Best way to re-teach give ??

[Karen P]

Chewie was doing really well with bringing something that was not his. We would trade a toy or a treat for the item that he was not supposed to have. I have tried to phase out the treat every time he took something that was not his, but now he is running away and making a game out of it again. The toy switch almost never works now. I hate to start with the treats again if there is another way. Maybe this is a phase? Chewie will be 17 weeks on Jan 6th. Thanks !!!

[Adina P]

Some ideas off the top of my head:

1) Use a different word to re-teach it so it's like learning a NEW thing. (He's just testing you so you have to outwit him for now in the meantime)

2) Keep working on other obedience like COME, SIT, STAY (though I wouldn't trust him to come to you when he's got a forbidden item at this point...later with more practice) because then you can tell him to sit and stay while you approach him so he can't get away. Practice with other difficult distractions and with time it will extend to having things YOU WANT BACK as a distraction.

3) Work on "drop it" which is different than give (depending on what he was taught). I imagine "give" means to essentially hand it to you. Whereas "drop it" is only about dropping it out of his mouth. I would always tell Rosco "Sit" then "Drop it" and I'd step on the item with my foot. Or I'd have him drop it and then sit. But this was only successful with time spent in training.

4) Keep a light, long leash (without a handle) on him in the house so he can't escape.

[Karen P]

Thank you for all the information. I will try the drop it command. He is pretty good at sit/stay. We have been keeping a leash on him in the house to get him off the couch when he is trying to "play" with our cats. Thanks again !!!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I also taught "drop it" the way Adina described. We practice this all the time throughout the day. Even if he has something in his mouth that is perfectly fine (like his ball) every now and then I'll tell him in an "I really mean it" voice to drop it. He does 99% of the time immediately. If he decides to challenge me and run away, I calmly go after him, get ahold of his collar, and then he'll drop it. There are very few of these challenges anymore because he knows he'll never win. Of course, I always give the toy right back to him, praise him, and sometimes he gets a treat (but never if I've had to go after him).

[Karen P]

Thanks for the information. I will be looking forward to the days when there are very few challenges !!!

[Jaime]

It's important not to become part of the chase game. I've read that if you run away from the dog, it becomes like a game and they will then chase you which means they come. When near, try the give or drop it again. Good luck!

[Karen P]

Thanks I will give that try !!!

[Sandy]

When Toby has something he shouldn't have, I usually make enough noise so that he knows I'm getting out a high quality treat, and then go sit on the floor. I tell him he can have it when he hands over the item. He circles just out of arm's reach, but gets closer and closer. Eventually he drops what he has in exchange for the treat. I know - he should drop it just because I tell him to, but to me, this is an easy solution. I'm certainly not going to chase him - I'd never catch him!

[Karen P]

Thanks I will give that a try. You're right I would never catch Chewie either !!!