How to teach your dog the 'Leave' command, using clicker training:
- Find a nice quiet place at home to practice your session.
- Have your clicker and some tasty treats ready.
- Hold some treats in a closed fist and offer the fist to your dog. As soon as he takes his nose away from your hand ‘click’ and give him one treat from your fist - delivered by the ‘other hand’ (hand without treats in). Praise well.
- Once he is immediately taking his nose away when you have offered him your fist, or does not even attempt to go towards you fist, you can begin to say ‘leave’ at the same time you offer him your hand.
- Then begin to offer him an open hand with treats in. It is likely that he will attempt to go for the treats at this stage as they seem more available to him, so ensure you close your fist quickly if he attempts to get one. When he backs away again, open your hand and repeat until he does not attempt to go for the treats – at which point click and treat. Praise well.
- Repeat until he does not attempt to go for your open hand of treats, then begin to move your hand around and offer it in different places and at different heights.
- Continue to make the handful of treats more available to him by offering them very close to him and with the back of your hand resting on the floor and repeat as above. You can then start to put a treat on the floor and ask him to leave. Remember – be ready to cover the treat quickly if he attempts to go for it!
- Once he will leave a treat on the floor you can begin to practice the command in different situations, always introducing distractions gradually. Remember to go back a few steps whenever you change anything about the training session, i.e. the person or location.
- Set up situations where you plant ‘tasty morsels’ of food on the floor and have him walk past them on lead, ask him to ‘leave’ and when he does click and treat and reward heavily with praise. Ensure you can stop him if he tries to take the treat from the floor.
- Practice getting him to leave things he is interested in at home. Remember to always make the reward more interesting than what he was investigating!
- Once he is perfect at the ‘leave’ gradually reduce his rewards and introduce ‘jackpots’ for excellent performances.
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