Great Tips to Train Your Puppy to Drop It

For this Omaha dog training session we were called in to train a puppy (8 month-old Coton de Tulear, Abbey) to drop items she picks up in her mouth using the Drop It and Take It method and help her respect boundaries.

After I arrived I sat down with Abbey’s guardians to learn about their main puppy behavior concern. Abbey is a master at picking things up from the ground while out on walks. Her guardians were worried about this because they didn’t want her to ingest something that could be harmful for her.

Often times we only try to take things away from our dogs when they have something that they shouldn’t have. This teaches them to try to keep whatever they have picked up away from us. When we regularly can take something way from them that they like and give it back to them, using positive dog training, our dogs are more willing to give up whatever they have picked up. To see how I accomplished this, watch the video below.

As you can see in the video above, Abbey gives up her high value item to receive a treat reward. Remember, you want to have a treat that is high-value so your puppy thinks this is a worthwhile trade! This method can be used to train your dog to drop anything: drop item, drop toy, etc.

By the end of this puppy training session, Abbey was giving up her high value item for treats, listening to commands and learning the new rules and boundaries that we set in the house. To keep up with this good behavior the guardians will want to continue to use our Escalating Consequences to disagree with her and use our Petting with a Purpose technique to reward her for good behavior. We wrapped up this training session with Abbey’s Roadmap to Success video, which you can watch below.