If you love something, set it free…

Why in the world would a dog want to give up something he is enjoying?  Why would you want to stop watching your favorite TV show half way through or give your winning lotto ticket to a perfect stranger?  Too often I see behavior problems and the dog’s point of view isn’t considered.  When you think about it, no one (dog nor human alike) wants to give up something of value.  And different things have different values.  A Chevette isn’t the same as a Corvette, and a shoe isn’t the same as a dead bird.  For most dogs, the value of the item is judged by:

• enjoyment history
• relief history
• attention history
• fear of loss

Enjoyment History is the fun factor reinforcement history the dog has with a particular item.  Some dogs have a favorite toy and are reluctant to share.

Relief History is another reinforcement history because chewing helps relieve painful teething, stressful anxiety, boredom in life, etc.  It’s like smoking for dogs.

Attention History is when a dog grabs something knowing full well you’ll react with a catch me if you can game, and the longer he holds it, the longer the game will continue.

Fear Of Loss is why dogs guard.

So how are you supposed to create a dog who happily gives up what he has?  The trick to successful training with “Drop It” is teach it as non-threatening and rewarding as possible.  If you come at this with a completely different point of view and think, “what could I offer the dog that he wants, that will make him open his mouth and drop what he has, even if it’s just temporary?”  That is the key!

The first step for any Drop It training is NOT taking the item away.  I don’t give a rats rump if you exchange it for something.  You’re still taking it away which is a punishing act and can create fear of loss.  Remember how you felt growing up when your parents would say, “Give me the key keys!”

Think about the actual behavior you want.  Be pinpoint precise.  For me the physical action for Drop It is “open mouth.”  That’s it.  Don’t make this hard.  Clicker training makes this incredibly easy to pinpoint the exact moment the dog opens his mouth.

Wait for the dog to be engaged with an object, then from a distance toss a few small treats by his front feet.  Click when the dog opens his mouth (to eat the treats you have tossed on the floor) and toss another treat.  You can do this cycle a few times and stop.  Then walk away! Leave the dog wanting more, so the next practice session he is excited to train again.  Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither is a solid, life long, on cue, Drop It behavior.  Gradually, and I mean gradually (most people rush this) start to walk toward the dog and do the same as above.  Have a distance goal, like 5 feet toward the dog starting from the other side of the room, and randomly walk that close (2 ft, 5 ft, 1 ft, 3 ft, 2 ft, etc).  Make sure you’re not dramatically increasing any other criteria (like time) when you increase the criteria for distance.  Sooner than you know it, you’ll be next to your dog.

Start to add the cue “drop it” when the dog has made the association that your presence equals offerings; and he freely, willingly, without prompting, drops what he has to see what you have to give him.  As in, cue “drop it” when you’d bet your friend $1000 your dog will drop it.  Then generalize in all the rooms in your house, outside, and with different toys & objects.  You need a powerful positive association and heavy reinforcement history to create a dog who likes to Drop It.

If along the way the dog gets something you would rather him not have, treat it the exact same way!  Remember, the dog is always a good dog no matter what he has, because you are reinforcing the action of dropping it.  I would just suggest you do something really fun to get him away from the no-no bad dog chewie after he does so.  When he drops the no-no bad dog chewie, say something like, “want to go for a walk?”  I’d bet money the dog will forget all about chewing.

If you’re dealing with a resource guarder you’ll also need a behavior where the dog gets away from the item.  Backup or go to bed are my two personal favorites.  Train this before you work on the drop it.  You need a strong backup on cue first.  Once this is trained then train the Drop It, and in the end this will turn into a behavior chain.  When you’re at the step of adding the Drop It cue, as soon as the dog opens his mouth, cue backup (so the timing would be the same as the click) and click the backup behavior & treat.  Training a dog to drop it & back up can help manage the environment for safety reasons.

CYA, ask a qualified behaviorist for training advice for any guarding issues.