Leave It

This is a command that tells your dog to leave something alone.

The “Leave it” command is great for calling your dog away from things not intended for them, like food set out on your countertops or things that are dangerous, like chicken bones left on the street.
Also can be used if they are fixated on another dog or person.

Here are some examples of default situational behaviors (unspoken rules):

Leave it when the other dog is eating, playing with a toy or is in a specific location like his dog bed. Teach the other dogs to not stare at and keep a specific distance from the guarding dog that he feels comfortable when he has the thing he usually would guard.
Teach all the dogs to take turns with getting attention, petting and playing with toys. If one dog is being pet it means leave it and back away or go to their bed.
If food falls on the floor, it means leave it and perhaps back away.
If food falls on the floor and another dog goes for it, it means leave it and back away.
Leave it when another dog is receiving a treat. Don’t approach the dog or the hand with the treat in it.
Go to your dog bed when people eat at the table (rather than sit under the table and guard it).

Videos

Learn the first steps in teaching a dog to leave it.

Start with a treat covered in your hand and put it near your dog. They should be interested and trying to get it.
Wait until they give the slightest movement away from your hand. Don’t move your hand away, keep it in place. Then mark and reward from your OTHER hand. You don’t ever want them to get the reward that you told them to leave as they might start thinking the game is more about pausing before getting it.
You should use equal or higher value treats for what you reward them with.
Continue to do steps 1 and 2 but slowly start marking only when they make bigger and bigger head movements away from your hand.

When you present your hand and your dog actively ignores or moves away from it then you can name it.
Say “Leave it” and then present your hand with the treat in it just like before. Mark and reward from your other hand when they leave it. You can also start increasing the amount of time you hold your hand out before you mark and reward.
Switch hands and do a few more reps.
This time say “Leave it” but present your hand open. As soon as they ignore/look away, mark and reward from your other hand.
Be prepared to close your hand if they go for it. If this happens simply close your hand and wait for them to look away or ignore it, then mark and reward.
Switch hands when doing this open palm technique. Once they are obviously getting it, move on to the next step.
Now say “Leave it” present your open hand with the treat and start to move it towards them. If they don’t move towards it or even better, move away from your incoming hand then mark and reward with your other hand.
Do step 7 multiple times with both hands.
When they are willingly avoiding it every time it’s time to generalize the behavior.

Place treats on a dining table, coffee table, or counter. Stay within arm’s length so you can cover up the treats if needed. You can place them on a plate to imitate real life.
When your dog shows interest tell him, “Leave it.” If he looks away or hesitates, mark and reward him with a separate treat. If he goes for the food, say, “Nope” and either cover the food or use a leash to stop them. When he stops trying to get at it, mark and reward. The reward treat should not come from the pile on the table and should either be the same type of treat or something better.
When you get a 100% success rate with 5/5 on the first time (your dog never tries to go for the treats on the table), add distance between yourself and the table. Ask someone to help protect the food if needed or have your dog on a leash to stop him from getting at the food if he tries.

Repeat the above exercise, but with the food on the ground. You can also use trash with a food smell or something else you want your dog to be able to leave alone.
Next, put food or trash on the ground and practice leave it while you and your dog walk by. Begin by passing at a good-sized distance and work your way closer and closer to the enticing object as your dog gets better at the exercise. You can do this with anything you see on the ground. When your dog notices the object, tell him, “Leave it” and reward any response of looking toward you. Just be sure to stay far enough away for your dog to be unable to reach the object.

Put your dog away where they can’t see you. Place some food items on the ground in another room. Human food, dog treats, whatever you want that your dog would love to have.
Follow the Floor or Ground exercise steps. The different picture we are painting for the dog here is that the food is just already there when you both walk in. In every other instance, they saw us interact with it first. This helps them to learn that leave it means leave it no matter how this picture looks.

Practice Phase 1 and 2 every day 1-2x a day of getting them to leave your hand alone. These sessions should be focused just on leave it so they don’t get confused about following your hand lure like with other training.
Some dogs take a little longer to get it so that’s where your marking timing of that exact moment they move just a little bit away from your hand is so important.
You should be at a place where you can say “Leave it” present your hand and they either ignore it or actively avoid it.

This week you will work on leaving objects that are on the ground. Start by having them leave food in your hand to warm them up.
Then say “Leave it” and place food on the ground (or toss it). Make sure they can’t get to it and mark and reward them from your other hand when they stop trying to go for it or if they already ignored it.

Once they are reliably leaving items that you set down or toss then you can start working on generalizing “Leave It” to mean any object. You can play the floor exercises, table exercises, and while out on walks (bushes, sticks, squirrels, etc.)