Teaching Leave It

After I had Mugsy dropping a treat on command I established Leave It as don’t grab the thing in the first place.

To do this. I held a treat in my hand and showed it to Mugsy. I then closed my hand while giving the command “Leave it”.

Mugsy’s first inclination was to nuzzle at my hand and paw at it. I waited until he looked up at me turning his attention away from the treat. Then marked it. “Yes! Good Leave It”.

After I established not going after a treat in a controlled environment I added the addition of this command to our daily walks.

All I needed to do was observe when something caught his interest, then give the “Leave It” command before he actually reached it.  At the same time I gave the preemptive leave it command I held down a high value reward like home made salmon treats. His little nose would find the treat, and his potential treasure would be forgotten. I gradually phased out the reward for this.  This comes in extra handy on the trail. “Ahh! Mugsy Leave It! That is a snake!”

Leaving the High Value Reward

It is best at this point to have a nice solid “Stay”.

Once you have mastered the “Stay” place a treat a few feet away from your dog while they are in a stay. Give the command “Leave It”.

If the dog moves toward the treat cover the treat with your hand until the dog loses interest in the treat. Then place them back into a “Stay”.

Try this until your dog stays in place and does not go after the treat. Be sure to keep the time between you placing the treat on the ground and giving the release command very short. Gradually increase the duration of time you ask your go to “Leave It”. Once your dog is able to leave the treat at the distance you began at begin moving the treat closer to the dog.

Leaving a Treat on the Paw and Head

This is one of those fun tricks that is sure to impress a friend or two.

Once you can put the dog into a stay, and can have them leave the treat on the floor begin trying to put the treat on paws in a down position.

This might work, but in my experience two treats were actually needed. One treat as a reward and the second treat to be left on the paw.

After I built in the solid foundation for “Leave It” it took Mugsy a day to master Leaving a treat that was on his paw alone.

Here is how I did it. I put a treat on his paw blocking any attempts to reach it with one hand whilst simultaneously issuing the “Leave It” command. At the same time I did this I held up another treat in front of my face in his line of sight. He then focused on this the treat I was holding up. As soon as I had even three seconds of the treat on his paw I marked and rewarded him.

The second time I did this I waited until he looked down at the treats on his paw then got his attention with the second treat. Immediately marking and rewarding with the treat in front of my face as well as releasing him to gobble up the treat on the paw.

I continued to do this gradually building up longer and longer periods of time.

Once he started looking at me for permission to eat the treat on his paw I began phasing out the second reward.

After leaving a treat on the paw was well established.

The result is this.

What is your favorite crowd pleasing trick?