Train a Reliable "Leave-It"

Whether your dog is a family pet, a competitive canine, a therapy or service dog, SELF-CONTROL is one of the most critical skills she needs to learn. Training a Reliable “LEAVE-IT” is the first in a series of SELF-CONTROL exercises taught in my Foundation Skills and Good Manners class.

All dogs have exceptional noses and are attracted to many things that you don’t necessarily want them to eat or even put in their mouths—dead frogs on the road, accidentally dropped food in the kitchen, baby ducks, or your granddaughter’s pacifier. Training “leave-it” with aversive-free methods increases the probability that your dog will perform on cue.

The important thing is to use the “cue” that is most likely to come out of your mouth in that emergency situation when your dog is about to go after that dead frog, live squirrel, or even a little girl’s ice cream cone at the park.

Step 1: Capturing the Behavior

1. Hold a few bits of kibble in your right fist.

2. Hold your clicker and 10 small pieces of a High Value (HV) treats in your left hand.

3. Position your left thumb on the clicker so you are ready to click.

4. Put both hands behind your back.

5. Wait for your dog to offer a sit or down, then quickly and gently shove your kibble-filled-fist towards her mouth – put it right up against her mouth and hold it there. Keep your hand still…avoid pulling your hand away. Keep other hand (with the clicker and 10 pieces of HV treats) behind your back.

6. Bite your lip so you are not tempted to say anything.

7. Allow her to sniff, mouth, and lick your kibble-filled-fist—whatever he wants to do to try to get the treat.

8. Watch her closely. The instant she moves her mouth away from your kibble-filled-fist for just a fraction of a second…CLICK!

9. Slowly bring your other hand from behind your back and deliver 1 HV treat to your dog.

10. REPEAT 10 times for 1 “mini-session.” Take 15s break; reload your hand with 10 HV treats.

REPEAT the 10 click-then-treat mini-session three times for one “formal training session.”

If your dog is too highly aroused, use something less tantalizing in your kibble-filled-fist to start. If your dog loses interest and does not try to get the kibble, use something more tantalizing.

In subsequent “formal training sessions”: Warm up with 2 or 3 click-then-treats using the same criteria you used in the last training session. IF your dog fails to meet these criteria, go back to kindergarten by lowering your criteria for a few click-then-treats. Then gradually increase your criteria, again.

I recommend breaking down “leave-it” into the following steps:

• Raise your criteria gradually so that the click-then-treat comes ONLY when your dog is intentionally moving his mouth several inches away from your hand.

• Raise the criteria again so that the click-then-treat comes only when the dog moves his mouth away from your hand and starts to look up toward your face.

• Raise the criteria again so that the click-then-treat comes ONLY when your dog actually makes eye contact with you.

• Raise the criteria again, gradually requiring longer periods of eye contact, until your dog moves away from your hand and maintains eye contact for at least one full second (count out loud: “one-thousand one” or “one Mississippi”).

• When you are willing to bet $100 that…when you push your kibble-filled-fist towards your dog’s mouth, she will back away and look at you for at least one second….NOW is the time to add the cue "leave-it" or “mine” or “off.” YOU get to pick the cue!

Step 2: Adding the Cue

Show your dog your kibble-filled-fist. As you are moving your fist towards the dog’s mouth, say “leave-it” (or your cue) in a calm voice…remember this is a cue not a command. When he looks away from your kibble-filled-fist and makes eye contact—CLICK! Then reach for and give her a higher value treat from your stash. Repeat 10 times for one “mini-session.” Repeat 3 times for one “formal training session.” Conduct at least 3 “formal training sessions” in at least 3 different locations inside your home before moving the training sessions outdoors to your deck or back yard. Once you are willing to bet $100 that your dog understands the cue in a variety of situations, we are ready to make it more difficult.

Last week we started training “Leave-it” with food hidden in your fist. Review Steps 1 & 2 and refresh your dog’s memory by going back through these steps quickly. This week you will begin increasing the difficulty of this SELF-CONTROL behavior!

Step 3: Capturing the Behavior in More Difficult Situations

1. Place one piece of kibble between your thumb and forefinger.

2. Be sure you dog knows you have a piece of kibble!

3. Say “Leave-it” as you lower your hand towards your dog’s mouth.

4. Click when your dog backs away from the kibble and looks at you.

5. If you dog tries to get the treat, just wait him out…DO NOT repeat the cue!

6. If he has trouble with this step, go back to a closed fist for a few trials, then try again.

7. Gradually increase the difficulty by:

• Kibble in an open palm

• Kibble between fingers held in place on the floor

• Kibble on floor, covered by your hand

• Piece of hotdog, string cheese, chicken, or other higher value treat in your closed fist, then between fingers, then open palm, then near floor

• Kibble placed on floor just out of reach – be prepared to cover with your hand if your dog fails to respond to the cue

• Kibble placed on floor within reach – be prepared to cover with your hand if your dog fails to respond to the cue

• In all cases, avoid repeating the cue or saying NO, or UH-OH, or Whoops!

8. ALWAYS SET YOUR DOG UP FOR SUCCESS! BE PREPARED TO COVER DECOY SO THAT HE NEVER ACTUALLY GETS IT. ALWAYS TREAT FROM ANOTHER SOURCE – YOUR TREAT POUCH, A BOWL OF TREATS NEARBY, OR YOUR TREAT HAND WHICH HAS BEEN HIDDEN BEHIND YOUR BACK, BUT NOT THE ITEM YOU ASK HER TO LEAVE-IT).

Step 4: Training for Real Life Situations

1. Once your dog truly understands what the cue “Leave-it” means, you can start training for real-life situations by placing a few pieces of kibble on the floor inside your house.

2. Put your dog on his leash and walk her past the kibble (be sure you are at a distance where she will detect the kibble, but be unable to reach it IF she fails to respond to the cue).

3. Say “Leave-it” at the same instant your dog “detects” the kibble. NOTE: If you wait until she is “going for it”, it may be too late and your dog may fail to respond to the cue.

4. Click the instant he disengages, even if you don’t get eye-contact!

5. Deliver treat to your dog’s mouth by hand.

6. Repeat passes by the kibble, gradually getting closer and closer to the decoy kibble.

7. Move to your sidewalk or driveway outside!

8. Continue to PRACTICE Leave-it weekly to ensure that the behavior is always reliable when you need it in real life!

About Caryn Self Sullivan, PhD: Dr. Caryn is an animal behaviorist serving the Greater Fredericksburg & Northern Neck areas of Virginia since 2010. She owns Beach Paws Boutique, A Place for Pets & their People, at 116 Hawthorn Street in Downtown Colonial Beach VA. Credentials include a Ph.D. in Animal Behavior from Texas A&M. TEXT her at (540) 287-8207 to set up a free 20-minute phone consult.