Clean Run - September 2017 - 43

When your dog is reliably orienting to
the food in your hand on cue, it's time
to move on to phase two. How long
you spend on Phase Two of Trade
depends on how challenging it is for
your dog to give up toys. If you often
get snatching, stealing, or guarding
behaviors, it's best to go through the
object-hierarchy slowly. On the other
hand, if you don't have much issue

with possession, you can probably
skip phase two, and start Trade with
actual toys pretty quickly.
In phase two, you'll repeat phase one
just as before, only this time with different non-toy objects, or low-value
toys on the floor. Pick things your
dog doesn't care much about initially,
such as metal water bottles, bowls,

TV remote controls, hats, or empty
Kongs. Practice with each item several times per session, repeating the
cue, then food-scatter. While your
dog eats, pick up the object to get
him used to you doing that. Over
time, gradually increase the value of
the object until your dog is able to orient to and accept the food, even with
a higher value ball or tug on the floor.

For dogs that struggle with toy-possession, practice phase two of "Trade" with non-toy items before switching to actual toys.
Watch your dog's body language carefully: he should look just as relaxed with the tug or ball trades as he did with boring objects.
Note: Adding in the arousal of play before asking for a "Trade" often makes the exchange harder, so work up to that slowly.

Troubleshooting: If at any point,
you ask for a "Trade" and your dog
demonstrates by his behavior that
the toy is still more important than
your food, stay calm, and let him
have the toy. The worst thing to do
is give the impression that you want
the toy yourself. Don't look at the toy,
and whatever you do, don't grab for
it. Walk away, or go inside and leave
your dog alone with the toy for a few
minutes if you have to. Be very clear
the game is over by saying "All done"
or "That'll do," but also that you
will still honor possession until he's
ready. After a cool-down period, bring
out your high-value food, show it to
your dog, and ask for "Trade" again.
If you've done your homework and
practiced often, most dogs will evenSeptember 17 | Clean Run

tually slip into the pattern readily,
drop their toy, and accept the food. If
not, go back to phases one and two
a bit longer before trying "Trade" with
high-value toys again.

and endorphins, and it can be very
taxing physically to engage in such
an intense activity repeatedly on a
daily basis. This is why I usually recommend that these types of games
be played in moderation.

Paired Cues: Teaching
"Drop" with "Tug"

"Drop" differs from "Trade." The way
I teach it, after a "Drop," the toy is
not going to be put away, and there
is usually no food involved. Instead,
"Drop" means there is going to be a
brief pause in the action, after which
the dog can expect more action. This
is effective, because often more play
is what the dog really wants. The
other trick to getting good latency
on the drop cue is figuring out what
the dog's real motivator is. Whereas
some find the fight most reinforcing
(i.e., resistance from you against

One of the most challenging behaviors for many dogs to learn is letting
go of a tug toy while someone is still
holding it. Teaching "Drop" and "Tug"
as paired cues, at more or less the
same time, can make it easier. Tug is
highly addictive, which is why it can
be such a potent reinforcer in training. But when a dog sinks his teeth
into that toy, it's very much like killing
prey. The body fills with adrenalin

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - September 2017