Puppies love to explore the world with their mouths. So when something smells good, it goes in the mouth, when something is brightly colored, it goes in the mouth, when something happens to be in their path, it goes in the mouth. Most of the time mouthing everything is fairly harmless. But there is always the possibility to come across something dangerous, not to mention there are plenty of things we just don’t want them to put their mouths on. Although dogs are domesticated animals, they are not born knowing how to live properly in the human world. It is our job as mommies and daddies to teach them appropriate behaviors, set boundaries and provide rules. Starting early sets the dog up for success later on and allows for a more harmoniously relationship between dog and human.
I mentioned that on walks you would be likely to hear us giving the command leave it quite often. There are so many things our dogs tend to want to put in their mouths on our walks so we have to remind them that is not okay. Just to state the obvious, there are many things to be found while out walking that we don’t want the dogs to have in their mouths: dead birds, left over rotting food, garbage and other animal poop are among those things. And I am sure you can think of many others that could also hazardous like sharp metal or a broken glass bottle. Aside from trying to keep them healthy and safe, we also like to make sure our dogs are focused on the walk and are not getting too distracted by all these other things outside. Walking is not only part of giving the boys physical exercise but also for mental stimulation.
If you have taken your dog to obedience class then you have a basic understanding of the leave it and take it commands, which go hand in hand and are generally taught together for that reason. In my opinion leave it is one of the most important commands. Not only can this command be a life saver if your dog goes for something dangerous, it makes life easier at home if your dogs are anything like mine and get curious about the new sweater you just draped over a chair. And teaching leave it and take it helps your dog to understand that you are the pack leader and he needs to look to you for guidance as well as what he is and is not allowed to do.
Ares actually never attended formal obedience class. As I’ve talked about before, he’s very stubborn and defiant, but always very smart. It was more difficult teaching him leave it and take it because he simply did not like being told what to do. On the other hand, Chaos went through formal obedience training and was a star pupil. He caught on to every new skill quickly and had it mastered in no time. Ares is probably more intelligent than Chaos if you could measure doggie IQ, but Chaos is no dummy and what he really has going for him is the will to please. Pit bulls are very loyal to their owners and have a strong desire to accomplish what is asked of them. When we were teaching Chaos new commands he would pay attention and you could almost see on his face how badly he wanted to understand what we were asking of him so that he could do it and makes us happy. It was actually Ares seeing Chaos being rewarded for obeying leave it and take it that finally got him to follow suit.
Leave it came in handy very well last Spring when all the little flowers and dandelions began to line the sidewalks. We got really tired of saying it because Chaos wanted to sniff or try to eat every other one. But instead of trying to wrestle him away from them, we just had to keep repeating the command. This was the case again when the season changed from summer to fall and all the leaves started covering the ground. Chaos wanted to gobble them up like that kids’ game Hungry Hippos so we found ourselves on repeat with leave it again. It was still better than him puking up a leaf pile later. Probably the time I’ve been most grateful for having the boys learn leave it was just recently when I was cleaning out my pantry. I was going shelf by shelf taking everything out and setting it on the counter behind me. There was a box of raisins I had purposely set farther back on the counter. But as I turned around my sneaky Little O somehow knocked them over in just the right way that raisins went flying all over the kitchen floor. Even though my dogs are not allowed in the kitchen nor are they allowed to eat food off the floor without permission, the suddenness and the excitement of food everywhere made immediately break the rules. I instantly said leave it in the tone I try to reserve for when I really mean it, aka the mom voice. They backed up and neither of them dared to touch a raisin, thank goodness, because they are highly toxic to dogs even in small amounts. A large dog (over 50 lbs) can ingest just 3 raisins and go into acute kidney failure. So you can see why I feel so strongly about using this command.
Leave It
Step 1 – Teach the Concept
- Get a pocket full of delicious high level treats and show one to your dog then put it under your foot
- Let your dog sniff around your foot
- Lift your foot a little so your dog can see the treat but cover it back up before he can get it
- Keep doing this until he realizes he will not just get the treat and most of the time he will just sit
- Once he is in the sitting position, or at least no longer trying to get to the treat, toss him one from your pocket
Step 2 - Introduce the Command
- Your dog should now understand he cannot just grab the treat from under your foot when you have it lifted up. Let him come close to sniff the treat while your foot is lifted and then cover it back up and say leave it
- Toss a treat when your dog backs off and/or sits down
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Step 3 – Use the Command
- Start leaving your foot up with the treat underneath and tell your dog leave it when he comes close
- Toss him a treat when he backs off and/or sits down and say good, leave it
Step 4 – Practice
- Set up treats down a hallway or a large room spaced 6 inches to a foot apart
- Walk your dog on leash past the treats saying leave it every time he tries to sniff or eat any of the treats and then treat him from your pocket at the end
- Do this outside on the sidewalk or driveway as he masters the command
Take It
Step 1 – Teach the Concept
- Show your dog a delicious treat and then close it into your hand with a fist
- Let your dog smell your closed fist but do not open it
- Once your dog backs off and/or sits down open your hand and let him take the treat
- Continue until he immediately waits for you to open your hand
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Step 2 – Introduce the Command
- Continue making your dog wait to take the treat from your hand until he is calm and/or sitting
- Begin saying take it when you open your hand for him to take the treat
Step 3 – Ask for Permission
- Keep the treat closed in your first until your dog is calm and/or sitting and looks you in the eyes and then immediately open your hand and say good, take it
- Build it up to making him hold eye contact longer before getting the treat
Put it all Together
Step 1 – Combining Commands
- Put a treat in your hand and leave your hand open
- Say leave it when your dog gets closer to the treat
- Wait unit your dog is calm and/or sitting and looking at you for permission
- Say take it and let him eat the treat from your hand
Step 2 – Practice
- Set up treats in a row as in Step 4 for practicing leave it
- Walk your dog up to each treat and say leave it and then wait for him to ask permission and then say take it
- Set your dog’s bowl of food down in front of him and say leave it
- Wait for him to ask permission and then say take it
- Work up to longer times spans before giving the take it command
My dogs are far from perfect and although they know these commands well, there are times they haven't obeyed. We are constantly doing little training sessions and using commands on walks and in our daily life to make sure they stay fresh in their minds. I'm sure Ares will run off with laundry more times than I'll like and Chaos will eat pockets while trying to get all the last bits of treat out of a pants pocket, but for the most part they do obey their commands because we continue to teach them.
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