Hi all I've noticed I seem to have problems at the beginning of the week. This is not a new problem but has just happened. How do you get a cheeky Labrador to drop something he has found, wants and knows you don't want him to have? Due to the strong winds the pears are falling off the trees. I stand under the trees endangering my life in a bid to get to them first but this afternoon I was too slow and Scout got a pear. I got it in the end by conning him back into the house. I have a long line on Scout because of this problem (not long enough ! ) and it doesn't matter how tasty a treat I try to bribe with he won't come near. Obviously a pear won't do much harm but as I posted on Lisa's thread "Here's hoping" the problem is not just limited to edible items. It's a mystery ball returned and dropped chunk of plastic swallowed ! ! ! Any ideas will as always be gratefully received and tried. Jen
Re: Drop!*!*! [quote author=Jen link=topic=2583.msg25941#msg25941 date=1379347409] How do you get a cheeky Labrador to drop something he has found, wants and knows you don't want him to have? [/quote] I'm waiting for the answers to your question! My "leave it" is really rubbish...hardly ever works, need to start again on it. Tiny progress recently pretending I'm delighted Charlie has whatever, and sometimes he'll present it to me - not often though, and not if it's food-like.
Re: Drop!*!*! Same here,we have made progress .......but most of the time its still an eyeballing competition weighing up 'ill consider a drop if you have something better?'......l
Re: Drop!*!*! Yep - getting the right "swap" bribe. Don't think we have any pears this year (maybe because OH pulled out one of the small trees : ) We do , however, have an abundance of plums. We sadly just accept that the windfalls are fair game, but scoop up as many as we can, cos short of freshly roast chicken or beef in constant supply, nothing is as tempting. The consequences are some increased frequency of poop, and a bit on the soft side ;D but no accidents or other dire consequences, and we are pretty sure she mostly spits the stones out. I guess we just don't have a robust enough "leave it" (well...ha ha...not sure we have one to speak off at all for something tasty!) Hey Ho......
Re: Drop!*!*! Pears? I would love it if my black lab would eat just pears!!! He found a dead blackbird this morning, "Drop!!!" whilst offering a lovely large piece of ham. He stood there, looked at me and I watched the wings disappear down his throat. He seems none the worse for wear, but I'm watching him like a hawk - maybe not hawk, he'd eat one of those if he found one.
Re: Drop!*!*! Oh well at least we are all in the same boat. : I guess it's one of those million dollar questions and if someone does come up with the answer they deserve a prize. ;D ;D ;D
Re: Drop!*!*! [quote author=Sage link=topic=2583.msg25974#msg25974 date=1379359607] Pears? I would love it if my black lab would eat just pears!!! He found a dead blackbird this morning, "Drop!!!" whilst offering a lovely large piece of ham. He stood there, looked at me and I watched the wings disappear down his throat. He seems none the worse for wear, but I'm watching him like a hawk - maybe not hawk, he'd eat one of those if he found one. [/quote] He He - sadly we are not confined to pear and plum munching either. The squashed dead birds at the beach today got flung around a bit but not actually eaten. I have no idea what she did munch on - I thought it was crisped seaweed : but I suspect it may have been some kind of small animal carcass, The absolute joy on her face.......
Re: Drop!*!*! [quote author=jade805 link=topic=2583.msg25978#msg25978 date=1379360899] We have a saying "deal or no deal Amy?" [/quote] ;D ;D ;D
Re: Drop!*!*! To be honest, I'd just be fencing off the trees. We have a plum tree too. Oh, the horror..... We don't fence it off but every morning before the dog is allowed out we go and pick up plums. One plum = ok. Two plums = ok. But twenty plums = carpet-destroying nightmare.
Re: Drop!*!*! Well obviously I don't have any wisdom to impart on this one.... : However I have been looking through training tips on this and have been trying one around here. The idea is, when the dog has snatched something that you really don't care that he has (eg, a piece of paper, an old sock, whatever) then you offer the bribe in a very nonchalant way. He will likely take the bribe, because, let's face it, a piece of kibble is way more interesting than a piece of paper. As he's eating you naturally take the item away, but THEN you give it BACK!! The idea being that the dog won't be so reluctant to give you things because he is starting to see that sometimes when he does, he not only gets a piece of food but also gets the item back. Worth a try maybe? Not saying that this is making a huge difference (yet) with Simba, but I'm keeping up with it. Problem being, of course, that mainly he takes things that I DO care about.... :
Re: Drop!*!*! My ruse is to tell myself that the £20 she has IS just a bit of paper, the precious xxx is just a worthless whatnot, in an attempt to make her think its not valuable. Usually works if I keep my cool. Worst thing is her getting something so she can engage me in play, me not noticing, then left fo her own devices she might have a good chew onn it Thankfully we don't have a great problem.........*crossed fingers*
Re: Drop!*!*! [quote author=drjs@5 link=topic=2583.msg26029#msg26029 date=1379401240] My ruse is to tell myself that the £20 she has IS just a bit of paper, the precious xxx is just a worthless whatnot, in an attempt to make her think its not valuable. Usually works if I keep my cool. Worst thing is her getting something so she can engage me in play, me not noticing, then left fo her own devices she might have a good chew onn it Thankfully we don't have a great problem.........*crossed fingers* [/quote] Know that feeling! Luckily the bank accepted the £20 note in several bits and slightly manky and gave us a lovely shiny new one ;D
Re: Drop!*!*! There are often two separate issues here, one involves the dog wanting to ‘possess’ an important object, and the other involves food. People often try and treat them as one and the same. Non-food You can teach any dog to swap a non-food item for a food reward. But this isn’t something you can do on a crisis management basis. It needs to be taught and practiced on a regular basis. This 'releasing' action is part of the retrieving chain, but you can teach it in isolation if you want to. See The Clicker Retrieve Food Anything that the dog regards as food, which may include rotten fruit, horse manure, his own faeces etc, is a different matter. The more the dog values the taste, the quicker he will try and get the item into his stomach before you can get to him. Calling him or catching him is only likely to make him swallow it faster. There are various approaches to solving this, including denying access to the food item through barrier, muzzles etc. One technique that works well with a lot of dogs is a 'magic' word. This can be any word you like, but is needs to be jolly and up beat - "Hooray" works quite nicely Basically, you associate this word with a fantastic treat (roast chicken usually does the trick) several times each day. Just say the word and chuck the chicken to the dog. Do this for a couple of days Once the dog comes racing towards you each time you say your magic word, you can start using it when he picks up a food item you don't want him to swallow. Warning: at first he will swallow the food item and then come to get his reward, don't disappoint him, give him the reward anyway. Once he stops suspecting you are going to take his prize away, he will often start to drop it before or on his way to get his roast chicken. This stops some dogs poo eating quite quickly. It all depends how much he wants the thing in his mouth. The main problem people have is that they give up too quickly or fail to convince the dog that they really have given up trying to take his stuff away. I'll put up an article about this with more detail on the main site next week Pippa
Re: Drop!*!*! Thanks Pippa I will certainly give that a go and persevere . Unfortunately with my 2 the more disgusting it is the more tasty so getting them to drop that will take time I know but at least I now have a strategy. My concern is when they get something small enough to swallow that isn't edible. Sometimes I leave them to chew rather than risk them swallowing it because I'm trying to get it. Obviously as you say the release part of the retrieve is not ingrained enough. To be honest I doubted it could be,for my dogs anyway but now intensive training will begin ! I'll get them to drop things randomly throughout the day. Fingers crossed I'm in for the long haul Jen
Re: Drop!*!*! That sounds like a useful strategy Pippa. I think we are maybe hung up a little on the rewarding only if they do something right, so gobble the dead pigeon, get the treat wouldn't really factor in that type of rewarding. I suppose this is more like the "dog goes AWOL, but reward even if it takes half an hour to come back" because they DID come back. Hmmm....food for thought. (got my reflector hat on this evening) Thanks!
