Leave-it; drop-it

[Kevin English]

Has anyone out there ever trained their doggies 'leave-it' and 'drop-it' commands? Now that I have put my dog through some really good basic obedience training, I wanted to incorporate these two commands.

Kevin

[Mario Niepel]

Kevin, I have trained both commands. I think every dog actually should know both of them, since they are quite important in managing your dog and keeping him/her safe.

"Drop it" is pretty basic to teach. If your dog is relucant to drop and item, you can try 'trading up' (practice with an item of low value and offer an item of higher value).

"Leave it" has come to mean for my dog to stop whatever he is doing at the moment and come closer to me (possibly to get a reward). It works for not picking up stuff from the street, not bothering a person or a dog and even to not lift his leg on whatever he is snuffeling at the moment. Since "leave it" always means 'come closer and look at me' it disrupts all these behaviors.

Let me know if you have any more specific questions.

[Susan Medlin]

Hi!
Sammy has been taught the leave it command during his Petsmart puppy training class. Comes in handy if you drop something (a pill, for instance) that you don't want them to have.
Our instuctor taught us to drop a treat on the floor in front of them, and immediately put your foot over it while saying leave it! Hold another treat in your hand, and don't have the dog on a leash. You want them to obey the verbal command, and not wait for you to pull the leash to make him stop.
Anyway, move your foot off the treat, all the time saying leave it. When they go for it again, put your foot back over it! (You have to be quick!) You're still saying leave it!
It's really funny the looks you'll get from your pup!
Finally, when they ignore it for a sec, feed them the treat in your hand, praising lavishly!
The idea is that they only eat what comes from your hand.
This may have been way more information than you wanted! but I hope it helps!
Susan

[Mario Niepel]

Susan, I think the way you were taught to teach 'leave it' is generally good, but may I add one suggestion? I think it is best to teach your dog to respond to ONE single command. One 'leave it' should mean to leave whatever the dog was interested in alone until you get a release command.

For example, with the foot over the treat technique that would go something like this: drop the treat and keep you foot hovering ready to cover it up. Say 'leave it' once and then wait until your pup does not show interest in the treat anymore. Then you give your release word and reward with a treat. You can either reward with the treat on the floor (best to pick it up and hand it to the dog) or with a different reward.

THe reason to try and early on stick to single commands is that it saves hassles later on. Just like with 'sit', 'down' and 'stay'. Once the command is issued, the dog should do the action until you release or give another command. This can get really tricky if, for example, you would like to walk away from your dog from a down/stay or if you need to talk to somebody while your dog is in a down/stay.

[Renee]

Quote:
"all the time saying leave it"

Whenever we are telling or teaching our dogs any cue, say it once!. This is one of the golden rules of good dog training. If we repeat things more than once, we are desentizing/polluting the cue and thereby making it weaker and less effective. And like Mario said, teach it with a release word like "OK".

I've heard that this type of thing goes on at some of the Petsmart locations and I think it is very unfortunate.

[Susan Medlin]

Okay, I probably phrased that wrong! We were taught to repeat "leave it" when we removed our foot as they dove for the treat again.
Well, that doesn't sound right, either!
Susan

[Kevin English]

Everyone, thanks for all of the input! If you get a chance could you go into a bit more detail on the mechanics of the drop it? Also, I'm really interested in how you got the 'leave it' to encompass so many behaviors...I think it's amazing and would love to teach something like that!

Again, when you have a minute to write something, I would really appreciate it!!

Kevin

[Tiffany Bailey]

Hi!
Sammy has been taught the leave it command during his Petsmart puppy training class. Comes in handy if you drop something (a pill, for instance) that you don't want them to have.
Our instuctor taught us to drop a treat on the floor in front of them, and immediately put your foot over it while saying leave it! Hold another treat in your hand, and don't have the dog on a leash. You want them to obey the verbal command, and not wait for you to pull the leash to make him stop.
Anyway, move your foot off the treat, all the time saying leave it. When they go for it again, put your foot back over it! (You have to be quick!) You're still saying leave it!
It's really funny the looks you'll get from your pup!
Finally, when they ignore it for a sec, feed them the treat in your hand, praising lavishly!
The idea is that they only eat what comes from your hand.
This may have been way more information than you wanted! but I hope it helps!
Susan

Susan:
Thanks for the tidbit. It's no way more information than i think that anyone wanted. I really like it when other people from the forum give more information than needed so I don't sit there thinking and trying to analyze what something is or how to do the obedience on some stuff. I would rather hear of tips that actually work than have to go through $100 dollars worth of books to figure out what works. Thanks.
-Tiffy & Baby

[Melissa Brunoehler]

HI Kevin~

Renee P has an article on Leave It & Drop It. http://www.doggiebagonline. com/articles/article.php?articlei d=19

If you have more questions after reading it, please ask.

Everyone, thanks for all of the input! If you get a chance could you go into a bit more detail on the mechanics of the drop it? Also, I'm really interested in how you got the 'leave it' to encompass so many behaviors...I think it's amazing and would love to teach something like that!

Again, when you have a minute to write something, I would really appreciate it!!

Kevin

[Kevin English]

Thanks Melissa -- I will give this a read!

Kevin

[Kevin English]

Melissa,

A couple of quick questions on 'Leave-it'. First, the article wrote:
"Remember that you MUST USE THE COMMAND before the dog makes any connection with something that is NOT HIS BUSINESS." Does this mean that I need to give her the command before she sees and focuses on another dog or something I don't want her to put in her mouth? Put another way, once she has focused on something I would rather she didn't (e.g., getting riled over a dog or something), is it too late to use a 'Leave-it' command?

My other question is just a point of clarification -- the article says to wait until the dog has stopped focusing on something prior to giving her the treat right? That would mean she must see something that would normally grab her focus, I must tell her to focus elsewhere, and once she does, I treat her. Is that right??

Kevin

[Melissa Brunoehler]

Hi Kevin~

A couple of quick questions on 'Leave-it'. First, the article wrote:
"Remember that you MUST USE THE COMMAND before the dog makes any connection with something that is NOT HIS BUSINESS." Does this mean that I need to give her the command before she sees and focuses on another dog or something I don't want her to put in her mouth? Put another way, once she has focused on something I would rather she didn't (e.g., getting riled over a dog or something), is it too late to use a 'Leave-it' command?

You can use the leave it command after she has focused on something. But be sure to use it before she has connected with the object or starts barking at the other dog . Here's part of Renee's article:

Leave it can be used ANYTIME the dog is focusing his attention on
SOMETHING inappropriate. If your dog is looking at another dog, and you
think he doesn’t have PLAYING on his mind, tell him to LEAVE IT before
he starts barking and carrying on. Your dog will automatically turn his
attention away, and he should also move his body in another direction of
the dog. LEAVE IT will generalize to any object, item, person, place or
thing that you don’t want him to pay attention to. Remember that you
MUST USE THE COMMAND before the dog makes any connection with something that is NOT HIS BUSINESS.


My other question is just a point of clarification -- the article says to wait until the dog has stopped focusing on something prior to giving her the treat right? That would mean she must see something that would normally grab her focus, I must tell her to focus elsewhere, and once she does, I treat her. Is that right??


Yes.

[Kevin English]

Thanks Melissa!

[Mario Niepel]

I just would like to add this: start practicing 'leave it' and 'drop it' with really low value items. I started with a toy that Sammy didn't particularly care for. I would hand it to him, he would immediately start dropping it, I say 'drop it' and reward. This way he caught on really quickly. Only later on did I move on to toys he really liked and then onto food (bones). Same with leave it. I would wait till his attention would turn to an object he didn't much care for. I say 'leave it', the sound of my voice makes him look at me, I reward.