If your dog has a high prey drive are they ever off lead?

[Watercolours272]

Our dog is coming up for 2 years old. His prey drive kicked in around the same time as adolescence when recall went out the window so he's been on a long line since he was around 9 months old. His recall is now excellent (on the long line) and I would now be getting rid of it however, my gut feeling is that I can never trust him 100% when he gets the scent of something.

We live in the countryside, pheasants and lambs at every turn. We've encountered lambs that have escaped from fields in forests miles away from farm land.

We let him off the lead at the beach, which is an hours drive away and we visit around once a month. There's also a stream near to our home where I feel confident letting him off (he chases his ball).

I'm a bit disheartened that this is as good as it's going to get for him and I really hate the long line, it's muddy, it tangles, its just a pain in the arse. I actually think an extender lead might be better to give him more freedom without the chore of reeling the line in and out.

I'm just wondering how others manage their high prey drive dogs?

I realise my first post made it sound like he does it all the time and that's really not the case!

He's chased deer three times - once with me and twice with DH. He's never been out of my sight but did get out of DH's sight once, though he could still be heard baying through the trees

I'm well aware it's not ideal however OP did ask and I was just being honest - he does have that instinct. However if I walk him with other dogs and in the right places his recall is pretty much spot on.

@cupsofcoffee oh I see. When you said he comes back to where you were 15-20 mins later it sounded it happened frequently and you were fine with it
I have two dogs with very high prey drives, so I know how hard it can be. It's constant training and management in our case and I know I can never trust them around livestock. Ever.

The thing is OP even if you do decide to let them off lead I don't think it is ever that stress free walk that I am sure most of us imagined we would do with our dog.

I am always having to watch him and the surroundings to work out whether he is just bouncing about picking up smells or if he has one and is thinking about tracking it so I need to recall or distract. I can't just walk and admire the scenery as I have to be aware. Saying all of that I much prefer to do that and have all of our walks off lead than use long lines and he gets far more exercise than he ever would on lead.

Thanks for all the replies, really interesting and reassuring to hear many are in the same position.

We use a neoprene long line. I've had an ankle burn off it when it's been trailing and he's run past me and it's whipped me. I loved it when we first got it but I'm just finding it such a nuisance but I know it's the safest option. I guess no lead is perfect.

We have Salukis. They run on our property but are never off lead elsewhere.

@TheSandgroper

Border terrier here. Nope. Extendable lead only. Cats, lizards, possums, foxes, rabbits and probably snakes and she would be off.

Same here except lizards and possums. Once he gets a scent he's off.

I have a saluki cross. Any chance of a pic??

We have an ex racer greyhound. He'll chase squirrels, rabbits and cats (but has never caught any). He's fine with other dogs and not bothered about sheep, ducks and so on. He's off lead on walks everyday, away from roads and farmed animals. We (and he) worked hard on recall and still reinforce it regularly.