Taking food from your dog's mouth

in my opinion you should always be able to take something from their mouth, when I am out walking and my sibe picks something up like gum or other nasties I open her mouth and take it out (if she doesnt drop when I say)..
Its for her own benefit that I am able to do it []

I red ("Bones would fall from the sky"), a trainer notes that once something is in your dog's mouth, you should respect that, and never attempt to take it; a lower status dog can defend its treasure from a higher status dog - it's a canine "etiquette

 
That's interesting. I haven't read that book but it is often popular here, even amongst those who feel you should be able to take anything out of your dog's mouth. Indeed, specific training tips have been offered to teach drop it by trading treats.
 

I can and have taken anything I wanted out of my dogs mouth, from a valued toy to half swallowed meat. Having said that, I certainly would not reccommend this to every dog owner. I think you really have to know your dog well as it is probably more common for a dog to bite under these circumstances than not. I wonder, if you had a dog that you knew would probably bite you and they got hold of something that was dangerous or harmful to them, would you grab it or leave it?

Considering how it can be life and death...and considering how stupid some people in the world are that will do just that with dogs they don't even own...let alone their own animals....I think a dog should be proofed that human near mouth equals "okay, allow it".
 
A command is nice...but only if it works 100% of the time and everyone in the world magically knows what to say to your dog to get the desired effect (because dogs escape, dogs are boarded, dogs are vetted, dogs are petsat, etc). Personally I'd rather just have my dog be okay with a human hand around, in, or on their mouth...than end up with a bite record because some stranger didn't know they were supposed to say "drop it".

You'd better believe it. I don't do it arbitrarily to "show them who's boss" but I hope that my relationship with them in other ways has led to a level of trust whereby they don't feel threatened if I need to do something like examine their bellies, spread their paws to check for thorns/splinters, and get things out of ears and mouth.

I just this second practically stuck my whole hand in Ben's mouth because he was grouchy and not feeling well, and picked a huge fight with Maggie. One, my shout will 99% of the time stop any dog fight here, any time. Two, I can stick my hand in Ben's mouth to see whether the bite on the top of his nose has a corresponding bite inside, on the roof of his mouth (Maggie's favorite "leave me alone" bite, usually inflicted on puppies being stupid). I wouldn't normally choose to do this with his adrenaline still pumping, but those roof of the mouth bites get nasty within minutes.

Again, this morning again, I started to give Ted his puppy-sized bone in his crate, but I accidentally dropped it into Rocky's crate below. Rocky picked it up but I said "Rocky" and he looked at me (bone still in mouth) and I took it gently. Of course I replaced it instantly with his bigger, much better bone. Ted's bone was not good for him because it was too small and a choking hazard. I always get the dog's attention before I take something - preferably the dog will drop the item but sometimes that's not desireable either. Too many other dogs hovering, ready to snatch the prize, can make the dog feel insecure.

Many of my other dogs have a "give" command or respond to their name automatically with dropping the item. In the above two cases, however, if my dogs didn't trust me, I could have commanded "give" all day long and it wouldn't have done me a bit of good. If someone sneaks Ben a chicken-flavored wheat cookie, you'd better believe I'm not even going to mess around with a command - I'm going in after it.

I wonder, if you had a dog that you knew would probably bite you and they got hold of something that was dangerous or harmful to them, would you grab it or leave it?

 
My husband has risked a bite to get something from her that she shouldn't have had. 
 
I have found that the most effective way to get something from a dog like that is to distract them from it with something even better.  Then when the attention is on the other object the dangerous one can be moved. 
 
But, I do want to add that if you've got a dog like that it's extremely important to be extra careful with stuff on the floor and also to stay alert on the street.  It's just not something you can space out on because you're just putting yourself in a bad situation by not paying attention.

I wonder, if you had a dog that you knew would probably bite you and they got hold of something that was dangerous or harmful to them, would you grab it or leave it?

If there was a possibility that my dog would die from something he put in his mouth, I would take it from him immediately, I wouldn't even think about it. Although, sometimes acting fast causes my dog to gulp it in one go, so I have to choose my battles. Sometimes tricking him that I found something more interesting on the ground works, or that I have a tennis ball in my pocket, or I run away from him...

I've been bitten by my dog doing that *twice*-both times, it was a dirty napkin! I know exactly what I did - I paused in front of his mouth for a split second, then I moved back slightly; I hesitated, because I didn't *really* care about him chewing it. I got bit!

I have taken things out of my dogs mouth, but then again, I feel comfy enough to do so.
 
I  approach my dogs by saying " Give it", so there is no confusion when I do take an item.
 
Usually,I get my dogs to drop whatever it is by making a noise, like "AH" or "EH", that does the job.
 

While we do have a "drop it" command in effect here, it's used pretty much exclusively for getting Ben to give me back his ball at the park so I can throw it again.  If he has something in his mouth he's not supposed to have and I need to go in there after it, I don't bother with a command, I can and will put my entire hand in there if I have to.  I have and will continue to take marrow bones out of Ben's mouth to check for any sharp parts/splinters if he's been having a really serious chew on it.  I'll check it over and if it's fine, he gets it back.  Yes, he gives me the most OFFENDED look when I am doing it, but he lets me and knows to sit patiently until I give it back, or give him something else.  Yes, Ben could be lucky and never, ever put anything dangerous in his mouth - but do I want to risk that? No.  Anything in his mouth HAS to be fair game for me - but the deal is that while I CAN take anything I want/need to out of his mouth, I DON'T unless I feel a need to.   Although I am in charge, we do have a cooperative relationship in many ways - so I won't put him through taking things out of his mouth just for kicks.  I know I can do it if I need to - that's enough for me.
 
Kate

I think it is good if you have that relationship.  Madi loves Rawhides (but only Chew-ezze raw hides[:-]) There are times when she swallows a bit too large piece and I have to pull it out of her throat. 

When Madi was a younger girl she would come to guard rehearsal at school.  We would normally get the gym after basketball games and there would be the snacks left in the stands.  Madi would eat something she was not suppose to and the color guard girls would take it out of her mouth.  She would just smile and move on. 

I guess I should add, we do have a command for her to release items.  Spit or drop it depending on the situation.  But there are times you just have to get it out. I think it is a trust thing.  Not a respect aspect.

If I tell Max "you shouldn't have that" he drops what he has and rolls over on his back, I'm guessing for a tummy rub. Usually, the thing he "shouldn't have" is the top from an erasable pen. Another thing he likes to grab and walk around with are those little plastic containers that single servings of jello come in (DH leaves those around).  He just plays with those for a short while, then discards them somewhere.  Max responds very well to *trade*. []
 
Joyce

I can take anything I want from either dog's mouth, and a few dogs from kennel club.  The dogs I know at club are trained to allow anybody to take something from  them.  They also understand they will get something else in return.

I've tasken a very high value RMB from Strauss before with nothing but an "Aus."  I looked it over (I had heard a crack and wanted to be sure the bone wasn't going to fall apart).  He just laid quietly, looked at me, and wagged his tail.  He got his bone back and returned to his massacre ^_^  From 8 weeks on, he learned that if I take something, you may or may not get that object back, but you will  get something.

I have picked up his food dish to put something in it or take somet hing out, I have reached into his throat when he was younger to pull a very unhealthy bit of string he was attempting to consume, and I've taken other thigns he shouldn't have from him.  He accepts it as no big deal.  It's for his benefit.  Most of the time I leave him to his own devices when it  comes to chewing things, I just make random trips to him to make sure everything is still going alright.   

I can get stuff out of my dogs mouths in midchew. I don't tease them, but you're going to have to go in there once or twice to save the darned dog from himself.

Paula

I'm able to take anything out of my Dog's mouth, no questions asked, no fuss made. It was one of the first things I taught him, and he completely trusts me to that effect, that being said, I don't do it unless I REALLY have to. It's even funny when I do take something out of his mouth, he just sits there staring at _____ wondering what's wrong with it, I guess he's aware of the fact that it's due to his safety that I took it from him, not a power struggle or something along those lines, BUT if it were a power struggle the same does apply.