We’re back for a whole new week of challenges in our free Coronavirus Canine Challenge Facebook group.
Today I challenge you to work on teaching (or improving) your dog to “leave it”.
First of all I just wanted to talk a bit about treats. As you’ll remember from last week I suggest you use your dog’s food (plus some tasty extras if you want) but today I want to focus on the size of your treats. You’ll be using quite a few treats, so it’s important to keep them pretty small. A good guide is for them to be no bigger than your little finger nail for medium to large dogs and half that size for smaller dogs.
On to today’s game. The ”leave it” game teaches self-control, an essential tool for all our dogs (and for us!)
To train it, you’ll need several treats. Take one treat and place it on the fingers of one hand. Imagine a piece of elastic between your fingers and your dog’s nose. If he tries to get the food, your fingers close. As soon as he looks away, or backs away, your fingers open. (Watch the video if this isn’t clear!).
Now fetch your dog.
Place the treat on your fingers. Hold this hand at your dog’s nose level and close your fingers over the treat. (Fix your elbow against your leg so your hand stays still.) Your dog will now probably do his level best to get at the treat – be brave, tuck your thumb in, and keep your hand still, even if he mouthes or paws at it.
Watch for him doing any other behaviour than trying to get the food. Most dogs will either look at you, move back away from the hand, or sit or lie down. As soon as your dog stops his efforts to get the treat, praise well, open your fingers (being ready to close them if he dives towards the treat again) and give him a treat from your other hand, close by your can’t-have-the-treat hand.
Repeat several times, changing hands part way through. Add the cue “leave” as he moves his head away from your fingers.
(Just a side note here – some people allow the dog to take the treat (using “take it”). I don’t like that while you’re trying to teach it initially as I think dogs can get confused whether they can have a treat or not. I only add “take it” once I know my dog fully understands “leave it” in lots of different places and situations.)
Once he will leave the food on your fingers alone when told without even trying to get it, try putting a piece of food on your knee. Then the floor. Always cover it if your dog tries to get it. But don’t use cheese, ham or chicken and try to cover it with your foot – it will stick to your sole. You can probably guess I learnt that one through bitter experience…
To develop this game even further, practice “leave” in your kitchen with food on the floor, or with food on any table/area where you might eat: a sandwich on the coffee table; a biscuit on the floor etc. Or try dropping food and telling your dog to “leave it”.
Practice dropping items your dog might otherwise want to steal, practice out and about teaching your dog to “leave” discarded food, dead birds, other dogs, joggers, or cyclists. Just remember always to reward your dog very well for making a good choice and for his wonderful self-control.
Keep training and keep safe,
Carol