Possessive over ball/frisbee and won't let go

[Germanshepherdlova]

One of my dogs will drop anything, immediately upon command. However, my other dog will let go of some things when told but if I am playing ball with him, or frisbee, when he brings it back to me I have to tell him over and over to release it. Many times I cut our playtime short because he doesn't want to let go and it is difficult to continue playing with him when it is almost a battle to get him to release it so that I can toss it again. How can I get him to let go of an item that he is possessive of?

[Packen]

One way is to use 2 of the same items, one is in dogs mouth the other is in your hand. Some side to side movement from your hand will get dog's focus on the "alive" object, dog will drop "dead" object from mouth, you throw the alive object and as dog is chasing, you pick up the dead object and repeat.

Somewhere along the way add the "out" command at the moment the dog drops the dead object. This is only one way to go, there are many others. You just need to figure out what works best for your dog.

[jennyp]

Brody is a little hesitant to drop the ball because he loves to chew on it. I tried using two balls much like what Packen said and it really worked. I threw the ball and when Brody brought it back to me I showed him the other ball. He immediately sat and dropped the ball he had in his mouth.

[ken k]

Originally Posted by Germanshepherdlova

One of my dogs will drop anything, immediately upon command. However, my other dog will let go of some things when told but if I am playing ball with him, or frisbee, when he brings it back to me I have to tell him over and over to release it. Many times I cut our playtime short because he doesn't want to let go and it is difficult to continue playing with him when it is almost a battle to get him to release it so that I can toss it again. How can I get him to let go of an item that he is possessive of?

if you don't let go, play time is over, it took awhile but it worked with Max, when he saw me head for the door then he would drop the frisbee, now he brings it and drops it, also having two method works well also

[PaddyD]

Originally Posted by ken k

if you don't let go, play time is over, it took awhile but it worked with Max, when he saw me head for the door then he would drop the frisbee, now he brings it and drops it, also having two method works well also

Have the same problem with Abby. She is learning to Drop IT and Leave It but it's a slow process. We're getting there .... I am not the most strict disciplinarian.

[RichardMorris]

Originally Posted by jennyp

Brody is a little hesitant to drop the ball because he loves to chew on it. I tried using two balls much like what Packen said and it really worked. I threw the ball and when Brody brought it back to me I showed him the other ball. He immediately sat and dropped the ball he had in his mouth.

I taught our 23 mo old GS with both another ball and/or a treat, in conjunction with a sharp "Out" command. Took a while, and she finally learnt that no "out", no more game. It also worked for the tug.
Richard

[Germanshepherdlova]

I have tried to show him another frisbee or ball while we are playing but he still will not let go of the one in his mouth. Not unless I throw the other one, and then he will run after it with the item still in his mouth and not release it until he is picking the other one up.

I have considered using his shock collar for this, but I have not done so because I don't want to "punish" him while playing, and I haven't used that collar in a long time anyhow.

Maybe I will try a treat and see if that works.

[jennyp]

If the two ball method isn't working I would use a treat like you were saying. I've also done that with Brody and it worked. High value treats. I wouldn't use the shock collar for something like this. To me, the shock collar would be a last resort to a more serious problem.

[stolibaby]

I also would say having ntwo of the item but if your dog still isn't what we found working for us is I would grab the item while stoli had it and say "give" very firmly. Now this took a while as he would try and play tug then but eventually he figured out I wanted the ball and wasn't going too stop until I got it. Now he's a lot better about sharing his toys and keeping the game going

[JakodaCD OA]

Masi only gets her frisbee when I engage her,,she's way to destructive when it comes to them, so only gets them under supervision. And this dog is frisbee obsessed, along with tugging/balls, jolly ball.

Anyhow, she learned real fast, you don't drop the frisbee, game is over, I take it and you don't get it back..

In the beginning I did switch it up,,drop that one, you can have this one..

Now I torture her, and sometimes make her stay or down, or whatever, I throw the frisbee, and she has to wait until I release her ...it's torture for her, her whole body is quaking,,but it's a good exercise to teach self control)