Field Guide · Glossary
Predatory motor sequence
EnrichmentThe chain of behaviors most dogs are built around: orient, eye, stalk, chase, grab-bite, kill-bite, dissect, consume.
How it works
Selective breeding turned individual links up and others down, which is most of what separates one working breed from another. A collie holds at eye and stalk and rarely finishes the chain. A terrier runs straight through to the grab and the shake. A retriever is built to carry without the kill-bite. Understanding which links a dog is loaded for explains a great deal of behavior that otherwise looks random, and it points at which outlets will satisfy them.
What it looks like
A collie who drops into a crouch and stares at passing cyclists is running the first two links of the chain on the wrong target. A flirt pole gives the same dog somewhere legitimate to put the eye, stalk and chase they are built to perform.
Commonly confused with
- Dissection
- Dissection is a single link near the end of the chain, the shredding of something into pieces. The predatory motor sequence is the whole chain that link sits in.
Related terms
Gear that helps
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Flirt pole
A lure on a pole for a fast, satisfying chase that burns real energy in a small yard. We also use it to teach impulse control: chase, then "drop," then chase again.