# Stubborn and picking up everything



## GoldenLove88 (Jul 25, 2014)

Have you start using trade or give her a treat if she listen to you and ignore the objects you want her to avoid? Have she learn the leave it or drop it command? That could break her bad habit. Sophie like to pick up cigarette butt and some trash in the past. Now she is 5 month old and just broke that habit. If she about to reach for object that I didn't want her to pick up, I either firmly say no or leave it. She will stop and move on and I give her treats when we return home.


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## Susan: w/ Summit we climb (Jun 12, 2014)

Backtracking to keeping her on a long line until her behavior is back under control, then giving her more freedom when she is trustworthy is what occurs to me. Training her off lead when she is ignoring you sounds scary. Anything could happen, and you would have no way to intervene quickly.


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## Finn's Fan (Dec 22, 2007)

Work on the "leave it" command in the house....every room of the house, since dogs don't generalize. When you think she's understanding the command, work on it in your yard. Then work on it out on a leashed walk. Be sure to use high value things (her favorite treat) for her to ignore when you think she's got the command down pat. My 12-year-old golden still wants to investigate used tissues (yuck!), but saying "leave it" will deter him every time, simply because I reinforced the command for a solid year (got him as a rescue, otherwise it would've been taught when he was a pup).


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## _Paul (Jan 15, 2014)

Thanks all for your responses. Shelby knows the commands 'drop' and 'leave it', I am also using treats to swap. However, because she prefers to pick up stuff she shouldn't she is just ignoring me. I will continue with the long line until she improves


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## _Paul (Jan 15, 2014)

Hi all. Still having trouble in the morning and wondering if at some point I will have to stop walking with another dog in the mornings. Shelby drags a long line around with her at night and I just give her a little tug of she ignores me. But I am scared to put it on her in the morning in case she wraps it around the other little dog and hurts him. I love the exercise she gets with her friend, and she returns to me on most occasions. But when she has found something, she won't let me get close in case I take it off her. She had something this morning and because I couldn't get her back I couldn't put her on before meeting a couple of new dogs we hadn't met. Luckily they were good mannered dogs.


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## Martin (Feb 21, 2011)

Are you giving her a reason to believe you'll steal her treasure if she comes near you? If so, maybe you need to convince her that the fun doesn't end when you're there. You could call her to you (with a lead to reenforce it) and completely ignore the item in her mouth and let her play again once she's checked-in. You could also frequently call her when she doesn't have anything and give her really good treats if she comes. When you do ask her to drop an item, you could allow her to pick it right back up again (if it isn't actually dangerous).

Also, you could try the long line in the morning and see if it really causes that much of a problem. I've had dogs play with each other on long lines and nothing bad ever happened. If it does cause problems, you can always take it back off and carry it the rest of the way.


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## _Paul (Jan 15, 2014)

Thanks Martin for your advice. I have been calling Shelby back and when she does come I give her a treat and do not take her treasure away. But she still ignores me. Maybe with persistence she may trust I won't always take her treasure away. I think I will have to use the long line. I just didn't really want to upset the apple cart with the lady I walk with.


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