{"id":6090,"date":"2025-06-27T11:11:42","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T15:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smokymountaindoodles.com\/?p=6090"},"modified":"2025-06-27T11:11:43","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T15:11:43","slug":"how-to-teach-a-puppy-to-drop-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smokymountaindoodles.com\/?p=6090","title":{"rendered":"How to Teach a Puppy to Drop It"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By: Kathy Callahan, CPDT-KA, FDM<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yelling or chasing your puppy to get him to drop something dangerous is not the best choice. Here are some better strategies to stop a puppy from chewing something he\u2019s \u201cstolen.\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Puppies use their mouths to explore their worlds. This means that your puppy may trot into the room with something in her mouth that you don\u2019t want to her have. Maybe it\u2019s valuable, like your brand new AirPods. Maybe it\u2019s precious, like your son\u2019s favorite stuffed bear. Or maybe it\u2019s dangerous, like a bottle of prescription meds. Whatever it is, how should you get your puppy to drop it? Knowing how to teach a puppy to \u201cdrop it,\u201d can keep both your possessions and your puppy safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s counter-intuitive, but if you have not yet taught your dog to \u201ctrade\u201d or \u201cdrop it,\u201d the best way to get the item back immediately is to give it zero<\/em> attention. If there\u2019s anything more enticing to a dog than a new thing, it\u2019s a new thing that somebody else wants really badly! (Don\u2019t believe me? Watch a dog suddenly care about that stupid old bone they\u2019ve never ever chewed until the neighbor\u2019s dog comes over and picks it up.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second you see a forbidden item in your puppy\u2019s mouth, spring into action . . . elsewhere! Make your puppy suddenly think that the item is worthless because 1) you aren\u2019t paying attention to it, and 2) you seem to be doing something else that\u2019s really<\/em> exciting. Humans aren\u2019t the only ones who experience FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leap up. Skip to the kitchen singing the, \u201cI\u2019m getting out the ham\u201d song. Be goofy. This alone (provided it doesn\u2019t happen all the time) can be enough to startle your dog into dropping the item.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If that happens, do not<\/em> run back to the scene of the crime, grab the item, and give a big lecture about how he\u2019s never to do this again. You will have undone all your good work! Instead, prove to your dog that it always pays to see what you\u2019re up to when you\u2019re acting goofy: Give him that ham you grabbed from the fridge. Ask for some sits and spins and downs, and reward with that ham. Then do a kibble scatter on the floor so it\u2019ll take him a little while to clean up, and then<\/em> slip out to quietly grab the item and put it up high. Phew! Done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another option is to make a treat trail. Make a little path of ham bits starting right at your puppy\u2019s feet and heading away from the item. (You can\u2019t eat ham and<\/em> maintain possession of the prescription sunglasses.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Offering up a special tug toy might do the trick for your tug-obsessed dog. Or, if your dog is in love with a neighbor\u2019s dog, it might work to announce an immediate trip next door for a play session. Your knowledge of your dog will help you figure out what will create the FOMO elsewhere that will make him drop the item.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Not to Do<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Maybe the approach above strikes you as silly, when you are inclined to choose a more direct or even stern approach. Before you do that, be aware that the strategy you use might spell the difference between a dog who constantly looks for \u201cbad\u201d things to pick up in her mouth, and one who never develops that habit. The wrong response to a dog who loves to pick up stuff could very well promote the development of resource-guarding behaviors \u2013 a bigger problem than losing a few items to chewing. Serious resource guarding calls for help from an experienced force-free trainer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people instinctively try the yell-and-grab method, chasing down the pup and physically extracting the item from the puppy\u2019s mouth. After all, every second counts when it comes to either damage inflicted to the item or danger to the pup from ingestion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But is the yell-and-grab really the fastest, safest way to retrieve the item? Nope. Even if it works in this particular moment, you\u2019ve set yourself up for trouble. Here are some likely unintended and unpleasant outcomes of this approach:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Seeing your approach, puppy knows she has just seconds to work with, so she gobbles quickly instead of just playing with the item. Now that chicken bone she found under the bush in the park is down her throat. What did pup learn?\u00a0Nothing, but you\u2019ve now got a big vet bill.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The pup is delighted with her newfound attention. Pup runs and scampers, staying just out of reach, having a blast! What did pup learn?\u00a0\u201cTo have a super happy time with Mom, just grab something that\u2019s not a puppy toy!\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The pup is scared of your shockingly big mad voice and fast movement, so she runs and hides under the couch. It takes a long time to get her (and the item) out. What did pup learn?\u00a0\u201cDon\u2019t ever trust Dad; he\u2019s unpredictable!\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The pup begins to realize that you are\u00a0constantly<\/em>\u00a0trying to steal her special treasures, so she goes on the offense, growling and snapping. What has she learned?\u00a0\u201cThese people take all the good stuff, so be ready to fend them off.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0This last one is serious; you may find out too late that you have inadvertently contributed to the creation of a resource-guarder; you\u2019ll need a good force-free trainer to help deal with this.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Using a Cue for \u201cDrop it\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    If you have invested time in teaching your puppy that giving something up to you will pay off for her, then you\u2019re all set for this key moment. You can calmly use the cue you\u2019ve taught (either \u201cdrop it\u201d or \u201ctrade\u201d), your pup will relinquish the item and receive a reward, and you\u2019ll be on your way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Prevention Skills<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Sometimes people hear the description of the skip-and-sing approach and say, \u201cCome on! My puppy grabs stuff all day long! I can\u2019t do this whole shebang every time!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It\u2019s quiz time! What is wrong with the sentence, \u201cMy puppy grabs stuff all day long?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You get an A+ if you answered: \u201cAny self-respecting new puppy will grab anything interesting in his path, especially when bored. It is up to the people who took him from Planet Dog to create a safe environment for him here on Planet Human. That means gates and crates, careful supervision, plenty of exercise, and puppy-appropriate enrichment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    By: Kathy Callahan, CPDT-KA, FDM Yelling or chasing your puppy to get him to drop something dangerous is not the[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,405],"tags":[22,91,12,15,18,34,54,554,553,8],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smokymountaindoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6090"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smokymountaindoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smokymountaindoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smokymountaindoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smokymountaindoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6090"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.smokymountaindoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6092,"href":"https:\/\/www.smokymountaindoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6090\/revisions\/6092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smokymountaindoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smokymountaindoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smokymountaindoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smokymountaindoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}