Why the Drill Works

The fist game looks trivial, but it teaches one precise lesson — and a single mistake can teach the opposite.

If you ever open the fist and let your dog take the treat they were nudging, you have just taught them that persistence pays. Keep at it long enough, the hand opens. That is the exact instinct you are trying to kill.

So the reward always comes from your other hand. The message your dog absorbs: "leave it" means look to me, not to the prize.