"Leave it"
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"Leave it"
So how do I go about getting a food centered, high prey drive dog to listen to "leave it", I had a horrible experience at the beach last weekend, where I needed to remove a discarded fishing hook with bait still attach from my dogs top lip after it had gone right through it. Through out the entire ordeal he was still determined to eat the bait on the end of the hook. He is really good at leave it on a lead and in the house with treats, I'm just at a loss as how to take it a step further, and I don't fancy carrying a complete first aid and tool kit with me every time we hit the beach.
Re: "Leave it"
if he does it in the house and on leash then you need to 'proof' it... practice the 'leave it' in as many different situations as possible. The problem with fish bait is that it's food and dogs don't like to leave food.
Also (reading between the lines), you may have a recall problem...
For training the 'leave it' you can try getting something really tasty but substantial... Like something that won't break up easily.... Liver cake or just plain liver roasted until it's pretty dry and hard... Cut it in half and dice one half up to use as treats...
sit the dog up and place the half liver on the floor... every time the dog moves for it, you grab it quickly before he gets it and say 'leave it' in a firm voice, when he sits back down, give him a treat with the other hand.... repeat this until you can put it on the floor and the dog doesn't move for it. Using a clicker is excellent for this... You could also use a tennis ball at first if he's driven for them because until you've had a few goes, there's a chance he's going to be faster than you
when you have a pretty good leave it at close quarters you'll need a helper. Get your helper to stand 10-15 yards away and get the dogs interest in your lump of liver (or tennis ball) then throw it so it lands close to your helper. Your helper then needs to be really quick to pick it up if the dog goes for it. As they pick it up (and hide it in a pocket or behind their back), you call 'leave it'. Again wait the dog out for a 'sit' or even recall the dog and treat... Practice as many different scenarios as you can think of but if you allow the dog to get the liver/tennis ball once you're back to square one...
Dogs are chancers though (opportunistic) and the will try to gobble something down quickly so you don't get the chance to tell them to leave it or catch them to remove it from their mouth... We have a lot of idiots around here who feed the vermin and I've had to remove cooked chicken and turkey bones from my dogs mouths before they were swallowed... I can run though . I wouldn't mind if they did it in their gardens but they leave the stuff everywhere but their gardens...
edited to add: I make a point of using a gruff voice and a loud "hey you" or "hey, hey, hey" while running towards them like a loony if they start to eat something that's been left lying around purely because it could potentially kill them. They'll still try it on though... Stoopid vermin loving neighbours!
Also (reading between the lines), you may have a recall problem...
For training the 'leave it' you can try getting something really tasty but substantial... Like something that won't break up easily.... Liver cake or just plain liver roasted until it's pretty dry and hard... Cut it in half and dice one half up to use as treats...
sit the dog up and place the half liver on the floor... every time the dog moves for it, you grab it quickly before he gets it and say 'leave it' in a firm voice, when he sits back down, give him a treat with the other hand.... repeat this until you can put it on the floor and the dog doesn't move for it. Using a clicker is excellent for this... You could also use a tennis ball at first if he's driven for them because until you've had a few goes, there's a chance he's going to be faster than you
when you have a pretty good leave it at close quarters you'll need a helper. Get your helper to stand 10-15 yards away and get the dogs interest in your lump of liver (or tennis ball) then throw it so it lands close to your helper. Your helper then needs to be really quick to pick it up if the dog goes for it. As they pick it up (and hide it in a pocket or behind their back), you call 'leave it'. Again wait the dog out for a 'sit' or even recall the dog and treat... Practice as many different scenarios as you can think of but if you allow the dog to get the liver/tennis ball once you're back to square one...
Dogs are chancers though (opportunistic) and the will try to gobble something down quickly so you don't get the chance to tell them to leave it or catch them to remove it from their mouth... We have a lot of idiots around here who feed the vermin and I've had to remove cooked chicken and turkey bones from my dogs mouths before they were swallowed... I can run though
. I wouldn't mind if they did it in their gardens but they leave the stuff everywhere but their gardens...edited to add: I make a point of using a gruff voice and a loud "hey you" or "hey, hey, hey" while running towards them like a loony if they start to eat something that's been left lying around purely because it could potentially kill them. They'll still try it on though... Stoopid vermin loving neighbours!
"Oh what gold there is to find when one is blessed with an open mind" - me, not five minutes ago 
Re: "Leave it"
In addition to this...
Check out the video 'Its Yer Choice' on youtube which will help a lot with impulse control - theres also a thread with a link to this in the Articles section of the forum. You can also practice impulse control with toys so once you have seen the video it becomes more apparent how you could do the same thing with toys.
The basic idea is that the dog learns, diving in and dashing to grab things DOESNT work - but waiting DOES work.
Often when we attempt to teach a 'leave it', we actually teach the dog 'swallow that as fast as you can or you will lose it' which is bad enough, but scary when its a dangerous item. What you need to do is teach that 'leave it' means 'I have something MUCH better instead of this', and condition that as a habit.
The other point Id like to mention is that preventing a habit is a really crucial part of fixing it - the more a dog does something the more he learns he can, it works, its good to do.
So your first step has to be to prevent that action being rewarding - that may mean using a long line and harness rather than allowing the dog off lead, it might mean using a basket muzzle [never a fabric one] for off leash exercise so he CANT eat anything he finds, or changing where you walk for a time so there is much less risk of temptation. It probably means all three.
Check out the video 'Its Yer Choice' on youtube which will help a lot with impulse control - theres also a thread with a link to this in the Articles section of the forum. You can also practice impulse control with toys so once you have seen the video it becomes more apparent how you could do the same thing with toys.
The basic idea is that the dog learns, diving in and dashing to grab things DOESNT work - but waiting DOES work.
Often when we attempt to teach a 'leave it', we actually teach the dog 'swallow that as fast as you can or you will lose it' which is bad enough, but scary when its a dangerous item. What you need to do is teach that 'leave it' means 'I have something MUCH better instead of this', and condition that as a habit.
The other point Id like to mention is that preventing a habit is a really crucial part of fixing it - the more a dog does something the more he learns he can, it works, its good to do.
So your first step has to be to prevent that action being rewarding - that may mean using a long line and harness rather than allowing the dog off lead, it might mean using a basket muzzle [never a fabric one] for off leash exercise so he CANT eat anything he finds, or changing where you walk for a time so there is much less risk of temptation. It probably means all three.
West Midlands based 1-2-1 Training & Behaviour Canine Consultant
Re: "Leave it"
Thaks for all that, we will be giving it ago. His recall is good but I have to remember he is only a 10 month old puppy and sometimes he wants to push those boundaries (teenagers; Who needs them?). We've never really had these issues with our older pooch so the idea that he would stop listening to "leave it" outside didn't cross my mind. But once again thankyou for the advice, we'll be sure to try him with it.
