For clarity sake this is not the traditional way trainers have gone about teaching a ‘Leave It’ cue. I have found that by using this method I reduce frustration and negative reinforcement that comes with the traditional method.

Here, I am holding the treat out of reach in a way that the dog understands reinforcement is not available at the moment. I wait until the dog either sits and/or, depending on the level of capability, looks at me. When this happens, I reward the behavior with the treat.

In the first video when the dog makes a mistake and jumps at the hand I toss the treat away from me to reset the game. I do not do this in the second video with the puppy. The reason for this is that the dog in the first video is prone to quickly become frustrated and loose focus whereas the pup would become unfocused and loose interest in the game if I were to send him off after a treat.

Each dog is an individual so it is important to know your dog’s strength and weaknesses and adjust trainging accordingly.