‘Leave it’ training

[MerseyGrey]

Hello all, I was wondering if I could have some advice on ‘leave it’ training, which, after two and half years of having Buddy, I have decided to give a go.

I’ve read a few things and watched just one short video from AKC. It suggests a low value treat in one hand to tempt him; offer that but keep it closed, and when he looks away from that hand, give him a high value treat from the other hand. I have noticed that instead of really looking away, he very quickly learned just to look to the other hand. I tried alternating the first hand, but he still just looks to the other hand. Does this mean I can introduce the ‘leave it’ command at this point, or do I need to be doing something different? Am I too quick with the high value treat?

One of the other resources suggested using just one hand, and when he looks away, give the treat from that hand. Do people find this method more successful?

(I might add that I am pretty sure that he knows the ‘leave it’ command already, because when I say it, he snaffles whatever I want him to leave much more quickly. I think that he was in a home for a time before he came to us and often wonder if he already knows all the commands a greyhound should know, but chooses to ignore them. It’s just a feeling I have.)

[Feefee147]

22 minutes ago, MerseyGrey said:

(I might add that I am pretty sure that he knows the ‘leave it’ command already, because when I say it, he snaffles whatever I want him to leave much more quickly. I think that he was in a home for a time before he came to us and often wonder if he already knows all the commands a greyhound should know, but chooses to ignore them. It’s just a feeling I have.)

Haha snaffles quickly.....Brilliant!

I personally found using both hands was pointless as mine just tried to lick and chew the fingers off BOTH my hands in an excited effort to get the treat (apparently his nose only works when he's squirrel hunting or searching for a bit of dropped cheese, and clearly switches off during training sessions )

So I started again just using one hand, kept the treat tucked into a closed fist, said "leave it" repeatedly and then rewarded him when he stopped trying to get it. One he got the hang of that (which was surprisingly quickly) and pulled away for increasing lengths of time without touching my hand we stepped it up with different things - treat placed under an kong toy which he had to "leave" until I said ok for him to knock it over and get the treat.....etc.

I did "watch" training separately - ie look at me for a treat. And to be honest I should have kept that up and used the two together but, to be honest, daft as he is he has definitely grasped what "leave it" means and is much better outdoors when he sees something he wants or goes to grab something I've dropped on the kitchen floor. 

That said, all bets are off if I'm not around and he has decided he wants something out of the recycling. Although I think that's down to being a cheeky chancer rather than not knowing the rules.....

 

 

[MerseyGrey]

This all sounds familiar! I think we’ve got the watch me training sussed. We started it by accident and then when someone recommended ‘fiesty fido’ we discovered that we’d done half the training which was a nice surprise. I’m hoping the ‘leave it’ training will come in handy at training him to stop eating his own poop.

I can try with the single hand. Hopefully I haven’t confused him too much by using both hands but I’m sure he will sort it out since he’s clearly much smarter than I am.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Put the treat in a closed fist and let the dog sniff and tell him to leave it.  

The very instant he turns his head away --- this could take seconds or minutes --- say 'good boy' and let him have the treat.

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

It is always helpful if the dog also knows 'Watch me'.

Once he has this mastered this, then put the treat on the floor  --- right beside your shoe ---  and ask him to leave it.  If he goes to grab it say leave it and cover it with your foot.    Moving your foot is easier/faster than trying to bend over and pick it up! 

You can practice this with lots of things... a favourite stuffie for example.... in different locations around the house.

As he gets better with leaving things, try tossing a treat a few feet away --- just be prepared to get it back before he gets to it!!   Tossing things usually ups their interest and can be a true test of how they're doing. 

When young Kibo was learning this skill it took him a month to leave a tossed stuffie. 

This skill can be a life-saver if your dog goes after some rotten chicken bones on the side of the road.  

 

[MerseyGrey]

10 hours ago, BatterseaBrindl said:

 

This skill can be a life-saver if your dog goes after some rotten chicken bones on the side of the road.  

 

Absolutely - I’ve had to wrestle a few bones from him which look like they’ve been cooked. He’s very determined to have them! So this training is overdue. Thanks for the advice

[cleptogrey]

12 hours ago, BatterseaBrindl said:

Put the treat in a closed fist and let the dog sniff and tell him to leave it.  

The very instant he turns his head away --- this could take seconds or minutes --- say 'good boy' and let him have the treat.

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

It is always helpful if the dog also knows 'Watch me'.

Once he has this mastered this, then put the treat on the floor  --- right beside your shoe ---  and ask him to leave it.  If he goes to grab it say leave it and cover it with your foot.    Moving your foot is easier/faster than trying to bend over and pick it up! 

You can practice this with lots of things... a favourite stuffie for example.... in different locations around the house.

As he gets better with leaving things, try tossing a treat a few feet away --- just be prepared to get it back before he gets to it!!   Tossing things usually ups their interest and can be a true test of how they're doing. 

When young Kibo was learning this skill it took him a month to leave a tossed stuffie. 

This skill can be a life-saver if your dog goes after some rotten chicken bones on the side of the road.  

 

i always start "leave it " on lead. also, strangely enough i also teach touch. leave it- so, they will know it's off limits or within limits. touch is a positive thing starting w/my hand in different positions then eventually transferring over to other objects- i.e. jinge bells on the door when they need to go out.

i left bait- peanut butter on plastic lids and did lots of leave its with the wisenheimer. he was a really obnoxious counter surfer. he did really well, i increased the duration of the presence of bait. then one day made off with a lid never to be found. 

leave it and touch should be said in very different intonations. be extreme in your vocalization and HAVE FUN!

[MerseyGrey]

He’s either a very quick learner or he has definitely done this before. I started the one-hand training saying ‘leave it’ as suggested (I’m keeping it as simple as I can!) and he would look away from my hand when I said ‘leave it’. When he looks away, I treat him straight away. I will progress to the floor treats with a few days’ practice.

While I’m certain that Buddy could pick up touch training, I think it might be beyond my capability and attention span so I might leave that for another day but thanks for the suggestion!

[erindarwen]

my girl picked this up very quickly, like two days quickly! we just put a bit of cheese in front of her and taking it away if she lunged for it. if she didn’t go for it straight away, she got the cheese. she now knows with all good related things, lunging at it will not get her it! she has to wait until she’s allowed to get it. just keep going with it!

[MerseyGrey]

I’m pleased to report that it is working in the house but I haven’t had to try it while we’re out and about yet. We’ve also tried him with cheese and even that has been successful 

[Kathy02]

5 hours ago, erindarwen said:

my girl picked this up very quickly, like two days quickly! we just put a bit of cheese in front of her and taking it away if she lunged for it. if she didn’t go for it straight away, she got the cheese. she now knows with all good related things, lunging at it will not get her it! she has to wait until she’s allowed to get it. just keep going with it!

Just as an FYI: we were told in our obedience class that for "leave it" we shouldn't feed the treat that we were telling our grey to leave, and to instead feed her a different treat (same type of treat, just a physically different treat than the one she was eyeing up). This way she doesn't learn that ignoring a treat initially means she'll get it in a couple seconds. Imagine she's trying to get something that she can't have; just because she ignores it for a while doesn't mean that it'll be ok for her to go for it after that!

The way you're currently training it is more akin to a "wait" command. Still a valuable command to teach, but there is some differentiation!

[BatterseaBrindl]

5 hours ago, MerseyGrey said:

I’m pleased to report that it is working in the house but I haven’t had to try it while we’re out and about yet. We’ve also tried him with cheese and even that has been successful 

[HeyRunDog]

10 hours ago, MerseyGrey said:

I’m pleased to report that it is working in the house but I haven’t had to try it while we’re out and about yet. We’ve also tried him with cheese and even that has been successful 

That's great.

Hopefully he'll be as good outside so fingers crossed.

[MerseyGrey]

19 hours ago, Kathy02 said:

Just as an FYI: we were told in our obedience class that for "leave it" we shouldn't feed the treat that we were telling our grey to leave, and to instead feed her a different treat (same type of treat, just a physically different treat than the one she was eyeing up). This way she doesn't learn that ignoring a treat initially means she'll get it in a couple seconds. Imagine she's trying to get something that she can't have; just because she ignores it for a while doesn't mean that it'll be ok for her to go for it after that!

The way you're currently training it is more akin to a "wait" command. Still a valuable command to teach, but there is some differentiation!

Ok, that’s something else I can try. Thanks