Prey Drive: Why It Feels Impossible to Train (And How to Change That)

🚀 Ready to take this work to the next level? The Listen Dog Training Membership is now OPEN - and this is where we put everything you’ve learned in this episode into action. Inside, you’ll get structured training, ongoing guidance, and a supportive community where you can grow your skills, get feedback, and truly master your dog’s behaviour. 👉 Join here: https://listendogtraining.com/online-dog-training-club 👉 Get 10% off Tug-e-Nuff Dog Toys here  📱 Let’s connect! Follow me on Instagram and TikTok → @‌listendogtraining 🎧 If you found this episode helpful, I’d be so grateful if you left a review 🌟 or shared it with a fellow dog lover - it helps the podcast grow and helps more people train with confidence, clarity, and joy! In this episode, we take a deep dive into what prey drive actually is - from a behavioural and neurological perspective - so you can stop fighting against your dog’s instincts and start working with them. We explore why chasing is so powerful, why it can override everything else, and why traditional training approaches often fall short. But most importantly, we break down how to approach this in a modern, effective, and genuinely empowering way, so you can start to build real progress that actually holds up in the real world. This isn’t about just distracting your dog with treats or trying to shut the behaviour down, it’s about understanding the system… and learning how to work within it. In this episode, you’ll learn: What prey drive actually is (and why it’s not a ‘bad behaviour’ your dog is choosing) The science behind the predatory motor pattern and how different breeds express it Why chasing is so neurologically rewarding, and why that matters for your training The three key pillars to making real progress with prey drive: fulfilment, patterning, and arousal regulation How to stop trying to fix things in the moment - and where the real work actually happens Practical ways to channel your dog’s chase instinct into structured, productive outlets How to build engagement and orientation that can stand up to real-world distractions The role of your dog’s nervous system - and why regulation is a non-negotiable piece of the puzzle The mindset shift that will completely change how you approach this challenge If prey drive has been the thing that makes you feel stuck, frustrated, or like you’re failing in your training… this episode will give you a completely different lens, and a clear path forward.