Teaching a Goldie to drop

Hi all

Yes next stage in Bella's training- she is doing so well

She is a Goldie and still very puppy like at a year old. She is learning what she can and can't have although I have tried to make it a bit light hearted when she does take shoes, socks etc (not so often now) as she doesn't chew and she brings them back to me although I have to remove from her mouth. The biggest question is how I get her to drop. We have been working on the Ball and Kong - her favourite, she is learning to bring it to us with lots of praise but appears to not know how to drop. It was painful today seeing her wanting to play ball but not understanding how to drop it. She will happily let us take it out of her mouth most of the time. What can I do to train the " drop" command please.

Clicker train it.

My dog won’t let go of the article

This often happens with very possessive dogs you just need to teach the “out/leave/drop” command. Do NOT try to force the dog to open its jaws; do NOT try to pull article out; do NOT smack it etc etc. You will teach the dog to compete with you for it and this will result in a dog not coming back, not giving up the article and even running off with it and guarding it.

How do I get the dog to let go?

If you have a dog that will not drop it, say and do nothing until it does let it go. (All dogs will get tired eventually). Do not hold on to the article, the dog may start to struggle, but you may keep the dog on a lead so it cannot escape and do anything else. The MOMENT it drops the article say WOW and throw the food away from you AND the article, you may need to use 3 or 4 pieces further and further away. Reoffer the article once he is back in the present position and WoW again and throw food ONLY when the dog has dropped it.
It sometimes helps to wave the food under the dog’s nose without saying anything. You can add the command “out/leave/drop” once you have the behaviour.

Just as a further add on to the above (If I'm talking balls SB, just let me know!) - if she is less interested in the food (this is a problem I have), do the same as above, but when she drops it immediately pick the item up and make a game of it - tug, throw for fetch etc, so that the dog learns that the item is "dead" until it's released, then it "comes alive" again once the dog drops it - letting the item go is much more rewarding for the dog, than keeping hold of it, if that makes sense?

thank you, because of her soft nature we have been removing from her mouth- she doesn't fight but as you say it will reinforce her wanting to keep it. It just made be puzzled today as she has not been that interested in fetch, ball etc until today she got so excited she kept bringing it back to play but seemed puzzled with regards to understanding if she dropped it, it would be thrown again for her

LOL course you aint talking balls
I had the same problem but for a different reason - when food was there Ben would NOT tug
I made sure the sec they slacken jaws off to let the toy go then I make it alive again and tug tug tug

I actually play crazy tuggy then when I want them to release I keep holding it but dont get them involved in any tugging
I find pretty quickly then open their mouth to change the grip (to tug more) I say 'give' as the jaws open and then right away present the toy again to 'tug tug tug'

But thats cos I have Mia who is totaly odd she would be totally happy to run off and play with the toy all by herself

Try doing it when you`re sitting down in the evening. (This is how I cracked it with Prince who hung on like grim death.)
With a selection of stuff (toys and treats), pass toys backwards and forwards. (We call it the My Ballie, Your Ballie game).
Don`t start throwing them until the Give is solid because it all changes when the dog gets excited.
Because you`re relaxed, the dog is, so you can wait them out till they give it to you. Because you give it straight back, there`s an immediate reward.

Wouldn't teaching her to give it to hand be better than drop? Less back ache picking it up.. Plus as she is happy to give it to you, then you're already almost there.