# Leave it...



## Martie (Jun 3, 2008)

I think we're confused.









On our morning walk, one-year-old Luther found a piece of poop from some unknown animal and was playing with it off in our back field. He was about 100 feet away from me. I called to him to "Leave It". He didn't want to so I changed my tone and called in a more "leaderly" way, "LUTHER Leave It". Instead of dropping it, he gently gathered it in his mouth







and ran to me doing a great sit in front and promptly dropped it on my foot! I totally rewarded him for it - but who could help but laugh?

He normally responds well to "Leave It", but I'm thinking my tone was the same as our long-distance recall which we've been doing a lot of lately and that we need some work on other longer distance stuff?


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## darga19 (Mar 4, 2009)

I know this isn't much help, but:





















That is a funny story!


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## GunnersMom (Jan 25, 2008)

Okay, that's funny.








But at least he left it. My knuckleheads, in that situation, often seem to think that "leave it" means "hurry up and eat it." 

I really don't have any useful advice, but I've noticed that with Gunner, as well. He seems to respond more to the tone of my voice than to the words I'm actually saying. If I give his commands in my normal tone of voice, he tends to ignore me. I have to remember to use my "command" tone with him.


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## Sweet Mammy (Jun 22, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: GunnersMom "leave it" means "hurry up and eat it."


HAHAHHAHAHAHA that is too FUNNY! (funny cause its TRUE!)


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## Jessica H (Mar 14, 2009)

That is pretty funny and gross at the same time. Sadie is the queen of interpretting leave it/drop it as EAT IT QUICK!!!

I have tought Dozer these 3 commands:

Leave it- means do not touch it, leave it where it is (like the cat), he will walk by or walk away from it.
Drop it- if it is in his mouth he drops it and keeps walking (unless it is the toilet paper, it gets stuck to his tongue)
Bring it- he brings it to me, then I tell him to drop it.


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## pjindy00 (Feb 19, 2007)

Too funny! "here mom, aren't you proud? Look how well I'm learning, and check out this yummy I'm presenting!"









Ya, I think my tone does more than the command for the most part, but I do try to diferentiate the commands so even if they are in the same tone, I get a slightly different reaction. I practice these a lot when we're playing fetch or on our walks so they get reinforced on a pretty regular basis.

That being said, Nina's been taught:
Leave It: generally referencing something she wants to look at/chase/worry about - so another dog, a cat, whatever. For us it means your focus needs to be elsewhere.

Oust: If you're chasing it, or just grabbed it, stop NOW. We practice this with her toys, I haven't had to use it outside of play time yet, but if a cat ever is dumb enough to go into our back yard I will probably have to use it.

Drop It: If it's in your mouth, it should be out of it.

Bring it here: self explanatory.


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

Luther's brain: Lookz mama...I a provider for you! I bringz you poop! Luv you!


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## Northof60 (Feb 15, 2009)

That's really funny.


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## Helly (Mar 31, 2008)

Jackson is very good with leave it, even with the kitty...also very good with drop it...

Bring it...not so much


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