- You can use this command for off limit items, wildlife, people, other dogs to name a few
- Don’t confuse your ‘leave’ for ‘drop’ or ‘give’ – this is a very different command
- Don’t use ‘leave’ for something you are going to then give your dogs – this make the dog anticipate ultimately receiving the item which can weaken your ‘leave’ command
- Make sure you say your command in the same tone of voice to how you trained it. If you shout ‘leave’ don’t expect the dog to understand this
- When training ‘leave’ timing is critical both for saying the leave and praising / rewarding the dog disengaging from it.
Leave should mean disengage from what you are doing / looking at / about to eat and refocus on me. Your dog needs to understand what it is allowed to have and what it is not. For ‘leave’ to be a strong command you need to be consistent with how you teach it and what things your dog isn’t allowed to touch.
If you find yourselve repeatedly saying leave over and over again for the same items it is likely that your dog is not fully understanding that leave is a command that is long term not just for the moment you are saying it.
Can you leave your dinner on the floor and walk out the room knowing that your dog will take note of your command and leave the food or will you come back and go hungry?
If it is the later it would suggest that your dog doesn’t fully understand the concept of leave or it has been taught in such a way that your dog anticipates getting the thing they have been asked to leave and lacks the self control to wait.
If you’d like help with training a solid ‘leave’ get in touch
