At this point my dog will take a hold of the toy or object, but always drops it. I've been trying to shape holding the toy for longer, but it doesn't seem to be working.
It was easier with Stay because I could continuously treat during the stay and could use a no-reward marker when he started to get up. But you can't treat when he's holding a toy! And the no-reward marker doesn't work well because then the toy is now on the ground instead of in his mouth (gravity and all...).
I guess my approach at this point is to have him take the toy, tell him to Drop it, and then reward for the drop it. So if he takes it and drops it on his own (too early), no reward. Obviously I need to cue him to drop it early enough that he is succeeding as often as possible. But he still seems to be getting frustrated easily so we are not making much progress.
Any suggestions on encouraging him to hold it for longer?