# Teaching "Leave it" to pup with high expectations



## MurphyTeller (Sep 28, 2008)

Right now you have to have something more high powered than what you're asking her to leave. In the future you might not need to have food - but a toy or a bunch of pats and praise...

The mulch thing might be a reward chain. I eat mulch, mom calls me, I leave mulch, I get a cookie...At 11 weeks though she's just a goofy baby dog who wants to put anything and everything in her mouth - she'll grow out of it to some extent. In the meantime try to keep her out of the mulch so she doesn't get in a pattern of a reward chain and help her find things that she can safely chew on....

Erica


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## Loboto-Me (Nov 13, 2008)

Another snafu in the plan of keeping her away from mulched areas is that that darn mulch is leftovers from a previous owner who had put it around the deck. We took the rotted deck apart, and it's just so old and mixed into the grass and dirt around the deck. 

She had been having a great ol' time in the past weeks (we've had her since she's been 7 wks old) just sneaking under the deck and grabbing pieces, and running off with them... there are so many pieces throughout the yard now (thank you Sophie) arg! I suppose we should try to rake them up and throw then back under the deck. Making a temporary skirt around the footings probably wouldn't hurt until she outgrew the deck height (only a couple of feet off the ground). I'm not holding my breath about the skirting though, since hubby's honey-do list is just about 2 pages long already.


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

Loboto-Me said:


> 11 week old Sophie is catching on to "leave it". She's very treat oriented and learned to leave certain things alone in the matter of one training session. The only problem is, when I say "leave it" she'll usually stop looking at what she's interested in, and come to me for a treat for leaving it. I'm getting worried that she'll expect a treat everytime she gets interested in something that's a no-no and she's not allowed to have it. She's notorious about eating bark mulch... not just chewing it.. but swallowing afterwards. Today, I told her leave it, then she'd do as I say, walk over to me and sit in front of me looking at me expectantly. Obviously, I have a treat for her as she's just learning this command. Then off she goes, to find another piece of bark mulch. When will she get the idea that mulch is ALWAYS a no-no? Has she already learned to look around for no-nos for a leave it reward?
> 
> PS: how do I show pictures in threads?


You can either upload pictures in the Gallery or the easier way below your post page is a link Manage Attachments, upload from there.

Glad Sophie is doing so good.


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## MurphyTeller (Sep 28, 2008)

Loboto-Me said:


> Another snafu in the plan of keeping her away from mulched areas is that that darn mulch is leftovers from a previous owner who had put it around the deck. We took the rotted deck apart, and it's just so old and mixed into the grass and dirt around the deck.
> 
> She had been having a great ol' time in the past weeks (we've had her since she's been 7 wks old) just sneaking under the deck and grabbing pieces, and running off with them... there are so many pieces throughout the yard now (thank you Sophie) arg! I suppose we should try to rake them up and throw then back under the deck. Making a temporary skirt around the footings probably wouldn't hurt until she outgrew the deck height (only a couple of feet off the ground). I'm not holding my breath about the skirting though, since hubby's honey-do list is just about 2 pages long already.


 
The other thing that works in her favor is that you probably stop what you are doing and pay attention to her - attention seeking behaviors are trick #2 out of the "how to be a golden puppy" book - #1 by the way is the pathetic sad face...as counter-intuitive as this sounds - I'd suggest ignoring her and suddenly finding something in the yard that is totally fascinating. "Oh my gosh, look at this leaf, this is the best leaf I have ever seen! <pick up the leaf> Holy cow this is a wonderful leaf - I wish I could show this leave to <husband's name>! YAY for the leaf - waaa-hooo!". In other words pay attention to something else, have a really silly party with that object. I'll bet you a sugar cookie that she stops what she's doing and comes over to see what all of the excitement is about. That would be a really good time to either give her something really tasty or play with her and the object.

Erica


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## Loboto-Me (Nov 13, 2008)

Erica, that sounds like a great idea. I never thought about her attention getting behaviour. Some of it is for flavour, but I have noticed the little game she plays when she knows she has something I don't want her to have. She'll skip and trot around while I play the chase game to get that thing out of her mouth... meanwhile, chewing away until gulp it's down her gullet. 

I'll have to view all those boring leaves and pinecones in a different light, but I'll do my best to find them amazing LOL!

Thank you Heidi for the picture posting tip, I think I already managed to put some pics in my gallery... all done blindly, and heck if I know where those pictures are now lol!

I'll have to check on the in the post type of attachment, still trying to figure out all of this stuff out.... if I could only see it now.


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## MurphyTeller (Sep 28, 2008)

Loboto-Me said:


> Erica, that sounds like a great idea. I never thought about her attention getting behaviour. Some of it is for flavour, but I have noticed the little game she plays when she knows she has something I don't want her to have. She'll skip and trot around while I play the chase game to get that thing out of her mouth... meanwhile, chewing away until gulp it's down her gullet.
> 
> I'll have to view all those boring leaves and pinecones in a different light, but I'll do my best to find them amazing LOL!


Honestly, chasing a dog with something will never work - it's too much fun for them. I've taught my guys that if they find something on the floor to bring it to me - this is anything - including bags of food left out at the training center. When they bring it to me they get something...the funny thing is now I have to train MYSELF - anything left out of place and on the floor - shoes, clothes, bags of groceries, toys, etc will be brought to me - and I reward it - ALWAYS. If the bootie is a bag of food I open it and give them some of it - that has always been the trade...It's really funny to see two goldens tripping over themselves to be the first one to bring me something the cat dropped on the floor 

Erica


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

Actually, she is a really smart girl and would be a star in an obedience class. That is exactly what you want them to do when you train "leave it". Eventually she will not need the treats, but she is extremely young and doing a fantastic job of leaving it. I am totally impressed. 

Imagine if it were a huge chunk of dark chocolate, antifreeze, or unknown pill on the floor. Wouldn't you be thrilled that when you said "leave it" and she immediately left it alone and looked at you? I know I would be!


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## Turbo22 (Jun 16, 2008)

Loboto-Me said:


> Erica, that sounds like a great idea. I never thought about her attention getting behaviour. Some of it is for flavour, but I have noticed the little game she plays when she knows she has something I don't want her to have. She'll skip and trot around while I play the chase game to get that thing out of her mouth... meanwhile, chewing away until gulp it's down her gullet.
> 
> I'll have to view all those boring leaves and pinecones in a different light, but I'll do my best to find them amazing LOL!


 
Just a word of caution...don't give her pinecones to play with since they're toxic for dogs


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

I would expect that as time goes on she will understand that leave it means leave it. On some of our walks I tell my 9 month old "leave it" constantly. Not because she does not listen but she picks up something else. Does she know sit or come? If so try these commands when she has something yo uwant to take from her. Then praise and treat for the proper behavior - sit or come. If she has not dropped the item on her own, you can casually remove it before giving the treat.


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## Loboto-Me (Nov 13, 2008)

Oh my gosh! We've been allowing her to play and chew on pinecones since we've had her! I'm glad to know that they are toxic to her, dang! Yet another no-no. You can be sure we'll be cleaning up the yard of pinecones (and errant bark mulch... and mushrooms... and.. and...). Since we plan on camping with her as soon as the weather allows, I'm imagining one exhausted mommy and one upset puppy thinking she's not allowed to do anything fun LOL! 

Ah the come and sit commands. Yup, she knows those pretty well, and will actually do it if the reward is higher than what she's doing. She's terrific inside the house, but once you get her in the backyard "come" is ignored if she has a piece of bark in her mouth. I have to wonder how any of you manage to keep your pups in check when all this "fun" stuff to do and sniff is distracting them.


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