Pip's mum Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 Hi, I am trying to train my 7 mo puppy the following behaviour: - If he has something in his mouth, eg. rope when we're playing tug, I want him to let it go when asked - If there's something on the ground/bench/etc. that I don't want him to touch, I want to be able to tell him that Should these behaviours be trained with one command, eg. 'Leave it', or should it be two separate commands, eg. 'Drop it' and 'Leave it'? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 First things first....when I'm teaching my pups a "give" or an "out" from tug etc this is what I do: Initiate a game of tug with lots of verbal encouragement and interaction from my other hand (gentle pushing on the shoulder for example), keeping the pup in fairly low arousal (as in not a WILD game of tug - it might only be for a few seconds) Freeze. Don't pull the tug away, touch, talk or do anything. As soon as they lose interest and release the tug, I mark "yes", say "get it" and reward with another game of tug. Rinse and repeat. Pretty quickly I switch it up. When they release the tug I continue to freeze. Most puppies will quickly default to a sit. "Yes! Get it!" and play again. Over time I will increase the duration of the sit Time to add a cue - "give" or "out" then freeze, dog lets go, sits, "get it" Time to increase complexity - when the dog is holding a sit, introduce distractions such as movement of the tug BEFORE you say "get it". Pup will almost certainly move. Just an "oops!" is all that's necessary and freeze again. Very soon, my babies are holding a sit without command whilst I whack the tug on the floor. It's great for impulse control! Leaving something on the ground or the bench - well I'm a great fan of Susan Garrett's It's Yer Choice games - no commands but teaching the dog about permissions. The problem with using a cue is that the dog will unlikely "leave it" 100% of the time. You say "leave it", they pick it up and suddenly the cue "Leave it" becomes a cue to "Pick it up"! Trust me when I say this is absolutely true. It's simple learning theory. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pip's mum Posted June 24, 2017 Author Share Posted June 24, 2017 Thanks for the advice. I will have to get another tug toy that's not so exciting for him to train this He goes nut with his current tug rope. I looked up the video for It's Yer Choice. Impressive dogs (credits to the handler, of course). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottsmum Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 No solid advice except think about the words you'll use. Leave it is great, but I used "drop" for "down" and later wanted drop to = drop it (give is a nice alternative) Anyhow - thats my 2 cents worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest crazydoglady99 Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 Our dogs are taught: "Give" - let go of the toy or similar. "Leave it" - don't touch that, don't eat that etc. Good luck with your training! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 Use words you are happy to use anywhere, and words which just have one meaning I use Gimme Yuck Lie Down. Gimme I teach by replacing their treasure with a treat - a special treat! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 Lots of good advice. Just a small addition ... I use "swap" when pup has something in her mouth that I need to inspect and/or confiscate. I offer a treat, she opens her moth and briefly drops the 'thing', I reward that .. and then either give her permission if it's something OK for her to have, or give another treat or a different 'thing' if I'm removing the original 'thing'. For teaching tug and give in that context, I'll do what TSD says (which won't surprise her). I also use It's Yer Choice. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 I have give and geddit for toys... And I'm introducing "mine" for stuff I want her to leave alone. But that would only work when I'm there. I also use "its yer choice" a lot... and limiting opportunity to make the wrong choice. eg chasing birds and barking in the back yard - so we go to the back of the back yard on lead (after playing "its yer choice" at the back door (she sits - the door is opened and she gets permission to go out, otherwise the door stays shut or is shut if her butt lifts off without permission). If we go to the end of the yard on lead - no bird chasing or barking - and then I let her off. Otherwise - more games of IYC... This might help http://tim.blog/2016/11/14/susan-garrett/ IYC gamehttp://dogsthatlisten.com/tim/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuralPug Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 I use Drop! mainly during fetch games to let mine know whether I'm going to toss it again or if we can play tug with it (I will use the excited phrase Tug! Tug! Tug! then). But mostly they will also Drop! if they have something in their mouth that I don't want them to have. I am a bit overly verbose and always follow in that case with "That is NOT your toy. THIS is your toy" and offer one of their toys. My theory is that they will bring me anything new they find to swap for a toy and/or game. This works with some dogs, but not with others who chose to secrete everything in beds/hidey holes sigh. Personally I only use "leave it!" when I don't want the dog to approach/take much notice of another animal or person that is passing or approaching. If I see them doing something I don't want them to do I will usually distract them away from it although when I am under par I might say in a growly voice "Don't even think about it!" ( but they stop what they are doing - probably because they are confused - mea culpa). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappi&Monty Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 In our house: - Drop = drop whatever is in your mouth. Usually used in games. Scrappi is still terrible at this despite being 8yo. Monty is good at drop. - 'Leave it' turned into a number of things... I taught it my placing a treat on the ground, covering it with my hand and when they leave it, sit & look at you, mark & reward. Then uncover it for a bit, and increase time etc. Use high value treats and low value treats for the food on the floor at first, working your way up. I think I got the method off Zak George or Kikopup on YouTube. Sorry for terrible explanation! I don't use leave it for: * Leave food I've dropped in kitchen (if they are naughty & come in) * Wait/leave their dinner until I say okay. * Leave gross things on the footpath ("leave it" and keep briskly walking away) * Leave that person or dog alone if they are fascinated by them & trying to pull or something rude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuralPug Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 1 hour ago, Scrappi&Monty said: In our house: - Drop = drop whatever is in your mouth. Usually used in games. Scrappi is still terrible at this despite being 8yo. Monty is good at drop. - 'Leave it' turned into a number of things... I taught it my placing a treat on the ground, covering it with my hand and when they leave it, sit & look at you, mark & reward. Then uncover it for a bit, and increase time etc. Use high value treats and low value treats for the food on the floor at first, working your way up. I think I got the method off Zak George or Kikopup on YouTube. Sorry for terrible explanation! I don't use leave it for: * Leave food I've dropped in kitchen (if they are naughty & come in) * Wait/leave their dinner until I say okay. * Leave gross things on the footpath ("leave it" and keep briskly walking away) * Leave that person or dog alone if they are fascinated by them & trying to pull or something rude. It is fascinating how we all are individuals with our words - I use "wait" for both don't eat that until I say "Okay!" and don't go through this door/gate until I say "Okay!". If walking rurally with with no traffic I will also use "wait"/"Okay!" for an off leash dog about to cross a track or road. It really doesn't matter what words we use as long as it is quite clear to the dog LOL! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 I don't use anything for doors, gates, cars or food. I expect my lot to offer and hold a sit...the bowl of food or my hand on the door (or gate to chook yard) is the cue to sit. Then I release them one by one on their name...anyone who makes an error (including one paw up, that's you Em!) goes to the back of the cue 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappi&Monty Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 (edited) 7 hours ago, RuralPug said: It is fascinating how we all are individuals with our words - I use "wait" for both don't eat that until I say "Okay!" and don't go through this door/gate until I say "Okay!". If walking rurally with with no traffic I will also use "wait"/"Okay!" for an off leash dog about to cross a track or road. It really doesn't matter what words we use as long as it is quite clear to the dog LOL! I also use wait for all of those commands too haha. I'm so inconsistent oops! But they get what I mean so... edit: i also just realised I use stay for not going through the door, and stop for stopping at the curb before crossing. I'm so bad!! Eek Edited June 26, 2017 by Scrappi&Monty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pip's mum Posted June 26, 2017 Author Share Posted June 26, 2017 Thanks for the replies! Yes, so many different words I started using 'drop it' for letting go of things from his mouth, and 'down' for lying down. Then I noticed my friend's dog responds to 'leave it' and 'drop' for the above. Since he (my friend) will be my puppy's babysitter when we're away, I thought I'd better use the same words. And I use 'let's go' when I want him to stop sniffing around and continue walking, while hubby uses 'come'. I think I'd better sit down and list the words I want to use... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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