Drop it/ Leave it?

[iveo83]

Gracie is not picking up (putting down? ) drop it. I love to play fetch with her but she does not want to drop it and instead wants to tug-of-war with us. Also biting our hands when we try and pry it out of her mouth. I tried telling her drop it repeatidly and then when she finaly does praise her, but its not working... I have been trying to teach her leave it when I don't want her to touch something. Should that be the same thing? Instead of teaching drop it should I just teach leave it?
Any help would be much appreciated

[TikiAmy]

i dont' have an answer, but had to say, she is soo cute!

[Brady_Bunch]

from my understanding of what I have read, drop it and leave it are 2 different things.

as far as drop it goes, there are a few ways you can do this. after she returns the item to you, give her a treat in exchange for the item while saying drop it, or instead of a treat, give her another toy in exchange.

as for leave it, you want your dog to "leave it" anything you don't want touching. I am not sure how to train this one for I will always pull them away and just say leave it.

[iveo83]

Originally Posted by TikiAmy

i dont' have an answer, but had to say, she is soo cute!

Thank you! I know she is

I am working on a movie from clips for the first month we have had her. Hope to post it soon.

[iveo83]

Originally Posted by Brady_Bunch

from my understanding of what I have read, drop it and leave it are 2 different things.

as far as drop it goes, there are a few ways you can do this. after she returns the item to you, give her a treat in exchange for the item while saying drop it, or instead of a treat, give her another toy in exchange.

as for leave it, you want your dog to "leave it" anything you don't want touching. I am not sure how to train this one for I will always pull them away and just say leave it.

That's very true leave it should be leave it alone forever, not just for the time being. I have tried to use a treat or another toy, but then she doesnt want to play fetch anymore b/c she LOVES to eat and then she usually plays with the other toy instead lol.

[Annette47]

For the drop it (we use "give") you can either try trading it for a treat, or if she likes to retrieve but just not give it to you (as opposed to what my pup used to do which was take it away and chew on it after chasing it down, LOL), you can try having two of the item (eg. two tennis balls). As soon as she comes to you with the first one, throw the second one ... they will usually drop the first one to go chase the second one. After a while of this they get the idea that if they want to retrieve again, they need to give up the object.

Is she mouthy with you at other times? I ask because that's something you really need to work on ... it's not ok for her to bite at you when you take something away. What if she's full grown and has a hold of something poisonous? You need to be able to take things away from her. It is normal at her age, but a behavior that you need to discourage that is separate from the retrieving issue. There are lots of tips on this board for dealing with the mouthiness - just do a search.

We use "leave it" to mean "never even THINK about touching it". We mostly teach it by coupling a tug on the leash away from the object with a "LEAVE IT .... GOOD leave it" even if they didn't "leave it" of their own volition. That coupled with the occasional treat for "good leave it" eventually works for us.

Part of the "proofing" we do for showing in the ring is having them able to heel past a piece of food laying on the floor in front of them without going for it, so it can be taught, LOL.

[Kona1]

We had trouble with our pup and dropping toys at first too. TRhanks to posts on here, we learned that if we take it eavery time when she's young, then of course she doesn't want to give it up! It was suggested to let her play with it when she first retrieves the item, then ask her to drop it. Also, when she first brings it back, play with the item with her right where you are, instead of taking it from her and throwing it away again immediately. I like the two balls idea also, that seems super smart! Kona finally trusted us to give her the toy back and also made bringing it back more fun than any other part of the game. She now drops anything we ask without a thought.

Your pup is soooo adorable btw!

[CodysOwner]

We work with Cody on drop it. He loves playing fetch, and jumps into our laps when he brings it back. He had trouble with dropping the toy too, so we wait til he's done playing with it. I don't take it out of his mouth anymore, he punctured my thumb with his sharp baby teeth! And he's getting the hang of leave it, after quite a few tries.
BTW~your puppy is soo adorable!!

[MySprockette]

I just got Sprockette to drop the ball when playing fetch. It required two ball that were EXACTLY alike at first. Now I can use two different looking balls and she automatically drops the one she has to go after #2. I can tell that she's done when she won't drop the first one to chase after the second...

[MissMollyPants]

I'm sure there are lots of ways to teach this, but here's what they taught us in puppy training for "leave it"... as much as I can remember it at least...

Let the dog see you put a treat on the ground. Cover it with your hand. Then very slightly raise your hand just to where they realize they can get to it. She will try to go after it, so quickly cover it again and say "leave it" and wait for her to leave it alone. Once she does, give her a treat (not the treat under your hand!) and say "take it". Do this again, until she realizes that "leaving it" will always result in a treat. Soon she'll watch your other hand (the one with the treat you are going to give her) instead of the one on the ground. Do this until you can leave the treat on the ground uncovered. When we taught Molly this, we reinforced the good behavior with a clicker (and treat). If she's on leash and we want her to leave something, she gets a quick tug, and we *try* not to stop to let her see whatever it is she wants.

Now here's the thing. Molly understands "leave it" and will gladly do so IF she is in training mode. Or if she knows FOR SURE she is about to get something better. But it has been very difficult to get her to "leave it" on a day-to-day basis. She is stubborn.

As for "drop it", she'll only do it if she knows she's getting a treat. Tell Molly to drop it when you are in the living room - forget it. Tell her to drop it, and then walk toward the kitchen where the treats are - she'll drop it then and there, and follow you into the kitchen. What a punk...

Good luck with your cute pup.

[Doreen M]

I use "drop it" to really drop something out of his mouth.
"Leave it" is for something he's not supposed to touch...another dog, food on the floor.
I use "give" when I want to take something from him that he's holding, like a dumbell.
He was also taught "hold it" to hold a dumbell and not drop it (for future CDX work).

[iveo83]

Thanks so much for all your help! I am going to try all of your suggestions!

[Jadzia]

I have trouble teaching my dog drop it.

- With treats, it is worthless, since even is best toy is not interesting compare to a very small treat. Food = no picking up toy!

- Using 2 toys works sometime, but not often. At first, as soon as we picked the second toy (we try to use 2 toys he likes equally) he would drop the first one. But now, he will try to get both at the same time!

Any advice?

For leave it, I have more success. I've started playing the triangle game with him.

-Drop a treat at one side of me, saying "Leave it"
-Then call puppy to me. As soon as he reaches me (hence avoiding the treat) I praised and give him the comment to go get the treat.

I can do only very short distances right now, but I like doing it because I find it helps a bit with the recall. Also, my puppy have trouble with getting the release command. He'll sit and stay, but have trouble getting when it is okay to get up.

[aynz]

I am going to try these suggestions as my hands are in need of a break from all the nipping I get from taking the toys from her mouth. The two balls technique sounds the best.

[woodybear]

What great training tips. These posts will be so helpful to me. Woody seems to get "leave it" better then "drop it". Is it best to teach one command at a time? Meaning, should I stick with "leave it" for now and once he's got that, then introduce "drop it"?
I have as much to learn as my puppy!