Train Your Dog to Leave It

When you have kids and dogs in the same house, it is basically impossible to avoid the occasional theft of a child's toy or sippy cup by a curious dog. But many of these incidents can be eliminated if the dog understands a cue to "leave it."

There are several ways to teach this valuable cue. Here is one method:

Put a desired item on the floor in an obvious place. Start with something like a toy, which will interest your dog but which might not inspire as much desire as food. Put your dog on leash. Fill your pockets with small, soft treats.

Walk with your dog toward the item. Your dog should be on your left side and pretty close to you. The item should be on the dog's left side, so that in order for the dog to see the item he has to look away from you. Keep far enough away from the item so that if your dog lunges for the toy you can prevent him from reaching it by holding onto your leash. As soon as your dog shows interest in the item, say your dog's name and place a treat directly in front of your dog's nose. Move your treat away from the item and toward you. If your dog is interested in the treat, his head will turn away from the item. Praise (a bunch!) and feed the treat while you move past the item. If a dog never looks toward the item, move closer to it or use a higher value item, like food.

If the dog does not look away from the item to follow the treat, your treat is not of high enough value. You need to find a tastier treat. A dog that does not like treats at all may need to be trained when very hungry (like before meals), or may need to be trained using his meals. A toy can also be used, but as a reward you will have to play with the dog using the toy, either with tugging or playing fetch. It is more difficult to use toys in this exercise than it is to use food, but it can be done.

Repeat this exercise a few times. If your dog is successful, add your "leave it" cue by saying the words right before you present the treat. Stop practicing before your dog gets bored.

After a training session or two under these circumstances (be sure to walk by the item from several directions), say "leave it" and wait a moment before presenting the treat. If your dog starts to turn his head away from the item, praise elaborately and provide a jackpot of treats (give the dog multiple treats over a period of about 30 seconds). If he doesn’t, repeat a few more times with the treat and then try again.

When your dog looks away from an item regularly when you give the “leave it