Leave It

“Leave It” means Do Not Touch it. “Leave it” is not used for the dog’s toys/food or for items that we will eventually be giving to the dog. For that, you can use the cue “Wait” which is focused on impulse control. 

To Begin: 

• Start by sitting on the floor, with your dog in front of you. Use an item that you can cover completely with your hand (like a tissue or a piece of food) you need to make sure it is something your dog will want, but that you can cover completely with your hand and you will not be giving pup this item once this exercise is over. 

• Have the Leave It item in one hand and several small treats in your opposite hand, to lure your pup to the other side of your body, ready to reward when she moves away from the Leave It item.

• Do not wiggle the Leave It in your pups face (that is teasing), but create interest in the item by holding it a few inches from the floor then dropping it next to you, quickly covering it with your hand, before pup can get to it (best to use an item that will not roll away from you).

• When pup moves to lick/paw at the hand covering the Leave It item, quickly move your opposite hand with the food treats back and forth, under pups nose, and LURE her to the other side of your body.

• When pup follows the lure hand, and moves away from the Leave It item, mark with “YES!” and feed her one treat. 

• Repeat this exercise 5-10 times, until pup begins to understand that the item being dropped on the floor is off limits and they choose to move towards your treating hand. 

• When pup begins to anticipate the drop and moves away from the Leave It item on their own, get more excited and give two treats. 

• Soon enough, pup will begin to move away from the Leave It item all on their own to receive a cookie from your hand on the other side of your body. 

• When this happens, pause for a second or two before treating pup, to solicit Eye Contact from your pup. Mark “YES!” And reward. 

• Practice this exercise several times a day, in different rooms of your home and once pup is succeeding in the exercise, try it outside. Try switching sides of your body, and luring dog away from a Leave It item that is further away from your side. Try dropping the item and waiting to cover it with your hand until the dog attempts to go for it. Once you are confident that your pup is grasping that YOU give her treats, she is not to go after an item that has been dropped, you can begin to add the cue “Leave It”. Once you add this verbal cue, you will need to take a few steps back, and redo these exercises from the beginning, adding in the verbal cue and working in different locations once again. This will ensure that pup understands completely, what is being asked of her. 

LEAVE IT (2.0)

• Do everything from Leave It Part One, except we will no longer need a lure to move the dog away. We will now teach the exercise from a Standing position. 

• Stand squarely in front of pup. 

• Have a Leave it item in your hand and make sure it will not roll far away from you when you drop it on the floor.

• BEFORE dropping the item, give the “Leave It” verbal cue, a couple of seconds between cue and dropping the item. This gives your pup enough time to process what it is you’ve just asked.

• Drop the item close enough to your foot so that you can step in front of it/cover it, if your pup tries to go for the item when it hits the floor.

• Repeat this exercise until your pup does not go after the dropped item, and instead gives you Eye Contact for the next cue. Reward pup for big achievements (“jackpot” rewards of 4-5 treat pieces, in a “rapid fire” fashion, for perfect behavior). 

• Practice this new version of the exercise in all areas of your home and then move outdoors and to more distracting environments. 

• REMEMBER that we are teaching pup to not “vacuum” up items that have fallen on the floor, so to the best of your (and the rest of the families) ability, prevent your pup from getting to any food items that fall on the floor, even if it is a piece of her kibble. Get in to the practice of picking up fallen items and handing them to your pup or putting it in her food bowl. This helps to not blur the lines of Leave It (it can not be “sometimes” when things fall on the ground, but “this is what is expected always”)