Drop it and Leave it

[Henrys Mom]

Can you guys give me tips on teaching drop it and leave it? Mason does not do either!! When I say drop it and he doesn't then I open his mouth and take it out and praise him with a treat. Does this just take more time? I also can't get him to drop the ball when he fetches it. He gets it, comes running right for me and stops and runs away. I don't chase him but it pretty much kills the game!! Suggestions welcome!!

 

[mareserinitatis]

I'd like to know, too. Ada really doesn't like to give me things, despite me offering to exchange for kibble or treats.

We've had a lot of luck with 'leave it', though. I take a piece of kibble and hold it in front of her when she's lying down. She licks my hand, but I don't let go. Then, when she backs off, I give her a really great treat and grab the kibble in front of her. When she got better, I was able to let go of the kibble and then give her the treat. Now we're working on extending how long she has to wait for the treat. The whole time, she's looking at it longingly...but she's not eating it!

 

[YorkvilleNewfie]

I'm a bit of a hypocrite for even posting this as I still haven't perfected drop it with Mila. Leave it, yes. Drop it. Not so much. :lol: Even so, when Mason has something in his mouth that he doesn't want to give, trade him for something he likes even more. Pair the trade with the command "drop it" and make sure you time the command at the very moment he makes a move to drop it. Then praise him profusely when he does.

As far as leave it, I got Mila to understand that by body blocking her. She was so stubborn that nothing else worked. I had to physically put myself between her and the thing I wanted her to leave. Usually, one of our two cats. I would stand there and block her saying "leave it" and the moment she relaxed and either laid down or turned to walk away, I praised her effusively.

Hope some of this helps! Good luck!

 

[charlieinnj]

When I say drop it and he doesn't then I open his mouth and take it out and praise him with a treat.

What I'm seeing is that Mason is being rewarded for NOT doing what you've asked. If he associates getting a treat only after you go into his mouth and remove it, then that's what he's going to continue doing because he gets rewarded for holding onto something. You're kinda playing a game with him.

The advice 'mareserinitatis' gave you for "leave it" is exactly what you should do, It's important to remember that you always have another treat ready for them to have. They should never get rewarded with the treat you just asked them to "leave". And my suggestion is that you shouldn't show them that other treat until after they've left the other. Otherwise, they can begin to only listen when they see something and not due to your verbal cue.

With "drop it, you might want to start out by tossing a treat their way (when they have something in their mouth) so they'll drop it. Reward IMMEDIATELY when they drop it with an emphatic "Yes!" and then reward them. Work up from there so they come to learn that they'll be rewarded for dropping something. As with all things, as times passes, you can start to ease up on the food rewards, etc.

 

[mareserinitatis]

Any suggestions for the dog that won't give anything up, no matter how good the treat is? I have a problem with Ada and paper products, especially napkins.

"I don't care if you have bacon-flavored liver, Mama. These are MY napkins." :crazy:

 

[janices]

Ah, sounds familiar. Control the area first so there is no opportunity to run away. Once get solid give back then start extending out the area on the fetch.

 

[RiverTheNewf]

Any suggestions for the dog that won't give anything up, no matter how good the treat is? I have a problem with Ada and paper products, especially napkins.

"I don't care if you have bacon-flavored liver, Mama. These are MY napkins." :crazy:

One thing I do is use his own game against him. I will literally use another piece of toilet paper to get Mal to drop the first. I pair that with "give it" when he spits out the toilet paper. Then I trade him toilet paper again, using "give it." After trading toilet paper or other untouchable items (water bottle, piece of crinkly paper, toilet paper) for a few times in a row, he responds to "give it" immediately and I trade him a treat. I am still at the point where I build up to this one (ie don't expect him to "give it" for a treat or nothing on the first try), but sometimes he will go collect items form other rooms and spit them in my lap and I do treat him because I want to encourage the release of the item.

The first thing I teach my dogs is "wait." Wait for the treat in my hand, wait for the door, wait for me to come to you, wait for me to put the bowl down. Basically WAIT-control those impulses! I find this very useful for then teaching leave it. When I give Mal a treat now I hold it in front of his nose and I don't have to say "wait," he knows there's no snatching it out of my hand. This curbs that impulse to snatch treats when trying to train leave it. Now River knows "Away" which means, pull your nose away. I think we kind of damaged the cue "leave it" with her by using it before she knew the word fully, and then we'd have to pull her away when she ignored us. Now I use "away" and it means get your face out of the vicinity of that food on the counter, treat in my hand, piece of bread in the toddlers hand that I see you eyeing, etc.

I just love teaching them at this age, they soak it in!

 

[DAWNMERIE]

Funny you say that Jackie, cause Myra hates the words leave it or drop it...so I use give it and she is happy to oblige.

 

[Bucephalus]

I just found this great resource yesterday. It's from Dog Scouts of America : http://dogscouts.org/Certification_Program.html

Go to the website above, then click on the link for the PDF labeled "Guide to the Dog Scout Title" (number 4 on the list). Page 12 in the PDF has a step-by-step guide for 'Leave It.'

Also, if your pup likes to take things he's not supposed to, you can try the 'Bad Dog Retrieve': http://www.dogscouts.org/Bad_Dog_Retrieve.html

We'll be practicing both of these with our Bo

 

[Garden_girl]

There are many ways to teach leave it. In my class we teach leave it by dropping a piece of food on the floor behind us. When the dog goes for the piece of food, we body block the dog from getting the piece of dropped food, pairing that with a 'leave it' command. When the dog stops moving toward the piece of food on the floor, we give them a treat with a GOOD BOY/GIRL! Once the dog understands that, put the dog on a lead with pieces of food on the floor, just out of his reach. Walk him past the food on the floor, as he starts eyeing the food, tell him leave it, when there is the slightest inkling that he is going to listen to the 'leave it' (even if it's just a turn of his shoulder toward you), pop a great treat in his mouth and praise while you are walking past the food on the floor. Practice, practice, practice. If you are going for CGC/TDI certification, this method works well as they do leave food and toys on the floor for testing and it translates to other things as well, dogs, squirrels, etc.

If you want your pup to 'give' the ball, I would do as Jackie suggested to trade for another ball OR the yummiest, smelliest treat you can find. It sounds like Mason might not be too food motivated or you aren't using the tastiest treats possible? The treat can make all the difference in the world to food motivated dogs. A slightly hungry dog is more motivated to train with treats than one that has a belly full of food.

Edit: I should add that the dog/puppy NEVER gets the treats on the floor.