After reading this, I tried to bribe my dog today to get something away from her (a little wool ball). She took the treat, kept the ball, and swallowed them both at once.
She has to be taught the rules. Encourage her to give up the item first, put your foot on the item she drops as you give her the higher value treat. As you have discovered, the trade has to be one after the other. She has to learn to trust you. if one goes to McDonalds one pays for the meal before receiving it. Doesn't happen that way in most restaurants. We trust and understand the rules.
She definitely doesn't trust me to trade (rightly so, frankly). I have a long history of taking things she wants - even tricking her into getting distracted while I grab the item away. But I didn't know that taking things could lead to serious behavior problems/aggression until I read this thread. I guess today was my payback for all those times I snatched and ran! Well, today and tomorrow when I have to wait by her tail to make sure the wool ball makes it through okay.
Okay @R Lewis Ahh. So she really did understand the rules. It's not too late to get a trader, but you'll need to work on it because she has a history of being hoodwinked! Spend a bit of time training give and take. If she gives up the tug toy, she gets it back and you play a bit of tug with her. If you are feeling adventurous, then get her to give to your left hand, as you give the piece of chicken with the right. Use cues. Make it this for that. "Give" results in "take" the chicken treat. Leave a slight pause bewteen the two cues.
I've sorta got her handing me toys for treats if we're playing. Before "fetch" was impossible because she didn't care to give up the thing she fetched. She'd keep shoving the toy in my hand but not letting go (and then looking at me as if I'm holding up the game). But lately I'll toss her little stuffed toy and she'll bring it back, and if she gives it to me with no fight I'll click and give her a treat and toss it again. Now she practically throws the toy at me. Contraband items are a different story though, because she loves the 'puppy-keep-away' game. I've stopped running after her, trying not to play. I was literally throwing treats in her wake her to bribe her today, because I couldn't get close enough for her to see/get interested in what I was offering in trade. Totally wrapped up in her glee, she ignored them! I thought she'd drop the wool ball to take the treats and then I could get it, but no dice. We'll work on trading with this old pillow she loves but can't have - it's too big to eat.
Here's something should the occasion arise again. You remember the scene in Tom Sawyer and the fence. Pretend that what you've got in your hand is the most interesting thing in the world. If necessary talk to Mr Treat. Have an engaged and animated conversation. Don't look at your dog. She sounds as though she is very clever. I think she'll investigate who is this Mr Treat. It might work. Who knows? If it does it will only work a couple of time before she understands that Tom"" doesn't really find painting the fence that interesting. With dogs they are all individuals. Keep trying different things until you find one that allows you to bridge the gap between the species. PS I guess you now understand the value of a house line when she is in the house, Well at least until all the good training you're now doing comes to the fore.
That's a great idea! She is the dog Aesop wrote about when he told the "The Dog and its Reflection" story. I'll play that game with her anyway, where I'll hold a chew and pretend I'm chewing it and she'll drop her chew (exact same kind usually) just to come wrestle mine away from me. We'll trade off and she comes bounding back when I pick up the one she dropped, and we'll repeat the whole game, etc. I get a kick out of the fact that she can't stand that I'm enjoying something she might possibly enjoy. Next time she runs off, I'll run the other way (she loves to chase, too) and start happily "noshing" on some of her treats. Oh, the games we have to play!
Yes @R Lewis Aesop was a keen observer of dogs. Dog behaviourists used to believe that dogs' emotions are not complicated sufficiently to feel envy. Consider, however, the following article. https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/canine-corner/201111/do-dogs-feel-jealousy-and-envy
Ok, so here's the thing: If you do this right, this won't be possible. Doing this right requires something a bit like a magician's sleight of hand trick... 1. When the dog has the item you want them to drop, you get a tasty treat. You DON'T PUT THE TREAT ON THE DOG'S NOSE (sorry for shouting, but these bits are important!) because dogs associate hands coming towards their faces when they have something with forced attempts to take objects off them. If you go towards their face, you will only trigger them to move away and avoid you and the treat. Instead, you kneel on the floor and you PLAY with the treat - dropping it from a few inches above the floor to the floor and saying 'wow, mmm, what's this?'. I call this valuing the treat. YOU must give the treat value so the dog wants this amazing thing you have. You must show zero interest in the item the dog has. You pretend you don't want that item, you are obsessed with the treat. Important: You do NOT completely remove your hand from the treat so the dog can get it as well as the object, and if the dog tries to get it before dropping the object, you don't let them. They MUST drop the object first, before you let them get the treat. But the way you get them to drop it, is not by reaching for it - it's by showing total disinterest in it and by having very tasty treats which you communicate are amazing through your actions... 2. When the dog drops the object, you mark that with a word (like YES or ACE) or similar - you can't use a clicker because you need 2 hands for this sleight of hand thing. And you ROLL THE TREAT A LITTLE WAY ALONG THE FLOOR, AWAY FROM THE DROPPED OBJECT, so the dog chases after the treat. 3. Whilst the dog's back is turned, eating the treat, you pick up the object. It is REALLY IMPORTANT the dog doesn't see you pick up the object! If the dog is too fast for you and eats the treat and turns around back towards the object before you can remove, it you can't remove it. You have to get another treat, and repeat and try to be faster next time picking it up before they see. Why is it important the dog doesn't see you? Because it triggers the dog's guarding and possessive qualities if they SEE YOU TAKE POSSESSION. On the other hand, if the dog sees you ALREADY holding the object, it doesn't trigger their possessiveness. They are just like 'ah, you have the object'. Whereas if they see you reaching for it, it's like a race to see who can get it first and it becomes competitive and about who gets to possess it. So: You don't want the dog to see you pick it up. There you go.
Sometimes all the steps above are not necessary if a dog doesn't already have a possession issue and you are trading in a preventative way, to stop a problem developing. With these dogs you can put treats on their nose and pick up whilst they're looking etc - but if you have a dog with any possessiveness, keep-away (in the retrieve) etc, then the above is really important.
Yea...my puppy hasn't had any resource guarding issues and we don't take bones/treats away from him. We only take stuff he is not supposed to have in his mouth, which he ends up dropping easily on queue when approached. I have traded treats with him before when I don't want him chewing a whole big bone of some sort or a whole bully stick, and he trades for the treat...However, I have not done it like you described and I believe he does see me take the bone. So if I do have to make a trade, I will make sure he doesn't seem me take what he has going forward.
