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.
Down
This command can either be learned very quick and easy or can take the dog a while to grasp. There is a couple different methods you can try to teach it.
Method 1 - Get your dog in a sit position, then using a treat lure your dog into the down by moving the treat from their nose out towards the front of them and downward. The dogs head should follow the treat and they will lower themselves into the down position.
Method 2 - Get your dog in a sit position, then using a treat lure your dog into the down by moving the treat from their nose downward and underneath their belly (between their front legs). The dogs head should follow the treat and they will lower/flop themselves into the down position to get to the treat.
Method 3 - Get your dog into a sit position, then stand on your leash. Slowly tighten up on the leash, providing less and less free leash. This will cause the dog to eventually lower themselves into a down to lessen the leash pressure on their neck. ** Do not tighten to much to fast as we do not want this to be a negative experience for them, simply slight pressure to promote the move into the position**
Method 1 - Get your dog in a sit position, then using a treat lure your dog into the down by moving the treat from their nose out towards the front of them and downward. The dogs head should follow the treat and they will lower themselves into the down position.
Method 2 - Get your dog in a sit position, then using a treat lure your dog into the down by moving the treat from their nose downward and underneath their belly (between their front legs). The dogs head should follow the treat and they will lower/flop themselves into the down position to get to the treat.
Method 3 - Get your dog into a sit position, then stand on your leash. Slowly tighten up on the leash, providing less and less free leash. This will cause the dog to eventually lower themselves into a down to lessen the leash pressure on their neck. ** Do not tighten to much to fast as we do not want this to be a negative experience for them, simply slight pressure to promote the move into the position**
