Basic Obedience - Week 2
Leave It
One of the top three commands you can teach is Leave It. It is extremely versatile and can be life saving. It can be a simple as a party trick with treats on your dog’s paws to lifesaving by preventing them from eating spilled pills or a needle off the ground. It can also be used for many different things - such as leave the treat, leave my slippers, leave the dog poop or leave the spilled pills.
To teach this command I start with the treat in my hand in a fist and offer it out to the dog while telling them to leave it. It is very important NOT to pull your hand away but to let you dog sniff, lick etc until they leave your hand. They may look away due to distractions, or if they sit or look at you. As soon as the dog leaves the treat alone praise and reward “good leave it!”. Some different cue words are: leave it, off, don’t touch, leave.
To teach this command I start with the treat in my hand in a fist and offer it out to the dog while telling them to leave it. It is very important NOT to pull your hand away but to let you dog sniff, lick etc until they leave your hand. They may look away due to distractions, or if they sit or look at you. As soon as the dog leaves the treat alone praise and reward “good leave it!”. Some different cue words are: leave it, off, don’t touch, leave.
Focus
This command helps to get your dog to “pay attention” to you. It can be handy when walking, when in busy distracting locations, or simply when working on stuff and your dog is interested in other things.
To teach this command say your command cue and then praise and treat when your dog looks at you. You may need to make a noise, claps your hands or do something to get their attention to start for them to look at you. It is important to make sure the dog is looking at you and not just focusing on the treats. Be aware though that not all dogs are comfortable with eye contact. Some different cue words are: focus, attention, here, look at me, watch me.
To teach this command say your command cue and then praise and treat when your dog looks at you. You may need to make a noise, claps your hands or do something to get their attention to start for them to look at you. It is important to make sure the dog is looking at you and not just focusing on the treats. Be aware though that not all dogs are comfortable with eye contact. Some different cue words are: focus, attention, here, look at me, watch me.
Stay
We believe stay is best taught slowly and with baby steps. When taught this way it allows to build a solid foundation for later work with this command.
To teach this command we start by placing the dog in a Sit and telling them to stay. Depending on how well they know the sit command count 3-10 seconds. If the dog does not leave the sit tell them “good dog, good stay” and reward. (Catch them before they break the sit if you can to keep it positive.) Do this until the dog can easily sit in the stop for 5-10 seconds. Once the dog can reliably hold the sit stay, you can add in one step (step one step back, count to 3, step back to the dog and reward). If you find one step is too much for the dog, do a half step (move one foot back, and then come back to the dog, basically a rocking motion). Slowly continue to build up your stay following these baby steps - only add additional steps once you can reliably (7 out of 10 tries) get the dog to stay at the previous number of steps.
To teach this command we start by placing the dog in a Sit and telling them to stay. Depending on how well they know the sit command count 3-10 seconds. If the dog does not leave the sit tell them “good dog, good stay” and reward. (Catch them before they break the sit if you can to keep it positive.) Do this until the dog can easily sit in the stop for 5-10 seconds. Once the dog can reliably hold the sit stay, you can add in one step (step one step back, count to 3, step back to the dog and reward). If you find one step is too much for the dog, do a half step (move one foot back, and then come back to the dog, basically a rocking motion). Slowly continue to build up your stay following these baby steps - only add additional steps once you can reliably (7 out of 10 tries) get the dog to stay at the previous number of steps.
