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Help With Training Commands

2K views 11 replies 6 participants last post by  Besketball 
#1 ·
Wondering what the best way to teach Ronin about Leave It and Drop It. I can get him to do it with treats, and we've been working on it with other things, but not sure if maybe I'm doing it wrong. I take a treat in my hand and tell him to leave it, then when he doesn't approach to take it, I take it in the other hand and give it to him. Then I will put it in front of him on the floor, give him the command and when he doesn't take it I tell him "OK" which means he can have it. He does really well with it! But if it involves his toys, not so much. Any tips on making that better? Also, for drop it, the concept doesn't seem to work for him. Even with treats. He just doesn't let whatever is in his mouth drop. Help?
 
#2 ·
I looked back at some of your other threads to get an idea of how old your pup is. Around 4 months?

About the leave it, I would stick with food for a while to make sure he understands the command. You didn't say how long you have been working on this so it's hard to say. Look up "It's your choice" game for dogs video on youtube. It shows other ways to reinforce the leave it command.

The drop it, one of my pups was ball crazy. How I taught drop it was I tossed one ball, when he brought it back I would show him the other and tell him drop it. when he dropped it, I would toss the one I was holding.

So it helps if you have 2 things the pup wants. Have you tried a higher value treat? Or another toy if he is more toy driven.
 
#3 ·
He is 4.5 months now. We've been working on it with him for about 4 weeks now. We do training every night, except Wednesdays because's he's in daycare all day and when he gets home he is done for the night. He loves his ball, and will bring it back to me, but if I show him the treat he still won't drop it. I have tried tossing the treat, but he just looks at me like, "I know what you're doing and I'm not falling for it." It's not anything I'm frustrated over, just wondering if anyone had any tips to help him understand. :)
 
#6 ·
Thanks. He's pretty smart and usually gets commands after half a dozen times. Maybe not each time, but at least 80-90% of the time. These two commands are the ones we're really trying to work on. We are just about finished puppy classes and then starting obedience in another month or so hopefully. But we work at home every night for about 5-10 minutes at a time, depending how long he wants to do it. :) He's a smart cookie.
 
#7 ·
Repetition is the key. Name first then the command. One word or two short words if possible.

Lisl will drag her Kong all over the yard. If I call her and just try to wheedle it away from her, or tell her to come, and ask her for it, she won't give it up. She knows that I want it though.

When she hears the command however, she will drop it.
 
#8 ·
I teach leave it with a leash pop. I just walk past something that will interest him and tell him leave it, immediately followed by a pop of the leash, and I never change my pace. Keep it calm and just move along so it isn't a huge deal, but its pretty basic, leave it before you get a correction.

I like to teach drop it or out with a tug. Tug, freeze the tug and say drop, keep it immobile till they let go and then move it and let him rebite. The key is that rebite. Once you get a few reps of it, they aren't so interested in keeping it from you since the fun part is directly with you. I like playing two ball, but only to help teach my dog to run to me with the toy.
 
#9 ·
Thanks everyone! I'll definitely try some of these suggestions. I am going to be taking him obedience classes here in another month or two so hopefully that will help too when we get there. We're working on the no jumping thing right now too. He's slowly getting it, but when he gets excited he likes to jump as much as he can.
 
#10 · (Edited)
The action of releasing anything from his mouth for your dog principally is the same action - whether he drops it himself or gives into your hand. I train first "Give it", and "Drop it" after. In either case (please, don't forget - dogs live by expectations) your dog should expect something particular to follow: with "Give it" command I take the dog on his ruff with my left hand, take the ball with my right hand, throw the ball, and the action of throwing becomes a treat on its own. With "Drop it" I kick the ball far - a different treat. It is not difficult to train by dropping it yourself first and training your dog to wait for you to kick it. When command should be pronounced - figure it yourself.I think that trading the ball for treats is good only in cases if your dog grabbed the ball, squeezed his teeth and refuses to release it.
 
#11 ·
We'll be working on that. Thanks for the great advice! Right now, he can get the ball or frisbee and bring it back to me, but then he moves away any time I reach down to take it. It's a game, so i stand still and wait for him to come back. Sometimes I have to go get him because otherwise I will stand there for 10 minutes. But we're getting there. Just takes time. :)
 
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