Now… imagine your dog with his “lotto ticket.”  How much is it worth to the dog?  Why (in the dog’s point of view) should he give it up?  Is there a possibility of not getting the item back?  Is it fun and non-threatening to relinquish the item?

Always remember the dog is always a good dog for giving up anything he has!  If the dog drops his toy you should have the same reaction if the dog drops the TV remote control he was just chewing.  Be happy and REWARD the dog for giving things up.

Step #1:  Your dog feels comfortable with you around him when he has something in his mouth.  (Ask about resource guarding if you are not sure about this.)  When your dog has something, walk toward your dog, say, “drop it” and drop a treat on the floor beside the dog, and keep walking.

Step #2:  Your dog feels comfortable with you talking to him when he has something in his mouth. Walk toward the dog, say, “drop it” and drop a treat on the ground.  Stand near the dog.  Let the dog eat the treat and just praise the dog.  Walk away.

Step #3:  Your dog feels comfortable with you petting him when he has something in his mouth.  Walk toward the dog, say, “drop it” and drop treat on the ground.  Pet and praise the dog.  Walk away.

Step #4:  Your dog will give up what he currently has temporarily to get something else, and is allowed to go right back to the item he had.  Stand near the dog.  Say, “drop it” and wait for the dog to “spit out” the item.  Click the moment the dog gets the object out of his mouth.  Throw treat on floor away from the item (about 3 feet.)  Allow the dog to eat the treat.  Repeat.

Step #5:  Your dog will give up what he currently has to get something else while you reach for the item (but not pick it up.)  Stand near the dog.  Say, “drop it” and wait for the dog to “spit out” the item.  Click the moment the dog gets the object out of his mouth.  Throw several treats on floor away from the item (about 3 feet.)  Allow the dog to eat the treats as you touch the item.  Repeat.

Step #6:  Your dog freely drops items in his possession to get something else.  Doesn’t try and race you back to the object, you can now pick item up without any objection from the dog.  Same as step #5, except you are now picking up the item instead of just touching it.

• Remember to practice with items you can give back to the dog.
• If you are working with a “resource guarding” dog, there are safety precautions that are necessary.  Ask your trainer.
• This is an exchange exercise in the dog’s point of view.  Remember to give your dog something good for giving up his “lotto ticket.”

• 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.

1. Have no intention of getting a dog.  Don’t do any research about breed characteristics.  Additional bonus: travel 40% of the year for work or work 10 hour days.

2. Get a puppy, preferably from a pet store to ensure he was probably a puppy mill puppy.  This should guarantee he was pulled away from his litter too young and therefore never learned the critical “share the mom” or bite inhibition.  Additional bonus: get one as a gift.

3. Don’t puppy proof the environment, or if you do – do so half ass.  Additional bonus: don’t check house plants to see if they are toxic to pets.

4. Give puppy complete run of your entire house and don’t supervise.  Additional bonus: have the arrogance to think he should “know better.”

5. Don’t exercise or mentally stimulate your puppy, socialize him, or train him at all.  Additional bonus: think you can socialize puppy “later”

6. Give puppy only one toy to play with such as a tennis ball.  No more.  He should like that.  Period.  Additional bonus: become upset when puppy doesn’t play with it.

7. Punish the puppy by loud vocal corrections like, “NO!” when the puppy blindly directs himself to something to chew for something to do.  Additional bonus: rub his nose in it.

8. Repeat step seven at least several times a week to ingrain in puppy’s brain how horrible an experience it is to give things up. Additional bonus: punish well after the fact when you see something was chewed and don’t prevent puppy from chewing it again.

9. When puppy starts to growl or show any other signs of being uncomfortable with the idea of giving things up, punish harsher to create a “nothing good happens when you give things up” environment.  Additional bonus: don’t give puppy an alternate chew toy, just walk away.

10. Wait until serious aggression sets in before you call a trainer.  Additional bonus: wait until puppy bites someone

This sarcastic simple recipe happens all the time.  And it is a prime example of what not to do! Ask yourself, “will this make my life easier the next time?  Will this make my puppy’s life easier the next time?”  If the answer is no, don’t proceed!   Get professional training before problems develop.

A dog is always a good dog for giving up whatever he has in his possession. It doesn’t matter if it’s his toy or the Tivo remote.

If you catch your dog chewing something he shouldn’t, my favorite trick to keep my cool is to tell him exactly how you feel in a calm, soft, baby voice.  “I hate every hair on your body right now…”  It will make you feel better.  While doing this leave a Hanzel & Gretel treat trail out of the room and shut the door.  Go back for the item when the dog isn’t around.

Next post I’ll talk more about how to train your dog to enjoy giving you what he has.  If you do have a resource guarder, schedule a training lesson or contact someone in your area for professional help.  Don’t wait, remember step ten.