Why Do Dogs Have a Tendency to Chase Moving Objects?

I agree with Ms. Yasi that prey driven dogs tend to have high performance potential. I sometimes work as a training assistant and handler for a couple of different sprint mushers (in dog mushing, sprint races are short distance, high speed events). We frequently take advantage of the chase drive when training leaders to respond to directional cues (gee / haw) because it sets them up for success. They are going to follow whatever they are chasing in whatever direction it goes. By encouraging the team to chase a snow machine or another dog team, all the trainer has to do is give the cue at the appropriate time (In mushing, as in "obedience" training, timing is everything.) Through repetition the dogs quickly learn to respond to the cue.

Long distance and touring mushers sometimes use the chase drive to teach dogs to run at a slower pace. By controlling the speed of the leading snowmachine or team, the dogs in the chasing team learn to conserve their energy to maximize endurance.

Of course the chase drive has its down side as well. When I was just learning to drive sled dogs I was training an unfamiliar team of young, inexperienced dogs. Already you can see that an inexperienced driver with an inexperienced team is a recipe for disaster. The dogs were fresh from a rest day, and just as they were hitting maximum stride a squirrel ran across the trail in front of us. My leader decided to give chase and I wasn't nearly quick enough to call the whoa or stomp on the brake. The next thing I new that little 30 lb. sprint dog was trying to drag her five team mates up a tree and I had some more bumps and bruises to add to my collection. I learned some important lessons in that misadventure, most importantly the lesson that "timing is everything".

Swanny

"You can't run with the big dogs if you pee like a puppy" Stardancer Historical Freight Dogs

An invaluable article about the difference between prey and chase drive was written by Diane McWhinnie. You can read it here: http://www.flyballdogs.com/prey_drive.html

It's interesting how much this trait can really vary within a breed. For example, we see very intensely prey driven golden retrievers , and also there are goldens who wouldn't chase a fly. There are very intense labrador retrievers, and then there are those who have no desire to even chase a ball. I've seen some border collies who have a very intense, predatory and problem stalking behavior, and others who still have that focus and intensity but they seem to have been born with a desire to focus and work only for their handler.

Of course breed type is significant, but I notice differences between individuals within a breed that are just as significant as the differences between breeds. I recently read an article, not sure if it the ADPT journal, or maybe Clean Run (sorry I'm in a rush here) but anyway it was talking about autism, and how some dogs might have attention deficit disorders and how in that case really frequent reinforcements very close to the behavior are most important (whereas dogs with longer attention spans are better able to handle a more delayed reinforcement). I thought, oh, prey drive is almost like attention deficit disorder! Hahaha. But it is like a firing of the central nervous system that can be overwhelming, and so prey drive also often seems to "go with" highly sensitive dogs. Often people speak about "soft" hunting dogs.

I don't mind that I have to train things that other dogs seem to "naturally" understand (like not to chase the cat, the car, the butterfly, the kid), because prey driven dogs are also vibrant dogs, with acute senses and high performance potential.