Learning Drop in One Easy Step

Teaching a dog who is not-so-food motivated can prove to be a challenge at times, but fortunately, I have some convenient help. And so here is the story of Orianna learning the "Drop" command.

We'd been working on it several days with no fruit. If Orianna had a toy, it was far more interesting to her than whatever I was offering, be it another toy or a treat, etc. I was getting frustrated, so decided to take a little break. I put Orianna in her crate and gave both she and Kekah (who is not in crate at this point) nylabones. Kekah, intuitive little sucker that she is, walks toward me with her nylabone in her mouth, looking at me like, "I know Drop! Say it, say it!" So, I said it. And Kekah dropped the bone into my hand. Keep in mind, we are right in front of Orianna's crate, and Orianna has seemed to be watching Kekah intently, which I am finding fairly amusing at this point, because her admiring gaze reminds me of how I used to look at my big sister when I was younger. Anyway, Kekah and I do the drop a few more times, and I close Kekah in the bedroom and take Orianna out of the crate to practice some more.

Well, right off the bat, I say drop, and she drops the tire toy she is playing with. I think, "No way!" I encourage her to play with another toy, and then I say drop again. She drops it in record time. At this point I'm sure this couldn't have worked, but I do it a while longer. Later in the day, I ask her drop something else, pretty sure she will have forgotten. Nope! She dropped it. And now she is doing the Drop anytime I tell her.

I, who is Kekah, don't know why Mom acts so surprised. I know what I'm doing. Hee,hee,hee
:-)