Prey drive

Prey drive is the instinctive inclination of a carnivore to find, pursue, and capture prey; this instinct can be refined for industrial purposes such as herding livestock.

The "search" aspect of the prey drive is used in detection dogs such as bloodhounds and beagles.

The "chase" is seen in sighthounds such as Greyhounds and lurchers, while the "grab-bite" and "kill-bite" are for the training of terriers.

In most dogs, prey drive can occur without extrinsic reinforcement.

[3] Retrievers are sometimes expected to chase prey and bring it back to the human hunter, but not bite or damage it.