# Teaching drop it/leave it



## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

I would work to find some treat that does motivate her. 

When I got Casper at 8 weeks, the only game he knew and wanted to play was tug. (He had 9 litter mates.) I ignored his trying to play tug, but played lots of other games. He eventually gave up on playing tug. So maybe she'll ease up later on. 

Casper picks things up on walks. As long as it's not dangerous we let him keep it. He usually drops it after a little bit. He does keep tennis balls, though, all the way home!


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## Articuno (Oct 19, 2013)

Poppy drops things when we ask now because she knows she'll either 1. Get a treat. 2. Get it back anyway or 3. Whatever game she is playing will end if she doesn't drop it.

It takes LOTS of time and patience to teach it, but just try saying "drop it" with a REALLY good treat in hand and only give after the drop.
Clickers really come in handy here as they will register the drop as the right action immediately.
Poppy didn't used to "drop it" during games of tug, now she is starting to! That is some amazing progress, we've had her 2.5 months.


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## nithu (Dec 28, 2013)

Quilter, we'll try a variety of foods after she comes here and see if something excites her.

Articuno, thank you. Looks like it is going to take time. We'll work on it. 
In the meantime, till she learns it, what can i do if she gets something in her mouth that she shouldn't? How do we get it out?

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## Leslie B (Mar 17, 2011)

Teaching 'leave it' or 'give' to an adult is an advanced behavior so my guess is that you will have issues with this one for for a while.

First is to get a solid sit command. Often dogs will not do two things at once so when they sit they will drop the toy. Same thing is true for the kennel up command. The dog will drop the toy and enter the crate. You can use this to your advantage.

Second is to make sure that all the toys have equal value and that you own them - keep them up when the dog is not playing them. 

Third is to teach the dog to trade. You can do this by offering one of the toys and when the dog takes it praise her and then offer her another one. She will drop the first to take the second while you pick up the first. Pare this with a command of your choice and PRAISE. Do it a lot. You want your girl to realize that she can give up one toy and get a double reward of praise and a second toy. She also needs to realize that she does not keep the toy she has - there will be more supplied by you.

Good Luck with your new girl.


If not, they will stand up once you put your hand on the toy.


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## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

Perhaps someone will have an answer, but if Casper does not want to give it up, there is no way of opening his jaws. His jaws are stronger than me. And at that point, I am not going to fight with a dog's teeth. So, yes, he gets to keep it, and I deal with the fallout. For us, this only happens if he finds really terrific food on the street. 

I read somewhere about playing tug that you can hold the toy and stand still and ignore the dog. Eventually, the dog gets bored because the game ended and lets go. I can do this with my dog, but I would not do it with a dog I didn't know well.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Your new dog has been shifted around to different homes. So he/she will be very unsure of their status in your home. I wouldn't pay any attention to the toy when they come to you, just praise them and tell how wonderful they are for bringing you a toy. Teaching release like Leslie B said, is advanced. I would get into a goo obedience class ASAP so you can learn to better communicate with your new dog. Have a wonderful time with your new friend, patience goes along way!


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

quilter said:


> Perhaps someone will have an answer, but if Casper does not want to give it up, there is no way of opening his jaws. His jaws are stronger than me. And at that point, I am not going to fight with a dog's teeth. So, yes, he gets to keep it, and I deal with the fallout. For us, this only happens if he finds really terrific food on the street.
> 
> I read somewhere about playing tug that you can hold the toy and stand still and ignore the dog. Eventually, the dog gets bored because the game ended and lets go. I can do this with my dog, but I would not do it with a dog I didn't know well.


Bear is pretty strong, but I will pry his mouth open in a heart beat if I need to. Our biggest problem is him cheeking sticks or roots and not responding to the "drop it" command. When that happens, I walk up to him, scruff him (cause most of the time he doesn't have his collar on in the yard) so he cannot get away and instigate a game of chase, give the command and wait. If he doesn't respond within a few seconds I give him his "correction cue" which is "Try again". If he STILL doesn't respond, I will pry his mouth open and take it. The correction to not dropping something because you want it, is for me to take it no matter what. The reinforcement of dropping something you want is praise, treats and to continue playing with whatever you dropped. 

We used tug to reinforce "drop it" "take it" "leave it" and "go get it" and it worked wonders for us. Bear is really good at drop it if your hand is on the toy, but he was horrible at drop it if you weren't touched it. Tug really helped us with that. He would bring me the toy and I wouldn't engage him until he dropped it. I always had a bucket of treats next to me to reward his behavior and tempt him into dropping the toy. 

To the OP - I think it might take a while, but if you can find a food that motivates her (maybe something REALLY smelly) it'll make it easier. If she is motivated with play, you can use that to your advantage. If she brings you a toy but won't drop it. Game over. Walk away. As soon as she drops it, tons of praise and rubs, and the game can continue.


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## nithu (Dec 28, 2013)

Thank you all so much. 

Leslie B the third option is doable. I didn't know that dogs can't do two things at once, so thank you. I will also ensure about giving equal value to all the toys. 

Alaska, yes she's already enrolled in a class. We're starting classes on 4th. 

Quilter and Brave, I'll keep in mind those tips about ignoring and stopping play. 

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## HolDaisy (Jan 10, 2012)

Teaching 'drop it/give' is a really tough one. Even know at just over 1 it's still the command that Sammy has most trouble with. I have received great advice from people on the forum regarding this and one of the most useful things I was told was to make 'drop it' part of our everyday commands...like sit/down etc...

I attempted to teach Sammy drop from a young age and did this by getting him to swap one of his toys for the one that I had. It's a v.important command for us as Sammy still thinks that the entire world is edible so I've got to be able to get stuff off him. He's still a bit of a nightmare when it's something he really wants, but will gladly drop his toys or tug toys mid game when I shout 'give'.

Just persevere and make 'drop it' fun...she gives what she's got for either a surprise treat you're hiding, or even a toy that's more fun! Another note...try and stay calm even if you're panicking what she's got. I've found that this helps massively, Sammy picks up on me getting freaked out and that makes him even more less likely to give stuff up and run off with it. Just try and go back to basics with her as she's 1 and I'm sure you'll do great with her. Good luck, you must be so excited to pick her up


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## nithu (Dec 28, 2013)

HolDaisy, am I glad to know that even pups who have had training from the beginning still struggle with this  Yes. I must keep in mind not to freak out. Thank you for that reminder. And yes, we are all excited. By this time tomorrow, she'll be home!!


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## HolDaisy (Jan 10, 2012)

You must be so excited! I will keep a lookout for her introduction to the forum 

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## nithu (Dec 28, 2013)

HolDaisy, the introduction was my first thread here. "Introducing Cleo" is the thread and there are pics from the foster. Will take pics and post them once she's home. 

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## nithu (Dec 28, 2013)

We got her home yesterday. She was a darling through the 4 hour ride home. She seems to be a quick learner. After 15 minutes of pulling during the walk, she learnt not to and walked loose leash (almost) for the next 45 minutes this morning. And surprisingly she played fetch (for a short while) with my daughter. She hasn't been taught to but she did. Which means after some ear scratching and a bit of ignoring, she dropped the toy so she could play again!!! Keeping fingers crossed that this is the way she is. She probably wanted to guard her toys from the other dogs at the foster's place. She seems eager to please and does things for a word of praise and some petting. :-D We'll work on identifying favourite foods too. 


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## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

Casper's current favorite foods are canned dog or cat food, like Mighty Dog, and stew meat. By stew meat, I mean meat chunks that I pulled out of our stew for dinner. He'll do anything for that. We were at dog school one day, and the dogs were plodding along in their recalls and being distracted by anything. The teacher said, "We need catfood." Wow, the change in the dogs' attitudes was amazing.


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## HolDaisy (Jan 10, 2012)

nithu said:


> We got her home yesterday. She was a darling through the 4 hour ride home. She seems to be a quick learner. After 15 minutes of pulling during the walk, she learnt not to and walked loose leash (almost) for the next 45 minutes this morning. And surprisingly she played fetch (for a short while) with my daughter. She hasn't been taught to but she did. Which means after some ear scratching and a bit of ignoring, she dropped the toy so she could play again!!! Keeping fingers crossed that this is the way she is. She probably wanted to guard her toys from the other dogs at the foster's place. She seems eager to please and does things for a word of praise and some petting. :-D We'll work on identifying favourite foods too.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Glad that she did well on the journey home. It sounds like she's settling into your family just perfectly already. Please keep us posted how she's getting on, she's a beautiful girl.


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## nithu (Dec 28, 2013)

Thank you all once again. The trainer came in today and she said Cleo is one of the best dogs she's seen. We just had to be taught the right way to teach Cleo. She actually dropped for a treat. She did wonderfully with the trainer so we'll be practicing that this week. We're very very glad. 

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