“Leave It” Is The Most Useless Command

00:00 — Kati introduces the problem of dogs focusing on distractions and frames the episode around…

Speaker 1: Welcome to Off Leash and Unfiltered Trigger Warning. I'm Kati Peppe, delivering the Truth in Dog Training.

Speaker 2: Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of Off Leash and Unfiltered. I'm Kati Peppe, owner of Diamond Canine Dog Training in Biddeford, Maine. Have you ever been in a situation where your dog wants to pay attention to something that you don't want them to pay attention to? They wanna get excited about another dog, they want to go try to eat pieces of bagel off the street, things of that nature. Stupid question, right? 'cause obviously you have, we all have like, who hasn't been in that situation? And here's the question, like what do you do about that?

Speaker 2: So today's little rant <laugh> is about the leave it command. So how many of us have been taught to believe that the correct thing to do in those situations is to have a command, right? A special command, a word that tells our dog, I don't want you to pay attention to that right now. I want you to pay attention to this thing we're doing. Or I want you to leave that thing alone because it's icky. Um, so many of us, right? That's such common advice. Uh, it's a really, really popular command and I've got a little beef with it, <laugh>.

Speaker 2: So I'm gonna tell you about that. Um, and the truth is that I don't really take issue with any command. Um, except, and this is so common, but here's the thing. People use sit in this manner too, that you sit, that you down even come place.

Speaker 2: They use all these commands in the same manner. So it's not so much leave it that bothers me as it is the way it's being used. Most of the time. The reason it bothers me so much is because it's usually being used to stop the dog from doing something that we just don't want our dog to do. Like, not just in that moment, but pretty much ever, right? So you've probably heard me say, if you listen to me anyway, you've heard me say that you can't use commands to fix problems. Well, this is no different.

Speaker 2: You've probably heard me say that when your dog is super overexcited, that you can't fix that by just yelling command at them. If your dog goes bananas when it sees a stranger or something like that, and you're just sit, sit, sit, sit down, down, down, down, down, like that's not helpful.

Speaker 2: It doesn't work. It doesn't solve anything. It doesn't change anything in the long run. It's just foolish. Um, and leave it is used that way almost all of the time, right? So for example, I just had a group class, a very small group class this week. So we only had a, a couple of people joining me and Joyce for group class today, which is, uh, you know, I wish we had a bigger turnout, but at the same time, like, it's great because we get to really dive deep with these, with these folks. And we got into a conversation about leave it.

Speaker 2: Um, and one of the examples that this particular person gave me about how she might use leave it is if she were to drop like, medication on the floor and her dog went to go investigate it, and, and he's pretty fast <laugh> and he is very food driven.

04:00 — A food-driven dog immediately investigates anything potentially edible, illustrating the limits of relying on…

Speaker 2: So if he thinks that something might be edible, he's all over it. I take issue with that. So, I mean, of course people can do whatever they want, right? But here's the, here's the issue with it from a training perspective, and this is what I asked her, when is there a time where it is okay for your dog to eat medication off the floor if you drop it? When, when is that time? And of course, she, she could not think of a time where that would be okay, because that's never okay, right? We all know that that's never okay.

Speaker 2: It's super dangerous. Um, and here's the thing. Even if you say leave it and your dog leaves it and you're successful in that moment and you go, oh, thank God I had the leave it command, my dog is safe.

Speaker 2: What's gonna happen the next time that you drop a pill on the floor? Your dog's gonna try to eat it. <laugh>, right? So what did you really fix? Nothing. Nothing. So the correct response to your dog darting over to immediately eat whatever you dropped on the floor is no, followed by a very high correction, okay? And if you've dropped something on the floor that you want your dog to have, then you can give it to him, right? But he is gotta wait for permission or for you to pick it up and give it to him.

Speaker 2: So that's the issue. The issue is that the command is being used in place of corrections where there should be correction. The command is basically management. So it's almost no different than just having a leash on the dog because you're, you're interrupting the behavior in the moment, but you're not changing it right now.

Speaker 2: A correct use of it or a better use of it, I should say. 'cause I, I just never use this command. Uh, the other person in the class gave an example that might be an acceptable time to use something like that. Uh, which is when he wants his dog to spit out a toy, a ball, something like that. He says, leave it, dog spits it out. Okay, great. Right? So I don't use that word. I use a different word, but it's the same behavior. So again, words mean whatever you attach to them for meaning, right?

Speaker 2: So you could use any word to get your dog to spit something out. If he wants to use, leave it, that's fine. I don't care what the word is, I care how it's being used, right? So that's not an example where his dog should be corrected. 'cause his dog's allowed to play with toys.

07:00 — Kati describes an acceptable use: asking a dog to release a ball it is…

Speaker 2: She's allowed to have a ball in her mouth, right? He just wants a way to ask her to spit it out. So he is not trying to eliminate a behavior. He's not trying to keep her safe. He's not trying to inhibit something. So that's an appropriate time to have a command that you use. But in the event that you're trying to permanently change behavior, you're trying to inhibit something, you want your dog not to do something because it's not safe. That's not a time that you use a command. That's a time that you mark that behavior with a no.

Speaker 2: And you tie it to a very meaningful correction so that you can keep your dog safer and so that you can stop nagging so that you don't, right? Because what happens the first time you are not fast enough, or the first time your dog says, ah, hell, I'm gonna ignore it. I, I sometimes I get a free pass and like, I don't get corrected till the second time or the third time, or maybe never at all. God forbid, <laugh>, we know that's common, right? And then it's a trip to the emergency vet potentially, you know?

Speaker 2: But if nothing else, you're just stuck nagging your dog. Ugh. Hate nagging.

Speaker 2: So that's why I don't like leave it. Look at what it does to people's walks. 'cause you see them, you see them walking down the sidewalk with their dog. Leave it, leave it, leave it. Right? Dog sees something on the street, leave it. He's poop. Goes to sniff it, leave it. And God forbid another dog is approaching, leave it, leave it, leave it, leave it, leave it <laugh>. Just tell your dog not to do that. I know I make it sound really simple, but it usually is. It usually is. So, and I'm not owner blaming here either.

Speaker 2: This is, this is the advice out there. I know that I'm well aware of that, you know, but if you're lucky enough to be one of those people who stumble upon, um, a trainer, whether it's me, someone else, but you know, you're listening to this podcast and you're lucky enough to hear the information, to see the information, use it, it's gonna make your life so much better.

Speaker 2: So you do have to know how to do it. You have to know how to correct your dog, right? I can just sit here and say, correct your dog. You have to know how to do it. That information's out there too. I put it out there. It's on my social media, it's on my YouTube, my Instagram, my Facebook, my website. It's on the podcast, right? A good firm leash pop. Uh, leash should always be on a prong collar, in my opinion. If you have a leash on your dog, you put it on a prong collar and then you learn how to deliver a good leash pop or an eco is a very practical tool.

Speaker 2: Um, and I love it 'cause it's adjustable. The unit we use is a hundred levels perfect for almost any dog, right? So you can easily find the level that is in your dog's. Whoa, I don't like that ballpark. And that's what you use. And it's not the same for every dog. It's very different for every dog, but you gotta have something guys, right? And so the goal with this stuff is to be very effective and very efficient without causing any harm. And that's what we do here. And we're very good at it, <laugh>. And we're happy to answer questions and support you guys while you're trying to, um, inhibit things with your dog and, and modify behaviors with your dog and make them safer and more reliable and make your lives better.

Speaker 2: Uh, 'cause that's what it does, right? If you do this stuff properly, you don't have to do it over and over again. But if you rely on commands to fix problems, you will have to do it every day forever. If you wanna use, leave it to keep your dog from doing things that you really just don't want them to do, you're going to have to do it forever. And sometimes it's not gonna work.

11:00 — Using leave it to prevent unwanted behavior requires constant repetition and may still fail…

Speaker 2: So when it comes to dangerous stuff, um, now you potentially have a ticking time bomb where it's just a matter of time before something bad happens. Um, and that's no good. That's no good. So the moral of the story here is, uh, don't use commands to try to fix and eliminate problems, but especially <laugh>, leave it. Don't use, leave it. If there's something you don't want your dog to pay attention to or put in their mouth or sniff, investigate for the love of God, just tell your dog no. Mark it with a no no. Correct them.

Speaker 2: Eliminate that behavior so you can just move on with your life, right? The save the commands for the things that it is okay if your dog does. Um, but you just want a way to ask them to do something else in that moment, not because what they're doing isn't allowed. You know, for instance, dropping a ball. They're allowed to have a ball. If you wanna say leave it to get them to spit it out, that's fine.

Speaker 2: Um, but there's really never a time that it's okay for our dogs to go investigate poop or try to pull us over to another dog or, you know, that sort of stuff. So that's the kind of stuff you should just be giving your dog that feedback. It's not okay to do that. All right guys, send us your questions. Let us know what you wanna talk about, uh, what you wanna cover. All right guys. That's it for this episode. I look forward to the next time. Happy practicing with your dogs and for the love of God, stop saying leave it <laugh>.

Speaker 2: Okay guys. Bye. Thanks for listening.