I often have to listen to dog owners feeling absolutely heartbroken because their dog killed another animal — a rabbit, a squirrel, a raccoon, a cat. Whatever it is, people feel almost offended by the idea that their sweet "furbaby" has this wilderness in them.
Do people forget who dogs actually are? Or do they think they can out-love the beast in canines?
Here's the thing: a dog preying on and killing a smaller animal is not a malfunction. It's not a moral failing. It's a manifestation of their nature.
Once you accept that, the path forward becomes clear. There are exactly two mechanisms that work here, and they work together.
First: the dog never gets the opportunity to complete the chase. Leash is your friend. If the chase never starts, it never gets satisfying, and the behaviour never gets reinforced.
Second: if the dog tries anyway — lunges, bolts, locks onto a target — there is a consequence. Clear, immediate punishment, and its is over the second the dog gives up. That's it.
That's the whole formula. No opportunity to practice the behaviour, and a real consequence if it happens regardless.
You cannot remove the predator from a dog. But you can keep it busy with things you've chosen.
Have them chase a flirt pole instead of your cat.
Have them "kill" a tug instead of a squirrel.
Have them run out the door on your cue — not theirs.
Have them run to you on command, every time.
Stop fighting the dogness or pretending it does not exist. Learn to work with it. Your life — and theirs — gets so much easier the moment you do.