The more commonly used phrase is "prey drive", the drive to attack prey animals. This is very common in hunting breeds, working breeds, and primitive breeds. All dogs have it in some amount- herding, retrieving, etc, are all modified versions of predatory behavior.

The point I'm getting at, though, is that how that drive is harnessed matters. If you teach a dog from an early age that hunting chickens is unacceptable, and provide other outlets for his desire to chase and grab moving objects (such as fetch and tug games) your chickens will probably be okay. But I would not leave ANY dog alone with free-range chickens, especially an untrained puppy. The temptation is too great.

Boxers are probably in the middle of the prey-drive scale, by the way... some have a little, some have a lot, but most are moderate and respond well to training.

Bruno CGC answered on 5/23/12. Helpful? / 2