How to Clicker Train Give

Clicker training your dog to give up an item is important for safety reasons and also to allow you to enjoy playing with your dog. Clicker training a dog to give up an item makes giving up the item a good experience and will eliminate running away and power struggles between you and your dog.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Clicker savvy dog
• Clicker
• Treats
• Dog toy

1. Do not use aggressive and forceful methods to teach a dog to give up an item. You must first begin to teach him to give items that he has in his possession by trading with him for something he wants more.
2. Give a toy to your dog. Then offer him a small treat. When he drops the toy, click and give him the treat. Do this a for a few repetitions until he seems to get the idea.
3. Add the verbal cue "give" and click at the same time.
4. The next step is to teach him to place the item in your hand. Do this by clicking him for any attempt to release the item in or near your outstretched hand. When he is successful, click and give him several treats in a row.
5. When your dog has stolen an item, do not chase after him. Dogs love this game and it will make thieving forbidden items a powerful behavior.
6. Offer another item to trade. If he gives you the "whatever" look and runs away, run the other direction and squeak the toy. Behave as though you are having fun and do not wish to share the toy with him.
7. Do not bribe your dog to "give". Unless his life in endangered by the item he has. Once your dog is giving things to you in training sessions, hide the treats you use as a reward and begin to use other toys, belly rubs, walks, or other things he enjoys as rewards for giving up an item he has.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep training sessions short 3-5 minutes is plenty
• Do not say the verbal cue until your dog is doing the behavior.
• Do many short training sessions per day
• Begin fading the use of the clicker as your dog responds to verbal cues reliably
• Train old behaviors like new behaviors in new places, around new people, or in the presence of other animals. Act as if your dog has not learned the behavior, and start at the beginning, until he has generalized the cue.
• Smile at your dog while training. Speak in cheerful tones. Clicker training is fun!
• Do not chat with your dog while training him, it confuses him as to what word he should be listening to.
• Do not repeat cues, if your dog is not responding to a verbal cue change something you are doing or make adjustments to the training environment.