This morning I successfully got Molly to drop a strawberry she'd stolen from the worktop (yay!) but I'm having trouble with stopping the stealing in the first place. Are there any tips for leave it? She's 15 weeks and will do almost anything for cheese but I don't always have cheese handy when I need it!
The secret is to be sure nothing is ever accessible on worktops, they simply give up looking by about 9 months old. Until then vigilance is the key.
Yep my worktops have never looked so clear! Jura is now 13 months and has stopped jumping up at worktops for some time - apart from at my mums where she did manage to self reward a few too many times! Also what I found helped with the leave it and drop it commands was to have a treat pouch attached to my jeans at all times, that way I always had something tasty handy to reward a successful leave it or drop it. It took a while but was so worth it.
I have little pots of treats in each room so I'm never far from a reward. Apart from that just keep training
One thing we were taught is to first teach WATCH ME. Then we put the dog in a DOWN STAY and put treats on the floor in front of the dog but six feet ahead. With our foot ready to cover the treats. The dog was to Watch and leave it. We started out with mere seconds. The instruction was after a successful Watch and Leave it we could give the dog the floor treats or different treats and we scoop up and keep the floor treats. I think it defeats the purpose to give the floor treats and I kept them (Cheerios or bit of cereal) and I gave much better, real meat, as a reward. This worked the Watch Me and the Leave It (depending which you gave the dog as a word) and your Down Stay all at the same time. All the dogs in our class were much older than 15 weeks so how it would work with a puppy I don't know.
So is it just to much to expect her not to jump up at worktops or table when foods around? At MIL's lunchtime she had to go in the garden in the rain cos she kept putting paws on the table. Luckily she's a dog lover!
15 weeks is still very young, and if she has managed to self reward by successfully getting stuff off work surfaces in the past, then it will take a bit more time and training. It will get better if you keep the work surfaces clear and persevere with the leave it command, or paws off, but it does take time. Also we trained "on your mat" for mealtimes, that way Jura can be in the same room as us, but lying quietly on her mat. It does take time though, and she was a lot older than 15 weeks before she was reliable at this, especially at someone else's house.
