KNOWING THE "LEAVE IT" COMMAND could prove life saving!

As a trainer, I would suggest that the “Leave It” command is just about the most important lesson any owner should teach their dogs. There are many many examples on the internet of dogs who have had to undergo emergency surgery because they have ingested something they shouldn't have, be it food or solid items. Alongside with the “Leave it” command is the “take it or OK” command. This teaches your dog when he is allowed to eat the food. These commands are implemented to keep your dog safe and can in fact be life saving.

Here are examples that you can prevent happening if you teach your dog the “Leave it” Command:-

• stop him eating food or rubbish on the ground when your out walking

• stealing food off of tables & benches

• snatching food out of kids hands

• rushing at their food at dinner time

• bones dropped at a bbq or left on plates

• sitting at your feet slobbering whilst you eat your dinner

• scrounging around the kitchen floor incessantly looking for scraps

• tablets accidentally dropped on the ground

• kids toys left on the ground, (particularly when you have a puppy)

• walking past barking dogs in people’s yards

• walking past objects when walking your not sure of

• wanting to chase birds, ducks, rabbits etc (better than having to recall too late)

• playing ball with the kids

• playing fetch with other dogs, you don’t want particular dog to chase other dogs toy

• chewing plants or trees in the garden

• stealing socks or other clothes out of the wash basket or off the ground

• chasing bicycles or cars or any other moving object (particularly helpful in working dog breeds)

• helps prevent food resource guarding

Teaching your dog the “Leave it Command” teaches your dog self control and the first area where we start teaching this command is with food. Food tends to be a “High Value” resource for most dogs which means they will eat anything regardless of whether it is good or bad for them.

Teaching your dog that they are not allowed to eat whatever is on the ground could in fact be potentially life saving. With practice, consistency, patience and time, teaching your dog to leave items on the ground will eventually become an automatic behaviour. This is particularly useful as you may not always see before he does, what your dog is sniffing.

Once your dog has learnt to leave food when asked we then take it to the next level and teach a wider range of impulse control. We can now teach your dog to “Leave” the toy you are playing with, with him. This can be especially useful with puppies as they can become overexcited, get out of control and start becoming too rough in their play. If you have more than one dog, or children we teach your dog to “Leave” those toys. For example, you hit a ball for one dog, whilst the other dog sits patiently because you have told him to “leave it”. The same if the kids are playing ball and don’t want the dog to be chasing their ball. As you know, puppies can be very boisterous which can often be too much for young children, so teaching them to “leave” the kids playing can prevent a load of screaming and crying before it starts. Then as with the food “Leave It” you can start telling your dog to leave just about anything and he will understand what you mean. Even when something really exciting is happening, such as dogs barking on the other side of the fence when you are out walking, a simple “Leave it” as you walk past instructs your dog to take no notice. It really is a super important, super useful command that can be used in a multitude of situations.

If your dog doesn’t know this command why not book into one of our classes.