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I'm guessing it depends on the individual dog. One who is well socialized and exposed to lots of little dogs (this can be said of all stimuli) can be well conditioned and may not react as quickly if instinct kicks in. In Lucky's case, as I assume in most cases, he needs to smell them. Once I learned how to read Lucky's body language eg. his eyes, ears, body posture (stalking mode), it scared the heck out of me to realize all the things he reacted to as prey.
Having said that, it's also important to understand prey drive is hard wired in dogs, it's what's ensured their survival. Dogs are a predatory species. Some dogs have higher drives/instincts than others but, it's always there and can't be simply extinguished.
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"Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance." -Will Durant
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