Teaching your dog ‘Leave It’
Asking the dog to leave something that might be gross, unhealthy or inappropriate is a very easy behavior to teach.
Use Leave it when a piece of food drops on the floor that may not be good for your dog to eat, or use leave it if you have a reactive dog who barks at other dogs. The key to the success of this is YOU should be more interesting and much more fun that what the dog is trying to ‘leave’, so be sure to always reward the dog even if it’s the slightest look towards you or they completely turn away from the item.
In the beginning use the dogs motivator such as treats or toys as the ultimate reward:
1. Have a treat in one hand and another in the other hand. Let the dog sniff the treat in your right hand, cover the treat by closing your hand.
2. Place your right hand on the ground, keeping the treat covered. Ask the dog to “Leave it” and wait until the dog has turned their head away from your hand, Click and give them the treat from the left hand. Your dog might scratch or paw at your hand, but just wait for them to look away.
3. Repeat this procedure 3 times and when the dog is offering to leave it before you say it, then put the treat on the ground with your hand just over it so that you can cover it if they try to get it. Ask them to “Leave it,” wait for them to turn away, Click and provide the treat from the other hand.
4.You can continue upping the stacks but take it slowly. Do not go from this step to thinking they can leave a squirrel on your walks. Work up to that.
Speak in a calm voice, you do not have to yell, “LEAVE IT,” they will know what you mean when you speak calmly.
Remember to praise the positive behaviors MORE than the negative ones you don't like. For more information or to get in touch with me, please go to www.pawsitivity.net.
