I think someone posted lately about training drop it... Came across this vid and thought it was pretty neat.

Thanks for posting. That's pretty cool

That's awesome! I first thought the guy was crazy...pushin' around shopping carts and throwing treats... but in the end, it worked SO well!

That's awesome! I was going to post something asking how everybody taught their dog "drop it". Kody majorly needs it!!!

Lisa, I thought he was kinda nuts at first also..lol.

That is so awesome!! I'm going to give it a shot once Sky is feeling up to some training. Thanks for sharing!

Wow that was really cool! Thanks for posting!

Thanks for posting this! I really need to work on this with Siku. He got his dog to drop a hotdog (very impressive!), lets see if I can get Siku to drop a dead rat! lol. She has a nasty habit of finding those every now and again in our yard and then we spend about 20mins chasing her around the yard to get it from her. We bring out treats and everything, but she doesn't care once she has her rat!

This is an excellent video. Thanks for posting it. I am going to try it with Ghost.

Really good. Thank you so much!

I don't understand this video.
It looks like he is teaching the dog to eat food he has dropped.

How do you get a dog to drop what's in his mouth?
Bodhi picked up some chicken wings someone had thrown on the sider of the road today.
This precipitated a tug of war with me, because he wasn't going to let go.
I tricked him finally to get them away from him.

Does anyone have suggestions for teaching "drop it" ?
My dog books say it is a needed command, but they don't give any clues on how to teach it.

Michael,

I didn't even bother with the video, Miya is a master (with me, not always with husband) at drop it. since you have a lot of trust with Bodhi, I think you should have an easier time, than with a pup. Start with a toy, as odd as it sounds help him drop it while saying drop it. Seriously that is how I taught Miya. May not be the best way, but I got/get the results that I want. After mastering toys, move to food. I did make it like a game, and praised like anything(she is not a treat reward type husky, good girl with pat on the back is the only praise she responds to). with the odd food on the side of the road, it's a Miya drop it, leave it and redirect (continue walking).

I hope that helps.

Renee

Actually, I found that video an interesting approach. Since a dog can't hold food and anything else in it's mouth at the same time, using that and the association with the "drop" command is surprisingly workable. Not something I would have thought of but I can see it being quite useful in training a new puppy.
Basically, what I see happening is that the trainer is using the swap method to teach drop - which is what most of us do, yes? - he's swapping the food for whatever it is the dog is holding. The long period, at the beginning, of training the dog to hear "drop" and expect the reward might actually be useful.

I didn't want to wake everyone by watching the video, also knew Bodhi is older. The reason for my approach was quite simple, we have pecan trees and the skin and shell are poisonous, she can hide them in her mouth, I seriously had to yank them out of her mouth in a fun way while saying drop it, otherwise chase was on, and I didn't want her to choke on one while playing keep away. Plus the fact that treats don't work as a reward for her. I realize not everyone can stick their hand in their dogs mouth, but using a toy and helping them along with the verbal command, really did work for me.

What I don't get is that there is nothing in the dog's mouth when he throws the treats on the ground (?)

This wouldn't work for Bodhi.
He fixates on some things like antlers, piggy ears (and discarded chicken wings).
He won't give them up for treats.
I've tried.

Michael, I totally understand, If you have a tugs type toy that works best, you can use 2 different toys to teach him, sit and play then tell him to sit, hopefully he still has toy in mouth, you may have to put him in a stay, then grab said toy say drop it , switch it out with other toy, repeat. It really doesn't matter what you use, it's the repetitive use of drop it and Bodhi figuring out what you want.

I think that what I'm seeing that you're missing Michael is that by teaching the dog that there's a treat coming when you say drop, you're leading up to teaching the drop command itself. Trying to teach drop when the dog has something that he wants is pretty futile - "I have it, you can't get it!" seems to be the normal result. Knowing that a normal dog can't hold two things in his mouth at once and that drop is associated beforehand he's prepping the dog for "drop".

When we teach set and stay it's generally a repetition til the dog gets the idea. The reward follows the correct action. By prepping the dog, he is - as he says - setting the dog up to succeed. By the time he actually gets to "drop" meaning drop, the dog is all ready to drop whatever he has in exchange for the treat.

Michael, i can not remember how i taught drop it, but Jack is great no mater what he will drop it if asked, even food on the side of the road.
Sierra well.... the command works for paper and tissues and toys, found food on the side of the road, forget it, no form of drop it, leave it, or yanking her gets it out of her mouth, i end up having to go in and fish it out of her mouth and walk the rest of the trip with a gross hand or pray it was not something bad as she swallows it before i can get to it.
People are just so gross, i often wonder who walks around eating all this stuff and chucks it in the grass? Hell Sierra went into tall grass on a trail around our lake and fished out an ear of corn on a stick, how the hell did it end up there!
I think just working on it with toys and treats at the house is the best way.

Jenn, I agree, stuff ends up on our property all the time and gross hand for me. I worry about the plastic people throw out, hence my repetitive training with her to drop it and leave it, then redirect. I would rather train an adult dog over a puppy any day of the week. A few weeks ago Miya found a dead baby squirrel in my neighbors yard, chase ensued with hubby, then I hear "hun tell Miya to drop it", for Miya it was a prized possession, I was not even close to her and yelled"Miya drop it, leave it, come" did all 3 and she came over and sat on my feet until I let her go do what ever. Michael it's repetition with a prized toy, and when he get's the command be firm with it. It is way more difficult to train a husky when they are not food motivated, that's why I suggested 2 toys.

OK, Renee.
Thanks.
I'll try that.

Bodhi loves Zuke's Mini-Naturals- Salmon.
But when he gets fixated on a cat, his girlfriend or a "prize", he's not interested at all.

jbealer wrote:

Michael, i can not remember how i taught drop it, but Jack is great no mater what he will drop it if asked, even food on the side of the road.
Sierra well.... the command works for paper and tissues and toys, found food on the side of the road, forget it, no form of drop it, leave it, or yanking her gets it out of her mouth, i end up having to go in and fish it out of her mouth and walk the rest of the trip with a gross hand or pray it was not something bad as she swallows it before i can get to it.
People are just so gross, i often wonder who walks around eating all this stuff and chucks it in the grass? Hell Sierra went into tall grass on a trail around our lake and fished out an ear of corn on a stick, how the hell did it end up there!
I think just working on it with toys and treats at the house is the best way.

Yessiree, Jenn - Ami is just like Sierra. Fortunately, Ami is very gentle, if persistent, 'cause I've been known to be hollering "drop it, drop it" while holding the top of his snout with 1 hand and fishing down his gullet with the other...he's never bitten me, just keeps trying to hold onto his "find" One was a dried up, flattened squirrel that I removed, probably all the way from his stomach Another time was not so pleasant - I did not know what he had but fortunately, I had gloves on 'cause it was back in his poop eating days...unfortunately, I did not figure that out until AFTER I brushed the hair out of my eyes

What's working best for me is to make damn sure that if I give the command, no matter what, he either drops it or I succeed in hauling it out of him, even if I reach down past his tonsils! (Do dogs have tonsils?)