Last night, Diamond worked soooo hard on the 'leave-it' command but from the look in her eye, I think she was secretly wondering just WHY we were playing this 'game'.
On the other hand, we find this mastery of this command very helpful in daily life. How has learning 'leave-it' been helpful to you and your pooch?
Since she was likely a stray for quite a while before BACS, Miss Clover has food issues. Learning "Leave it" has helped keep her from licking up everything off the street when we walk. For the longest time, I'm sure she thought all I knew how to say was "Leave it!" It's the command we use, along with "Look" (at me) if she becomes overly interested in another dog. In addition, it's the last resort if she's choosing to play keep-away instead of giving me something when we play the "Get it, Bring it, Give it" game that's an integral part of learning to be a properly-trained service dog. Since her service will be to sniff out peanuts to keep me from having an allergic reaction, "Leave it" occasionally comes into play when she finds the jar of peanut-butter at class---the last thing I need is her licking it, and then licking me...LOL!
ReplyDeleteVery good uses of Leave-It with Clover, and I can see where it might be a necessary one for service-dogs to know as well!
Delete"Leave it" has been our saving grace!! Edison love to pick at Tesla to get her to play with him, but somedays she's had enough!
ReplyDeleteIt's a great command for keeping pups from scarfing up something they shouldn't, leaving other things within reach alone, and generally being patient. My dog took so naturally to "leave it" that if food falls on the floor in the kitchen, she'll back away from it and look up expectantly at us! Unless, of course, cheese falls on the floor. "Leave it" does not apply to cheese!
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ReplyDeleteI once dropped a container of something really doggy delectable, like hotdogs, on the floor while both Sophie and Salvador were standing in the kitchen with me; I was SURE a bloodbath would ensue because Sophie was such a pill. I yelled "LEAVE IT" in my most authoratative voice and behold! Both dogs remain in place while I pick up the delectables!
ReplyDelete"Leave it" always comes in handy when teaching my fosters not to stare at the cat.
ReplyDeleteFor me, two of my dogs are poop eaters and NOTHING deters them from this gross habit. Tried the bannana thing, the Deter medicine and everything else so leave it sometimes gets them distacted so I can clean up before they do.
ReplyDeleteNow that we have a 6 month old baby (one who is just now figuring out the I-drop-it-and-mom-picks-it-up game), "leave it" is an extremely important command, whether it be keeping the dogs from licking/chewing a dropped baby item, to keeping the dogs from licking the baby herself!
ReplyDeleteI've used Leave It to teach my girl self control. This basic skill has been very helpful to her in so many ways - agility practice, waiting til invited to get out of the car instead of dashing into the road, thinking before leaping (sometimes)...
ReplyDeleteIt's been great for us when we needed to get something away from our guy. Now that we have a baby he, loves the noisy baby toys, it's coming in handy more often LOL
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