Teaching your dog the “Drop it” or “Give it” command is invaluable for a myriad of reasons. The first and most obvious is keeping dangerous items out of your dog’s mouth. This could be a matter of life and death. Having your dog drop an item on command could one day save his/her life from such things as batteries, a bottle of pills, or other harmful items.
Another less obvious reason is the relationship factor with your dog. Are you always pulling things out of your dogs’ mouth or harping on him/her “no, no, no” or “give me, give me, give me” to no avail? Then you’re just seen as the big meanie that takes things. Teaching your dog “drop it” by consistently delivering higher value items during your training period will yield a trusting relationship and fun way to communicate with your dog.
This is especially invaluable if you have children or a dog that resource guards. Rather than trying to wrestle a bone out of your dog’s mouth, your child can participate in “drop it” with parental supervision. By teaching the “drop it” command to a resource guarding dog (working your way up to high value items), you can maintain a positive relationship and trusting bond while managing emergency events. In order to teach “drop it,” you need to do some homework. Look for treats that are much higher in value than what you want your dog to drop.
For those of you who are actively looking for a trainer to help your dog “drop it,” we highly suggest you use The Pet Professional Guild to begin your search.
For more information about “drop it” techniques: