practicing "Leave it"

Toby is 20 weeks old now. We've been going through puppy classes and they end tomorrow. Here is some pictures of Toby practicing "leave it". He has done real well with everything that has been thrown at him except loose leash walking (it works 30% of the time right now). I am confident that he will get it some time soon though.
Becky

We're in training with Lady at the moment, and same problem. She is fantastic at everything except loose lead walking. She just wants to smell everything and explore so she always pulls!

They say its the hardest thing for dogs to learn. There are just too many distractions out there.

Becky

Leave it is so much fun to train and cavaliers get it quickly -- they are so wiling to wait for a good reward even if it means leaving something they already want! :lol:

Recall is probably the most important, and the hardest to do reliably -- in part because people do not make it a part of everyday activity and then will tend to scold or punish a dog for not returning, at the point when the dog finally returns or they go get the dog -- thus teaching the dog that returning or being close to the owner is totally confusing and risks punishment, especially if you return when called. :yikes

Trainer Ian Dunbar sees a relationship between loose lead walking and recall though that is worth thinking about. Here's his approach:

http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/pulling-leash

and see

http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/training-dog-walk

and he also goes further into natural, fun, positive training for this in his free download book on that site, After Your Get Your Puppy which is really the one puppy ownership and training manual anyone will ever need! I always recommend anyone with a puppy or even older dog or rescue **download this book** as it will answer endless questions and also give excellent guidance on issues that also affect older dogs and untrained rescues.

Thank you Karlin. Our trainer has mentioned Ian Dunbar in his training sessions. Our trainer has taught us about standing still and waiting for the dog to recognize and come back to sit or if the leash gets twisted around you to wait until the dog understands and untwists himself. He also taught "find it". To get the dog beside you, he says to say find it and put the treat right next to your foot so the dog goes right there. He also said to say find it and put the treat behind you so the dog instead of going in front of you will go behind you. He eventually wants to see the puppy stay right beside you and never go in front of your feet. If the dog goes to the left side of you when you want him on the right, you say find it and put the treat on the right side of you. We are doing this everyday with our walks. It works sometimes but others not so much.
He also said if Toby pulls then to turn around and go the other direction. Stop and wait for Toby to sit in front of you. Then say Lets go and pivot while treating the dog. This part is difficult for me. The whole pivot/treating thing is awkward for me LOL My husband has it down real well though.
At the dog park yesterday, Toby fetched the ball and came running back to us and dropped the ball. Our trainer taught us "thank you" or drop it command. We also said to Toby "come" and we ran and Toby ran after us. When he gets close we hold out our palm for him to touch it. Showing the palm he says is a great way to get the dog excited to come touch it and get a treat. So far so good with that.
I am so thankful for the classes. Without them we wouldn't have gotten this far. Toby was great with tricks but its these things that we needed help on.
Becky

Karlin said:

Leave it is so much fun to train and cavaliers get it quickly -- they are so wiling to wait for a good reward even if it means leaving something they already want! :lol:

Recall is probably the most important, and the hardest to do reliably -- in part because people do not make it a part of everyday activity and then will tend to scold or punish a dog for not returning, at the point when the dog finally returns or they go get the dog -- thus teaching the dog that returning or being close to the owner is totally confusing and risks punishment, especially if you return when called. :yikes

Trainer Ian Dunbar sees a relationship between loose lead walking and recall though that is worth thinking about. Here's his approach:

http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/pulling-leash

and see

http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/training-dog-walk

and he also goes further into natural, fun, positive training for this in his free download book on that site, After Your Get Your Puppy which is really the one puppy ownership and training manual anyone will ever need! I always recommend anyone with a puppy or even older dog or rescue **download this book** as it will answer endless questions and also give excellent guidance on issues that also affect older dogs and untrained rescues.

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