Prey Drive Prey drive is part of a dog's food gathering behaviour. In a predatory animal that means it governs hunting and killing techniques. In order to stimulate these instinctive techniques in the dog, we have to keep in mind what a real prey animal does when it is hunted. Prey is always on the move, it always moves in an evasive fashion, and it is panic-stricken.
Prey drive is inborn, and is a trainable instinct, meaning it can be enhanced or reduced.
Defence Drive Defence drives counts as one of the dog's aggression behaviours, and it can appear in conjunction with other behaviours. Threatening, staring, and biting are typical defensive reactions. Defence behaviour is generally triggered by threats, real or perceived, or open aggression. The goal of defence behaviour is always to create avoidance behaviour in the threatener. Defence drive may appear as defence of prey, defence of puppies, defence of territory, defence against the unfamiliar, or self-defence.