The Predatory Motor Pattern, Explained.
The predatory motor pattern is the built-in hunting sequence dogs inherited from wolves. The full sequence runs orient, eye-stalk, chase, grab-bite, kill-bite, dissect and consume, and breeding turned some of those parts up and others down depending on what each breed was made to do. For pet dogs, the four parts that matter most for behavior are stalk, chase, capture and win. When a dog gets to finish those the game has a clear ending, and the way I see it, a dog that never gets that ending can be part of why he won’t settle. That’s a trainer’s take, not settled science.
By Christopher Lee Moran, working dog trainer, about 10 years and around 400 client dogs. I’m a trainer, not a behavior scientist, and I designed the Whimsy Stick, so I’m not neutral about flirt poles. New to them? Start with what a flirt pole is.
Who this is for
- You’ve got a high-drive dog that doesn’t settle after walks or fetch
- You’re trying to figure out why your dog tears stuff up, nips or can’t focus
- You’re a trainer who wants the background behind prey-based training
- You’ve got a herding, sporting, terrier or working breed and you’re seeing that breed’s drive come out
Signs this might be what’s going on
- Still wired after a long walk or run and can’t settle
- Jumping, nipping or mouthing all the time, especially when worked up
- Furniture, shoes or bedding getting torn up when he’s alone or bored
- Lunging and barking on leash, locking onto other dogs or anything that moves
- Obedience didn’t fix it, he’ll listen but the energy’s still there
The full predatory sequence, wolf to dog
Dogs inherited the same basic hunting sequence wolves use, but most breeds only show parts of it. People bred dogs for different jobs over a long time, so some parts got turned up and some got turned down depending on what they needed. The sequence is still in there, it just got changed around.
Biologists Raymond and Lorna Coppinger first laid this out in Dogs: A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior and Evolution (Scribner, 2001). The American Kennel Club also lists the same full sequence, search (eye, orient), stalk, chase, grab-bite, kill-bite, dissect and consume, and says that “depending on a breed’s original purpose, some of that instinctive predatory sequence may remain.”
| Step | What it looks like | Does a pet dog need it? |
|---|---|---|
| Orient | Locks onto something that moves | Yes, it’s how every chase starts |
| Eye-stalk | Stares, drops low, creeps forward | Yes, this is the stalk |
| Chase | Full-speed pursuit | Yes |
| Grab-bite | Catches and grabs hold | Yes, this is the capture |
| Kill-bite | Bites down hard and shakes | Mostly turned down in pet dogs, a shake of the toy covers it |
| Dissect | Pulls it apart | Optional, some dogs love tearing a toy up |
| Consume | Eats it | No |
The four parts that matter for pet dogs
Stalk, chase, capture and win. The win is just getting to hold onto the thing for a few seconds, it’s theirs. When all four happen in order the dog has had a whole hunt, start to finish. Pretty much every other page on this site comes back to that, and it’s why I think a structured flirt pole session can do things for a dog that a lot of walking won’t.
What it looks like in a wolf
Here’s a pet Mexican Red Wolf dissecting a stuffed toy. Your dog has the same sequence in there, just turned up or down depending on the breed, and a flirt pole gives the parts he does have a safe place to go.
Domestication didn’t take the predatory motor pattern out of dogs, it just changed it. So you can either give it a structured outlet or let that drive come out some other way.
How breeding changed the sequence
Breeding didn’t make up new behaviors, it turned parts of the sequence up and down. The AKC gives the two ends of it: terriers were developed to go after foxes and badgers and “can have quite strong predatory instincts all the way through the sequence,” while toy dogs like the Japanese Chin were bred as companions and tend to have weaker ones. The table below is how I see it showing up in the common breed groups. These are general tendencies, not rules, and the dog in front of you matters more than the breed on the paperwork.
| Breed group | Parts that tend to be strong | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| Herding (Border Collie, Aussie, Sheltie, Corgi) | Eye-stalk and chase | Staring, circling, nipping heels, chasing bikes and kids |
| Retrievers and sporting (Lab, Golden, Springer) | Chase and a soft grab | Carrying everything, mouthing, retrieving like it’s their job |
| Terriers (Staffie, Jack Russell, Pit Bull) | The grab and the shake, often the whole sequence | Shaking toys, hanging on hard, explosive chasing |
| Sighthounds (Greyhound, Whippet, Saluki) | The chase, big time | Explosive sprinting, chasing anything that runs |
| Livestock guardians (Great Pyrenees, Anatolian) | Watching and orienting, not much chase | Watchful, territorial, low chase drive |
| Working and protection (GSD, Malinois, Doberman) | A lot of it, across the board | High drive in every part |
That’s why a Border Collie herds the kids, a Lab carries everything around, a Jack Russell shakes its toys and a Greyhound takes off after anything that moves. For the working and high-drive side, see training a high prey drive dog, and the flirt pole by breed guide goes breed by breed.
Why an unfinished sequence may show up as problems
This part is my take from training dogs, not settled science, so treat it as one possible piece of the puzzle. When the sequence never gets finished the urge never gets an ending, so it just kind of stays on, and that drive goes somewhere. With pet dogs a lot of times it comes out as jumping, nipping, tearing stuff up, being overexcited all the time and not being able to settle. The dog gets worked up with nothing to finish it, so he finds something else to do, and that’s the bad behavior you see.
Trainer Simone Mueller, quoted by the AKC, describes predation as “a behavior chain consisting of several parts that merge into each other and that are intrinsically reinforcing for your dog.” Her approach gives dogs games where they can “mimic the parts of the predatory sequence in a safe and appropriate context,” which is pretty much the idea behind a flirt pole session.
| When it never gets finished | When he gets to finish it |
|---|---|
| Drive turns on but never gets an ending | Drive turns on and gets finished |
| He looks for something else to do with it | The game has a real ending |
| Problem behavior shows up | He has an easier time coming down |
| More obedience alone doesn’t fix it | Impulse control gets practice too |
This isn’t the cause of every behavior problem, and a dog with aggression, fear or a bite history needs a qualified professional. But a lot of times a dog like this just doesn’t have enough to do. The impulse control drills put an on and off switch right into the chase, and the overexcited dog guide goes through the problems one by one.
Prey drive vs the predatory motor pattern
Prey drive is the want, the engine that makes your dog want to chase and grab and hang onto things. You can’t really change how much of it a dog has, he’s born with it, same as you can’t change how big he gets.
The predatory motor pattern, though, is what he actually does with that drive. A dog with a lot of prey drive and nowhere to put it is like an engine revving in park, and a lot of times that revving is what you see as hyper, reactive or destructive. So the drive is what it is, but you can do something about where it goes. Give him a way to finish the chase and a lot of times things get better, and if you don’t, the drive tends to find its own outlet. The prey drive training guide covers channeling it.
Why walks, fetch and tug leave it unfinished
| Activity | Stalk | Chase | Capture | Win |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walk | No | No | No | No |
| Fetch | No | Yes | Sort of, the ball’s just laying there | Not much |
| Tug | No | No | Yes | Yes, if you let him win |
| Structured flirt pole | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
A walk usually doesn’t give them any of the chase. Fetch gives them the chase but skips the stalk, and they don’t get much of a win. Tug gives them the grab but skips the stalk and the chase. A flirt pole can cover all four in one session with a clear ending. For how much exercise your dog needs in general, see the dog exercise guide, and if walks leave him more wound up, read why dogs get hyper after walks.
How to complete the predatory motor pattern
Each part of a structured session lines up with one part of the hunt. Ten to fifteen minutes with a few wait and drop-it cues mixed in lets him run the whole thing several times.
The stalk and the chase
Start with him in a sit or a down and the lure sitting still on the ground. Watch for the eyes to lock on, the body to drop a little and the weight to shift forward, cause that’s the eye-stalk, and hold it 3 to 5 seconds before you release him. Then move the lure around on the ground so he can’t guess where it’s going, in wide arcs with no tight circles, all out for 30 to 60 seconds. Dogs usually chase hardest when it moves like something alive and not like a toy on a string. Keep it low the whole time so he isn’t jumping, skip the tight turns, and play on grass, and the flirt pole safety guide has the rest.
The capture and the win
Every three or four reps, slow the lure down and let him catch it, and don’t skip this. A dog that never gets to catch it never gets the end of the game. After the catch let him hold it 3 to 5 seconds, cause that’s the win, he actually gets to have it and not just touch it. Then ask for drop it or trade for a treat and go again.
The capture. A cattle dog with the lure in its mouth on the grass, the part of the hunt a lot of games skip.
For the whole session step by step, plus how to introduce the pole and build impulse control, see the flirt pole training guide.
The tool for this kind of work
Both Whimsy Sticks are made for structured sessions where the dog gets to stalk, chase, catch and win, with a line that doesn’t stretch so the lure only moves when you move it.
Rugged XL + 3 Lures
- Dogs 30 lbs and up · one 46-inch piece of fiberglass · 800-lb Dyneema line
- Free US shipping
Rugged XL
- Same pole and line, 1 lure
- Dogs 30 lbs and up · free US shipping
Rugged XL Pro Kit
- The XL with 5 lures and a spare line
- Free US shipping
The Standard
- Dogs under 30 lbs · 450-lb Kevlar line
- $20 flat US shipping
If your dog is right at 30 lbs, go XL. Every order has a 30-day money-back guarantee, and you pay return shipping unless the pole failed. To compare poles first, the flirt pole buying guide lays out the specs.
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Predatory motor pattern FAQ
What is the predatory motor pattern in dogs?
It’s the hunting sequence dogs inherited from wolves, orient, eye-stalk, chase, grab-bite, kill-bite, dissect and consume. For pet dogs the part that matters for behavior is four steps, stalk, chase, capture and win, and finishing those gives the dog a clear ending.
Is the predatory motor pattern the same as prey drive?
No. Prey drive is the want, the engine, and the predatory motor pattern is what the dog does with it. You can’t change how much drive a dog has, but you can give it somewhere to go.
Where did the concept come from?
Raymond and Lorna Coppinger described it in Dogs: A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior and Evolution (Scribner, 2001). Their point was that breeding changed the sequence from breed to breed instead of removing it, and that’s the idea this whole page is built on.
Do wolves and dogs have different predatory motor patterns?
Wolves usually run the whole thing all the way through to eating. Dogs still have the sequence, but breeding decided which parts each breed shows, and most pet dogs don’t need the kill-bite or the eating to be satisfied.
Why does the predatory motor pattern matter for behavior?
The way I see it, a lot of behavior problems in pet dogs come back to a chase that never gets finished. When it doesn’t get finished on a regular basis, that drive can come out as jumping, nipping, tearing stuff up, reactivity and restlessness. It isn’t the only cause though, so if it’s aggression or fear, get a qualified professional involved.
How do different breeds express the pattern?
Breeding turned up different parts in different breeds. Herding breeds like the Border Collie tend to have a big eye-stalk and chase, sighthounds like the Whippet have a huge chase, retrievers have a strong chase and a soft grab, terriers go hard on the grab and the shake, and livestock guardians are low on chase. The breed table above has the rest.
What happens when the pattern is not fulfilled?
That leftover drive can come out as problems, like tearing stuff up, being hyper, reacting on leash, jumping, nipping and not being able to settle. The overexcited dog guide also goes through each of those.
Does fetch complete the predatory motor pattern?
No. Fetch is mostly the chase and bringing it back, so the dog never stalks, doesn’t really catch anything that’s moving, and doesn’t get much of a win. A flirt pole can give them all four in order, and that’s why I’d pick it over a long game of fetch for a dog that needs to settle.
How do you complete the predatory motor pattern?
The easiest way I know is a structured flirt pole session. The still lure gets the stalk, moving it gets the chase, letting him catch it is the capture and letting him hold it is the win, and in 10 to 15 minutes he can run the whole thing several times.
Can you train using the predatory motor pattern?
Yes. When you put cues like wait, drop it and recall into the chase, the dog practices them while he’s fired up, and that’s when you need them to work in real life. A sit right before the chase is a lot harder for a dog than a sit in a quiet room, and that’s a big part of what I call Controlled Freedom.
What a finished hunt looks like
Capture and win. A cattle dog grabbing and working the lure on the grass. Let him have that for a few seconds before you ask for the drop.
Stalk, chase, capture, win.
A lot of times a behavior problem like this comes from a chase that never gets finished, not from bad training. Give him a way to finish it a few times a week and see what changes. Thirty days to try it.
Add the Rugged XL + 3 Lures, $94.95Smaller dog? See the Standard, from $55.95
Based on my own experience training dogs. Not veterinary or behavioral medical advice. Exercise disclaimer.
