How To Teach A Dog To Drop It

Whether it’s a stolen TV remote or a toy, your dog must understand the ‘drop’ or ‘out’ command first. How to teach a dog to drop it? The best way is with food or play. 

It is important to know how to teach a dog to drop it as dropping a toy on command is something we want to reward a dog for doing in some way, whereas dropping a stolen item, we don’t. 

Food is a great training aid for dogs, but if you use it to entice a dog to drop the remote, you are encouraging them to steal again and again. 

How To Teach A Dog To Drop It

The ‘drop it’ or ‘out’ command needs to become a muscle memory, an immediate response to words. So we want to keep reinforcing this behaviour regularly throughout our dog’s life. 

A great way of doing this is to reward the dog with the toy or ball they are giving up, as they clearly like it, that’s why they have it. 

Using Playtime

Two toys can be a brilliant way to teach a playful dog what these commands mean. 

Playing with your dog using a tug toy in one hand, and the other in a pocket or out of sight. 

When they are engaged, stop playing, but don’t let go of the toy. Immediately, the toy in your other hand becomes active and entices the dog to switch to the new toy. 

As they let go of the tug toy, pair the command ‘drop it’. 

Regularly play this game with your dog for short periods of time. Eventually, the dog will start to let go as soon as the toy goes inactive and you say the command. 

Now start to phase out the second toy and just offer the original toy back with a ‘yes’ command. 

Impulse Control

Using voice inflection and control of the toy, teach the dog to wait for a second before starting to play again. 

This is a great game for training, as it not only teaches your dog the ‘drop it’ or ‘out’ command, it also teaches them impulse control as they wait for the ‘yes’ cue to start playing with the toy again. 

Using Food

Another way to learn how to teach a dog to drop it is to teach them the ‘drop it’ command is with food. 

Engage your dog with a toy, but have treats in your other hand. Put the treats near the dog’s nose, paired with the command ‘out’.  Have a large amount of treats in your hand, you won’t give your dog them all at once but just big enough to provide a scent for your dog to pick up on. 

The ‘out’ command is much clearer than ‘drop it’ as it is shorter and quicker. 

When the dog ‘outs’ the toy to take the food, pair this action with the ‘out’ command. 

Lots of Repetition

Keep doing this until your dog is letting go quickly for the food every time. Keep pairing the action with the command. 

Develop this by having food in your hand, but not near the puppy. It’s the same game but less of a bribe. 

By continuing to do lots of short sessions, you eventually won’t need food on show for your puppy to ‘drop it’. 

Rewarding a puppy or dog for dropping something they are allowed is an important part of maintaining that behaviour, even if this is simply verbal praise. 

Moving Forward…

Once your dog understands the command, they should never be rewarded for dropping stolen items. Just take them away. Puppies and dogs repeat behaviour that is rewarding to them, so we need to ensure this behaviour isn’t. 

Never chase a dog when they have stolen something. They are learning that they can get away from you. Instead, calmly herd them into an area where they can’t get away. 

If your dog is prone to stealing, leave a training or house line on them to make sure you can get to them easily.

If they don’t drop the item on command, hold the lead and ignore them. Keep them where they are without any interaction until they drop it. Don’t keep telling them to ‘drop it’, as they are then learning to ignore you. 

Top Tip

Be patient, as this is an important part of your relationship. Your dog will drop it eventually. As they start to drop it, pair this action with the command again.

Now you know how to teach your dog to ‘drop it’, next read our blog all about How To Play With A Dog.