I have 3 rough collies. One will sprint at the sight of a bicycle at the park or seek where the sound of a motorcycle is and if in eyesight, he will bolt for it. I feels it’s only a matter of time where he sprints to the motorcycle at the wrong time, and that motorbike will be the last thing he sees. The title put me in mind of David Hare, the English writer who at the inception of his career was engaged in the Theatre Uncut equivalents of a half-century ago. Chasing Hares follows in a necessary and honourable tradition of making theatre that matters even if, on this occasion, the result needs further shaping and streamlining if it is to properly and thoroughly shake us up. A journalist who tries to lure Prab into whistleblowing has a rapacious, transactional quality. The culpability of the west is made clearer in a parallel time frame, in present-day UK, where Prab’s daughter (Saroja-Lily Ratnavel) works as a courier for a food-delivery app. Your article really confirms what I thought about my dog’s chase instinct, and I will try what you suggest.

Do not allow access to your dog’s favourite toy at any other time. Keep it special and always retain it when the game finishes. Your dog will be quite keen to play with the new toy so long as there are no rabbits about. This is pure dog training, so use short bouts and lots of them, in a place with absolutely no other distractions; always stop before your dog gets bored and always end up keeping the toy yourself. Build up those neural connections between the “Got to chase” centre and the one with the picture of the new toy as a label. Play, play and more play. Secondly, yes, there could be an element of territoriality or even breed specific herding behaviour – growling suggests that she is communicating with the dogs she chases, which is not something you do with prey. Once you start this correction procedure you can never allow him to run in without making it plain that it’s something he must not do, so you need some method – like a long lead – to be able to stop his actions and then chastise him. In your case a lot would depend on how emotionally balanced your dog is. The thing about the ‘chase’ aspect is always to fix everything else first, so the dog is living a happily balanced life. If we then find it needs the chase to achieve that we direct it into something we can control. In your case I guess that would be the flirt pole.

You have no enticement for them to abandon the behaviour, therefore there will always be the risk of performing it as it is under their own control. The problem – we have a 2 year old Aussie Shepherd show strain bitch who has been spayed and she is trained for K9 Frisbee sports. She is a keen chaser of discs as she should be and she has immense prey drive which is only directed at rabbits and squirrels. She does not chase anything else. I came across your article whilst searching the net on ideas to solve my problem. I’ve had dogs for 40 years but never had one with a high prey drive. I am planning on buying your book but until it arrives am I doing the right thing? I wanted to write about 'jatra' or Bengali folk theatre, as an art form that has developed from dramatisations of religious stories from the Mahabharata to plays that reflect the lives of real people and events. Now, jatra is struggling to compete with Hindi cinema and cable TV, so I see the persistent love for jatra from the characters in Chasing Hares as a leap of faith. A leap of faith similar to that needed to believe things can change, and to act on that belief.

Jatra troupes perform outdoors in India and Bangladesh. Traditionally, they performed plays adapted from Hindu epics the Mahabharata and Ramanaya, but as the form developed new themes were woven in and contemporary folk tales created that celebrated the lives of ordinary people and their struggles. As jatra increasingly vied with Hindi cinema and television drama, this connection with local audiences became more vital. This shift from traditionalism and conservatism to more radical form and content echoes Prab’s belief in radical politics. What are the challenges in writing a play set across two locations and time periods? She loves toys, but couldn’t care less for treats. Tennis balls are her absolute favourite, followed by tug toys. I stopped playing fetch (balls) with her 18 months ago, as I was worried about her elbows and the constant impact on them A contemporary delivery driver, Amba (Saroja-Lily Ratnavel), is relating life on the front line of the gig economy in England only for the focus to shift for the bulk of the play to her gently radical father, Prab (Irfan Shamji), and his anxieties as a machinist in a clothing factory in India who is seen struggling to make ends meet for his growing family: wife Kajol (Zainab Hasan) and their baby, Amba. We moved to a farm 3 years ago and she is perfect with sheep but actively seeks squirrels, rabbits and, at night foxes. 99% of the time I can prevent it if I watch her closely enough (I have learned her pattern – head down, stalk mode and then fly). Cars are no longer a problem as we don’t see any and can walk her without going off the farm.we got a 5yo rescue Husky x German Shepard. He is the most gorgeous creature and since I had a Husky cross growing up, I understand the breed quite well, including their need to chase (as your article has pointed out). Even though it always left me scared for him, an occasional deer/rabbit/cat-chasing adventure was fine for my previous dog, because we lived in a small town near a forest and he was smart enough to find his way home. BUT when he catches sight/smell of a game bird if I walk in the fields: then I have 0% control of him. I become an anxious spectator: he has no fear of running completely out of sight of me and will only reappear when he’s lost the scent. Hence, I walk in the woods. But we’re surrounded by fields…I dream of one day being able to let him off lead in the fields but right now I certainly can’t. )-: