Teaching to Share

Learning to share can be an invaluable tool.

Imagine being out in the park or indeed even on the street, you pass by but don’t notice a chicken bone - You dog is not going to miss this. Quick as a flash he’s got the bone in his mouth.

This is usually the point that you notice, if you try to get the bone from his mouth. He’s either going to growl at you or he’s going to try and swallow it super quick before you can get at it. If you happen to have him off leash in the park then he’s likely to play the chase me game and then swallow it. He could even bite down on the bone and snap it where the middle section of the bone (this also commonly happens with sticks) get stuck between the teeth in the roof of the mouth and the sides break off. So you want to encourage your dog to bring you things whether its toys or food or any treasures he finds. The best way to achieve this is to teach him to share as a puppy.

To achieve this encourage him to bring things to you. One way how we teach our dogs to play nicely with us.

Play fetch by making the puppy/dog wait until the ball but preferably a tug toy has fallen still on the ground. Ask him to fetch it and bring it to you. The game should really be the game of tug with you. Please note this is a game of tug not tug of war. So it is more gentle and allows booth parties to win a little you are not fighting y9ur dog for the toy. The most important part of this game is getting your dogs eye contact and smiling at your dog is ideal.

The second part is teaching your dog bringing ‘treasures’ found whilst your dog has been on the hunt in the street or in the park is t start by always holding a long chew or treat in your hand, signifying that you are sharing a treasure with your puppy/dog. This way he does not learn to go off with it and eat it away from you. Over time he will learn to bring things and share things with you simply by you asking him ‘oh what you got there, show me.’

You can see a video clip of this here on Instagram or on TikTok.