Leave It
Teaching your dog to “Leave It” is very important, especially if you live in a city or an area with lots of unpredictable items on the ground. We have broken down the behavior into 4 levels
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Setting your dog up for success
When teaching “Leave It” it's really important to set up your dog’s training environment to help them be successful. This means determining:
• What treat you'll use when practicing
• Where you'll practice. You want to choose a quiet area with no distractions at until they have a good grasp on the behavior.
Objective
The objective of level 1 is for your dog to start to expect a reward whenever they disengage from sniffing the kibble in your hand and look at you
Follow these steps when practicing level 1
• Sit on the floor with your dog
• Hold a piece of kibble in your left hand and a high value treat in your right hand
• Put the hand with the high value treat behind your back, and allow your dog to sniff the hand with the kibble
• When your dog stops investigating the hand with the kibble, and looks up at you, say “Yes!” and give your dog the high value treat from behind your back
• Repeat this exercise five minutes a day for one week
Note: Only move onto level 2 after your dog is reliably disengaging with the piece of kibble in your hand and looking at you for a reward
Objective
The objective of level 2 is for your dog to look up at you for a treat immediately after you make hand cage over the piece of kibble
Follow these steps when practicing level 2
• Hold a piece of kibble in one hand and a high value treat in the other
• Put the piece of kibble on the ground and make a cage with your hand over the piece of kibble
• Wait for your dog to stop investigating your hand cage, say "Yes!", and feed your dog the high value treat from behind your back
• Repeat this exercise until your dog looks up at you right away
Note: Only move onto level 3 after your dog is reliably looking at you as soon as you make a hand cage over the piece of kibble
Objective
The objective of level 3 is to introduce the verbal cue "Leave It"
Follow these steps when practicing level 3
• Hold a piece of kibble in your left hand and a high value treat in your right hand
• Drop the kibble behind your foot and say “Leave It." Be prepared to cover the kibble with your foot
• As soon as your dog stops trying to get the kibble. Say “Yes!” and reward your dog with a high value treat
• Repeat the exercise until your dog stops going for the kibble and immediately looks at you instead
Note: Only move onto level 4 after your dog is reliably leaving the piece of kibble under your foot and looking at you
Objective
The objective of level 4 is for your dog to leave the kibble you toss on the ground and reliably look back at you for a treat
Follow these steps when practicing level 4
• Put your dog on a leash and toss a piece of kibble out in front of them
• As soon as you toss the kibble say “Leave It” and hold onto their leash tightly. Do not let them get the kibble
• As soon as your dog looks back at you, and makes eye contact, say “Yes!” and reward them with a high value treat
• When this exercise becomes too easy for your dog, substitute the piece of kibble for something a bit more challenging...like a treat!
• Repeat this exercise until your dog immediately looks at you when you say “Leave It".
Moving the behavior off-leash
• Once your dog is immediately looking at you when you say "Leave it", you can start practicing the behavior off-leash. To do this, toss a piece of kibble in front of your dog. As soon as you toss the kibble say “Leave It.” To increase the difficulty of the exercise, toss higher value items in front of your dog.