We always envisage a world where dogs would behave themselves, never put things that we never want them to put in their mouths, but the real world is quite different than the one we imagine. In the real world; dogs have the habit of sniffing and picking up inappropriate things which can be quite dangerous for them.
Dogs will be dogs and there is no way you can change that. They will also put different array of things in their mouth and sometimes you might not be there to supervise and protect some harmful objects to get ingested by them. So the question is how to ensure that they get disciplined enough to drop the inappropriate things as soon as you said? This objective can be fulfilled with the “drop” command.
But remember that the way you say the thing also has great impact on your doggie and so if you speak in an impolite manner it can reflect in your tone and your doggie may follow your instructions but they would be saying “Holy crap!!” in their doggy language while dropping the thing. The best thing to do is to train them in an effective way to learn the “drop” command.
Let us now look at some of the benefits of teaching “Drop” Command to your pooch:
It acts as a life saver for the tyke
As enumerated earlier, dogs like to put things in their mouth and sometimes certain things can be life-threatening for them if swallowed by your doggie. So, once you teach them the command; it ensures that the life of the dog is safe. You can then practice the command to make the dog proficient in following the command.
It is symbolic to polite play
When your pooch learns the “drop” command it makes them more civilized. They follow your orders which ensure that there are fewer chances of accidents (although accidents can happen anytime!!). They will not get into rough play with any of the toys or things; since through the command, you can now put control on the different things that they can put in their mouth.
Ensures that the dog willingly lets go of valued resources
“Drop” command also teaches the dog that it is not important to guard things as these things are not that important. When they put a particular thing in the mouth you can use the command to ascertain that they do not hold the thing as a resource with them leading to signs of aggression in them. Even if your dog is not guarding the toys, but is only using them as a form of play “drop” command is an excellent way of diverting his attention from the toys.
Remember the “drop” command is not the solution to the problem, but an inception of the elimination process. It may take some time for your pooch to master the commands depending on the dog’s intelligence, age, and willingness to please.
You need to be very patient with your doggy from the very beginning, as it may take a couple of weeks’ training for your pooch to learn this ingenious command. So, what are you waiting for? Start training your doggie the “drop” command, and reap the benefits of a highly disciplined furry friend; thereby putting the chances of any life threatening incident occurring at rest!!