It is well understood in the cat world, that cats have a need to hunt and that satisfying this need leads to happier and healthy cats. If your cat isn't eating very well, one way of stimulating their appetite is to play with a toy at the end of a stick and simulate the stalking, chase, catch and kill behaviour as if the toy were a real mouse or bird (depending on your cat's preference).
However, this does not seem to be as prominent in the dog world where it has the potential to alleviate some unwanted behaviours such as chasing smaller dogs, destroying items around the home and adding enrichment to dog's lives.
Dogs have a similar predatory-motor-pattern as that of cats;
Scent - Track - Orient - Eye - Stalk - Chase - Grab-Bite - Kill-Bite - Possess - Dissect - Consume.
That is;
Scent - smell potential prey
Track - follow the scent, sight and sounds of prey
Orient - see the prey and orient body in a suitable position to begin hunting from
Eye - crouch down low and examine the prey, looking for opportunities to move in
Stalk - begin to move closer to the prey in a crouched, crawling movement, taking care to remain undetected by the prey
Chase - after selecting the specific prey (e.g. choosing a single bird from a group of birds), the dog gives chase. This requires a huge amount of focus and releases adrenaline to power the chase.
Grab-bite - once the prey is within reach, the dog will grab ahold of the prey with his/her mouth to end the chase
Kill-Bite - this can be a precise bite to the neck or the head-shaking movement that we see our dogs do when playing tug o' war
Possess - many dogs love to parade around with their catch, guard it and seem to enjoy this moment in itself. E.g. Poodles love to parade around with their toys, circling around for everyone to see! (this is not a widely recognised part of the predatory-motor-pattern but I agree with The School of Canine Science who argue for it's inclusion).
Dissect - now the dog pulls apart it's catch, removing bits that are not edible such as feathers or fur
Consume - and finally, the dog may eat their catch in a safe area away from competition. Of course every dog has this section very strong, as do we, it is what makes eating so pleasurable.
This is not something that can be trained 'out of' a dog, it's a natural part of their behaviour that is required for survival.
Some sections of this pattern are emphasised in certain breeds, e.g the initial parts of scent and track are very prominent in the Beagle - this means that Beagle's generally find scenting and tracking super rewarding too! This can be a fantastic nugget of knowledge to utilise when training as you can use scenting and tracking as a reward for walking nicely on lead for example. This also means you will be fighting a never-ending battle to try and train your Beagle not to sniff and track.
In Border Collies, the orient - eye - stalk and to a lesser extent the chase sections are very prominent and can be triggered by things other than livestock, such as humans walking together along a path or dogs playing together in a park.
In Siberian Huskies, the stalk and chase sections are often very prominent as well as the possess and dissect. Hence, chasing small animals including smaller dogs, Siberian Huskies can be quite possessive too, often guarding food and toys especially against other dogs, and their love of destroying things as is well-known! 😂
Some methods to satisfy your dog's need to;
Scent - hide little treats around the home/garden for them to sniff out. You could also more formally look into scent training - this isn't something I am knowledgable about yet.
Track - allow them to engage in tracking behaviour in a safe area such as a secure field or large park with a long-line attached to their harness. Engage in man-trailing!
Orient - Eye - Stalk - Chase - playing with a tug toy or flirt pole in such a manner that your dog has to work hard to catch it and when they do they get to engage in the rest of the predatory-motor-pattern including Grab-bite - Kill-Bite
Possess - allow your dog to parade around with their catch (the toy) without you trying to take it, let them stash it in a safe place for later and you can collect it when they are eating or sleeping.
Dissect - hide some food in a cardboard tube or box and let your pup destroy the cardboard to get the food - clear up when they are not in the room. Also allow your dog to destroy their own toys - that's what they are there for (better that then your sofa), buy cheaper toys that you don't mind being destroyed and use cardboard and old towels too.
If your dog is chewing or chasing something they shouldn't, recognise that they are doing that for a reason, some need is not being met, and consider how they could meet this need in a more appropriate way.
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