Odd problem with the "Leave it" command

LittleMoonRabbit · 01-10-2008, 02:08 PM

I have been bringing my pom to training classes for a few weeks now. She's 9 months old. Last week, we were taught "leave it" where you close your hand over a treat every time the dog goes for it, and eventually they are taught to ignore it. My dog did wonderfully with that. So, the next step was to put the treat on the floor. This is where I am having trouble. It's not that she goes after the treat... instead, if I tell her to leave it, she starts barking at it and runs away from it, LOL. While this was good for a laugh, it's not something I want to become a habit. I am on day 3 of training and she's still doing it. How can I discourage this action?

TooneyDogs · 01-10-2008, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LittleMoonRabbit

It's not that she goes after the treat... instead, if I tell her to leave it, she starts barking at it and runs away from it, LOL. While this was good for a laugh, it's not something I want to become a habit. I am on day 3 of training and she's still doing it. How can I discourage this action?

You're on the right track...her moving away from it is exactly what you want to happen. For the barking...keep a treat in your hand...ask her to leave the one on the floor... the instant she moves away (and hopefully before any barking) give her the treat from your hand and praise. This is only a temporary interruption, separately, you will need to work on a quiet command for any/all barking situations.
Remember, the main goal here is to leave it and you're doing fine.

Annamarie · 01-10-2008, 11:32 PM

try having her leave it for shorter periods. then before she starts barking let her have it by saying "ok!". eventually make the period longer and longer and she'll get the idea. she's at the stage where everything is a game to her

TooneyDogs · 01-11-2008, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Annamarie

try having her leave it for shorter periods. then before she starts barking let her have it by saying "ok!".

That approach can be very confusing for most dogs. The leave it command should be just that....Leave It. This approach turns it into a Wait command which is not what we want to teach.

Inga · 01-11-2008, 09:28 AM

but first get a video of this. It sounds really funny. LOL

Flygirl · 01-11-2008, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inga

but first get a video of this. It sounds really funny. LOL

I agree!

Curbside Prophet · 01-11-2008, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TooneyDogs

That approach can be very confusing for most dogs. The leave it command should be just that....Leave It. This approach turns it into a Wait command which is not what we want to teach.

I agree. If you're in the early stages of teaching the command, the only condition should be to leave it. But once your dog is proficient with the cue, waiting to release the dog to the item is a great way to Premack the cue.

LittleMoonRabbit · 01-14-2008, 02:39 PM

I finally got a video of it. Mind you, I put the treat down multiple times to illustrate, but I don't usually do it. Sorry, there is no sound on the video, but you can still see her barking and running away

http://s135.photobucket.com/albums/q...t=DSCN1406.flv

Curbside Prophet · 01-14-2008, 03:02 PM

What are you doing with the treat before you place it on the ground? It almost appears as if you're teasing her with it.

How about, without any cues or bribery, drop the treat like it fell off your person. Let her discover it, tell her leave it, then reward her with another treat in your hand.

Leave it should mean, don't touch, you're not going to get it. Instead it looks like you're playing keep away. That can be frustrating for the dog, thus the barking.

LittleMoonRabbit · 01-14-2008, 03:08 PM

As I said, I was being a little more exaggerated in the video than usual, just to show what she does- however, I wasn't teasing her with it at all- she was just already riled up because she saw that I had a treat, and she gets that way any time a treat comes out and she knows we are going to work on commands. It takes a while for her to calm down, and I usually start with "sit" a couple times to get her to calm down. For the sake of the video, I just jumped right into "leave it". Also, I was not taught to drop the treat by the trainer, I was told to tell her to lay down, then tell her leave it, and then place the object next to her paws. The goal is to eventually place the object ON her paws and still have her ignore it. After she can do that, then I was told to drop treats, while I loose leash walk her, and have her ignore them as we pass by.

Curbside Prophet · 01-14-2008, 03:51 PM

Watch what you do with your hands when giving her the treat. Your hand bobs up and down. It may be inadvertent, but you are teasing the the dog from what I can see. If you're offering her the treat from your hand, your hand should not move from where she can reach it or pull away. By pulling your hand away, you're asking her to lunge. So that begs the question, how were you taught leave-it before you expanded the criteria? Was she able to leave it with your hand open? Did you use a cue for her to take it? Instead of picking up the treat off the ground to give it to her, you should use a cue like 'take-it' for her to grab it on her own.

LittleMoonRabbit · 01-14-2008, 04:01 PM

see, again, I guess I was taugh differently. My trainer said I couldn't give her the treat that I told her to leave. It had to be a different one that I gave her. I gave Bailey the same treat in the video, but only after having her sit and do a different command (probably not the best move in hindsight). My trainer said having them take the same treat I told them to leave will make the dogs confused, and therefore, I always need 2 treats... one to put on the floor and one to keep in my hand. I realize that I may have been inadvertently taunting her in the video, but usually I am sitting still and just hand her the other treat that is reserved in my hand after a few seconds of her leaving the one on the floor. I guess everybody has different techniques for teaching this command. This video was more just something to laugh at- not really as a means to diagnose the problem. As it has been a while since I originally posted this, she has actually already shown improvements, because I believe I was confusing her with "leave it"and "wait" as someone here suggested, and now she does much better when I reward her sooner, before she has the chance to bark.