My newspaper delivery person is unable or unwilling to deliver to my front porch. They always leave the paper at the bottom of the driveway. My dog has gotten into the habit, when we return from our walks, of picking up the paper and carrying it up towards the porch. Sometimes he gets the paper to the porch, sometimes he doesn't, but he always drops it before we get into the house. How can I teach him to hold onto the paper until I ask him to drop it?

The paper is in a plastic bag, so it doesn't get slobbery when he carries it.

When we play with his tug toy, he usually hangs on to it until we tell him to drop it. But he doesn't hang onto the newspaper. How can I change this?

 Quote:

My newspaper delivery person is unable or unwilling to deliver to my front porch. They always leave the paper at the bottom of the driveway. My dog has gotten into the habit, when we return from our walks, of picking up the paper and carrying it up towards the porch. Sometimes he gets the paper to the porch, sometimes he doesn't, but he always drops it before we get into the house. How can I teach him to hold onto the paper until I ask him to drop it?

The paper is in a plastic bag, so it doesn't get slobbery when he carries it.

When we play with his tug toy, he usually hangs on to it until we tell him to drop it. But he doesn't hang onto the newspaper. How can I change this?

He already does the retrieve part, so the part I would want to teach is the part where he gives it to you when you ask for it (backwards chaining). I would train the give it to me (with treats handy for when he does it). I wouldn't TAKE it; I would train that putting it into my hand wins the prize.

Then I would gradually lengthen the time (and start adding in the walk back) before I ask him to give it to me.

If he drops it sooner, no reward....... just give it back and wait a few beats, then ask for it in your hand and reward. Eventually, he carries it until you are asking for it in your hand at your door (or wherever), and is praised when he does it. So the reward is for giving it into your hand; the walking with it just happens before you ask for it.

Just a thought.

Ha! This post made me smile. I taught my dog this trick. In the beginning he would run half way to the house and drop it so I taught it better by employing my son...

My son has treats in his hand and sits at the spot where we want the paper dropped.

I open the door and say, "Get the paper".

He runs for it (with me alongside as encouragement).

If he drops the paper (and leaves it) along the way (because he knows the treats are waiting for him) he doesn't get the treat. He has to start over and has to run back for it. Doing it half-a$$ed did not get him a treat but this is the part we worked on more than anything.

He got the idea to pick it up and keep it in his mouth the entire way after a few times so I fired my son <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> and kept the treats in the same place but in a bowl he couldn't get open. Why? He's faster than me and I was outside at this stage doing the encouragement part and if he ran past me and dropped the paper in the wrong place, at least he couldn't get to the treats because the container was sealed.

Once he put it all together I stayed inside with treats in hand and moved my location by a few feet until now he knows that he has to drop the paper at my feet and he'll get the treat.

By the way, he loves this game <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> !

Rich,

You pretty much answered you own question. The dog will keep his toy until told to release. You can use a paper as a toy item to teach him to hang onto it until commanded to let go. Depending on his mouthiness, you may have to learn to read between the lines though <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

If he is more than likely going to destroy the paper you cant go wrong with the previous advice. Decide this before using the paper as a toy so you dont create a problem. Good luck.

Howard

I'm pretty sure that if I treat the paper like his tug toy, he will destroy it. I'll try the suggestions from Connie and Judy. He knows to pick up the paper and carry it, it is getting him to hang on to it until I tell him to give it to me. Thanks for the suggestions guys!

This would be an excellent behavior to shape with clicker training. Once he realizes that going to the paper is good, then you can work him on picking it up, holding it, then bringing it back to you. The clicker is an excellent tool for marker training, and that method is a wonderful, positive method that clearly tells the dog what is desired while building the bond and a desire to learn, as well as learning "how to learn."