How to Teach your dog to drop it?
Dogs do things they shouldn't. They collect dead animals and try to eat garbage. While you should train your dog to give a firm "leave it" signal to leave certain things alone, you may not always notice what your dog is doing until it's too late. Therefore, an equally important behavior to teach is " Drop it." This signal tells your dog to immediately drop what's in its mouth. Sometimes this is done simply to avoid trouble, such as how your dog stole your shoes. in other cases, this signal can save lives, such as when your dog picks up dropped medications or toxic foods like chocolate.
Why You Should Teach " Drop It"
"Drop It" allows you to remove items from the dog without running after them. In fact, since most dogs love the chase, this will only increase the likelihood that your dog will take forbidden things in the future. They quickly realize that this is a great way to start what they think is a fun way to play with you. Chasing the dog also increases the likelihood that it will swallow an object to prevent it from getting it first. Even non-toxic items can cause suffocation or intestinal obstruction.
You also don't need to open the dog's mouth to get the item. This puts you at risk of being bitten and may again convince your dog to swallow the item. An argument with a dog over something can also lead to problems with resource protection in the future. If your dog already has problems protecting objects, ask for help from a trainer or animal behavior specialist before starting any of the following exercises.
Training your dog to throw items at the sign is also a useful component of the search, as it helps your dog return items to your hand, rather than leaving them on the ground for you to pick them up. Finally, "letting go" is perfect for practicing tricks. You can immediately ask your dog to put toys in a toy box or play a dog-sized basketball game if he understands how to drop objects on the sign.
How to teach "Drop it" with treatment
Offer your dog an inexpensive toy. It should be something they're interested in, but don't get too carried away. You want it to be easy for them to give it up.
Let the dog play with the toy for a few seconds.
Put a valuable gift in front of the dog's nose. If you choose an inexpensive toy and an interesting enough treat, your dog should voluntarily drop the toy in return. As soon as your dog drops the toy, praise it or click to mark its behavior, and then give it a treat.
While the dog is eating the treat, take the toy and hide it behind your back.
Once your dog has eaten, gift the toy again and repeat the process.
When you know your dog is going to drop an item as soon as the treatment is shown, you can add a verbal signal, such as" drop"," exchange", or"get out".
After a few repetitions, signal without showing the treats. If your dog drops an item, click, praise, and hand out a jackpot (lots of treats in a row) to convince her of how good the game is to play. If your dog doesn't drop the item without seeing the treat, try waiting a second between the signal and the display of the treat. Then slowly increase this time with repetitions until your dog realizes that he has dropped the item before the treat comes out.
If you're having trouble with this method, here are some troubleshooting tips. First, if your dog runs away with a toy, do this leash training so that it stays with you. Second, you don't want to compete with your dog for a toy after it's been dropped. If your dog tries to get it back before it can get it, try dropping the treat a few feet away from the house to buy time to get the toy. Or throw various treats on the ground so that the dog has something to do.
How to teach "Throw" a toy
You can also teach your dog to exchange items only for toys. Some dogs are simply not motivated by food, but even for those they love, these games can help cement the lesson. You can repeat the previous exercise, but instead of a gift, offer another toy. If your dog doesn't want to trade, play with the new toy and act as if it's the best one you've ever seen. Your dog will definitely give up the original toy in favor of this interesting novelty.
Tug of war is another great way to teach "throw it. Just gift the toy and start playing." After a few seconds, stay where you are. Over time, your dog will get tired of playing alone and drop the toy. When they do, praise them, and then reward them with another game of jackass. As soon as your dog drops the toy, as soon as it stops, it is ready to add a verbal signal. You can do the same training with a flirting pole (a toy tied to a string at the end of the pole).
Now that your dog understands the "drop it" signal, whenever it has something that shouldn't be there, ask it to drop that item, and then reward it with a suitable gift or toy or chew on a bone. If you've trained long enough, your dog will happily drop the forbidden item to trade it for something better.