How to Teach Your Dog to Leave It

I love the leave it command. It’s not a solution to prevent your dog from ever approaching or eating something he shouldn’t, but it stops it from happening immediately. It gives you an opportunity to redirect your dog and remove him from distracting people, animals, or food.

I use it all the time when we are walking to avoid aggressive dogs. I think this is a great skill for your dog’s safety, health, and to teach your dog good leash manners.

Why should you teach your dog to Leave It?

This is a really important command to learn for any time you don’t want your dog to go near another person or animal or to prevent him eating something bad for him. For example, let’s say a piece of chocolate drops on the floor. If your dog approaches it, you want to tell him to leave it alone and know that he’ll listen. This is for his own health and safety, because chocolate is highly toxic to dogs.

It’s also helpful on walks. Let’s say your walking past goose poop or an aggressive dog, and it’s distracting to your dog. You want to be able to tell him to leave it to avoid eating something gross or a confrontation with another dog.

Basic principles of Leave It training

Leave It training relies on the basics of leash pressure to prevent bad behavior and reinforce good behavior. It only requires a premium treat, like cheese or hot dogs, and a regular 6 foot leash and collar.

Depending on how old your dog is and how strong he is, you may need to use a head halter or prong collar instead. If you aren’t sure which head halter to select, check out this complete review of the top head halters used by dog owners and why they use them.

Essential Gear for Leave It training

You only need the basics to teach your dog to leave it. The two things you need are:

• A premium treat. Chunks of cheese or pieces of hot dog work perfectly.
• A 6 foot leash. I normally use the K9 Sidekick but any 6 foot leash will work.

How to each your dog to Leave It

The milestones are straightforward and easy. The first step is to prepare your premium treat (chunks of cheese or hot dogs) and leash up your dog on a 6 foot leash. We will discuss each milestone in detail below.

Let’s get started!

Milestone #1: Throw the treat just out of reach from you and your dog

Get ready, because the moment you throw it your dog will immediately lunge for it. That’s OK. Hold your ground and let him pull. When he does, say “leave it.” He may not change his behavior right away. That’s also OK. He’ll get it eventually. Hold your stance and don’t say “leave it” more than once.

When he comes back to you, tell him he’s a good boy and reward with a piece of cheese or hot dog.

Milestone #2: Brace yourself for another lunge

The moment you give him a treat, he will eat it and then go right back to that treat on the ground. Be prepared and hold your ground. When you see him start to lunge for it, tell him to leave it. He should come back to you again, and you should give him a treat.

Just like last time, make sure you only say it once. Don’t repeat it if he doesn’t change his behavior right away. He’ll eventually get it. And when he does, reward him with a piece of cheese or hot dog.

In total, let him lunge for the treat an additional 1-2 times and continue telling him to “leave it.”

Milestone #3: Give your dog the treat you threw out of reach

When you are finished practicing 3-4 times, walk over to the treat and pick it up. Hand feed it to him. Try not to let him eat it from the floor because you want him to practice impulse control.

Tips for a Solid Leave It

Tip #1: Don’t practice it too much

I would do this activity everyday for a week, and then no more than three days a week after that for long-term learning. You want to lower the frequency of practicing because you don’t want to over use it. Sometimes over using a command is just as bad as not practicing it because dogs will get bored and stop responding. Over time, they will think it’s OK to ignore you.

Of course if you feel like he’s slipping, then you should have more regular training sessions. If you think he completely forgot, then go back to square one and re-train.

Tip #2: Practice on leash during walks

This is an excellent time to practice Leave It. Make sure on your walks to bring premium treats with you to help reinforce the behavior, especially if this is still a fairly new command. If you are walking by noisy dogs and your dog needs to be refocused on you, say “Leave It.” If he doesn’t refocus, yank on his leash a few times until he does. You can do the same thing if you walk past a mailbox your dog wants to mark or gross stuff on the ground he may try to eat.

Tip #3: Practice with your dog’s favorite toys

When your dog responds positively to this you can try with toys on leash. Then try it off leash. When you try it off leash, say it right before your dog grabs the toy. When he stops and looks at you, praise him and reward him with cheese or hot dog pieces.

Common questions about teaching your dog Leave It.

Conclusion

This is a great skill to learn that you can begin teaching your puppy early as part of leash training. It’s important to learn for your dog’s safety and health. The steps are simple: start on a 6 foot leash and throw cheese or hot dog pieces out of reach. Then tell the dog “Leave It” one time. When your dog eventually returns to you, reward with a treat. Keep practicing and over time you’ll dog will know it off leash too.