Hi all,

so i keep reading about this "flirt pole" thing on the forum. According to reviews online it looks like a great toy for expending energy. But i was thinking about using it for a different angle. Both of my dogs (on is my husk husk, the other is a beagle mix) have a high prey drive. i finally got them to start walking (mostly) nicely on walks, and we can pass by dogs, people, etc without much mishap until SQUIRRELLL!!!!

so my first instinct when seeing the flirt pole was, well if they can relieve some of their prey instinct through the flirt pole, maybe it will be less dramatic on walks. But.. on the other hand, i realized that it might just increase their prey drive because of reinforcement and being able to go after prey regularly.

Does anyone here have experience with the flirt pole and noticed a change in their dogs behavior regarding their prey drive?

Your dogs can tell the difference between a flirt pole and live prey on a walk. So as long as you stick to training them to walk on a loose leash and to ignore other animals (pets and wild animals alike) on walks then you should be fine.

I have been mentioning using it and one of the reasons I made one was specifically to work with prey drive while expending energy.  With the pole, you should use it as a training opportunity just like you do when you play fetch.  Commands like drop it, leave it, stay, sit, down can all be worked on in a heightened state of arousal where you are still primarily in control (more control with pole then fetch).  Many sites recommend fetch to help prey drive and I know my female's prey drive was considerably helped with her fetching.  Also, cats have enormous prey drives, but giving them a outlet 10-20 minutes a day just using their prey drive can eliminate all negative prey drive behaviors.  I got to cats as having owned bengals (very high energy cats) it is necessary to expend the energy positively or everything that moves or can be moved pretty much becomes prey to attack.  My opinion, I cannot eliminate my dogs and cats prey drive, but I can work with them on it.

His experience has been around 2 weeks now.  Last night, he stayed in a down (with high value treats) for 15 minutes or so while I played with 2 cats flipping in the air in front of him with a bird like toy whipping over his head.  This was after his flirt pole training earlier that day where I work with him on these commands.  He is no way perfect (he is only 4.5 months old), but he is light years ahead of my lab at this age in terms of his reaction to things on walks and my cats.  I admit I didn't work with my lab much as a puppy 12 years ago.  What is more important is I'm working with him on commands that will help in many situations and it is a more controlled environment then a walk.  

Between cat training (what I call his cat time) and flirt pole, he continues to get better on walks and leave it commands.  He can walk by a barking dog a few feet away and ignore.  Occassionally he will still lunge towards flock of birds or bunnies (like when 3 bunnies run at once), but again that is lessening each day and he is still a puppy.  I feel my work on his leave it command will help this issue in time.  He is rewarded with praise or treats when he refrains.

I'm not sure if what I'm doing is right, just my opinion.  It seems to be helping though and I see the flirt pole as more productive then something like tug of war or the laser pointer.  (BTW - Nothing against laser pointers, I use it for one of my cats and my lab, but little loki is a somewhat obsessive about the light when it disappears and read that is not good.)

Thanks! intuitively it makes great sense to me that this can help reduce some prey drive because of the controlled environment. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't going to put her in a state of hyper arousal.

Flirt poles are great. Allows you to work through prey drive in a safe manner. Working on leave-its, downs, and walking away from the item. I have an eye on one at the speciality store.