# Leave it



## Cero21 (Jun 5, 2008)

How have you taught your GSD to ''leave it''. I've read about many techniques (baiting your backyard, biscuit at the paws etc) but I'm interested to know what works best for our GSDs. It's about time Pebbles learnt this command.


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

Here's how I do it. I place a treat on the floor, put the dog on leash and walk them up towards it. I stop when the dog is about a foot or so away from it and then just wait. Usually the dog pulls towards the treat - I just stand there.

The INSTANT the dogs attention turns towards me I yell "YES!!" and give them a treat from my hand and then we walk away.

Keep repeating this - sometimes moving or changing the treat.

Once the dog is looking at me the moment they see the treat I say "Good Leave It!!". That's how I get the command in there.


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## nitros_mommy (Jun 26, 2006)

How i did it with Khya was to put a treat ( or a toy) on the floor and stay close to it, when she went for it, I would cover it with my hand and tell her NO Leave It! When she moved away i praised her enthusiastically moving my hand to reveal the treat again. 

I just repeated this a few times until i could move away and she would focus on me, waiting until i told her to Get It!

That's worked for all my dogs to date. 

Good luck.


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## LuvourGSDs (Jan 14, 2007)

Working on this 1 with all 3. I feel they all got it if I have them in a sit or down, drop something saying *LEAVE IT* & if they don't go after it, I praise & give a treat. I then pick up the item dropped.

Now it's learning how to tell them ALL to *LEAVE IT* & NOT chase the deers, rabbits, etc ! Not sure on this one...........


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## Wolfie (Jan 20, 2006)

I taught the "Leave it" command the same way Wendy did.

It's amazing how quickly dogs learn this command.


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## rainydaygoods (Oct 13, 2008)

I taught Charlie "leave it" with his meals - I get his food ready and make him sit first, then I put the food down and say "leave it." I don't give him the release command until he is focused on me, not the food. We do this twice a day and it helped him learn it really fast! At first, when he would start to go for the food before I'd told him "go get it," I'd just grab his bowl quickly and we'd start over. He learned this very quickly and it has definitely transferred over to other things - when we play catch or frisbee, when I ask him to leave his toys, etc.

I'm definitely still working on "drop it" when he finds a random sock, though...


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

I don't let them have the object on the floor after I've told them Leave It. If I want them to actually have it I will pick it up and hand it to them.

That way they never get confused about whether or not they are allowed to pick it up off the floor and it always comes from ME.


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## BJDimock (Sep 14, 2008)

With our Fidelco fosters, we present a closed fist with a treat inside and say "Leave it." 
When they show signs of backing off ( a sit, or a downward thrust of the nose, we mark it with "Good!!"
We transfer the leave it command to tabels, chairs, then floors. We'll place the object in place and keep a closed fist directly over it, while commanding "leave it"
We also teach "take it" ,which is a very nice counter reward. If the dog has performed several nice "leave it" commands with the fist closed, we'll turn our fists over and offer the treat on our palms, while saying "take it".
This command also helps our dogs learn to pick up objects their handlers may not be able too.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

how old is Pebbles? i taught leave by placing a treat on the floor. with my dog on a leash we walked to the treat. i let my dog get his nose really close to the treat. when his nose or mouth was close to the treat i pulled him away from the treat while saying leave it. after he caught on to leave it while being on the leash i did it off the leash. i gave him lots of praise and pets when he left the treat.

for off the leash leave it i had my dog sit and stay. i would show him the treat. then i walked away and placed the treat on the floor. then i would tell my dog to get it. when he ran to the treat i would say no, leave it. when he left the treat i would praise him.

leave it really comes in handy. there's always something you want them to leave alone.


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## law1558 (Feb 20, 2008)

We've taught the "leave it" command in a similar fashion...dropping a treat on the floor and telling the dog leave it, with the praise and reward coming when they ignore what's on the floor and make eye contact with us. We'll then follow up with a "take it" command and give them a treat from our hands.

Once they've mastered the "leave it/take it" command at home, we take it out on the road. On walks, we'll toss a treat a few feet ahead of the dog and say "leave it"....we'll walk by, wait for the eye contact, then praise with "take it" and give them a treat.

After that, we'll work with diversions other than food - kids running, cats walking by, etc. Same drill...."leave it"....wait for eye contact and reward with "take it" and a treat.


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## sprzybyl (May 15, 2008)

i did it the same as bjdimock did. we started by showing her the treat was in my hand and then close my fist and turn it "upside down". I'd say "leave it"
then as soon as she would look up at me i would say good, leave it, and give her the treat. slowly once she got that, i would progress to the treat in my open hand. she gets it as soon as she focuses on me. then we progressed to treat on the floor, with me covering it, then just to it on the floor. now she's amazing at it! my favorite trick to show off! we are going to progress to on the nose soon lol

amazing what she will do for a treat lmao


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## aaron.whitney (Oct 7, 2007)

I start teaching leave it with a treat in my fist and as soon as the puppy looses intrest and stops trying to eat my hand and backs off a little I say leave it and reward with a higher value treat. By the time I am sure that the puppy understands the command and will focus on me I will proof the command by heeling the puppy past a treat. If the puppy has a high food drive I will not bother with the leave it command untill the dog is much older unless the dog is just a pet.


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## Cero21 (Jun 5, 2008)

Thanks for all the great ideas! I'm going to start putting them to use right away.

I think Pebbles is sorta getting the hang of leave it because I am constantly screaming it when she bolts for the recycling bin or garbage but I really should make this formal training.

Pebbles is 8 months old now.


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