{the dog blog of Outside magazine}
Dogs That Won’t Drop
by Mike Stewart | on March 30th, 2009 | in Your Questions
by Mike Stewart | on March 30th, 2009 | in Your Questions
Danger in a frap
Q: Any suggestions on how to teach a dog to “drop?” My Jack Russell terrier will not let go of her toys once she grabs hold of them. —John
A: Realize the nature of the dog you are dealing with. Jack Russells are possessive and love a good fight. Giving things up is not in the nature of the breed. They are ratters and burrowers by natures, so don’t encourage the undesirable behavior.
- Get rid of all chew toys. They encourage possessiveness.
- Don’t play tug-of-war or chase
- Use treats as positive rewards
- When your Jack Russell has an item and won’t give it up, grasp the article firmly. Have a treat ready in hand. Give your release command, “Give,” in an authoritative voice—not weak or loud, just a firm pack-leader tone with direct eye contact. If she doesn’t respond, don’t pull the object or the Jack Russell will pull back. Just reach to the dog’s flank and make a sharp, quick grab of the loose skin in front of the hind leg at the belly—much like a pack mom would make a bite—and repeat the command. The dog should spit out the object. Now, quickly give the treat.
Soon, your Jack Russell should hear the release command, consider its options, and calmly give you the article in exchange for the treat.
My mutt, whose dominant breed is black&tan coonhound with some lab and Weimaraner and who knows what else, sure does love cats. She’s never met one up close but she chases them with enthusiasm that I would really get a kick out of were it not the fact that she has put herself in great peril (traffic, mainly) each time she has taken off after one (maybe five times or so in the 2.5 years I’ve had her. she’ll be 3yo in June.)
She, Mabel, has a very strong prey drive for many different animals (deer, wild turkeys, squirrel, etc) but I’d love to try to curb her desire to chase her most favorite animal, cats. I’ve heard that I can get a remote-controlled cat decoy for our house and use it to desensitize her to them, eventually, curb her desire to chase. I heard about this electronic cat third hand, and so am not sure where to get one of it they even exist. She said it’s used in combo with clicker & treats.
Obviously, I do not let her walk around outside off leash in my neighborhood unless I know we’re in a catless area (dog parks, mainly) but she has snuck past me and run across our street to a house where, like, 5 frickin cats live.
The other night we were driving home from the country–where she has spent two days chasing critters–and we stopped for a bite to eat. While sitting in the parked car–we were eating–she spotted a cat in the parking lot and was going nuts, wanting out of the car to chase it. About two hours later we pulled into the driveway at home and when I opened the car door she bolted out and ran like nuts down the block, at nothing in particular, then bee-lined for the cat house. She was a dog possessed, but I believe it was the adrenaline from the weekend and the effing cat in the parking lot.
Sorry to be so long-winded. Just looking for advice on curbing this obsession of hers.
[...] having problems getting her ten-year-old black Lab, Angus, to drop his ball. Mike showed her his pressure-point technique to fix the problem. Now watch him spit it out and wait for a retrieve before dissapearing into the [...]