# Leave it and/or Wait



## kimstm (Jun 24, 2010)

Can leave it and wait mean the same thing or should I separate them as wait means, don't trample me as I try to put your dog food in the bowl and leave it means, leave the mulch in the flower bed.:doh:

I have been looking at you tube videos and some trainers suggest that leave it is strictly when you want them to not pick up something or drop it and that when you are training them they never get the treat you are telling them to leave. It would be a separate type of treat to leave and a separate treat to reward with. Which, to me, means if you tell your dog to leave it it is b/c they should never have it like the mulch, dead animal, kids toy, etc.

Other videos train with the same treats. Eventually working up to placing the treat on the ground and if they don't go after it and give good eye contact then she would give it to them. Following this method, I could see where you could you use "wait" and "leave" it as the same thing. However, I think it could be a little confusing to the dog b/c they wouldn't know if they were going to have to "really" leave it or they may get it if they are good and obey.

Set me straight, trainers.

Kim


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## Beach girl (Aug 5, 2010)

Not a professional trainer here, but I'd say they are two very different things. My trainer used the two-treat method to teach "leave it." They never got the treat they were to leave alone, they got something else.

Re: food bowl mayhem, one of the first things I teach my dogs is to "wait" on the other side of some line when I am preparing their food. All my dogs have always done this very successfully. With the two of them now, sometimes they both wait in the dining room, sometimes one waits in the hall and one in the dining room (both open up into the kitchen). I don't really care if they are together or apart, but they will not cross that line until invited. Both are very good at that.

Sometimes for extra measure, after I call them for dinner, I will say "Stop!" as they are running. You can just about see the skid marks. They will both STOP on a dime. Then I release and they continue the next few steps to their bowls.

It's really a thing with me that when I am doing something like going downstairs, or working in the kitchen crossing from sink to fridge to food-bowl corner, I do NOT want the dogs underfoot. Ever. So they learn that one pretty fast.

To me that's a very different thing from "leave it." They are waiting for a reward. There is nothing that they have to leave alone, all they have to do is be patient for a few minutes. Seems a different sort of self-control is in order for the two commands.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I agree - Leave it! for stuff they cannot have, but will get something else instead. Wait! as an all purpose "Hang on a minute till I tell you to continue" command. It is helpful to keep Wait and Stay separate - Stay means Stay there until I come back and release you - but I find I use Wait far more. Wait until leads are on and sorted to get out of the car, Wait when I am carrying something on the stairs, Wait to go out, Wait when we are getting towards anything dubious on a walk ...


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## Purley (May 21, 2010)

Yes, I use "leave it" to mean -- leave it alone -- don't go and see that other dog, or don't touch that food on the floor. Things they can't go after or pick up. 

I use "wait" sort of the same thing as "stay". 

Not sure if that is the correct thing to do but it seems to work.


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## kimstm (Jun 24, 2010)

Thanks! I will teach as two different things. I am definitely going to start working hard on "wait" especially regarding the food bowl problem. She acts like I haven't fed her in a month and she is so spastic that at this point she has only one thing on the mind...................EAT!

Should I teach wait or leave it first or does it matter? At this point I would like to teach wait first. I think it will be used a lot.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

kimstm said:


> Thanks! I will teach as two different things. I am definitely going to start working hard on "wait" especially regarding the food bowl problem. She acts like I haven't fed her in a month and she is so spastic that at this point she has only one thing on the mind...................EAT!
> 
> Should I teach wait or leave it first or does it matter? At this point I would like to teach wait first. I think it will be used a lot.


Teach "wait" for this. "Leave it" should mean that she will NEVER get what she is "leaving". For example, if you drop a pill on the ground you want to know that if you say "leave it" she understands that she cannot have that pill. Ever. 

That is why when you teach "leave it" you drop a treat on the ground, tell her "leave it" and reward her with a _different treat_ than the one you originally dropped. This gives her the message that she NEVER gets an item if you tell her to "leave it".


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## Beach girl (Aug 5, 2010)

> Should I teach wait or leave it first or does it matter?


You can teach them both things on the same day. We always joke about how poodles are smart - but really, poodles are smart! They can learn more than one thing a day, easily. Just train as you go along. 

For the "wait" for dinner, decide where you want the dog to wait. If there is a natural division off your kitchen, or a far corner of the kitchen, or wherever it is, make that the "wait" place. I think it works best if there is a visible line (like the difference between carpet and tile, for instance) but really there doesn't have to be, as long as YOU KNOW where you want that line to be.

Does she know "sit" and "down?" It would be good to have those under her belt. Then it's "sit" (or "down," if you'd rather) and "wait." The second she crosses that line, it's "uh-uh" and back in place. Be very consistent that not even the slightest paw touch across the line is allowed. 

The first time or two it might take you an extra two or three minutes to get dinner in her bowl as you correct her and put her back in place, but in my poodle experience (and even non-poodle experience), they all learned this one almost instantly.

Then just keep reinforcing it. Consistency, consistency, consistency. If anyone else feeds her (husband? kids?) make sure they know to do this too. It will quickly become second nature.

Fruits of this training: whenever I go into the kitchen and open the fridge to get anything, both my dogs will come running and wait right outside their lines in their wait spots. Sometimes I give them a tiny treat for waiting, sometimes not. Intermittent reinforcement keeps the learning level high.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Once again I didn't read your question thoroughly before responding.:doh: I need to work on this, LOL! Teach them separately as they are different skills, but you can work on them during the same day.


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## kimstm (Jun 24, 2010)

okay, so we just tried "wait" for Bella's dinner. There was lots of excited barking and I had to move her back to the "wait" spot a couple of times, but she finally sat there till I said "okay" and pointed to the bowl.

What do y'all use as your release word? I didn't want to say eat b/c I thought I would need the same release word each time with "wait". Correct??

Kim


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## Searcher (Aug 7, 2009)

Release word question is a good one. When we use wait for eating, we use 'ok, eat' but other times we are giving another command to take her out of 'wait'

I am thinking that for 'wait' you give another command?


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

kimstm said:


> okay, so we just tried "wait" for Bella's dinner. There was lots of excited barking and I had to move her back to the "wait" spot a couple of times, but she finally sat there till I said "okay" and pointed to the bowl.
> 
> What do y'all use as your release word? I didn't want to say eat b/c I thought I would need the same release word each time with "wait". Correct??
> 
> Kim


ha ha...I usually say "Okay! Free! Yay!!" 

It's probably best to chose ONE word though instead of using three in one! LOL!

I always say the same "release" regardless of command. Wait, stay, etc.


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## Beach girl (Aug 5, 2010)

I just say "OK, come!" and they run straight to their bowls. They don't seem to confuse this with "come" in a non-meal time exercise, when they come straight to me and sit.


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