Pet owners should teach dog leave it command. These powerful words can make your dog avoid possible danger. Whether it’s a toxic substance, shoe, or furniture – dogs shouldn’t eat it. On top of that, it’s easy to learn!
Benefits of the dog “Leave It” command?
It can be beneficial in many ways. The most important one is preventing dogs from ingesting toxic food. This includes toxic fruit and toxic vegetables for dogs.
The same command can make your dog avoid danger. It can be applied if your dog is in a dangerous environment. Wanting to play with dogs that may harm it, or sniffing poisonous mushrooms? It can save its life.
Just a single “Leave It” command can prevent an emergency.
How can I teach my dog to leave it?
As stated before, this is not hard. However, you should choose the right environment. Train with your dog in a calm, silent place. Such an area shouldn’t have any distractions. I also recommend doing this while your dog is hungry.
Preparing treats
The dog should be rewarded for its effort. Therefore, you should prepare two treats:
- smaller, less-delicious one
- just a little bigger, tastier one
The smaller ones should not be bigger than the size of the pea. The bigger one should not be too big. This is important because you don’t want to feed your dog but to reward him.
If your dog treat is not pea-sized, just slice or break it in half.
Using them
Simply place each one of them in your hands. For example, the smaller one in your left hand and the bigger one in your right hand. This method will help us proceed to the second step.
Dog training
Close your hand with a smaller, less delicious treat by making a fist. Continue by putting it close to your dog’s head. This will probably make the dog sniff the hand, expecting the treat. Say “Leave it” and wait until it stops sniffing your fist.
When the dog stops sniffing your hand, say “Yes!” and give him the treat from the other hand. This will ensure your dog knows you expect him to stop sniffing your hand when you say “Leave it”. Repeat this step until your dog completely learns it.
Second (harder) part
Leash your dog outside. Do so once again in a calm place, without any distractions. Get a less delicious treat, throw it away, and say “Leave it!”. This may make your dog uncomfortable, but wait until it calms down.
When the dog calms down, say “Yes!” once again and reward him with the good, more-delicious treat. Repeat this process until the dog learns to calm down when you say “Leave it” command.
After your dog masters this part of the training as well, you can make it even harder. Try it without a leash, or in an environment with distractions! When your dog learns to go back to you after you say “Leave it” without being on a leash, it has learned this command. You can also try doing this with other items or sounds your dog may be interested in.
Conclusion
The command “Leave it” is very beneficial to dogs. It takes simple (but many) steps to learn. However, it will help by keeping your dog safe from cars, trucks, toxic food, or aggressive animals.
The main author of Vivo Tail, Stefan is .NET desktop application developer since 2016, content writer and above all – passionate animal lover. He decided to start a website to help animals in need after the dog he loved has passed away.
