# How were you told to teach "leave it"



## Sadie GSD (Dec 28, 2010)

For those of you that have gone to obedience school, how did the trainer teach you to train your dog to "leave it"? Sadie already knew this command. But were in training now and we just started learning leave it. I'm not too sure about the way our trainer was showing us how to teach them this, so I was wondering how you were told to teach your dogs "leave it"


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Present the dog with a toy that's moderate-value. Interesting, but not the greatest thing in the world. 

Once he's showing some interest in the toy, hold a smelly tasty treat in front of his nose and say "leave it." Obviously he'll leave the toy alone to get the treat. Gradually phase out holding the treat in front of his nose, until you're able to tell him "leave it" and he drops the mildly interesting item and looks for the very tasty treat. Rotate out toys as necessary.


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## heatherr (Jun 5, 2010)

We would start by letting the dog see us put a piece of kibble or lower value cookie in our hands and make a fist, or put it on the ground and step on it. Then we'd let the dog sniff and sniff and when he stopped trying to get the kibble under our foot or in our closed fist we would click and treat with a higher value food.

Then we would build, adding the verbal cue "leave it" and then slowly opening our hands/leaving the kibble out on the floor. And then we would line up a bunch of treats around and weave through telling them to "leave it" for some of the treats, and "take it" for others.

Now I can line cookies up and down my dog's paws and he will just sigh and put his head on the ground, and a "leave it" works for all the delicious trash he wants to eat during our walks...


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## Sadie GSD (Dec 28, 2010)

heatherr said:


> We would start by letting the dog see us put a piece of kibble or lower value cookie in our hands and make a fist, or put it on the ground and step on it. Then we'd let the dog sniff and sniff and when he stopped trying to get the kibble under our foot or in our closed fist we would click and treat with a higher value food.
> 
> Then we would build, adding the verbal cue "leave it" and then slowly opening our hands/leaving the kibble out on the floor. And then we would line up a bunch of treats around and weave through telling them to "leave it" for some of the treats, and "take it" for others.
> 
> Now I can line cookies up and down my dog's paws and he will just sigh and put his head on the ground, and a "leave it" works for all the delicious trash he wants to eat during our walks...


That is how I taught Sadie to "leave it" myself, and it worked great and so fast!


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## Syaoransbear (Sep 25, 2008)

In petsmart puppy classes, they had the worst way of teaching 'leave it'. 

What the teacher did was put a whole bunch of treats on the floor. You were supposed to walk your dog up to the treats and say 'leave it'. If the dog didn't leave it, then you just had to stand there and let it eat the treats. If it did leave it, then you gave it a treat. So the dog was being rewarded either way. It made NO sense.

After that class was over, I taught it the way heatherr explained, except not with a clicker.


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## sagelfn (Aug 13, 2009)

Syaoransbear said:


> In petsmart puppy classes, they had the worst way of teaching 'leave it'.
> 
> What the teacher did was put a whole bunch of treats on the floor. You were supposed to walk your dog up to the treats and say 'leave it'. If the dog didn't leave it, then you just had to stand there and let it eat the treats. If it did leave it, then you gave it a treat. So the dog was being rewarded either way. It made NO sense.
> 
> After that class was over, I taught it the way heatherr explained, except not with a clicker.


:laugh: I learned it Heather's way in Petsmart puppy class. Guess they did 1 thing right LOL


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## CarrieJ (Feb 22, 2011)

I was shown with one hand holding the treat behind the back. In which Alice promptly leaned around the trainers back to watch the original treat.
Couldn't care less about the bait...she knew there was something behind she wanted.

Now, I just use the ugly mean Michael Vick cat. That's always going on. 
The cat makes a strange weird noise and runs. I tell Alice Leave it, and she does.


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## TriadGSD (Feb 19, 2011)

the class i am taking now they told us to hold on to the leash put the treat on the floor and tell them to "leave it" when the puppy stops pulling you pick up the treat and give it to them she told us not to let the puppy reward it self. seems to work Triad has learned it already with out the leash all i have to to his hold his collar and say "leave it " and he does.


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## jasonGSD01 (Feb 26, 2010)

I was taught that when your playing with your pup take the toy and place it on the floor. Telling the dog to leave it, then after a few sec's then telling him OK. Took about 2-4 tries but worked for me.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Syaoransbear said:


> In petsmart puppy classes, they had the worst way of teaching 'leave it'.
> 
> What the teacher did was put a whole bunch of treats on the floor. You were supposed to walk your dog up to the treats and say 'leave it'.


That way is fine IF you stop far enough away that the dog can't actually GET the treats, and then mark and reward when they turn away and reorient to you. How can you teach a dog what "leave it" means when you allow them to eat the food they're supposed to be leaving alone?!?!?  All they're learning is that "leave it" means go look for the yummy food on the floor. I have a different cue for that: "find it".


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

I taught Leave It at mealtime only, for starters.... with the release word OK. It worked fine because she's not a super food hound. When she had that down I escalated to higher value treats.... then on to any undesirable 'goodies' she was interested in outdoors. If she doesn't get the release word she knows it's a permanent Leave It and she's OK with that. I usually try to offer an alternative or distraction.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Our instructor had us put the pup in a down position, sit on the floor with the pup and put a treat on the floor in front of the pup, then tell him/her 'leave it'. If they went for it, we were to put our hand over the treat and say 'leave it'. The moment the pup hesitated toward the treat (with out our hand over it), we were to pick it up (Good boy!) and give them the treat. But the trick was watching for the hesitation - the moment it happened we reward. Once they knew what we were asking, we were to extend the wait time.


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## x0emiroxy0x (Nov 29, 2010)

Our trainer got one of those long, cylinder, ground beef package looking treats and cut each of us a huge circle off of it. 

We had a thing to attach the dog's leash to. We would drop the treat right out of reach. As soon as the dog stopped pulling and looked into our eyes, he got a click and treat.

It only took about 5 minutes.

For the rest of the class, we broke off the circle until it was the size of a marble.

I liked this way because he didn't get the treat just by stopping trying to get it...he had to look at me for direction.

(This was at petsmart)

We did not add the words "leave it" until about halfway through, when the dog understood what it was supposed to do


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

In our class the teacher puts cheeseburgers on the floor. You let the dog pull on the leash looking at the cheeseburger. When the dog finally wonders why he can't have it, he looks at you, that is when you say "Leave It, Good boy". Then we let them have the cheeseburger.

I don't like allowing the dog to each the cheeseburger off the floor, so I pick it up and hand it to my dog for his reward.


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## Hillary_Plog (Apr 3, 2011)

heatherr said:


> We would start by letting the dog see us put a piece of kibble or lower value cookie in our hands and make a fist, or put it on the ground and step on it. Then we'd let the dog sniff and sniff and when he stopped trying to get the kibble under our foot or in our closed fist we would click and treat with a higher value food.
> 
> Then we would build, adding the verbal cue "leave it" and then slowly opening our hands/leaving the kibble out on the floor. And then we would line up a bunch of treats around and weave through telling them to "leave it" for some of the treats, and "take it" for others.
> 
> Now I can line cookies up and down my dog's paws and he will just sigh and put his head on the ground, and a "leave it" works for all the delicious trash he wants to eat during our walks...


This is how I teach my clients in puppy class.


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## s14roller (Nov 18, 2010)

I started to teach my pup leave it at week 9 or 10. Similar to what others have said, I had some kibble in my first and held it shut while she pawed and sniffed at it. Once she let off, I clicked and gave it to her. I think I did the exercise for 5 minutes everyday for a few days. The waits would get longer, and I started clicking only when she turned her head (it's quite cute now). I'm close to 12 weeks now and she has a very good leave it (although only with food for now). I'll drop a piece of chicken/hot dog in front of her along with the command and she will just sit and stare at it until I give it to her.


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

I guess I'm the only one that didn't ever train leave it? 

 I just trained a good name recognition and focus, personally. I say that Frag know's "leave it" because he'll leave anything I call him away from, but I didn't feel the need to add more useless commands.


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

PaddyD said:


> I taught Leave It at mealtime only, for starters.... with the release word OK. It worked fine because she's not a super food hound. When she had that down I escalated to higher value treats.... then on to any undesirable 'goodies' she was interested in outdoors. If she doesn't get the release word she knows it's a permanent Leave It and she's OK with that. I usually try to offer an alternative or distraction.


OP asked what was taught, ignore the above (as if you didn't)


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

DJEtzel said:


> I guess I'm the only one that didn't ever train leave it?
> 
> I just trained a good name recognition and focus, personally. I say that Frag know's "leave it" because he'll leave anything I call him away from, but I didn't feel the need to add more useless commands.


But if you call his name, then he'll come to you. What if you don't need him to come to you, but you need him to stop smelling the cat poop? Like if you were out in a field and you saw him stop and have a great interest in something on the ground, but you couldn't see it.


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## Heidibu (Jul 22, 2008)

My neighbor taught me how to teach "Leave it." Except for me, I use the phrase "not for you."

This one is one of the easiest and fastest commands to teach and for them to "get it."

Hide some high value treats without him/her knowing you have something hidden. Ha! Sit on the ground, put the dog in a down stay. 

But a lower value treat in your hand on the floor in front of the dog. He will smell it, open the hand ... the dog goes for it, say "not for you", close the hand, so he can't....give him the high value treat.

Progress to putting the low value treat in front of the dog and say the command. If the dog eats it, just look away or say softly 'eh' but don't give the high value treat. Continue, and the instant the dog looks away offer the high value treat.

The trick is consistency and working on it constantly and always having something to offer when he gets to something you don't want him to have. :laugh:


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## Sadie GSD (Dec 28, 2010)

Ok well so far everyones way seems to be better than the way my trainer has told us to train our dogs.. 
First.. you get a piece of food or whatever you want and put it down on the ground.. walk by it with your dog. If your dog stops to smell it say "leave it" and if the dog doesn't respond you yank on the leash! Like I mean really yank too. first the trainer said to just tug on the leash and I did but she didn't like how I did it... (guess I did it too softly?) so she took the leash and showed me how to do it and she yanked really hard and Sadie just looked around shocked, she didn't know what happened.. then the trainer says good girl and when she tried to pet her she got really scared like she thought the trainer was gunna hurt her.. It kinda ticked me off. Then she showes me again and does the same thing but says "leave it" and then yanks right away without letting her have a chance to back off and made her stumble. I dunno but I just thought it was a very strange, and kinda mean way to teach a dog. Has anyone ever heard of doing it this way?


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

Lilie said:


> But if you call his name, then he'll come to you. What if you don't need him to come to you, but you need him to stop smelling the cat poop? Like if you were out in a field and you saw him stop and have a great interest in something on the ground, but you couldn't see it.


Maybe this is where I vary from others? When I call my dogs' names, I don't expect them to come, I expect them to look at me for further instruction. So Frag doesn't come when I say his name, he just stops what he's doing and looks at me. In the event of him picking something up I tell him to drop it, if he's stiffing something I just say let's go and keep walking, or will ask him to come to me. If he's off leash romping I'll just tell him no, which means to leave whatever he's doing alone. I just feel like the leave it command is awkward for me, but what works for you may not work for me, and vice versa!


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

DJEtzel said:


> Maybe this is where I vary from others? When I call my dogs' names, I don't expect them to come, I expect them to look at me for further instruction. So Frag doesn't come when I say his name, he just stops what he's doing and looks at me. In the event of him picking something up I tell him to drop it, if he's stiffing something I just say let's go and keep walking, or will ask him to come to me. If he's off leash romping I'll just tell him no, which means to leave whatever he's doing alone. I just feel like the leave it command is awkward for me, but what works for you may not work for me, and vice versa!


Oh, I was just curious. I use 'leave it' alot as we are out in the country. Lots of interesting things for him. I think it's the same mind set. It gets the same result. Just using a different command.


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## racer (Nov 5, 2010)

in the class I've taken you hold the treat to the nose tell the dog to leave it when the dog stops sniffing it and turns it's head away you give him the treat and tell him dog leave it and keep doing waiting to give the treat longer each time then they put treats down and you walk the dog in heel by the treats


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

we placed a treat on the floor (always on a plate, foil
or in his bowl). his trainer didn't like placing
food directly on the floor/ground. we walked the pup
to the treat. when the pup was just ready to get the treat
we would turn him from it saying "leave it". as we continued to practice
we would let the pup sit in front of the treat saying "leave it". once
the pup learned "leave it" we would place a treat in the driveway where
the pup would see it when we let him out. then we would let him out
to go to the yard as he neared the treat we said "leave it".
we use to set the pup up indoors, outdoors, when exiting the car
and so. you can teach "leave it" anywhere, anytime. 

lots of time we would leave food on a table or somewhere
were the dog could reach it so we could teach "leave it".


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## valreegrl (Nov 11, 2009)

"leave it" is a necessary and important command for dogs, IMO. I use "leave it" all day long and to my dogs it means:
Don't touch that
Don't chase that
Put it down

I teach "leave it" with the following steps:

1.) Treat in closed fist, offer to dog and say "leave it". The dog will naturally want to investigate. Once he stops and ignores mark and reward WITH THE OPPOSITE HAND. (very important: I actually worked with a woman who accidentally taught her dog not to take ANY treats from her hand.) Note: the dog never gets the "leave it" treat. 
2.) Once the above step is mastered, move on with an open fist. Once ignored mark and reward with opposite hand. If the dog goes for the treat, simply close your fist and say uh-uh or nope or oops. Then try again. 
3.) Next move on to placing a treat on the ground (don't drop it, too enticing at this level) If the dog goes for it, cover with your foot, oops, pick it up and try again. Once ignored, mark and reward. 
4.) In a down put a treat on the ground. Now the dog is closer. Same steps as above.
5.) Now you can drop the treat. Cover with your foot if necessary and follow above steps.
6.) For fun I use a down and line the treats up using a "leave it". Then move on to placing on the paws, etc to break up the routine.

Once they have a good "leave it" I begin working the behavior in normal circumstances. At home I wear new dogs and use it for lots of things like food on the coffee table. Socks on the floor. Dog walks by and they want to initiate play, etc.


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## Heidibu (Jul 22, 2008)

Sadie GSD said:


> Ok well so far everyones way seems to be better than the way my trainer has told us to train our dogs..
> First.. you get a piece of food or whatever you want and put it down on the ground.. walk by it with your dog. If your dog stops to smell it say "leave it" and if the dog doesn't respond you yank on the leash! Like I mean really yank too. first the trainer said to just tug on the leash and I did but she didn't like how I did it... (guess I did it too softly?) so she took the leash and showed me how to do it and she yanked really hard and Sadie just looked around shocked, she didn't know what happened.. then the trainer says good girl and when she tried to pet her she got really scared like she thought the trainer was gunna hurt her.. It kinda ticked me off. Then she showes me again and does the same thing but says "leave it" and then yanks right away without letting her have a chance to back off and made her stumble. I dunno but I just thought it was a very strange, and kinda mean way to teach a dog. Has anyone ever heard of doing it this way?


I'd be finding another trainer. This is very old school, and yes very mean and unnecessary. The only thing it will teach your dog is not to trust. It would have ticked me off too.


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## Sadie GSD (Dec 28, 2010)

Heidibu said:


> I'd be finding another trainer. This is very old school, and yes very mean and unnecessary. The only thing it will teach your dog is not to trust. It would have ticked me off too.


Hmm... That's what I thought. Also she brought out one of her GSD's and she called him over and kinda ignored her and went to the bathroom.. and she said "oh he knows he's not allowed to use the grass so he'll come in a minute" then he was done and she called him again and he ignored her and came up to Sadie and sniffed her and stuff and she called him again and he ignored.. and she said "oh he just loves puppies, he just needs his puppy fix and he'll come right over" like as if she was making up excuses. She told us in the begining that the dogs should come the first time we call them... but yet both her dogs I notice don't seem to listen very well.. very interesting.
I'm not going to the classes anymore cause my fiance had to go to New Mexico for work and I'm staying at familys for the month.. I told the trainer this and she said that what I need to do then is just keep working with sadie for the next few weeks with the same stuff. and when I feel she has it down call her and she'll tell me what to do next.. Kinda weird cause what am I paying them for then? We gave them money up front and on their site it says we only have to pay for the classes we attend to??


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

Heidibu said:


> I'd be finding another trainer. This is very old school, and yes very mean and unnecessary. The only thing it will teach your dog is not to trust. It would have ticked me off too.


Same here.  Sorry you have such a bad trainer.


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## plusdoegsd (Nov 15, 2010)

lol i believe i just said it held up my hand. and then released the dog with ok same day they get it. this is like the easiest command next to sit.....lol


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Sadie GSD said:


> We gave them money up front and on their site it says we only have to pay for the classes we attend to??


Could you post a link to the website?


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## AgileGSD (Jan 17, 2006)

I call it "off" and once trained I use it not only for food or toys but to get the dog to back away from whatever they might want. I teach it less for practical uses though and more for impulse control. 

These are the beginning steps of how I teach it:

1. Hold a treat in your hand and say “OFF” one time. As soon as your dog backs up, even slightly, click and give them the treat. Remember not to repeat the off cue and to be sure that your dog is backing away from your hand instead of you pulling your hand back from the dog. Repeat until your dog responds right away when offered the closed hand and “OFF” cue.

2. Increase the time you ask your dog to stay away from your hand by a second each try until your dog will remain "OFF" for a count of 10 seconds or more. 

3. Begin to open your hand, exposing the treat a bit more each time. At first, reward as soon as your dog backs away from the treat in your open hand. Gradually work up to increasing the time as described in Step 2.

4. Repeat these steps with the treat under your foot or hand on the floor instead of in your hand. Remember, if your dog has a problem at any time, go back to the last step you were successful at and try again.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Here's how I do it. It's similar to one method described but with a BIG difference.

For me, Leave It means the dog is not to 'get' whatever it is they are focused on.

So, I take a treat (I use high value treats like chicken) and place it on the floor. I put the dog on leash and allow them to approach the treat so they can see and smell but NOT touch it.

I say Leave It and wait. When the dog focuses back on me I give them a treat FROM MY HAND and walk them away.

I NEVER allow the dog to get the treat on the floor - the one I just told them to leave alone.

I think this helps cement in their brain that if I say Leave it they will NEVER get that, but they will get something else.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

Toys and treats placed on the ground, walk by them sometimes and other times have the dog in a sit/stay or down/stay. Decrease the distance and value of the treat for better trained dogs.

As the approach it, command issued of "leave it" and collar correction. Reward as soon as they return focus to the handler. Worked great for all of mine. I didn't have time to read all the other posts, but I did just see the one above mine and I agree - I never ever reward with the toy or treat they were just told to "leave." The reward comes from me and only me. they learn VERY quickly that all rewards come from me. I hate when I drop a treat during training and the dog goes nuts trying to grab it. Mine ignore treats I drop because they know they aren't allowed to pick them up. When they ignore it, I reward immediately with a treat that I try to actually not drop...


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## HobNob (Jan 10, 2011)

Sadie GSD said:


> Ok well so far everyones way seems to be better than the way my trainer has told us to train our dogs..
> First.. you get a piece of food or whatever you want and put it down on the ground.. walk by it with your dog. If your dog stops to smell it say "leave it" and if the dog doesn't respond you yank on the leash! Like I mean really yank too. first the trainer said to just tug on the leash and I did but she didn't like how I did it... (guess I did it too softly?) so she took the leash and showed me how to do it and she yanked really hard and Sadie just looked around shocked, she didn't know what happened.. then the trainer says good girl and when she tried to pet her she got really scared like she thought the trainer was gunna hurt her.. It kinda ticked me off. Then she showes me again and does the same thing but says "leave it" and then yanks right away without letting her have a chance to back off and made her stumble. I dunno but I just thought it was a very strange, and kinda mean way to teach a dog. Has anyone ever heard of doing it this way?


I don't think this is ALL bad. I mean, yes, if the trainer is actually hurting the dog, that's bad. If the dog is afraid of the trainer, that's bad. But we just recently had a private training session for our 5 y/o GSD, Duke. Our trainer practices a mix of some old school and new school training methods. 

As far as "old school" methods, she uses leash corrections (with either a prong or martingale collar), verbal corrections, and the use of your body to direct the dog. She does not use hand corrections (says hands are for pets & praises) and does not use the alpha roll. Along with this, she also uses treats, verbal and physical praise, and lots of verbal feedback. 

She taught us to give Duke a leash correction (quick snap & release of the prong collar) and say "leave it" while we are on walks if he gets distracted by other dogs, smells on ground, other people, etc. When he leaves it and pays attention to us it's a verbal praise ("good boy!"). In the house if he is on leash (which he will be for a little while as we establish boundaries and teach him to follow through with commands) and starts sniffing the trash or paying attention to something he shouldn't be, she taught us to give the "leave it" command and if he doesn't listen we give a leash correction and tell him "leave it" again. When he obeys, verbal or physical praise. When he's not on leash in the house, give the "leave it" command, and if he doesn't obey use our bodies to move him away from the object. When he moves away, praise him.

Some might not agree with these methods, but they seem to be working. Duke is responding really well on his walks. Previously, when we would walk by a house that had a dog on the other side of the fence, Duke would get excited and pull on the leash and try to approach the fence. Now, we have taught him to heel just behind us and use leash corrections when he tries to get ahead. It works great. And if she shows interest in a dog (he is slowly showing less and less interest now with these new methods) we can give a leash correction and say "leave it" and he leaves it. Since we've started using what the trainer taught us, his on-leash behavior outside of the house has changed a lot! 

The trainer DOES encourage taking treats on walks and rewarding him with them when he follows commands. So it's not ALL leash corrections. But I happen to feel occasional leash corrections work pretty well...at least with some dogs.


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## HobNob (Jan 10, 2011)

Rerun said:


> I never ever reward with the toy or treat they were just told to "leave."


I agree. I thought that sounded a little weird when I read it in some of the other posts.



Rerun said:


> The reward comes from me and only me. they learn VERY quickly that all rewards come from me. I hate when I drop a treat during training and the dog goes nuts trying to grab it. Mine ignore treats I drop because they know they aren't allowed to pick them up. When they ignore it, I reward immediately with a treat that I try to actually not drop...


Can't wait to get to that point with Duke.


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## DCluver33 (May 27, 2010)

valreegrl said:


> "leave it" is a necessary and important command for dogs, IMO. I use "leave it" all day long and to my dogs it means:
> Don't touch that
> Don't chase that
> Put it down
> ...


this is what i did to teach "leave it"


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