getting my staffy to drop the ball

any idea on how to get my 8 month old staffy to drop the ball after i have throw it

If he is food motivated you can have him drop and than give a reward. This is what we did but I must admit Suki has completly mastered this particular task 100%

i tried that but he wont drop

I hold the ball and tell Buster leave. He normally does, and always does if I have a treat. Occasionally he will try to bite harder and pull the ball away from me, but then it is a power of wills to see who will give in first (He always does! lol). This is all very good, but it is getting him to bring the ball back that is the problem in the first place!

Do you try and take it from his mouth?

When Moo plays fetch if you try and take it from her mouth she automatically thinks its a game of tugsy and will not drop it, if I tap the floor and have my hand away from her mouth she'll then put it your hand, may take a while to catch on but it will if you persevere

we have the same problem, i.f we want him to drop a toy, he wont drop it at all.and then he will stand there and bark at us, so how do we get him to drop the toy?

Does he know leave? When Buster has a toy I tell him leave, and he does 99% of the time. Him barking at you sounds like he is trying to get you to play? Buster will sometimes try to run off with a toy when I tell him leave to try to get me to chase him, but I don't so he gives in and drops it.

i say leave but he still doesnt drop the ball or toy

i learned at alpha dogs that you put two fingers under the collar and then lightly hold the jaw - very lightly. they sort of push the toy into the mouth, again very lightly, just so there is no feeling of tug, pressure, pull, anything. it's limp in the mouth. the dog will eventually let go and when they do, say give and praise like crazy.

we have also done it with treats. just hold a really high reward treat next to his nose and when his releases, say give (or whatever cue you want) and praise wildly. eventually our puppy started just handing it over without the need for the treat.

youtube has LOADS of videos for help too - there's a guy called tab 289 as well that has good tips.

Does he know what leave means? This is something we taught Buster as soon as he came to us. We put treats and things on the floor and he gets told leave and isn't allowed them. When he stops looking at them and looks at me then he is sometimes allowed the treat, other times I will pick the treat up, but give him something else so he knows he has done the right thing but he doesn't always expect to be able to eat or have whatever was on the floor.

Getting him to drop something that was already in his mouth has taken longer to do though, as he would just run off with everything to start with, but now he is pretty good at it. As soon as he drops whatever I have told him to leave I tell him good boy and either treat or give him loads of fuss. He is still not perfect doing it, as I said, but he is lots better.

When he understands leave, then maybe try holding a toy he has in his mouth, then tell him leave while also showing him a treat or another, better toy. Then when he lets go loads of praise. That is what we have been doing anyway.

we have only had him just over a week and the people before who had him didnt do much with him

steplce wrote:we have only had him just over a week and the people before who had him didnt do much with him

There you go then Give it time and with training and positive reinforcement, also treats as J said (you can't really no if these will work yet) you'll get there! Don't expect miricles over night but with patience and consistant training he'll learn Xx

steplce wrote:we have only had him just over a week and the people before who had him didnt do much with him

We have had Buster for 12 weeks now. The people we got him off hadn't taught him anything either - he didn't even seem to know his name But since having him he has learnt alot, and is doing very well, but it does all take time. Start with the basic things and as he gets the idea that if he does the right thing he will get praise and he will soon start trying to please you all the time. If there are training classes near you I would also take him to those as it will help you both bond more, and the dogs love it

so if we keep on persevering with the toys, we will get there in the end? he is good off the lead, but we only do that when there are no other dogs around. he pulls on the lead. he is getting better with not jumping up at us when we have been out somewhere.

steplce wrote:so if we keep on persevering with the toys, we will get there in the end? he is good off the lead, but we only do that when there are no other dogs around. he pulls on the lead. he is getting better with not jumping up at us when we have been out somewhere.

Yes, keep it up and he will get there There are tips on here about pulling on the lead, this is something that Buster doesn't do untill he see's another dog I'd start by teaching him leave with a treat in your hand, or on the floor next to you (so that you can stop him getting it before you want him to) and then when he can do that progress from there. Also making him sit and wait for his food to be put down is good. Make him sit while you put his food down. Every time he gets up, stand up with the food and make him sit again. Everytime he trys to get the food, you stand with it and make him sit and wait. It won't take him long to work out he has to be sat before he will get his food

i will give that a go, thank you very much

For pulling on the lead try turning around and going in the opposite direction. Takes a while to get anywhere but it does work with time and patience

Use another ball if he's not interested in food when he has a ball

Was just about to suggest the same.
Show him the other ball and when he drops it say "Drop" and throw the ball. He will soon learn the drop command.
Good Luck

I have taught both of mine to "give". Which was initially used to get them to drop a toy if play was getting too rough, or if they picked up something that they shouldn't (ie: a shoe, piece of clothing, anything that is not a toy or food).
This is quite easy to teach them, give them a toy or something to play with, then show them a treat close to their mouths and say "give", when they drop the object from their mouth use a keyword such as "yes". With a lot of practice including a treat, eventually they will "give" without the treat reward.
Now when I throw the ball to them, they run back to me, and I say "give", and they now drop the ball. If this doesn't work straight away you can use the treat reward when saying give when playing ball as well.
I hope this helps

i have got him to drop the ball but as soon as i go to pick it up he grabs it again

Haha that's what my girl does, if she picks it up when I go to pick it up I just say "uhh uhhhhh, GIVE", Unfortunately I have to say give a few times for her to drop it again, but if not the first time usually on the second or third she will drop it.
If you practice this with treats it will solidify faster

Ledger would first have to bring the ball back and second bring it back in one piece apparently all balls are evil and must be destroyed

jshrew wrote:Ledger would first have to bring the ball back and second bring it back in one piece apparently all balls are evil and must be destroyed

Hahaha I know what you mean! My Jack gets the ball then drops and starts chewing on it! lol