drop it

[Susan and Bentley]

Can anyone give me some tips on teaching Bentley to "drop it".  He's so good at all his other commands, if I tell him to leave it he won't pick it up.  But once he has something in his mouth he does not want to let go! 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I really think you need to be in control....you have to be able to "make" him bring the object to you and reward when he does.  Chasing him around doesn't work IMO.  Here's a video that may help.  I like it because it teaches the puppy that they can go ahead and have fun with the "object" but when they're told to "bring it" (you can use other commands that work better for you) they get rewarded when they do.  Not retrieving it to the leader just isn't an option.  Here's the link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN8sc0WXl5U&list=UUMegZvuzHVC60H...

[Susan and Bentley]

thank you for that.  I guess the problem is, he brings everything to us.  He will drop his ball to play fetch, etc.  But when he gets something he shouldn't have, he'll still bring it but he will let go of it.  We shall keep working on it!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Have you tried holding a treat right to his nose....something really, really high value.  When you say "drop it" and he does....immediately give the treat.  Just hold his leash so he has to stand with you holding the object and wait...eventually he'll get bored and drop it....then quickly treat and praise.  You'll probably have to do it several times.

[BG and Gavin]

What Jane said would be my advice too.  Chicken weiner (sliced and microwaved until rubbery) is the magic high value treat in our house.

[Anne and Figaro]

Others have mentioned something similar.  

Put your hand on the object and tell him "drop it" with a treat in your other hand.  If he likes food at all, he should trade you the toy for the treat.  Afterwards give him the toy back immediately.  It's a win-win for him when he gets both the treat and the toy back.  You should be able to progress from there.  

Good luck!

[Sharon Banks]

I used two of the same things like rubber balls I would throw one and keep one then when Jake returned it I would say drop it and throw the other one he would drop it and fetch the other one it worked for me.

[Jen W]

I struggled with this one, too, even though my puppy got everything else.  At first we worked just on dropping the ball.  I'd say "drop it" and as soon as she released it I'd either click or say "yes" and give her a treat, eventually weaning off the treats so she'd only get one every 3 or 4 times.  It's much harder when she has something really good, like a sock or glove and I can't say I can always get her to drop it, but it seems to me that when I don't touch what is in her mouth (as in trying to get it from her) and just calmly say, "dory, drop it" making sure she can see that I have a treat, then it works better.  But I have no delusions that she would drop a dead bird should she ever get her jaws on that, no matter what kind of treat I had (unless I happened to have a live squirrel)

[Susan and Bentley]

thanks all.  Jen, I basically do what you do.  And it's exactly the same, he drops the ball but when he gets something he shouldn't he just clamps his jaw down and if we try to pull he growls.  He knows when he has something he shouldn't, and at that point, there is not treat or trade good enough for him to drop it right away.  I sit with his favorite treat in front of his nose until he drops what he has but that can literally take a half hour.  Boy is he stubborn!  But I guess i have to keep doing that.  But the trainer also told me to drop things on purpose, and then tell him to leave it.  He's getting very good at that no matter what I drop.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I know it's frustrating for you....but it's really fine if it takes a half hour for him to drop it....just don't let him run away with it.  When you're "waiting them out" with an exercise like this they are learning.  My Guinness was very much like that with lots of things....and still is to some extent.  Today at training I gave a down command.....he just sat there not moving.....after 30 minutes (yes I did say 30 minutes) the trainer and I started chatting about something and took attention away from him and he decided that was the time to lie down.  Then he got his reward....affection.  After that we kept repeating the command and he did it on the first try every time.  He was just challenging us to see what would happen initially.  He's going to be five and has been trained for years....but on occasion he'll just test.  Keep at it!

[Susan and Bentley]

thank you for the support!  I guess just like our kids, they continually test us!

[Janice Jones]

:-)