Give it!

[FlowersGSD]

when we play fetch Ben will bring it back and he will drop it but as soon as i go to get the ball,or frisbee he grabs it again with his mouth. if i am just carrying the toy to the area we will play in he will lunge fast at the toy sometimes hurting my hand in the process.
"drop it" he understands, but letting me get it is another thing altogether.
i have tried "no touch" and clicking and giving a reward(treat or throwing the toy again),
but he is reluctant to let it go about 90% of the time.
any good ways of teaching this so the game can continue?
i have tried walking away and packing up the car and saying -"we are done here" , but it doesnt work great either.

[jocoyn]

Does he know "leave it" that is what I use if mine go to grab it before I can pick up again though I usually just play with two identical toys.

[stolibaby]

Stoli does the same thing with tennis balls so what I do is hold a second one and show it to him when he brings back "his" ball and then when eh drops it I hold that one and throw the one he just brought back as he likes it all slobbery lol but that has worked out pretty well for us

[Cassidy's Mom]

With a ball we use the Chuck-it. If he brings back the ball and drops it you can pick it up right way without bending down, and if he tries to grab it before you can scoop it up, just step on the ball and body block and then back him away.

Keefer used to be bad about grabbing at toys so we had to work on teaching him that he's not to take anything until released to do so. Do some impulse control work with Ben, having him sit or down on cue and remain in place until you release him and then throw the ball. If he breaks - "oops"! or "ah ah" and wait for him to sit or down again. He must hold the position until released or the toy doesn't get thrown. From there, you can work on having him remain in place AFTER you throw the toy, if you like. I start this on leash and progress to off leash, usually in an area where I can body block before attempting it out in the open. We have a long skinny dog run that's perfect for this. It's important to make sure that the dog is not allowed to get the toy until you say so.

I do lots of focus work as well, so the presence of a toy (or food, or a high value treat like a bully stick) becomes a cue to ignore it and look at me. They can stare at it all they want but they'll never get it until they give me eye contact, and then I release them to take it. Once they have the idea that they have to wait to get what they want and do what *I* want first, I start teasing them with a toy. I'll pretend to throw a ball, I'll whip a frisbee around in front of them, trying to get them to break. Only when they maintain the stay do I release them to play. They figure out pretty quick what the rules are and what they need to do to "make" me give them the toy.

[FlowersGSD]

Originally Posted by jocoyn

Does he know "leave it" that is what I use if mine go to grab it before I can pick up again though I usually just play with two identical toys.

"leave it" in our training means, "you will never have this -it is mine, I lay claim to it."
we were told by our trainer to learn the leave it for future instances where it is a serious or life or death matter( a tylenol pill on the floor or whatever), and that it must be reliable and -no you dont get it.period.

so i need a different command

no touch is ok but he still doesnt "get it"--he is about 6 months old so he is a bit of bratty teen!

[FlowersGSD]

Originally Posted by jocoyn

Does he know "leave it" that is what I use if mine go to grab it before I can pick up again though I usually just play with two identical toys.

yes-i am throwing two different toys, but he still snatches or after letting go still wants to grab it and not let go.

[Cassidy's Mom]

Originally Posted by FlowersGSD

yes-i am throwing two different toys, but he still snatches or after letting go still wants to grab it and not let go.

Then you have to make sure that he's not allowed to do that somehow.

[Lin]

I use the "give" command and make the dogs hand me items so I don't have to bend over to get them. When they bring the toy back to me, I say give and stick a treat up their nose if needed to get their attention, they release the toy into my hand and get the treat. After they are reliably releasing the toy for me, I start only rewarding when the dog hands me the toy directly. Such as, Emma can get excited and release too early and the toy drops to the ground. If I have to pick it up, she doesn't get a treat. The dog will learn that the treat only comes from handing you the ball. Then when they pick up the toy after dropping it, you can start adding in a command such as "oops" or "get your toy" and reward when the dog hands it to you. And then eventually phase out the treats. It also works nicely into training the dogs to pick up their own toys, because after the game you can use "get your toy" to make them carry it back into the house themselves.