# how to- teach OUT ?



## chancey (Apr 11, 2012)

chance will not OUT anything.
i say "out" and he just stands there with it in his mouth. grinning at me....
depend what it is, he may not even release for a treat...

if he does drop it out of mouth not b/c i said "out" but for whatever reason he chose, as SOON as i reach for it, he grabs it before i can!!! 

i've tried ignoring him. so then he might drop it, but the above happens when i reach for it.

*i am also working on "leave it" which if i am holding object -ball or treat- he will nose it but leave it if i say that. but if he drops his ball and i say leave it before i reach--- no, he grabs it anyways.

****my dog is schooling me.
how do i become the teacher??
i want him to learn alot but right now, would love if he could learn:
OUT
LEAVE IT
and i'm beginning to think COME is impossible, but that is probably for another thread?
*he does start obedience class next wk, and he is 3yo.
thanks


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## ponyfarm (Apr 11, 2010)

Watch some Michael Ellis videos if you can..but basically ..get a good game of tug going, then hold the toy at your thighs, dont let the dog tug any more. He may still be holding it, but you make the toy "go dead". Eventually, dog will get bored, let go, and you say "yes" and start the game again. Put a word to the action once he gets it!


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## GSD2 (Jan 27, 2012)

Good advice, Michael Ellis is excellent. I'm sure there are videos on recall, as well. Something that I find just as important as 'leave it.'

Always make sure if you say 'come' your dog comes to you 100% of the time. If you know he is not likely to come to you use another word, you can say 'here' or another word used when there is a chance he isn't going to come to you. Only use your recall word if you are sure you can follow up. You may have your dog on a long line to insure you can follow up that command. Always make 'come' a good thing. Use high value treats, make it worth his while, so to speak. Never use the word to reprimand the dog once he comes to you, never use 'come' to do something unpleasent once he is with you, like brushing or nail clipping if he doesn't like those things for example. Your ob classes should go over begining recall and leave it. Good luck and have fun!


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i placed a treat on the ground. i would walk my dog to
the treat. just before he took the treat i would say "leave it"
while turning and walking away from the treat. before we would go for a walk i use to place things along the path where we were going to walk.
when my dog went for the placed item i would say "leave it" and
gently pull him away from the placed item. you can each "leave it"
anywhere. i use to place a treat in the hatch area where my dog was going to ride. when he jumped in the car i would and went for the treat
i would say "leave it". in the house i use to leave a snadwhich on the edge
of the coffee table. when my dog would go for the sandwhich i would
say "leave it". "leave it" became a long term command. i can leave the sandwhich on the coffee table and leave the house and when i return
the sandwhich is still there. i can leave the treat in the hatch area
and when i say "leave it" my dog doesn't take the treat later.
in the begining the treat was available only for a few second,
seconds became a minute, a minute became 5 minutes and so on.

for "come" i would use 2 people (you and another person).
i would have the dog leashed. have the facing the other person.
have that person step back 2 or 3 feet. have the person call
the dog and gently pull him towards them when they say "come".
you could get the dogs attention first instead of just saying
"come" you could say "Bill, come". now turn the dog towards you
and you repeat the same exercise.

if i were alone and teaching my dog to "come" i would leash
him. make him sit in front of me. step back 2' or so and call
him and gently pull him towards me while calling him. it's the same exercise
as above except you're doing it alone.

practice in the house and outdoors. practice in short sessions
and have a lot of sessions during the course of a day.


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## VChurch (Jun 14, 2010)

Make the training sessions a game/fun for you _and_ him. With Minna (and Bacca) I found that when I was having fun, they also were having fun and learning things the best....if it was stressful/frustrating for me then they weren't having a good time and weren't learning anything.
Minna is clicker trained (and that was a new experience for me as well), and it definitely does work, and it's incredibly EASY and makes training very simple.

With releasing an item I always used 'drop it' or 'let go'. I made them games though, get a yummy treat (cheese, meat always work) and then have them trade -- after a couple of times he should get the point and you can attach a word to the action.

I think doggiedad covered the 'leave it' commane stuff.


Obedience class will help! Just stay positive, you'd be surprised how much that helps!


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I do what ponyfarm suggests...the toy goes dead, command the out and game back on with a marking of the out. The dog won't think game ends because they out.
But when you add pressure, the toy is more valuable so sometimes a correction needs to enter in. So command out, did they do it(3 second rule) then a collar pop with "no" until the dog drops it. That will work but the dog needs to know why you are saying no and it shouldn't conflict with the word out. 
The toy should always be dead(no tension coming from you) if you aren't playing two-ball.


With doggiedads suggestions of "leave it", add in the command "take it" when you walk over an object so the dog will know when to take or when to leave something. This will help if you add in a retrieve to your training. Take it should be fun and not an option at the same time.


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## chancey (Apr 11, 2012)

ok thx all 
i will try the "come" and will be doing it alone, i did get a 20ft lead for working up in future to longer distances...
also, just spent 20min doing 'leave it' and 'out' and he does ok w/ leave it, surprisingly... out? no way.
and i am no longer tugging ball from his mouth. he just lays there content w/ ball in his mouth (maybe i need give him more just free attention??) ok so

we are playing w/ his favorite red ball.... 
i throw it out for him----
what command do you all use for fetch??
i go between "get it" and "bring it"
and in begin of game, when we went to find his red ball where he'd left it, i said 'get your ball" and he went rt to it and rt before he picked it up i said "take it" to start intro that command.
sooooo

i will be working on 
sit, stay while i get into position for come.

then playing ball will work on 
bring it, out, leave it, take it.....

i started playing game w/ him b/c he was at door barking at dog in field next door (man there playing on his tractor). very alert @ door w/ his alert bark. but he also prob knws dog as one he played w/ in past....
****is it okay to teach a gsd "quiet" when they bark???
i was told not to teach gsd's this. 
why or why not??
thanks again!


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## vomlittlehaus (Aug 24, 2010)

To teach the out, I let the dog drop the ball/toy and say out as they drop the toy. It is word association with the action. Dont bother going for it if you cant grab it before he does. My 15 month old drops her toys in my lap (very annoying when I dont want to play). Patience and persistence. As for the recall. Start with the dog on leash infront of you at a sit, back up a step, as long as the dog stays in the sit, give a treat. This is a good beginning to a stay as well. When you can back 2-3 feet, without dog moving, say dogs name, come, then step back one or two feet, drawing the dog toward you. Dont worry about getting another sit in front of you, focus on the dog coming toward you. As this progresses, you can back up several feet, recall the dog, dog will sit within arms reach in front of you and reward. More advanced will be with the dog at heel, give sit, leave the dog, walk 6 ft way, turn and face the dog, recall the dog, dog will sit in front of you.

Are you clicker training? If not, learn how to use one, they are fantastic.


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