exists in many animals and all breeds of dogs but in dogs is more evident in sight hounds (including greyhounds). It is also referred to as ‘predatory behaviour’ or ‘predation’, and mostly occurs when the dog is relaxed and in a positive mental state.
Prey drive is a very different behaviour to aggression which is usually anxiety or fear-based; where the dog is in a negative mental state. In the cases the aggression is a protective mechanism.
Many greyhounds have excellent skills when interacting with other greyhounds but may have limited or no experience with dogs of other breeds. As a result, some greyhounds become highly excited when they first meet dogs that don’t look, smell and act like greyhounds. Occasionally, a greyhound displays misdirected predatory behaviour towards other dogs, particularly small dogs or dogs with long coats; this behaviour is both socially inappropriate and unsafe.
It is important to understand that your greyhound may be well behaved with your other pets that it knows well and has a bond with; but can show predatory behaviour towards other unfamiliar small animals in different environments, such as at the park.
All GAP greyhounds are temperament tested and assessed for predatory behaviour towards small dogs. While this is the case, this assessment is done at a point in time and it is possible that prey-drive could present at a later date. As such, it is important that greyhound owners understand how to recognise signs of prey-drive.
Common predatory behaviours towards a small animal include:
- fixation and staring while at a distance;
- stalking or tracking while approaching or following the small animal;
- nose bunting, pawing, lunging, chasing, grabbing, hovering above or over the shoulder and neck area of the small animal; and
- signs of high arousal including upright and tense posture, teeth chattering and drooling, quickening of movement, and an upright stiff tail that is wagging quickly.
If you observe your greyhound displaying any of these behaviours, you should contact GAP on (03) 5799 0166 for advice.
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Meet our dogs ready for adoption
All greyhounds adopted from GAP are de-sexed, vaccinated, microchipped, wormed and health checked.
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Amber
Yukon
Amy
Lizzy ARP
They say some dogs can just give you a look and its love a first sight, well those eyes will certainly capture the hearts of a fair few we think! This pretty girl is Lizzy, she is a social butterfly with lovely manners and is very calm and polite (there is a little bit of puppy in there somewhere though for special occasions!). We think she may suit households with children 5 and over or maybe even a person looking for a friend to spend their golden years with. She may even suit living in an apartment type setting as she is more on the chill side. If she lives with a canine brother then something medium or larger may be suited to her.
This dog is part of our Assisted Rehoming Program (ARP). We have behavioural and health assessed this lovely dog, and they will remain with their racing owners until they find an adoptive home, at which point they are brought back into GAP. This means that should you be interested in adopting this dog, we are bringing the dog into GAP on the understanding that you will be adopting this particular dog, and not other dogs currently in our care.
Tee Tee ARP
Tee Tee will have you “Hee Hee-ing” with her attics. Tee Tee is a stunning girl that can be a little upright when greeting and mingling with new dogs, so an owner that will understand her body language will be better for her whilst she learns about the exciting new world. Due to her funny way of socialising, we think she may be better off with a robust dog of any size that can show her how to ‘dog’. Tee Tee is still only a young girl so we think that children 10and over and a place with a yard would be more her style whilst she grows up.
This dog is part of our Assisted Rehoming Program (ARP). We have behavioural and health assessed this lovely dog, and they will remain with their racing owners until they find an adoptive home, at which point they are brought back into GAP. This means that should you be interested in adopting this dog, we are bringing the dog into GAP on the understanding that you will be adopting this particular dog, and not other dogs currently in our care.
Ella ARP
How cute is this sweetheart! She is such a dainty, polite, gentle little soul that is very much looking forward to a home of her very own. She may suit living with another male dog of any size that is respectful of her personal space whilst she settles in and children 5 and over. She also may be suitable for someone that is retired and looking for a companion as she is lovely to walk and quiet. She does loves pending some time outside though whether it just be for a morning sunbake or spend the whole day relaxing, so we think anywhere with some sort of outside area she can bask in would be great.
This dog is part of our Assisted Rehoming Program (ARP). We have behavioural and health assessed this lovely dog, and they will remain with their racing owners until they find an adoptive home, at which point they are brought back into GAP. This means that should you be interested in adopting this dog, we are bringing the dog into GAP on the understanding that you will be adopting this particular dog, and not other dogs currently in our care.
Denver Nugget
Indi Was Iddy
Katelyn ARP
Katelyn is a lovely, sweet and confident girl who is so excited for her forever home that she has her bags packed! She may be happy to live in a home with or without another robust medium or large canine companion and children aged 10 years or older. She may be happy to live with full time workers.
Gina