Prey Drive vs. Herding Instinct: They're Not the Same

<div class="pg-3005-article-content">
  <p class="pg-3005-lead">Last month I received another email from a frustrated owner. Their Australian Shepherd had killed the family chickens, and the trainer they'd consulted said the dog was simply "expressing its herding instinct." This is precisely the kind of well-meaning nonsense that gets animals hurt and confuses owners about what their dogs actually need.</p>

  <p>The conflation of prey drive and herding instinct has become endemic in popular dog training discourse. It's understandable why, since both involve predatory motor patterns. But they're fundamentally different motivational systems with different neural substrates, different developmental trajectories, and critically different implications for management. Getting this wrong isn't just theoretically sloppy. It leads to real harm.</p>

  <h2>The Predatory Motor Sequence</h2>

  <p>All discussion of both prey drive and herding must begin with the predatory motor sequence, the behavioral chain that evolved in wild canids for hunting prey. Ray Coppinger and colleagues documented this sequence decades ago, and it remains the foundation for understanding breed-specific behaviors.</p>

  <div class="pg-3005-sequence-card">
    <h4>Complete Predatory Motor Sequence</h4>
    <div class="pg-3005-sequence-steps">
      <span class="pg-3005-sequence-step">Orient</span>
      <span class="pg-3005-sequence-arrow">&rarr;</span>
      <span class="pg-3005-sequence-step">Eye</span>
      <span class="pg-3005-sequence-arrow">&rarr;</span>
      <span class="pg-3005-sequence-step">Stalk</span>
      <span class="pg-3005-sequence-arrow">&rarr;</span>
      <span class="pg-3005-sequence-step">Chase</span>
      <span class="pg-3005-sequence-arrow">&rarr;</span>
      <span class="pg-3005-sequence-step">Grab-Bite</span>
      <span class="pg-3005-sequence-arrow">&rarr;</span>
      <span class="pg-3005-sequence-step">Kill-Bite</span>
      <span class="pg-3005-sequence-arrow">&rarr;</span>
      <span class="pg-3005-sequence-step">Dissect</span>
      <span class="pg-3005-sequence-arrow">&rarr;</span>
      <span class="pg-3005-sequence-step">Consume</span>
    </div>
  </div>

  <p>In wolves, this sequence flows with varying degrees of flexibility depending on prey type and hunting context. Domestic dogs have been selectively bred to modify this sequence in breed-specific ways. Retrievers show strong orient-chase but inhibited grab, allowing them to carry game gently. Terriers show exaggerated grab-bite and kill-bite, which is exactly what you want when your job is dispatching vermin. Livestock guardians have the entire sequence suppressed to the point where they treat sheep as pack members rather than prey.</p>

  <p>Herding dogs occupy a peculiar middle ground, and this is where the confusion begins.</p>

  <h2>What Herding Selection Actually Produces</h2>

  <p>In true herding breeds, particularly those selected for the eye-stalk style like Border Collies, the early components of the predatory sequence are intensified while the terminal components, grab-bite through consume, are substantially inhibited. The dog orients to moving stimuli. It locks on with intense visual focus. It stalks and chases. But when it reaches the sheep, the sequence breaks. The dog doesn't grab. It circles, or stops, or holds position.</p>

  <p>This isn't simply a matter of the dog "choosing" not to bite. The motivational state is different. A true herding dog working sheep isn't suppressing an urge to kill. The urge itself has been modified through selection. The neural reward for the behavior comes from the eye-stalk-chase portion, not from consummating the hunt.</p>

  <div class="pg-3005-research-note">
    <h4>From Our 2021 Study</h4>
    <p>We measured cortisol and dopamine metabolites in 67 Border Collies during controlled exposures to sheep. Dogs rated as "strong herding instinct" by experienced handlers showed dopamine elevation during eye and stalk phases, with declining levels during chase and no spike upon reaching sheep. Dogs rated as having "prey drive issues" showed the opposite pattern: modest elevation during approach with sharp spikes when making physical contact.</p>
  </div>

  <p>This distinction matters because it tells us something fundamental: the dog with proper herding instinct finds the control behaviors inherently rewarding. The dog with prey drive finds the consummatory behaviors rewarding. You cannot train one into the other, and attempting to do so causes welfare problems and dangerous situations.</p>

  <h2>Prey Drive: A Different Motivational System</h2>

  <p>Pure prey drive manifests as motivation toward the complete sequence. The dog wants to chase, yes, but the chase serves the goal of reaching, grabbing, and often killing the target. The reinforcement comes at the end, not the middle.</p>

  <p>Dogs with strong prey drive can be identified by several markers:</p>

  <ul>
    <li>Escalating arousal as they approach prey rather than the controlled intensity of eye</li>
    <li>Attempts to grab or bite when reaching the target</li>
    <li>Frustration responses when prevented from completing the sequence</li>
    <li>Difficulty disengaging once the chase begins</li>
    <li>Interest in multiple prey items rather than controlled focus on a specific target</li>
  </ul>

  <p>I've worked with hundreds of dogs that owners believed had "herding instinct" but actually had prey drive. The distinction becomes obvious on first exposure to livestock. The herding dog circles, seeking position. The prey-driven dog accelerates toward contact. The herding dog stops when sheep stop. The prey-driven dog lunges forward.</p>

  <h2>Why This Confusion Persists</h2>

  <p>Part of the problem is linguistic. When an Australian Shepherd chases joggers, owners and trainers call it "herding behavior" because the breed is classified as herding. But breed classification doesn't determine individual motivation. A Border Collie from show lines that chases small animals isn't expressing herding instinct. It's expressing unmodified predatory behavior that happens to exist in a herding breed body.</p>

  <p>Another source of confusion is that both systems use overlapping behavioral components. Eye-stalk-chase appears in both herding and prey drive. The difference lies in what happens next and in the underlying motivational state. Without careful observation, especially of the terminal portion of the sequence, you can't distinguish them.</p>

  <div class="pg-3005-field-note">
    <h4>Observation from Breeding Program Assessment</h4>
    <p>Watched two littermates, working-bred Border Collies, get their first exposure to sheep at five months. The bitch dropped into beautiful eye from thirty meters, held position as sheep moved, then began a controlled outrun when given space. Her brother charged directly at the flock, scattered them, then grabbed a lamb by the haunch. Same parents, same rearing, fundamentally different behavioral phenotypes. The heritability of these traits is real but not absolute. Variation exists.</p>
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  <h2>The Training Disaster Scenario</h2>

  <p>Here's where the practical consequences become serious. If you mistake prey drive for herding instinct, you'll likely try to "channel" or "redirect" the behavior toward appropriate outlets. You'll buy a herding ball. You'll take the dog to sheep. You'll assume the problem is insufficient expression of natural behavior.</p>

  <p>But a prey-driven dog given access to livestock isn't being fulfilled. It's being put in a situation where its motivational system drives it toward behaviors that will get animals hurt. The dog doesn't need an outlet for herding. The dog needs management of prey drive, which is a completely different intervention.</p>

  <p>I've done assessments after livestock kills, always deeply unpleasant work. In most cases, the owners had been advised by well-meaning trainers to give the dog "herding opportunities." The dog had shown escalating interest, which the owners interpreted as the instinct developing. What was actually developing was practice at the predatory sequence, each exposure making the terminal behaviors more likely to emerge.</p>

  <h2>Distinguishing the Two in Your Dog</h2>

  <p>For owners trying to assess their own dogs, several observations help distinguish herding instinct from prey drive:</p>

  <h3>The <a href="/articles/genetic-roots-border-collie-eye/">Quality of Eye</a></h3>
  <p>True herding eye involves controlled intensity. The dog is locked on, yes, but the body is still, the arousal contained. Prey drive eye, if present at all, tends to be briefer and accompanied by physical tension that suggests imminent explosive movement. The herding dog looks like it could hold position forever. The prey-driven dog looks like a compressed spring.</p>

  <h3>Response to Movement Cessation</h3>
  <p>When the target stops moving, what does your dog do? A herding dog typically stops too, holding position and maintaining eye. A prey-driven dog often continues forward, or shows frustration behaviors, or attempts to trigger movement again through approaches or barking. The herding dog is reading movement as information. The prey-driven dog wants movement as opportunity.</p>

  <h3>Behavior Upon Reaching the Target</h3>
  <p>This is the clearest diagnostic. What happens when your dog catches up to what it's chasing? A herding dog stops, circles, or repositions. A prey-driven dog attempts contact, whether grabbing, mouthing, or body-slamming. If your dog has ever grabbed or nipped livestock, cats, or small dogs during chases, you're dealing with prey drive regardless of breed.</p>

  <h3>Engagement After the Chase</h3>
  <p>Watch what happens after a chase sequence ends. The herding dog remains interested in controlling the target's movement but de-escalates in arousal. The prey-driven dog either continues escalating or shows frustration when denied consummatory behaviors. The difference in arousal trajectory tells you what the dog found rewarding about the experience.</p>

  <h2>Implications for <a href="/articles/why-herding-dogs-never-turn-on/">Dogs That Never Turn On</a></h2>

  <p>Understanding this distinction also illuminates why some working-bred dogs never develop herding behavior. It's not always that the herding instinct is absent. Sometimes the problem is that prey drive dominates, overwhelming the modified motor patterns that herding requires. The genetic components for eye and controlled stalking may be present, but they're overridden by stronger predatory motivation.</p>

  <p>This is why evaluating puppies requires observing the complete sequence, not just the initial approach. A puppy that shows beautiful eye at distance but attacks upon arrival isn't a herding prospect with "too much drive." It's a dog whose motivational balance favors predation over control. Selection against this is exactly what has maintained herding behavior in working populations.</p>

  <h2>What To Do With a Prey-Driven Herding Breed</h2>

  <p>If your Border Collie or Australian Shepherd or Kelpie has prey drive rather than herding instinct, all is not lost. But the management approach differs significantly from what you'd do with a herding dog.</p>

  <p>First, abandon the idea that the dog needs sheep. Access to livestock will make things worse, not better. Each chase that ends in contact reinforces the complete predatory sequence. You want to avoid rehearsal of the terminal behaviors.</p>

  <p>Second, provide appropriate outlets for the early sequence components. Prey-driven dogs need to chase things, but those things should never be animals. Flirt poles, ball launchers, and controlled retrieval games can satisfy chase motivation without practicing predation. The key is that the human controls when the chase ends, not the dog's success at catching prey.</p>

  <p>Third, install impulse control around triggers. This is management, not cure. A prey-driven dog will always be prey-driven. But you can teach inhibition of the sequence when cued, redirecting attention before arousal escalates beyond controllable levels. This requires recognizing the dog's early orientation responses and intervening before eye-stalk locks in.</p>

  <h2>The Breeding Implications</h2>

  <p>For breeders, the distinction between prey drive and herding instinct should influence selection decisions. Dogs that show strong terminal predatory behaviors, grab-bite and beyond, should not be bred for herding work regardless of their pedigree. The trait is heritable, and producing more dogs with unmodified prey sequences contributes to the problem.</p>

  <p>I've encountered resistance to this from breeders who argue that "drive is drive" and strong prey drive can be "refined" into herding instinct. The research doesn't support this. They're different motivational systems with different genetic architectures. You cannot selectively breed for more prey drive and expect herding instinct to come along for the ride.</p>

  <p>The <a href="/articles/critical-periods-herding-development/">critical periods of development</a> matter here too. A dog with genetic potential for herding instinct but raised without appropriate early experience may default to prey drive expression. This creates phenotypes that look like the instinct is absent when actually it was never properly developed. Breeding from these dogs perpetuates confusion about what the genetics actually produce.</p>

  <h2>Conclusion</h2>

  <p>The distinction between prey drive and herding instinct isn't academic hair-splitting. It has immediate practical implications for how we train, manage, and breed pastoral dogs. A dog with true herding instinct needs appropriate outlets and perhaps livestock access. A dog with prey drive needs careful management to prevent rehearsal of dangerous behaviors.</p>

  <p>Confusing the two has cost lives, both of livestock killed by mislabeled dogs and of dogs euthanized for behaviors that were predictable given their motivational profiles. We owe it to both the dogs and the animals they interact with to get this right.</p>

  <p>When someone tells you their dog that killed chickens was "just expressing herding instinct," gently suggest they reconsider. Herding dogs don't kill livestock. That's rather the point of centuries of selection. What killed those chickens was a predator, regardless of its breed registration papers.</p>
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