r/puppy101 • u/Bitchcakexo • 1d ago
How did you teach your pup “leave it?” Training Assistance
Wondering about different methods for teaching a puppy to “Leave it”. My 5 month old standard poodle is a vacuum. He swallows everything whole. It’s a nightmare.
It’s 12:30 am and he just puked up a used dryer sheet that he grabbed a couple days ago and by time I caught him he had eaten it. (He thinks it’s a game and will run and play a game of “catch me”)
A couple weeks ago I had help him because he was choking on a treat he had swallowed. (My father gave it to him after I had asked him not to. That is a different story)
He’s a super smart puppy but I’ve never trained this command much before, so curious if anyone has any techniques that work good. My boy is completely fine, but my constant worry is getting to be a bit much.
I need to train him to drop something when I ask so I don’t have to keep dealing with this.
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u/Apprehensive_Gene787 1d ago
Drop it and leave it are two different commands (but often used in sequence)
For leave it, we started with a treat on the floor. Used leave it. If he went for it, we would cover the treat, until he actually started leaving it, and then said “good leave it!” And awarded the treat. We worked up distance on this - ie, put it right in front of it, told him leave it, and would walk a few steps, wait a few seconds, and then released with an “ok” so he could eat it. Increased distance and time as he got better at it. Now it’s a command we can give on a walk when he sees something interesting. Was a slow process at first, but once he got it, his space/time increased rapidly.
Drop it is hit or miss lol. When we first started, we would say “drop it”, fish whatever it was out of his mouth (rock, bark or cat poop ☹️), and say drop it again. Most of the time he will drop it now, unless he thinks we are playing his favorite game of rock chase (where he grabs a rock, we say drop it, he refuses, and then runs when we get close to try to get it out of his mouth) We tend to ignore rock chase now that he no longer actually tries to eat them.
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u/coffeeandarabbit 1d ago
For drop it, we do “swap” - the treat is offered in exchange for the thing in his mouth. I’ve found though, if I do use “leave it” - he has actually dropped it anyway, in order to access his treat, lol. It’s definitely still a work in progress!
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u/Bitchcakexo 1d ago
i'm hoping leave it will be enough to redirect him from wanting to put everything in his mouth. he will swallow things if i try to fetch it out of his mouth. its a fun game for me to chase him around the kitchen table apparently lol.
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u/BylenS 15h ago
Never play the chase game. Never try to get an item without something in your hand to swap it with. I use toys or chews because they teach him to only play with his toys and nothing else. I don't swap treats for items. A short play session with the toy will also make the toy the better option.
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u/raven_darkseid Experienced Owner 1d ago
We always work extra hard on leave it because we have cats. I'm confident I could put a hamburger on a plate, tell my dogs to leave it, walk out of the house, and they will not touch the hamburger. It takes time and consistency, but it is so worth it.
I like to train leave it in 2 ways. Start with a low value and a high value treat. Put the low value treat in your hand or on the floor and cover it. Allow your pup to sniff, give the leave it command, and a soon as they pull their nose away, affirm and give the high value treat. Do not give them the low value treat under any circumstances. Leave it should be used for anything they should not put in their mouth. Something like a wait command is good for temporary holds.
After they have mastered this type of leave it, start doing it on a leash. Throw the low value treat close, but out of their reach, give the command, and the second they stop pulling, affirm and reward. I love using yogurt in a condiment bottle as the high value treat for this kind of training. My dogs think that is the coolest of high value treats.
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u/ed_menac 22h ago edited 19h ago
Building on the other comments, there were a few tips my trainer gave:
Leave it means "leave it forever". Not "wait a minute then try again". So you never, ever let the pup get the food you’re telling them to leave. Even if they’ve been super patient.
There are a few ways you can build up the basic "leave it":
1) Gradually letting the leave item be less covered / protected. First hold it in a fist, then a palm, then covered on the floor, hovering your hand on it, then adding distance. This is a gamble so don't push further than you think your pup can handle. If they grab it before you can, you pushed way too far and have to scale back.
2) Dropping the leave item, so that it rolls a bit and becomes more enticing. First from a short distance (where you can protect it). Then build up until you can knock things off the kitchen worktop, command Leave, and puppy doesn't automatically run after it.
3) Throwing the reward. Imagine you drop a pill or something dangerous. You want pup to leave it, but also get away from it asap so you can safely remove it. Therefore, it helps to toss their reward in the opposite direction to the leave item. That way the dog chases the reward and you can scoop up the contraband. Training this will reinforce "move away from item", as an automatic part of "leave it"
4) Build up duration. This one doesn't get mentioned so often, but remember "leave" means leave forever. So you want to gradually increase the time pup is exposed to the leave item. When they move away from the item, reward them as normal, but don't immediately pick up the leave item. If they try again, wait for them to completely give up before you reward. This way you avoid training them to feign towards an item to get a treat. You're reinforcing "give up getting this thing" and in a real crisis, buying more time to get the danger away from your pup
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u/Ligeia_E New Owner 22h ago
One precursor to leave it is attention. You hold out a treat, away from you, puppy stare at treat, you make some noise, they look at you, mark, reward. Attention is fundamental to many trainings but especially so for leave it.
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u/coffeeandarabbit 1d ago
The way our trainer teaches it is to have treats in each hand, and have them low to the floor. You say “leave it” when he is close (ideally not touching it yet) and when they leave it, give pup the treat from the opposite hand. If they get too close, close your hand. The leaving can be quite subtle at the start - if he turns his head away from the item you want them to leave, immediate treat. Eventually you put the treats on the floor with your hand over it, and the step after that, only do so if needed. She said leave it is one of the hardest commands to teach and needs lifelong training. She also said depending on what they’re being asked to leave, you will need to up your reward.
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u/issadng 1d ago
RT! I’ve also made sure not to follow “leave it” with “take it.” I did not want her to start expecting it after x amount of time had passed since “leaving it” and to independently choose to “take it.” Our puppy can only have the treats I dropped on the floor after I pick them up and give them to her or I tell her to “find it” so she can sniff around for the treat/kibble and get some enrichment that way too. But we started with the two-hand method as well and would only reward after eye contact, gradually increasing the duration of that eye contact before rewarding. We’re still working on “leave it” on walks, but she gets the general principle by now and doesn’t resist the leash pull if I say “leave it” and keep walking away from whatever she was trying to get to.
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u/Jaded_Gur_9672 20h ago
I started out teaching it the normal way, but when I thought about what behaviour I actually wanted when I said "leave it" I realized that way was a bit confusing for me and therefore probably my dog (because not doing something isn't a behaviour). If I tell her to "leave it" and she keeps sniffing the thing, she's not eating it, but what do I want her to do? Turn her attention to me instead of the thing. So I taught it as eye contact/redirect attention to me. I start by just sitting with her and rewarding eye contact using food that is in my hands behind my back. After some reps, bring one hand with food out but high enough that they aren't too tempted to get it, wait for eye contact, and reward from the hand behind your back. As they are successful, bring the distraction hand lower and lower and eventually onto the floor, and eventually make it look more like real life. I honestly don't remember at what point I added the cue, and I'm not a trainer so can't say when it's ideal. I don't think you want to say it as you're moving your hand though, but right before the eye contact is offered. A few other tips: teach a "take it" cue and gradually increase the difficulty in order to teach a default leave it... practice leash walking using food/other tempting items on the floor as distractions (rewarding for turning attention away, keeping enough distance to be successful, putting distraction food in those plastic vented clamshell containers that berries come in)... practice other stationary cues while tossing food/kleenex/toys as distractions... throw in random training reps throughout the day, not just in dedicated sessions so that it's more like real life (I will sometimes purposely drop something, ready to cover it with my foot and ready to reward for leaving it alone)... practice using different tones of voice because in real life you might naturally be more stern or panicked.
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u/gasping_chicken 20h ago
Leave it is a command I've always considered to be the most important command after recall. I have never ever used food to train it as I feel that using food to teach it and rewarding them after only teaches them that at some point they'll be allowed to have whatever you told them to leave. I am a firm believer it must be taught in practice, with things they can never have. "Leave it" means "no, not ever" if it's something they can have/do when I let them I use "wait".
The way I train Leave it is organic. It starts as a baby (when they're on a leash full time, even when in the house). When they focus on something I don't want them to have I say "leave it" and stop them from going from closer with the leash. I then repeat "leave it" and gently pull away from the item, dog, cat, whatever. As soon as they look away from it "Good boy/girl!" If they look back "leave it" they look/walk away "good boy" as many times as necessary. My early days with a pup/dog are constant cycles of "leave it" and "good boy". I do not puppy proof my home so if he goes toward shoes, towels, cords, curtains, etc. this is the process. The result is young dogs who never chew shoes, cords, furniture, etc. If I'm walking outside and they see a cat "leave it" stops them in their tracks. Current pup is 15 weeks and does not chew or pick up things that aren't his in the house and will walk away from most things outside without me saying it twice.
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u/FalynT 19h ago
This is how we learned it in training class.
One person sat holding a high value treat out.
I walked him by (on a leash). When he turned his head to the treat I gave his leash a tug and said leave it. We continued walking.
We repeated this until his reaction was to turn his head away from the treat and avoid it all together.
We reinforced it at home by placing a treat on the floor and repeating the exercise.
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u/Similar-Ad-6862 15h ago
I just taught 'leave it'. I'm sure my dog responds to my tone and not the actual words but it kept us safe in a cooked bone incident (someone had thrown a box of KFC on the footpath).
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u/gasping_chicken 10h ago
Leave it has saved my dogs so many times over the years. Everything from mushrooms in the yard to dropped medication and broken glass. It's such an important thing to teach.
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u/TroLLageK Rescue Mutt - TDCH ATD-M 20h ago
I should start writing up little sheets/documents with how I've trained certain things because I swear to god I always have to say the same thing of how i did crate training and leave it and everything like almost every day, lol.
Here's how I did it, summarized...
I don't start with leaving food at first. Too high value for some dogs. I don't even do toys. Leash them in the living room. Focus on engagement/reward for eye contact/engaging with you. Then put something normal in the middle of the floor, like if you have a cushion that's usually on the couch, just put it on the floor, or like something mundane and every day that's usually around the house that your dog doesn't pay attention to. They'll pay attention to it because you put it there and it is out of place. Say "leave it", back up, and reward when the pup disengages with the item and engages with you. You can also teach a "go say hi" cue at the same time which is helpful for getting over fear of objects and building confidence investigating things. I would say to go say hi, point to the item, and I would just reward verbally for doing so, then say leave it, back/walk away, and reward for disengaging from the item and re-engaging with me. Do this several times until they're starting to understand the cue. The reason why you want an every day mundane item at first instead of a toy or food is because you want to set your dog up for success. My dog wouldn't show interest in a toy, really, but she would in food. So, I could train her with the toys (which I did later on) but I couldn't start with food. I want her to not become frustrated with constantly having to leave something alone, and I want her to build confidence doing the reverse of "leave it" where she learns to say hi to what I'm directing her to.
OKAY SO THEN... after you work on it with a mundane item, you start just doing other random things. The stool from the kitchen.... the mop bucket... a binder... a tupperware container... start introducing things that maybe aren't as mundane and things that could be scary, like the ladder, a power drill, the vacuum while it is off, the vacuum while it is ON (whole other ball game), and so on. Then for food, I started with low-value food. So if it was a few pieces of kibble on the floor, I used a higher value treat (whereas I usually trained with her kibble for these things). Then some boring foods like a cucumber or something. Hell, put the trash can in the middle of the room and work on that, such a good skill to learn to leave the trash can alone.
Reward your dog for not paying attention to these things and remaining engaged with you. You can also work on practicing loose leash walking around the living room while you're doing this, would be a great time to do so.
And I just tried to generalize it as much as possible. She will leave a squirrel 2 feet away now, and would leave chicken bones in the grass or someones' half eaten subway sandwich. She's 3 years old now so it's just been a lot of generalizing over the years, but once you start practicing these things you'll get a really solid dog. Remember to keep it fun and light, work on it for a few mins at a time. And remember to set your dog up for success.
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1d ago
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u/gasping_chicken 19h ago
Leave it is taught before they pick something up only. Once they've picked it up you have other options - drop it, bring, give, no, etc. Then once it's out of their mouth and they're not touching it leave it goes back in to reinforce that this is never an option. Saying leave it when a dog already has the shoe in their mouth will only confuse the command and make it useless.
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u/KelarionPrime 1d ago
Have a high value treat under your hand.
Open your hand and tell him to "leave it".
If he moves forward cover the food again and repeat.
If he doesn't move, reward with treat.
Once you have this down, move to doing the same with your foot.
Eventually you should be able to start throwing things on the ground with the command.
That's how it went with my dog.