[Connie Sutherland]

I find this one challenging, especially for a dog you don't own or have a lot of contact with, but also for any real foody-dog who can find a piece of garbage in a 1-mile radius.

Can anyone offer a beginning \"Drop It\" scenario?

Let's assume no e-collar and make it really basic, for any newbie dog-owner, all of whom need \"come\" and \"drop it\" (IMHO) no matter what training tools they may not own yet.

 

[Connie Sutherland]

\"drop it\"

\"No\" is good!

What about if the dog is picking up garbage, growling at your cat, standing in the flower bed, and not \"coming\" to command, all at once, and you especially want him to drop the garbage? Then what command do you use?

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Connie Sutherland]

Catching the dog before it picks something up is the beginnning.
I use a simple gutteral \"ahhhhhhh\" to give my displeasure, ideally when the dog is about to do something wrong. Stubborn pups may need a scruffing, and even squeezing the sides of the mouth to get it to let go, but any command that goes with it will sink in. Although I'm a big believer in motivational training, I have absolutely NO inhibitions about corrections for bad manners. That's a totally different thing then training.

Yes, and also \"come\" and \"drop it\" are just vital for the dog's safety.

 

[Connie Sutherland]

I taught it by having my dog trade items with me. I use the word \"out\" instead of \"drop it\" because \"out\" is easier to say. :lol: She would have a toy and I would offer her a treat and the second she dropped the toy and tried to take the treat I would say \"OUT. Good girl!\" and let her have the treat while I used it to lure her attention away from the toy as I picked it up and hid it behind me. When she was through with the treat, I offered her the toy again and we would play for a minute before I would ask her to out again. A few repetitions of this, and she would out when told, before I offered her the treat. Then, I gradually increased distance from her and then gradually phased out the treats. Once she knew what out meant, I started using a correction when she didn't out. If she didn't spit out whatever she had in her mouth immediately, I would tell her \"No. OUT\" and 'smack' her underneath the chin (this is my pet dog - don't know how well this would work with working dogs) with the heel of my hand. If she was not close, I would nick her with the ecollar. Now, I can out her from across the yard, off leash, and without a ecollar no matter what she has in her mouth. The good thing is that she isn't one to pick up things in her mouth, so the only time I ask her to out is when we are playing.

Oh, this is excellent and detailed! Thank you!!!

 

[Connie Sutherland]

drop it

It's obvious how important to the dog's well-being the \"come\" command is, and probably the imprtance of \"drop it\" is also apparent.

I learned, though, that \"drop it\" can mean life or death, when I had a dog who picked up a big old chunk of rotting rancid fat (near a garbage can on the street), probably peeled off a baked ham or pork roast, from the look of what was left, and swallowed a bunch of it so fast and so eagerly that even though I was three feet away, I couldn't get it out of her mouth in time.

She ended up with such a case of pancreatitis that she was hospitalized on IV support for almost a week, and her pancreas and liver were swollen to a size that actually crowded her abdomen (I watched the scan).

She came through it, but it was obvious to me that it was very close. The recovery was pretty slow, too, with a bland and careful diet for weeks.

So to me, \"drop it\" is almost equal to \"come\" in importance.

 

[Connie Sutherland]

We taught \"aus\" from the start........Now all I have to do is look at him \"that way\" and turns around and leaves...

:lol: :lol: That's great! It's something like when the day when a dog being Ob trained, instead of doing the unwanted behavior he's been doing every day and getting \"No\" for, he starts to do it, then pauses and changes his mind.

Also the day when I see that the dog is looking at me for direction in decision situations -- it's a wonderful moment!!