# "drop it" or "give" first?



## Martin (Feb 21, 2011)

I want to eventually teach Dolce two separate things, and I'm not sure which one to do first.

One is to fetch an object (other than just playing ball); that is, to pick something up, hold on to it while walking/running over, and not letting go of it until I'm also holding onto it. It's not a huge priority for her to learn this; I just think she would enjoy doing so and that it might come in use sometime.

The other thing is to spit out whatever she has in her mouth. It would be cool if she could bring something over before spitting it out as well, but the primary reason why I want her to learn this is that she frequently tries to eat disgusting things. I can't always physically force her to drop them (and I've been told that trying to do so can make her more likely to swallow them), and a "give" command wouldn't work because I certainly don't want to wind up with feces in my hand.

Finally, there are times I'd like to be able to tell her to gently set something down (so as to not damage the floor and/or the item). Is that expecting too much? I mean, I could always tell her to give the item to me and set it down myself. Would I need a third word for this should I teach her it?

Dolce learns best by me capturing something she does herself by saying "yes" rather than through modeling. Thus, if I teach "drop it" first, I would wind up reenforcing spit things out immediately. That would be great on walks, but I'm afraid it will make it very difficult to later learn "hold" and "give." On the other hand, the other chain of commands is complex and will take a while to learn. I don't know if I want to hold off that long to teach something actually useful just to make it easier to learn something that's merely nifty. Also, won't it make it harder to learn "drop it" when she's already got "hold" down?

Which of these things should I teach first?


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## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

In field training we teach the 'Hold' command first! This means hold until told not to...

Then we teach the 'give' command.....!

How we teach it, you do not want to know....but that is the sequence used by all I know...


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

I've got a slew of words that we use for the concepts you're looking for. 

"Go get it/(name of toy here)" for when he is away from the object and I want him to retrieve it. 

"Bring it" for when he is standing over or already holding the item and I want him to bring it to me. 

"Give it" for when he should deliver an item to hand 

"Drop it" when he should drop the item right now (though he isn't gentle about it.)

Originally I taught him "bring it" and "drop it" simultaneously. The reward for drop it was more fetch.


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

We teach out or drop first, then hold.
We do out by putting on a leather glove, put our hand in the dogs mouth and say "out" or "drop" or whatever release command you want to use.
Then we teach hold. There are many ways to accomplish hold/fetch etc that I can't teach you in an internet forum post. We have a field class at our obedience club where we leaned this using our gloved hand then a retriever buck (a wooden or plastic dummy with a dowel in the middle) to nutshell it for you.


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## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

For a puppy who wants everything in their mouth, I think you should teach "drop it" first, for their safety.

I first taught Molly to drop the rocks, pine cones, etc that she loved to pick up. Then when she was a little older I taught her take it/hold.


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

goldlover68 said:


> In field training we teach the 'Hold' command first! This means hold until told not to...
> 
> Then we teach the 'give' command.....!
> 
> How we teach it, you do not want to know....but that is the sequence used by all I know...


This is also the way we were taught to do the dumbbell retrieve for competition obedience. You basically work backwards, teaching "take it" (take it in the mouth when offered at close range) first, then "hold it", then "out" or "give it" (deliver to hand), then you work on the actual retrieve, first the dumbbell is placed on the ground, later it is thrown while the dog is sitting at heel. If the dog knows front and finish you then add those. Lots of little steps get you there.

A lot of good manners type obedience classes teach "leave it" and "drop it" as basic necessary commands so a lot of dogs learn those before the components of the retrieve but I taught my current dog "out" before she was taught "leave it" and "drop it" in class. I've never worried about put it down gently. Compliance with either "out" or "drop it", depending on the situation make me happy.


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## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

TheZ's said:


> This is also the way we were taught to do the dumbbell retrieve for competition obedience. You basically work backwards, teaching "take it" (take it in the mouth when offered at close range) first, then "hold it", then "out" or "give it" (deliver to hand), then you work on the actual retrieve, first the dumbbell is placed on the ground, later it is thrown while the dog is sitting at heel. If the dog knows front and finish you then add those. Lots of little steps get you there.
> 
> A lot of good manners type obedience classes teach "leave it" and "drop it" as basic necessary commands so a lot of dogs learn those before the components of the retrieve but I taught my current dog "out" before she was taught "leave it" and "drop it" in class. I've never worried about put it down gently. Compliance with either "out" or "drop it", depending on the situation make me happy.


I agree with your comments, of course the 'Leave it' has nothing really to do with the retrieve and drop cycle that this guy asked about...but it is a critical command that all dogs should learn.....for snakes, pills dropped, hot food dropped, etc.


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## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

I have never found the need for a drop AND a give command. Technically, I say "give", which means spit it out, but I can tell her to bring it and then give. If she has something gross, I'll tell her to give right away. If it's something OK that I know she doesn't really wanna drop, then I'll tell her to bring it to me. At 2.5 she still picks up some gross things.. 

Now that we do field work, "fetch" means pick it up now and bring it to me. But if we're just playing around, I still use "bring it".


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