How to Teach the “Leave It” Command

Contextual analysis: Katie

When playing in the yard, Katie got in the ‘down’ position and waited for dogs or individuals to pass her. At the point when they strolled before her, she pushed off her rear legs so her body shot toward them like a sling shot. While this conduct was pleasant for Katie, it was upsetting for people and different canines.

Whenever we witnessed her drop to the ground and tail somebody, she was told to “leave it”. At the point when she didn’t follow order, a sound rectification followed. A sound amendment is a frightening clamor that breaks a canine’s core interest. Since she didn’t care for noisy sounds, she immediately diverted herself. Following a week or something like that, the conduct halted. Why? The game became a sour diversion for her. The final product of the conduct was not agreeable (instructed to leave it and rectified when she overlooked), nor was it fruitful (thrusting at individuals). She deserted the conduct.

A few instances of a sound correction include: a soft drink can with coins, a pet corrector air horn, a whistle, and so on.

The acquisition phase of leave it is simply positive. We allude to it as a vocabulary builder for the canine. We need them to comprehend the order. This exercise is ideally suited for showing the pup what we need.

Equipment required:

• Leash
• Treats
• Treat pouch

Objective: You need the dog to leave your hand alone.

To begin with, place a high value treat in your grasp, let your little guy see it, then, at that point close your hand. Extend your hand toward your canine’s nose and hold it still. Your canine will inevitably smell, lick, nibble or scratch at your hand. When advised to ‘leave it’, your pup should take his eyes off your hand and the treats you are holding. That hand (with the treats) is untouchable to the pup. In the event that your canine pulls back from your hand and adverts his eyes from your hand, mark the conduct with a “yes!” and give a treat from the opposite hand. Try not to award from the leave it hand. That hand and the treats inside are untouchable.

In the event that your pup remains zeroed in on your hand (keeps on nosing your hand or licks it), say “leave it!” again.   You will repeat these words until the canine pulls away or deflects his eyes from your hand.

A few canines get on within a minute, while others take a little more to sort out what you need. Show restraint. Forgo pulling hand away, moving the arm or bumping canine in the mouth with your clenched hand (grrr – we’ve seen it done). You might need to snap your fingers (on the opposite hand) or make a clamor to divert a relentless canine. Award  your pup (with “yes!” and treat) the second his eyes are diverted from your hand.

When the canine comprehends the activity, it is an ideal opportunity to add another test. The execution of the activity is something very similar, simply change things up with a straightforward hand development.

Challenge 1:  Place one piece of food between your thumb and fingers.

Challenge 2: Place food on the floor and cover with your hand.

Try not to confuse ‘leave it’ with ‘wait’. A few overseers place a piece of food on the floor, tell the canine ‘leave it’, then, at that point permitting the pup to eat that treat. The ‘leave it’ order doesn’t mean leave it, for the present, it implies leave it PERIOD.

There is no compelling reason to utilize a release word with this order on the grounds that the individual or item is thoroughly untouchable to the canine.

Note:

Be mindful so as not to pull your hand away from the canine anytime during this activity. The canine should move away and divert his eyes from your hand. Food consistently comes from the opposite hand. The canine should leave your hand to get the prize. You should have persistence. This is new for the canine. It requires some time investment for them to sort out what you need.

Additional tips:

Keep reward treats in a pouch or pocket. Try not to hold in your prize hand. The canine will smell the food and naturally move to the prize. We need the canine to gain proficiency with the significance of ‘leave it’.  Increase the worth of the food reward being utilized (i.e. cheese, chicken or meat) in the “leave it” exercise to expand ability. Ensure the award is of equivalent worth or better.

Real Life Leave It:

Training is all well and good but the goal is to have your pup leave real-life articles alone, such as fingers, toes, socks, pants, sneakers, furniture, etc.  Let’s run through a real life scenario:

Fido is a 4 month-old puppy with tons of energy to burn.  He is being relentless biting and tugging at your sweatpants.  What to do?

First of all, we need to make sure Fido has at least an hour and a half of exercise (panting) per day, split up over the day of course.  Assuming he was just exercised, what do you do first?  First, is the “leave it!” command said sternly and a few times in a row.  Fido will either release or continue tugging.  If he releases, you should IMMEDIATELY say “yes! Leave it!” and either pet him physically with praise or grab a treat from one of your nearby treat stations and give it to him, with additional praise.  Let’s assume, for the moment, that Fido moves on to doing something else – congrats!  You have successfully won this battle.  If Fido continues, most likely, to tug on your sweats, say “leave it!” again.  If he releases, you know what to do.  If not, you should grab a nearby chew stick (Yak or Benebone) and stick it in his mouth.  If he runs off and plays with it, congrats!  If not, we go to step 3 which is a timeout. 

So if he is still tugging, say “oops!  timeout!” and swiftly bring him to his timeout location (a short leash attached to something that doesn’t move) and connect him to the leash.  Say “timeout!” one more time and then walk away and don’t give him any attention, toys, or look at or talk to him for 3 minutes.  Ignore any barking.  After 3 minutes, release him and don’t look at him or say anything to him and walk away.

We are now back to the beginning.  Fido is either going to be a good boy and play with his toys or just lay down, or he is going to start up with you again, tugging on your sweats.  But now you know what to do.  You may need to cycle through these 3 steps several times or it may just take once – in either case, be patient and consistent.

There are a couple other options should the biting escalate – should it, please contact Top Dog Training for professional help.