Training your yorkie to "Drop It"? You guys have any good ideas how to train one's yorkie to drop something? Cookie is always picking up snails but when I tell her to "Drop It" she grabs it in her mouth and runs off, which usually ends up with me chasing her around the yard and then putting her in her cage for timeout after. I'm not so worried about snails (though have heard they're not great for yorkies), but she also likes to pull up a loose piece of bathroom tile and I want to be able to make sure she'll drop something truly dangerous on command, such as if she catches a bufo toad (they're all over my yard after dusk/before sunrise, and are super slow and would therefore be easy bait for Cook). Anyone have good ideas on how to teach this? Chasing her around until I tire her out obviously isn't a good way to get her to drop something, especially if it should ever be something dangerous to her. Is the timeout in the cage a good or bad idea? Thanks. |
This is copied from an earlier post I did and pasted. Sorry for any run together words or loss of formatting, etc. Might see if this technique will work for your girl: LEAVE IT: I taught Tibbe using the trade-out method. Gave him a toy to take in his mouth as I hid a treat behind my back. When he dropped the toy in his routine play, I said "Leave it", immediately gave him the treat. Repeated over & over for a few times each session for a couple of days. He soon was dropping his toy on his own, trying to get a treat. After a time as he was playing with a toy, I would say "Leave it" before he got the chance to drop it on his own and if he dropped & looked at me, I instantly treated him & praised him with a "Good boy" and would repeat the exercise again. Once I gave the command and he didn't drop it, I would say "uh oh" & turn away from him to start to let him know that "uh oh" meant no attention and no treat. After a minute - 60 seconds, would turn back around and start over with "Leave it" and keep going through the treating/praising if he did drop it & turn to me and "uh oh", no treat & turning away if he didn't. At this point in the training, after he'd started learning to drop the toy as a result of the verbal command to "Leave it", if he dropped it on his own to get a treat, he got none. I only treated when I had said "Leave it", as this starts teaching him at this stage in the training that responding to the command is what gets him the treat now. Later, I would put toy on the floor & tell him to "Leave it", treating him if he avoided taking it in his mouth. Once he got very good at leaving it - dropping the toy on command, I would hold two treats, one in each hand, offering him one and holding one out in front of me so he could see it. Once he took the first treat, I would say "Leave it". He didn't know any better at first & his first reflex was eat treats, at which time I would say "uh oh", retract the hand with the second treat & turn away. Eventually once he dropped the first treat, he got the other offered treat immediately and big, big praises. Dropping food out of its mouth on command is a big step forward in the "Leave it" training. That is VERY BIG. Immediately I got two more treats, offered him one, held the other out in the other hand so he could see it and said "Leave it". He ate the first treat immediately! That's how it goes. So, I said "Uh on", turned away, retracting the hand with the other treat, waited 60 seconds then turned back & got another treat, started over with "Leave it". Eventually, he got it - a game - when playing "Leave it", you drop whatever you are given - whatever it is - even food - and you will immediately get a second treat. And big big big praises & happiness by mommy! Then I would place the treat on the floor and tell him to "Leave it", praising if he did. After a while, I even tried him on chicken pieces. He learned to drop a piece of chicken when I said "Leave it", because he knew he would get the second piece in my hand instantly! I could place the meat on the floor in front of him and he would back off if I said "Leave it". He did it to get the piece he knew was waiting - that piece of chicken & the praise. You can literally train a dog to do anything, even delay instant food gratification if you are patient, keep the sessions very short & let them know that if there are no results, no treat/praise is forthcoming but, oh, boy, if they do leave it, the reward is immediate & good! The last piece you have to know is when you use the "Leave it" command in a non-training way as when the dog picks up a sock or a dropped pill, always go get them a good treat & praise, praise, praise when they do drop the object. ALWAYS get them their treat. I don't care if you are ill - get the dog his treat & praise him lovingly. It will keep the lesson in his head that dropping the object or food in his mouth is the thing to do as he's going to get his reward/praise and a happy, happy mommie. There are many ways to do this lesson so as others give their methods, pick what best works for you and your dog. Make a game of it, keep it short, stay patient & repeat the game frequently - even when he is old. Hope he learns it well. It can save his life. |
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Oh my God, yorkietalkjilly! Thank you so much for that incredible post. I'll get right to work on training my little girl. |
I watched Victoria Stillwell and taught Huey the "trade"command, but obviously didn't follow it up properly, because he will now find "forbidden" objects all over the house to "trade" for treats. So, make sure you continue on with your training after teaching tbe drop/trade command to make sure it doesn't backfire like mine did! (Cunning little brat) |
I Agee ! Great way to train drop and leave! You might also throw in a little loose leash training . You have more control on the leave it command by giving a little jerk on the leash . Pretty soon you won't need to do that. Drop it is a little harder just always have a treat handy when you make the command cause what YOU have is always yummiest than what they have. And they are more willing , and praise praise praise. Good luck! |
Jeanie gave you excellent advice! I just wanted to be sure you know how poisonous Bufo toads are to dogs. I also have them in my yard. I'm more concerned about my dogs having any contact at all with them. |
I kind of disagree with leash-jerking for training, especially for a small toy-sized dog. Some dogs are really put off by the aversive type training and will kind of freeze up if they think they are being disciplined when trying to learn what we want and it's particularly true of toy dogs - not so much with the bouncing Boxers and intuitive Labs/GSD's who can be quite thick-skinned. And training is "talking" - it's trying to communicate in a positive way to a dog who can't know what we want but is usually excited and trying its best to figure us out. I kind of make a game out of training to keep up the dog's interest in me, amping myself up to keep energy and fun and excitement in each command and response to the dog getting it right. Dogs LOVE that. They love to know they just got it right and you get them and how very smart they are and respond with excitement and celebration, happiness in them. Dogs love that we know how very smart they are and that they understand what we want and can do it and then we show we appreciate them and their braininess. They live for that moment in training. Keep it special and fun for them. That's when the magic happens between you. To jerk the leash on a little guy still working at trying to learn just seems a tad harsh-y to me but I'm an awful softie where dogs are concerned!!! It might work really well to get some dog's attention but Tibbe and some other toys I've trained would shut down and regress - and Yorkies can be that type touchy little dog if they think we are being a bit hard on them. :) Still, if it works for your dog to help him learn, I guess jerking a leash is the thing to do as long as it doesn't affect the neck area. But be sure it doesn't send a little downer message to your dog. I have always trained using only positive reinforcement except for the words "uh oh" once they really begin to learn a trick but get it occasionally wrong. I do like my dog to get negative feedback when it makes a mistake in order to mark the incorrect response and learn the meaning of "uh oh". But I only use "uh oh" after a dog has basically learned a trick well yet is not paying attention or beginning to get a little restive during a training session. I usually quickly end the training session once he's done it right a couple more times after I've had to use "uh oh" but I do like the dog to know "uh oh" means you didn't get it right, let's go again with focus. If you just keep offering the trade-out with the term "leave it"(or drop it or whatever term you prefer) when he's playing with his toy and dropping it voluntarily in play, in time he'll learn there's a game on of some kind with you and then you can actually start teaching him to do it by saying "leave it" just as you see he's about to drop a toy. A well-placed "leave it" just before he starts to release the toy or chewie and an immediate treat/happy praise the minute the toy/chewie hits the floor and before long, they get it in a few days - some way sooner. Like anything some dogs learn certain tricks really fast and it takes a long time to pick up others. |
Oh my goodness It's not THAT jerky for heavens sake, and it is what Pet Smart obedience training teaches. YOU have the say on what to do and not what to do , not the sweet little thing. If you are walking along and they want to stop to stick their nose in another dogs poop You only have time to react with a SLIGHT tug (as there will be one there anyway when they stop suddenly ) and you will then command leave it . It stops what they are doing and breaks that particular action and reinforces it with what is proper...to leave it. Worked for me and didn't take long. She happily bounces along to her next adventure. |
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I love how willing you are to help others, and how you word things, so people can take it or leave it, depending on their situation and dog. You've helped me, as I got a little rusty, since it's been years since I done puppy training. |
I'm glad to hear I have helped. I think we all might need a little diversifying every now and then. We are here to either learn or help or maybe both! I think anyone who owns a yorkie has their own interests at heart. Training makes life easier and safer for dog and owner and should never be presented in a forceful manner. There are many ways to teach and I think if you have made the life changing decision to own one you are also a compassionate human being and will present yourself as such to your baby . I hope you enjoy a long happy rewarding life with your fur baby. And keep reading here on YorkiTalk. There is a lot of good information from people who care! And with that I will "leave it". |
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