training advice needed

[SarahNukka&Shadow]

Ok so I really need to know how to get Nukka to "leave"... we went for a walk with my walker dog this afternoon and in between her usual naughty pavement hoovering she nearly gave me 2 seperate heart attacks.. once where we were in the middle of crossing a busy road and she stopped to grab a chip and refused to move and nearly got all three of us run over and once when we were passing by a tree and there were berries all over the floor and I knew some of them were ewe tree berries which are very poisonous and she ate something and I couldnt get it off her quick enough... turned out to be a bit of dirt but shes freaking me out and making me have to stick my fingers in her mouth on a very very regular basis which is driving me crackers! Please please please give me any advise or training methods you have on how to get her to "leave" when I tell her!!

[jelharou]

With only a week's training at a time, every 3 months, Yanky has been responding very well to a firm 'Hey' or 'No'. I do indulge him and let him sniff to his hearts content (cos I feel guilty for not being around) but whenever he focuses on something he shouldn't, like cats or unsavory items, he will leave it if I go 'Hey'. I do praise him when he comes leaves it but he is then focused on the next smell so I don't think its the praise =).

If she senses you don't really care then she will just ignore you. But then again, yelling will scare her, so you do need to stay relatively calm.

Good luck

-jaafar

[Sarah]

Train at home, do 5 or 10 mins every day - try it with toys ....with my boys i gave the command leave it then took the item from them and placed it just in front of them and said leave it - if they hesitated i gave a treat and a marker word GOOD. Keep doing this at home and it should help you when out and about

[utahraptr]

I found something on a website and tried it with my two - hold a treat in your fist and show the dog. She'll sniff and sniff, and try to get the treat. Eventually she'll lose interest. When she does, give her a treat from your other hand. After a few times with that, she'll ignore your fisted hand with the treat inside. then, start doing open hand - hold the treat in your oened hand and do the same thing, saying leave it. When she loses interest, reward her with a treat from your other hand. Repeat... Then move to setting the treat on the floor y your foot, and same thing - leave it. If she tries to grab the treat, put your foot over it. When she ignores the treat, again, reward her. You'll eventually move up to setting the treat near her, and saying leave it. She should ignore the treat, or not take it Then she should get rewarded with another treat.

I've succeeded up to setting the treat in front of them, and they both leave it. Now I'm working on walking away from them, they leave the treat alone while I walk away, and then I let them get the treat when i say "ok". I'm also practicing dropping treats randomly when they're around. They run over and I say "leave it" and they sit and leave the treat alone! I've also started moving on from treats to objects, like toys. So far so good.

It took about a week to get up to setting the treat on the ground and having them leave it alone. I haven't tried using the command outside on walks yet, snce i'm working longer days now (have a big project at work we're trying to finish) and Jay has been taking them on walks by themselves. But hopefully I'll start getting home earlier again soon and can re-join the walks and practice commands (we do random sit, stay on walks, and also off the road and sit when a car is coming, wait for the car to go by, and then continue the walk).

[Bec]

Have you taught her anything like the 'look' command? Do you have a command you have rewarded and reinforced that works to get her attention?

The classic way to teach a dog to leave it is to start at home with a low value item (i.e. a toy). Walk the dog past the item and when they go to look at it call them to you and get their attention - treat them with something higher value than the item like a piece of food. The idea is you trade up and teach the dog that what you have is always going to be better than whatever it is on the ground. Once you get them working well at leaving a low value item slowly work your way up to higher value items, and when you do so, increase the value of the reward you are using. For example - eventually you could have a piece of dried food on the floor, tell her to leave it and when she complies reward with something higher value like a piece of chicken. Once the dog is working well at home with this game you can start using it in places that are more distracting like the street.

Punishment only gets so far when you are asking your dog to 'leave it', because without any reinforcement from you they won't see any value in complying. I would also suggest you work on her leash manners, what sort of training have you done with her?

[SarahNukka&Shadow]

Thanks everyone all very helpfull,

Bec I dont currently have a look comand but do like the idea of it so might try that. I dont usually punnish bad behavior I try to ignor it and praise the good except when its something like nipping and then I usually just give a stern No and hold her muzzle. lease manners deffinatly need working on, although most of the time she walks quiet well occasionally she'll really go for a good pull so need to work on this and also not jumping up strangers! She does on by quiet well but if I stop the chat to another dog owner she will often jump up them.

We start offical basic training classes in a couple of weeks so am hoping they will be able to help me know how best to teach her these things but for a self taught method you guys advise is invaluable so keep it coming!!

[Sarah]

added to rep.