Play drive OR prey drive

A drive is an instinctive response to a stimuli. Prey is a drive.

I do not see play as a drive. It is a social behavior. Yes, some dogs are more interested in playing that others, or tend to play for longer periods of time or more intently than others, so I guess one could say one is "higher play drive" than another. But I do not think using the term drive to refer to playing is really correct.

The execution of prey drive (chasing, grabbing) is fun for a dog. Play is fun for a dog. So they do share that component. And much of our own play interactions with our dogs utilize the dog's prey drive in play (tug, fetch, etc...)

But fundamentally, they are two different things and IMO one is a drive, and one is not.

A dog chasing a rabbit and the same dog playing fetch with his owner will exhibit different sets of behavior, body language, intensity, between the two situations. But that's not because he's in 2 different drives. It's because in the play with the owner situation he is also exhibiting learned social behaviors alongside his drive. There are 2 things going on at once, and his behavior and attitude are the result of the expression of his drive also being heavily influenced by environment. Namely, his previous learning and what he has been taught are considered acceptable and unacceptable behaviors and expressions of his drive in a play environment.

That doesn't change the fact that he chases the ball for the same reason he chases the rabbit... prey drive. And chasing both is fun.

A dog with truly high prey drive will chase anything. It's not going to be specific and just chase a soccer ball but not a tennis ball. Of course, through environment and training they can learn that certain objects are more acceptable for chasing (balls) and others are not (the family cat), but the base instinct to chase is always there. It's just whether or not the dog has learned to inhibit the drive or fully express the drive regarding specific objects. But a dog who will chase a soccer ball, but not a tennis ball.... provided he has never been taught that chasing tennis balls is bad.... is not a dog with a high level of prey drive.

That said, dogs do not need to have prey drive in order to play. There are many different behaviors associated with playing, and chasing and grabbing is only one of many. Additionally, they can also learn that specific situations and objects (such as a soccer ball) are great toys, and will show greater "drive" for those objects because lots of past experience has shown them that these objects and situations are tremendously fun. Most often this comes in the form of lots of fun playing and social interaction with other people or dogs involving that object, so the object itself is associated with fun and enjoyable social behavior (play) which makes the dog's desire for that object higher... everyone likes things that mean fun.

Dogs with lower levels of prey drive may show lots of "drive" for a specific object, because the environment and their previous learning is such that when that object comes into play, whatever drive level they are capable of expressing is maximized toward that specific object. And this can seem like quite a lot of drive, especially in dogs who aren't typically drivey. But a dog who doesn't globalize his drive and won't chase most everything that moves or that the handler throws, it is not truly a high drive dog... no matter how high drive he may appear toward one particular object.