You could just teach the "drop" command.
What I described is called conditioning. It's psychology and it does work. A conditioned response is like, chocolate = happy. The goal is to get your dog to think that taking his toy away is a good thing. Loki "steals" things like socks all the time and if I don't chase him he just leaves it alone. If he's good and he bring it to me and drop it at my feet, I am sure going to give him a treat for it. What if he stole something dangerous? I'd sure rather he bring it to me! It's my job to keep danerous things out of his way - he's a terrier - he shops in the laundry basket for dirty socks. Sometimes the biggest reward is just giving something back to him. If I drop a piece of junk mail he will pick it up. Not steal like run away, just pick up. I ask to look at it, and half the time I give it back to him to shred. That way he knows I don't always spoil the fun. |