you need to keep your dog safe and keep

all your fingers: leave it and take it

coming up.

Ian here with Simpawtico Dog Training and

today we're going to be talking about

developing your dog's confidence and control

with their mouth. But before we do that

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and don't forget to check that YouTube

description for notes, links, and

resources about the stuff we talked

about. Now let's go over these

concepts so you have an idea of how

we're working here. Take it teaches your

dog to take things gently from your

hands. For puppies this is the

cornerstone of developing a soft mouth

and learning bite inhibition. For older

dogs we can't teach bite inhibition

anymore, but we can still teach them to

take things more gently and to wait for

us to approve and release things that go

into their mouths. Leave it is a

potentially life-saving thing for dogs

to learn. The goal is for your dog to

learn that things they want are not

guaranteed. If you drop food on the floor

for example most dogs will torpedo after

it. As the saying goes the five-second

rule is no good if you have a two-second

dog.

Not only is it rude and annoying it's

potentially dangerous. What if you

dropped harmful things like a grape or a

piece of chocolate? Or if you're in the

bathroom and you drop a pill...your dog

is going to dive for all of that stuff so

we've got to start teaching them that

things that hit the floor are not

theirs. More than that dogs also need to

learn that anything they want in the

world isn't necessarily theirs to stick

their nose into like McDonald's wrappers

or roadkill or squirrels and chipmunks

or even other dogs. Teaching your puppy

leave it and take it together will help

prevent her from guarding food and toys.

Now for the purpose of this video we're

going to be using mainly food for the

focus. Towards the end of the video I'll

give you some tips for helping expand

this concept to toys games and even

tasks like fetching and retrieving.

There are a lot of moving parts to

getting really good at what I call the

Holy Trinity of mouth control: take it,

leave it, and drop it.

I don't want this to turn into a half

hour long, ultra-technical videos so for

right now I'm going to blaze through

just leave it and take it, and give you

some practical exercises you can start

with today. Let's get started!

Phase one: take it. First we start

teaching the dog to take things gently

from us. We cannot have them snapping for

things like a crocodile so we're going

to measure out some food during mealtime

and hand-feed them.

Yup. You heard me right. Take a piece of

kibble, say "Take it" and give it to them.

After several repetitions, hearing the

verbal phrase "Take it" becomes a reliable

predictor of receiving something from

your hand.

However the caveat is that it's got to

be done politely, so if they become

over-exuberant in taking the food we

give them feedback and take the food

away.

Use your wrist like a pivot and just

flick it away.

One thing I see people doing a lot is

giving an instructive reprimand like

"Gentle" or "Easy."

This isn't necessarily wrong but if you

use it too much, which is what a lot of

people do....

Ok, gentle... gentle... GENTLE!

Then you're implying that they

only have to take it gently or easily

when you say that. The expectation needs

to be universal: every time, everywhere. A

more productive kind of feedback is just

a simple

"Nope." This signals that they need to keep

trying.

Of course effective feedback includes

both sides of the coin so make sure to

praise them when they do take it gently.

The food itself is a reinforcement but

we need that voice to be a big part of

it too because once we get into leave it

they may not get the food, so praise for

a job well done lays the foundation for

good behavior down the road.

Also watch the head angle. If they're

looking up at it there's a greater

tendency to jump and snap. Lower the food

so it's coming straight in or even a

little below. Also use your palm for a

dog with a big mouth,

otherwise your fingers will disappear

inside those jowls. This phase goes

really quickly. For puppies I always

teach my students to hand-feed for the

first few weeks and this is such a

powerful and easy thing to do. Even for

older dogs though, a day or so of this

should drastically change the way

they take food from you. Phase two: leave

it and take it. We start this process

pretty simply. You don't necessarily even

need to wait to start this. Present food

in your hand to your dog and say one

time "Leave it." They're going to go for it

and when they do close your hand and say

"Nope"

and then wait. You don't need to repeat

yourself and don't move your hand, no matter

how much they fuss at it or how long

it takes.

Wait it out! The instant that your dog

gives up—and they will—immediately say

"Good! Take it!" and hand them the treat.

Timing is critical here; don't pussyfoot

around. Praise and reward immediately. As

you practice, your dog will start

responding faster and faster. You'll also

see them starting to get comfortable

while they wait. These bargain-basement

stays are exactly what we're waiting for so

reinforce the heck out of these. Then

start hanging out with it. Get three

seconds before you let them have it then

five and ultimately 10 before you let

them take it. Count these out as you wait.

Remember the feedback is part of

learning. You're marking the behavior and

letting them know that's what you want.

This is important. As soon as you feel

comfortable, start diversify the types of

things that you practice leave it with.

Using some of your dog's favorite

interactive toys is a really good way to

do this and it's a fantastic gateway to

not only proofing this behavior but also

teaching drop it.

Tug is a great teaching game for these

along with fetch & retrieves. Check out

my video on the four types of toys for

more info. Practice also with paper

products. Dogs tend to find tissue paper,

toilet paper, toilet paper rolls, and

crumpled up paper absolutely fascinating.

Make sure they understand that the rules

apply to everything in the universe.

The only difference here is that you'll

be rewarding them with food or a toy

instead of the paper product. Phase three:

supercharge leave it and take it! Now

you're ready to raise the criteria, which

is how we get better.

The previous steps are pretty standard

obedience class fare but we aren't going to

stop there;

we're gonna go to the extreme! So now we

repeat the leave it and take it

exercise by placing the item on the

ground.

Use your hand to cover it if necessary. I

don't recommend letting the dog slurp

food off the ground though. I don't want

them getting used to doing that so when

you use food as a lure pick it up or

have a second one in your

hand ready to give them. Don't forget to

use "Take it." Then get to where you're

standing up and covering it with your

foot or blocking it with your body if

necessary. As before we want

bargain-basement stays without having to

cover the item. Give good feedback for

eye contact, give good feedback for

showing self-restraint. Then we're going

to drop it from a few inches off the

ground. Then we're going to drop it from

waist height.

Then we're going to toss it short

distances. Boy this is usually where they

crack! Keep at it. Give feedback for good

performance and feedback for poor

performance, and challenge yourselves.

Finally get to where you can actually

toss the item in their direction without

them taking it.

Phase 4: take it outside. When leave it

and take it are well understood you

should have things pretty well on voice

control, meaning that if you say "Leave it"

your dog will stop moving towards

something and wait for your next

direction. Now it's time to raise the

criteria and challenge ourselves again.

First off we need to do the exercise in

as many places as possible. As I've

mentioned before dogs don't generalize

very well; if you train your dog in the

kitchen you have a great kitchen dog, so

we always practice things in as many

places as we can so they learn it means

the same thing everywhere. On a walk we

want them to leave things alone when we

tell them to. The best way to practice is

to do a setup. Have something setup that

the dog wants like a bowl of food or a

pile of treats or their favorite ball.

Then do some flybys. Walk by and pay

attention to the signals you feel in the

leash. Point at the item and say, "Leave it."

See what happens. If your dog keeps

trucking and pays attention to you,

great! Praise and reward them with a

treat from your pocket. If they strain to

get the item we go back to exactly how

we practiced in the beginning:

wait it out. When they give up, praise and

reward just like before. Then fly by

again. Every re-exposure makes it easier for

them to listen because the item is less

exciting each time. That means more

opportunity for you to reinforce what

you want.

Here's a pro tip: always face the

direction you want to go. Turning around

validates the item they want. Facing away

keeps your energy moving in that

direction. When it's clear that your dog

is listening, you're ready to hit the gas

and reward them in motion while you're

walking away.

Couple this with all of your other

walking tools like getting and keeping

their attention, good voice control,