Teaching your dog the command “leave it” can be really useful, for example if you are strolling in the street and your dog inadvertently puts something dangerous in his mouth like a poisoned meatball! ! The command “leave it” or “give it to me” on these occasions could even save our dog’s life! So let’s find out how to teach the dog the command “leave it” and “give it to me”– two commands that, along with “fetch”, are essential to the safety of our furry friends.
How to teach your dog the command “leave it”
First of all we want to remember that teaching your dog “leave it” just means that you are teaching them to leave the object in question alone. Understanding how to teach the dog the command “leave it” is very simple! Take one of their favorite toys, such as a ball, put it in their mouth, throw it and wait for them to bring it back. As soon as your friend comes back with the toy in his mouth; point your finger to the ground and say, ” Leave it .” Repeat it several times until the dog leaves the object on the ground; once he has done it, reward him with a treat and give him lots of praise.
When you give the command “leave it”, do not be too demanding; give your dog time to understand what you are asking him to do. You will see that with great patience, he’ll figure it out!, However, if you see that your dog does not want to leave the object on the ground, replace it with an object that he is not very fond of, and once he has left it, reward him with what he or she prefers. Then repeat the exercise! It may happen that if you start right away with their favorite toy they will be reluctant to drop it on the ground!
How to teach the dog the command “give it to me”
Teaching your dog the command “give it to me”, or simply “give” means teaching your dog to give you whatever he has in his mouth. Even this command is easy enough to teach, but you must be very patient and be careful not to stress the dog out. Firstly, assume that your furry friend already has his favorite toy in his mouth; at this point stand in front of him and tell him ” Give it to me ” with an authoritarian but not intimidating tone. Hold a treat in the palm of your hand and show it to the dog, the trick is to entice your dog to leave whatever he has in his mouth in order to get the treat.
Needless to say, the greedier your dog the easier this exercise will be! Of course, once you have left your pup to eat the treat you will have to give him lots of praise! Finally- the second phase- give the dog back to the object so that he’ll understand that giving you the object doesn’t mean its gone forever. Then repeat the exercise several times until you don’t need to use the treat anymore!
These basic commands will not only be useful in dangerous situations but will help you improve your relationship with your furry friend, reinforcing his confidence and correcting any potential possessive behavior in your dog.
