After a few weeks of working on it, Kodee has learned to catch a ball. Next of course, he wants me to throw/bounce it for him again, but only after a quick game of "keep away." I don't want him to get into this habit, so I want to teach him to give me the ball. What is the proper command? "Give it" sounds a lot like "leave it" (which I also plan to teach him later). My questions are:

1) How do you teach the dog to give you something into your hand(and what is the right command)? Also, is the command for this something where I would take something out of his mouth without him resisting, or can I/should I get him to literally place it into my hand?

2) How do you teach them to bring something over and "drop it" in front of you?

3) Which of these do you teach first, or does it matter?

Thanks for your help. This dog is learning so fast I can't seem to learn how to teach him fast enough! LOL!

I backchain, teaching the action of putting the item into my hand first before combining it with the rest (fetch, come back, etc.).

And yes, I would choose commands that do not sound alike.

You could use "give" for the dog to put it in your hand and "drop" for the dog to drop in front of you.

I have a high-ball-drive Aussie/Lab mix who quickly (couple of days) figured out I would not play keep away with her (if she took off, I'd turn my back and ignore her, if she approached, I'd face her with a happy face). She also figured out that, if she wanted me to throw her ball, she had to give it to me first. I never chase the dog, I just didn't give her what she wanted until she did what *I* wanted.

With a puppy - I think I'd use a long line and treats. I would not use the long line necessarily, but try to lure the dog with treats.

For the "give" - the dog is standing in front of you with the ball in his mouth. Say "give" - then reach and put one hand on the ball and with your other hand show him a treat. Say "give" again as he releases the ball.

For "drop" it's the same except you don't reach and take the ball, you just show the treat.

Hope this helps.

First I would go back to basics on this and teach my dog the "hold" command (very useful) and I would have him sit, put the ball in his mouth ( I would use a piece of hose or tug ) but you use a ball so let go with that. As you put the ball in his mouth , have one hand underneath his chin and pet him calmly and say "hold" "good hold" try holding the ball in his mouth by slightly keeping his mouth holding the ball using your one hand underneath his chin. It has to be a very calm exercise and positive. If he holds it then out him, and brake him and throw the ball on a long line,once he catches it, bring him back to you and repeat the exercise. The main focus is having him hold the ball until you say "out" and the game begins. Does that make sense?
My female will hold the dumbbell forever until I tell her out. Same thing with her ball, tugs etc..
Now my question would be , Does he knows the "out" command? Does he chew his ball while in his mouth?
The reason I use items that are longer then a ball while teaching that is that when you have a little of the toy sticking out of the mouth as you tell your dog to "hold" you also try to steal it out of his mouth ,now slightly not forceful but to give your dog the idea that they you don't hold it tight I take it! If you manage to steal it from his mouth during the exercise, wage the toy around tease him with it, then start the exercise again. He will get the hint that , hey if I don't hang on to it , I loose it.
It's hard to type out explanation so if I confused you let me know ...