Leave it?

[Ritz459]

Ok, I found out last night that I'm going to be using Blackie in obedience so I'm wanting to teach him the leave it command, so he'll pay attention to me and not all of the distractions. (It will also be helpful on walks, when I want him to pay attention and walk with me, and not pee on that blade of grass.)
So what would be the best way to teach this command?

Oh, and while I'm on the subject, what would be the best way to introduce Blackie to all of the dogs that will be in the building (Swine barn)? I know how to introduce him when we are at home, but how would I do it in a not-at-home-strange-place-strange-dogs-strange-smells sorounding?

[flyndog]

Teach him "Pay Attention" instead of "Leave It". What kind of training will you be doing? What type of equipment? Is it obedience or good manners training? Teach pay attenton by saying "Blackie", Pay Attention". When he looks at you, treat him. Every time he looks at you, treat hm. Pretty soon, he'll be looking at you all the time. As practice, I make my students sit and pay attention before they are allowed to enter the "ring".
Kit

[flyndog]

For Leave it, put a piece of kibble on the ground and when he goes for it, say "Leave It" and cover it with your hand. If you have to say "Ah Ah" or hold him back, do it. When he stops going for it, give him a treat. The goal is to say "Leave It" and not have to cover the thing with your hand. The reason I use kibble instead of a treat, is I want the dog to realize that if he leaves something good, he'll get something better.
Kit

[Carrie]

Hi Ritz. That's pretty neat that you're going to be doing this with Blackie. The only thing I could tell you, (since I'm the first to get to this thread) is how I do things. It may not be the "usual" way...I don't know. But here goes:

I use two seperate commands for leaving something alone and paying attention to me. They are not really the same thing. So, I teach "watch me" for looking up at my face and keeping attention on me. I hold a treat up by my face and let the dog follow with his eyes. I say, "watch me." Eye contact = treat/praise. You have to do this a lot and do it while he's heeling quite often. Pop a treat when he looks at you while you're walking.

Leave it I use when I want my dogs to leave that goose poop alone or if Lyric is about to take my sock which is lying on the floor or a bite off my plate which I've left on the coffee table. When he's bugging Jose too much...wanting to rough house and Jose doesn't feel like it and is getting frusterated....."leave it." Then...."good leave it" when he complies.

How one can start training that is take your dog on a leash outside in your yard where you've placed enticing, tempting items. Those can be food, interesting objects that arouse his curiosity...whatever. Take him past these things and when he starts to go for them, keep walking and say, "leave it." You can even let him get a little close to them and keep going. At first he won't know the words. Be sure and praise him and give a treat when he stops straining at the leash and comes along. "gooooood leave it." Do this every day a couple of times for 10 minutes or so. When he starts to get it on his own, keep using the leash, but leave a fair amount of slack and see if he'll leave it. Don't use the command if you can't enforce it. Wait till he's really good at it before you try it without the leash.

If you're on a walk and he starts going over to something he wants to see and you don't want that, there's a good opportunity to try it out some more.

As far as introducing other dogs....is there a special need for that at the obedience show? I know all dogs don't like all dogs. But if you do, you have to be careful and watch their body language before getting too close. You can look that up online...body language of dogs. Sometimes holding the leash too tightly can communicate to your dog that you're nervous about something and they can get that way too. But on the other hand, too much slack is bad if they decide to get into it with one another, so a happy medium I guess is what you need. I don't feel that it is necessary for my dog to meet a lot of strange dogs. So, I like to use, "leave it" or just "let's go" and keep walking. "Watch me" is a good one to keep their attention on you so they're less distracted by things. But it doesn't happen overnight. Lyric still needs tons of work on that. He's very, very distractable, even though he wants to be obedient and is for the most part.

Good luck and maybe someone else will have some more ideas for you.

[Carrie]

LOL Kit. When I started writing my book, your posts weren't there. Now I see them. Good heavens.

[Carrie]

The reason I use kibble instead of a treat, is I want the dog to realize that if he leaves something good, he'll get something better.

I like that!

[flyndog]

That's okay, Carrie. You can be first! LOL!
If I recall, Blackie is "dog aggressive". I would not let him around the other dogs. After a few weeks he'll start to get used to them and his behavior should improve some. It's important that you not let him stare the other dogs. Use the Pay Attention command when he tries to stare at them. If you have to physically move his head or block his view while you get his attention, do it. Staring is absolutely bad manners and will cause problems. I know you said he only gets aggressive if another dog "pushes his buttons", but staring is "button" and so is close proximity to entries and exits, and close proximity to several of dogs at once.

[poodlesmom]

One other thing that happens to be a pet peeve of mine is watch others - not all owners, even in obed. classes, are aware that they shouldn't let their dogs be out of their range of vision & will allow a loose lead and enable their dog to get into another dog's face. I have seen too many dogs who were sitting quietly at their owner's side get snapped at by another dog who's owner just wasn't paying attention. And as far as other dogs go, until you really get to know them you can't be sure how receptive they will be to your furpal meeting them either.

[flyndog]

Exactly, poodlesmom! A tight lead can be a good thing.
I don't allow interaction between the dogs at all during my classes. Only in puppy classes.

[Ritz459]

Originally Posted by poodlesmom

One other thing that happens to be a pet peeve of mine is watch others - not all owners, even in obed. classes, are aware that they shouldn't let their dogs be out of their range of vision & will allow a loose lead and enable their dog to get into another dog's face.

Ya, that is what I'm worried about. Since I'm in the 'begginers class' I'm afraid that the other people in the class won't know how to control their dog (or puppy) and they will let it get in Blackie's face.
When we went to the info meeting, I liked the trainers that would be teaching us. So I guess that is a good sign. I don't think they'll take any crap from somebody not being in controll of their dog. That is what they stressed most.

Well, I'm going to start working on the pay attention command right away, because I know all about staring being a challenge. That was my main reason for wanting to teach him that. I'll save Leave It for a bit later.

But to answer your questions Kit: I'm doing basic obedience with him I guess. (Heeling, sit/stays, down/stays, come, etc.) I find it an insult (kinda) to be in a class just starting out since I've worked so hard with Blackie to teach him his basic commands. (And he is good at them too. ) But that is probably for the best, so he can learn to stack and heel, and I can learn to stack and such. lol
They use choke chains, but I have no problem using one on Blackie. I use one on him anyway, because it gives me more control over him.

Oh, and when I say his name, he allready looks at me, but he will only do it for a second. Then he'll look back at whatever he was looking at. I praise him for looking at me, but I can't get him to hold the 'look' for longer than a second or two.

[Ritz459]

Ok, I found something that would kinda explain Blackie's 'dog aggression'. It was a link that Carrie posted on another thread, but I looked at it and I thought it described how Blackie is toward other dogs pretty well.

Low Fear and Low Agression - A dog which is trying to appear bigger by raising their hackle and their tail heigh with a slow wag. These dogs will most likely not be a threat toward people. They only appear to be threatening toward people. They are confident and very educated about human behavior. They will usually bark continuously in a monotone bark, stand their ground, and will attack only when they are provoked by a stranger who shows threatening behavior. Low Fear and Low Aggression applies to properly trained Protection and Police dogs.

If you took at the word "people" and replaced it with the word "dog" that would almost fit Blackie perfectly. Only, unstead of barking, he does this weird little whine thing in short bursts. (I don't know how to describe it.)

And does this mean Blackie is a protection dog? lol

[opokki]

You might also find some of Sophia's video clips helpful. Check out "Molly's Bad With Other Dogs", "Leave It", "Walk Nicely" and "Heel".

You can veiw them here:
http://www.nerdbook.com/sophia/movies.html

[gaddylovesdogs]

I think teaching "look at me" or "pay attention" (whatever you want to call it) is a good idea. What I did to teach "look at me" was hold a small treat between my eyes with the dog on a leash and far away from any distractions and say, "Look at me!" once the dog looks at you, after a few seconds they get the treat. It works well. I use it with Tippy whenever we're passing other animals.

Leave it is also a very useful command . Scatter some kibble on the ground, and with Blackie on a leash, walk past the kibble. If he goes after it, give a gentle but firm tug on the leash and say, "Leave it!" He should catch on pretty quickly. Whenever I tell May to "leave it" she'll usually sit there peeking at the food every now and then which is OK with me since she's not gobbling it all up.

[Ritz459]

Originally Posted by gaddylovesdogs

Whenever I tell May to "leave it" she'll usually sit there peeking at the food every now and then which is OK with me since she's not gobbling it all up.

That sounds like Rose!! lol I've taught the dogs the 'wait' command (I hold a treat in my hand, or there is food in their dish, whatever) and they can't eat it untill I tell them too. Rose will be sitting on the ground, wagging her tail, looking away from the treat, and then she'll glance back at it really fast and then she'll look away again. Then she'll kinda sneak another peek at it. lol It is soooooooo funny! I don't know why she thinks she can't look at it, but oh well!

And thanks for the links Opokki.

[Carrie]

Oh, and when I say his name, he allready looks at me, but he will only do it for a second. Then he'll look back at whatever he was looking at. I praise him for looking at me, but I can't get him to hold the 'look' for longer than a second or two.

If you hold a treat up by your face and that helps him to look at you and you then give him the treat, (a super good treat) then each few times increase the length of time just a tad before he gets the treat. Work that interval up very gradually and praise him like heck when he does it. I think that will help him learn to concentrate on you better. But start with no distractions for quite some time before you do it with a small distraction and then a little bigger distraction....that sort of thing.