This is one of the most important behaviors you can teach your dog, it can be a lifesaving cue if your dog is going after something that they really shouldn’t have. “Leave it” is a way to communicate to your dog to ignore something we don’t want them to interact with. At BlueDog we strive to keep our training as frustration free as possible, with no conflict to create a positive and fun learning experience for your dogs. Teaching a ‘leave it’ this way ensures that we’re setting our dogs up for success.
How to Teach:
- Start with treats in one hand and the object/treat you are training to leave in the other. Place both hands behind your back.
- Present the hand with the treat/object you don’t want them to get at your shoulder height. Ask your dog to ‘leave it’.
- Put the treat from the hand you are not asking them to leave on their nose and toss the treat in the other direction from whatever you’re asking them to leave.
- Once your dog begins to anticipate the treat toss away from what you’re asking them to leave, mark (click) them looking away/disengaging from the object.
- Switch the hand holding the treat/object you want them to leave and start back at step 1 repeating all steps switching which hand is the “leave it” hand and which has the treats.