How do you handle it when your puppy, or adult, picks up a sock and runs around the house with it. This is a very fun game for the dog, but not so much for you. There are a few basic behaviors you can teach your dog to remedy this situation. First, here's a small list of commands you can teach your dog. "Drop It", "Sit", "Leave It", "Come", "Down". We teach these with the clicker in our classes because it will make the behaviors an automatic response, if you practice it enough.
Example of "Drop It": My parents Beagle likes to steal pillows and run them outside. We have trained her that if she opens her mouth and drops the item she gets a click and a treat. On a dead run to the back door, we say "drop it" and she opens her mouth dropping the pillow, but she will stay in her run and continue to the back yard.
Example of "Leave It": My rescue pug likes to eat poop... yummy right... With this I don't even want him to get it in his mouth. He has been trained that if he looks away from an object when I say "leave it", he gets a click and a treat. So in the instance he looks at the poop, I can get him to "Leave It" before he touches it.
Example of "Sit" and "Down": If they are in a sit or a down.... they're not running from you!!!
Coming When Called: This command is harder to train. We teach this over a 6 week class, in steps. You will also continue to set up situations to practice throughout your dog's life. Just remember, "come here" doesn't always mean fun time is over. Let them go back out and play sometimes. Keeps life more random for the dog.
In closing... don't chase your dog around the house with your underware. That's just plain fun for your dog!!!
Take control of the situation, and have fun training your dog.
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