Teach your pup to drop it when you ask, followed by a sit.
Select a toy that your pup likes to hold in his mouth. A thick knotted rope or a stuffed toy (specially designed for dogs) works well.
Start by making sure that you have a toy that the puppy is interested in taking in his mouth and holding on to.
Excite the puppy to take the toy in his mouth, some puppies will do this very readily, others will take a little more coaxing. If the puppy is not too interested, wiggle the toy on the ground and pull it along the floor and wiggle it, talk in an excited voice, saying things like “ya wanna get it!” (If the puppy is still not interested, read How to Get an Uninterested Puppy Playing With Toys
Once the puppy has taken the toy in his mouth and is holding on to it, ask him to drop it. As you ask for the drop, put a tiny piece of food against the puppy’s nose. As he hears the cue, he scents the food and will let go of the toy or object in his mouth. After he has let go, lure him into a sit as you ask him to sit. Once he is in the sit, reward him with the treat.
We teach the puppy to sit after we ask for the drop to prevent him from jumping up to grab the toy.
Next, introduce the cue to take it. This happens once the puppy has dropped the toy and sits. You start the game again by offering the toy back. The sequence goes like this; take it — drop it — sit — take it. Rinse and repeat!
You should proceed this way until you see that the puppy is readily dropping the toy. Start to fade out the treat to the nose but continue to reinforce for the sit.
Sit or kneel on the ground with your pup. Get his attention by giving him a treat.
To begin with, keep your hand way above the pup’s nose and eye level. We want it to be easy for him to earn the treat. If he is jumping, raise your hand higher, wait until he has four paws on the ground then treat. Gradually add, waiting until he glances away from your hand to you, then treat.
Repeat until the puppy is readily looking at you versus your hand. When you have achieved this you can slowly start to lower the hand always aiming to keep the pup successful and not frustrated.
Each time the puppy looks from the treat to you, you can cue him to take it and give him the treat. You can begin to hold the treat lower as your puppy gets better at the game. As your puppy gets better at it, build some duration on the time he holds eye contact with you. The Benefits- Food in your hands is a cue to be calm, keep four paws on the ground, and to check in with you.
