The “Leave” command

 

This is one of the most important commands to teach your puppy. It means that you can stop him rummaging about the rubbish, stealing your best shoes, going near a dead animal or anything that might be poisonous to him.

  1. With a treat in your hand, allow your puppy to sniff your hand so that he knows there is a treat there.

  2. Close your hand around the treat and give the command “leave it”.

  3. Keep your hand held out towards your puppy.

  4. Puppy will lick at your hand, paw at your hand or even nudge you to try and get you to give up the treat.

  5. Don’t cave in and don’t repeat the command. You only need to say “leave it” once.  If you keep repeating a word, your puppy will not understand that it is a command.

  6. As soon as your puppy turns away, immediately praise him and give him the treat.

  7. Continue to do this exercise over and over until your puppy turns away as soon as you say “leave it”.

  8. Practice the exercise for 10 minutes every day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Updated July 2009