How did you teach "drop" and "off"

jellyfish

So I've been dabbling with these commands with Toki. Too early to say we've had success, and he is probably at that age were teething is gonna make it improbable to teach drop, but I wanted to see how everyone else's success with "drop" and "off" had came about.

I just know that this guy is gonna get bigger (i swear he is already 30lbs at least, haha) and realize that he can jump up on people and couches, ect... He hasn't really jumped on people and things much, just here and there. It isnt problematic. Knowing toki though, he loves to test new things out and see what his boundries are. Being a puppy, that is normal anyway. So I wanted to get some advice so I can work with it on him early. It is way easier to just ask than google the Internet

jellyfish

Oh and merry Christmas

Losech

For drop it, I had something Conker wanted badly, and told him to drop what he already had, and when he did, he got the new item. Normally a high-value treat. Just do that a lot and he'll eventually get it.

Off? Conker still doesn't really know that one. With my other two dogs the only way we could get them to quit jumping on us was to block them with a knee, but I wouldn't really recommend that since it's kinda aversive.
Anyways, a better way is to teach him to sit, and when he jumps up, tell him to sit. He doesn't get attention unless he's sitting calmly. You can lure him off furniture with a treat or toy and reward him when he's not on the couch. It really comes down to repetition and how well you enforce the rules.
What I say is they either are or aren't allowed, not sometimes. Meaning, always allowed on the couch or never.

BradA1878

Drop it...




Off...








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jellyfish

Thanks! The feedback was both very helpful. I tried the treat near his nose thing while he was playing with his toys and I think he may have caught on. Dunno if he will remember it, but he was getting to the point that every time I gave him the toy, he immediately dropped it, kinda like he was expecting a treat for dropping the toy. I'm gonna work on the drop command for now and "off" later.

I think there was a AA puppy in the background of the middle video but it was hard to tell, haha

BradnJess

"Off" as I found out myself and from others, is one of those things that can be unintentionally taught at quite a young age:

I was pleasantly surprised about three weeks ago to find that Argos (5 month old shikoku) definately knew what "off" meant. We hadn't deliberately been training him for "off," because he is still a pup and there's so much to work on (while letting him be the cute ball of fur he is). BUT, we had been gently pushing him off and telling him "off" whenever he was getting a bit out of hand (we kind of did this naturally), never really reinforcing it (bad, I know). One day I had a treat in my hand and he was jumping all over me, said "off" and he stopped, got off me, and sat (real) nice. Despite not reinforcing it, I think he got the jist. The NK are pretty smart (no secret there), he may know already and not have the incentive to show that he knows it.
I agree with not pushing too much training on a pup, but it might be worthwhile to test and see what he's learned every now and then when a treat is in the picture. It is both wonderful and sometimes a pain to realize how much you unintentionally teach them! Even if for now you don't expect much, but push him off of you gently while giving him a command and treat it, every now and then, I bet he would get the picture quite fast.

jellyfish

Ah thanks! Really helpful. You're totally right about NKs being incredibly smart that we sometimes teach them stuff on accident. I've noticed I've taught Toki to accidentally sit whenever he wants something...not a bad thing though, haha. He will sit by his playpen if it is closed to let us know he wants his water. He learned this by me telling him "sit" whenever I was preparing his food; he used to always get overly excited and I just wanted him to calm down so I could make it for him. Every time he go buckwild, I'd tell him to sit. I guess this accidentally taught him if he sits, he gets things. Wasn't the main goal, but I'm not complaining, lol!

Last night, he was tugging at his leash hanging on the keys rack. I thought he was just playing with it, being a cute mischievous little puppy, but my boyfriend said he wants to go out. Sure enough, I took it off the hook and he pulled his leash down stairs and waited for me to take him out. He figured out that a leash means outside, so he needed the leash

I need to keep treats handy so when he gets on furniture I can tell him off with a food reward. Seems like repitition is the key here, who knowsm maybe he will accidentally learn it

I'm only afraid that he will take it the wrong way and purposely get on furniture and people just to get treats. Kinda like how he sits to let us know he wants something. Dunno if a dogs mind works that manipulatively, but I wouldn't put it past him.