Removing things from mouth.

[Jango]

Okay, quick question. What is the best way to do this? Jango will grab some things he shouldn't and I need to get them away from him. Toys, kongs, his nylabones are not a problem. I did find out that big rocks, and bones are not good. He gets pretty upset and nips/bites at me. Especiallly with bones. I know bones is one thing I will not give him. ;) I try to gently grab his lower jaw and open it carefully, get the object out and then have him sit and give him a treat. Any of you have better ideas. The release/treat command works if it is one of his toys but if it is a bone or rock it does not work. Just don't want him to swallow something he shouldn't. The somewhat humorous part is, he knows when he grabs something he's not supposed to have and he will try and avoid me at all costs.

[spidey]

Train him to drop things on command - you have the right idea, but are doing it the wrong way around. Trade him a treat for dropping the item - if you hold the treat to his nose, he has to drop the item to get the treat - offering the treat after the behaviour isn't logical to him at this stage, because you haven't fully trained the behaviour yet - use the treat to get the behaviour, since he can't actually GET the treat until he performs the behaviour. After he's doing this consistently, add a cue to it (I use "leave it"), and it should be smooth sailing from there. For me, "leave it" means "drop what you're holding and come get something better from me", so I will reward it the majority of the time, whether with play or praise or treats - it's asking a dog to do something quite contrary to his nature (dogs are scavengers, picking things up is part of their built-in survival code), so I feel it's important to reinforce it.

And by the way, if you need to physically get his mouth open (which I wouldn't do for this purpose), place your hand around the top of his muzzle press the lips of his upper jaw into his teeth, which will get him to open his mouth himself - you won't get very far trying to pry his mouth open, especially if you're trying to move the lower jaw.

[Mary Bouchard]

Our male did this and we spent a week teaching him the word RELEASE.

We started with toys and would trade it for a treat. And praise him like crazy and then moved on to rocks and sticks and people.

( He is trained to fetch my teenager and wont release her without the RELEASE command.)


Used it last night when my daughter lingered outside with a boyfriend told him fetch Blair and you should of seen the boys face as a 110 lb. rottie came running out of the house gleefully (he loves to fetch her) and dragged her in the house in front of me. I told the boy be glad I didn't use the other commands he knows and go home!

[debbiej]

we taught Hilda the 'out' command with treats too. It works. I try to keep a treat handy because if she has something she shouldn't and I go to get a treat, she drops the object and follows me. I want her to get the treat for outing the object. so sometimes we go back where the thing was dropped, and if she picks it up again, I say out and when she does, give the treat. Sometimes I'm not sure who is training who here.

[HerculesMomma]

I've got some training books on the way to help me figure this one out, but this particular issue I think will take a mountain to tackle for Hercules and me.

He is obsessed with balls - mostly tennis balls. If there aren't any tennis balls in the house, then he reverts to his Kong ball. I can get him to drop the ball for a treat, but he hears me go into the kitchen and get the bag of treats so he's already dropped the ball. The other option I've been working on is I've bought a 12 pack of tennis balls (Walmart for 6 bucks!) and I can get him to drop the tennis ball if I have another tennis ball in my hand. Otherwise, no way. I don't think his previous owner ever taught him "drop it". He used to growl at me if I tried to take his tennis ball when it was in his mouth, but at least I've gotten him to stop that. I can even put my fingers on the tennis ball now while its in his mouth no problem (maybe that was a trust issue since I just adopted him 2 weeks ago?). But he simply will not give up that tennis ball willingly.

Is the tactic of while he has a tennis ball in his mouth grabbing another tennis ball and telling him to "drop it" a good training technique? When he does drop the ball in his mouth I say "drop it" and then praise him and then throw the tennis ball in my hand. Am I going down the right path?

[Jango]

Yep, figures. There I go doing things backwards again. Thanks for the tips. Will give it a shot and hopefully things will work a little better.

[Ilovemypuppy]

Teaching the release as written by Judi W...excellent advice....from previous thread...



As far as teaching her to release, I would use the same method I use for pups. Anytime she brings you something, praise her.

If it is something she can have, examine it, admire it and return it. If it is something you'd rather she not have, call her saying "hey what did you find" "wow, that is neat can I see it".

Don't go towards her, but rather away from her and towards your reward jar (cookies) calling her happily. Ask her to let you see her treasure, admire it and give her a cookie. Each time she brings something use your "out" word. Drawn out and not said harshly.

You want her to be willing to bring you anything she finds and give it too you. This method will teach her to do so without a fight and teach her to be proud of doing so. You want to have methods that avoid your being in a position to "back down" and there are methods for doing so. Use your ingenuity.

[RottieGirl86]

re: The somewhat humorous part is, he knows when he grabs something he's not supposed to have and he will try and avoid me at all costs.


be careful this doesn't become a game. Don't chase unless you absolutely have to! This si a judgement call on your part.

I used doggie pyschology on Athena - they want our attention. I would make her come to me rather than engage in a chase.

Chase=game
Chase = me top dog, you (owner) a wanna be

Have her come over, have a higher valued item, she release the object I wanted, she'd get the 'treat.'

I worked swap out until 1 day she had something I was scared she'd choke on, I yelled at her (CTJ moment if ever!), I had nothing in hand - she came to me & dropped it. This was after 1 year of constant bonding & interaction. She was on NIFL since day 1 when I got her ( even though at times I did think she was cute 'for just breathing', lol).

So far, been almost a year, no challanges to this yet. I'm just extra viligent that trash stays in trash out of reach for doggies. Q-tip can easily choke a dog, price tags ( plastic ones) - so can a lot of other stuff.

Max was easier, he looks at Athena & my interactions for guidance. She alpha over him, I'm alpha over her. Works out nicely so far!

[Shaw_2112]

Originally Posted by Mary Bouchard

Used it last night when my daughter lingered outside with a boyfriend told him fetch Blair and you should of seen the boys face as a 110 lb. rottie came running out of the house gleefully (he loves to fetch her) and dragged her in the house in front of me. I told the boy be glad I didn't use the other commands he knows and go home!

HAHAHA!! I just found out I'm going to have a little girl. I HAVE to teach my Harley this trick!! :D

[norcalbmxer]

I started with the normal fetch game, my rottie loves this game. When she sees me break out the tennis ball, she becomes so focused, that she sit in her waiting pose for 30+ mins without moving at all, just staring at the ball, waiting for it to leaev my hand.....the problem was though that she would chase the ball, and bring it back, but not drop it. So one day i brought a second ball into the game, and when she brought the first ball back to me, I told her "Drop it" and showed her the second ball. I swear, when she saw the scond ball i had in my hand, her jaw dropped in awe, releasing the first ball. I praised her as she focused on the second ball, and then scooped the first one up off the ground, and threw the second one for her to start the process over again.....

The command come in handy, when they have something they should not.

[tugger5000]

Originally Posted by Mary Bouchard

Used it last night when my daughter lingered outside with a boyfriend told him fetch Blair and you should of seen the boys face as a 110 lb. rottie came running out of the house gleefully (he loves to fetch her) and dragged her in the house in front of me. I told the boy be glad I didn't use the other commands he knows and go home!

The least you could've done was offer the kid a change of shorts! :p

[Laura]

I just got a new pair of leather gloves and Chance got a hold of them and unfortunately my reaction was a little over the top. I jumped up and was saying a very stern "give". That was a big mistake. To this day she eyes my gloves all the time and if I don't pay attention where I put them I have wet leather gloves with the fingers squashed together.

They really do pay attention to body language, especially things that could get a rise out of you.

Mary Bouchard: hehehehehe.

[Shelly0390]

I started the "GIVE" command with favorite toys. I DO NOT encourage tug of war so it was either give it to me, or prying it out of her jaws, then, a good pet, and a thank you. She would then get it back. Pretty soon, she was giving those up. I'm working on the bones right now. Some are harder than others with her depending on how good the bone is!

[Judi W]

I wrote a rather long thing quite some time ago on this. Non-combative and it works. If I get a chance I will do a search and post it.

[Judi W]

Here is a piece of my recommendations. I'll give you a bit of overview on the taking and running with things.

I've written about this before so this post will be a bit shorter but you can do a search if you wish. Instead of making it a contest, (dog grabbing something, owner chasing dog down) please transfer this picking up of things into a fetching behavior. This is easily done, (takes longer if you've been making it a chase or fighting contest). Everytime your pup picks something up, whether its own toy or something you might not want them to have, you should in a happy voice call the pup and say "what have you found? Wow, that is neat, let me see it." sort of thing. Clap your hands and smile to encourage the pup. When they bring it to you, admire it and tell them how clever they are. If it is something they can have, admire it and return it to them. If it is what I call "beads" or "trade goods", get up and with them still carrying the item, walk to another room again clapping your hands and talking happily to encourage them, where the cookie jar is. admire the object again and thank them for "finding" it for you and take it, rewarding the find with a cookie. Again, telling them what a clever puppy they are.

This is a trick I learned from the retriever people. They do not want to discourage a pup from picking things up - after all this is going to be their occupation in life. They do want to encourage the pup to bring them whatever they find. Now here is the thing to watch out for. Carrying is good. Lying down with a forbidden object is a no no. Lying down with the object between the paws is precursor to posession and chewing. If the pup lies down with the forbidden object, you get moving. Calling pup to follow you into the cookie area and doing the same admiration and reward routine. They might leave the object behind which is OK also as they have relinquished the object in order to follow you and they still get the reward. Then offer them a toy of their own and pick up the forbidden one. If they don't move right away, they will when they hear the cookie jar rattle. This is also important when a dog seems to have become posessive of any object. The idea is to get them up and moving rather than hunched over whatever it is even if it is something they can have. Posessivness is quite "place" related and moving the dog from the "place" is very helpful for over-posessiveness. Also, it is hard for a dog to act posessive when up and moving. That usually occurs with the lying down, object between paws and head over object.

For a while your dog will be bringing you the strangest items. No matter. Admire and praise. The biggest smile I ever had was with one dog (long since gone) who whenever I came home from work, in order to show me his joy at my return would bring me something - anything. One day he was in the yard and as I drove up and got to the gate before he was able to find anything else, he brought me a leaf!

Dogs raised in this fashion can be very useful around the house and if you are going on to competition, teaching the formal fetch becomes quite easy. They are happy and proud to bring you whatever you wish. No forced retrieve necessary.

As they mature they will start limiting their fetches to their own items.

So, again - work WITH the dog rather than against it. Working with the dog is always first choice even with activities that might appear to be not what you want.

I often see requests for behavior and training information that want "Rottweiler" responses. We have much we can learn from the owners/trainers of other breeds.

I hope this can help you redirect your own behavior to something that will benefit both yourself and your pup.