Teaching Your Dog to Share with 'Give' - One Key to an Obedient Dog

You might not realize it, but guarding objects is a hard-wired behavior in all dogs. Some dogs display this behavior often, some never do. But it's there. And it's worth addressing, because at best, guarding is an annoying antic that undermines your leadership. At it's worst, guarding is a behavior that can evolve into to something very costly (your pet decides to guard and eat your winning lottery ticket), or truly dangerous (your pet decides to guard and snap at children walking by the water bowl.)

Knowing this, it's important to teach your puppy or dog how to 'share' objects. Sharing extinguishes guarding, is easy to teach, and can be made into a fun game, using the word 'Give'. It goes like this:
1. Put your dog on leash and give him/her a low-value object*
2. Admire the dog for having the object in his/her mouth
3. Ask for a 'Give' and reach for the object with one hand
4. At the same time, present a fabulous treat or other toy with the other hand
5. When the dog drops the object, praise with something like "Good Give!"
6. Give the dog the treat or other toy
7. And, most importantly GIVE THE ORIGINAL OBJECT BACK.
8. Repeat a zillion times.

Use the leash ONLY to keep your pet with you during the game...not for any kind of punishment. You simply want to avoid having your dog or puppy take the item and run off under the coffee table with it. Always trade the dog for something better than the item he/she has, to encourage quick release of the original item. And give the original item back as often as possible.

Do four or five in a row, then just walk away. This should be a daily exercise! If you're really good, you'll surprise your pet with an occasional 'jackpot' ... giving maybe a leftover morsel of turkey or oatmeal cookie for the object. These rare trades can really cement in the joy of sharing! And teaching how to share is one key to an obedient dog!

*one that he/she doesn't already guard.