Kroki

Question · Dog

How do I teach my dog to leave it?

The short answer

Start indoors: show your dog a treat under your hand, wait until it looks away, mark that moment and pay with something tastier from your other hand. Add “Leave it” once it backs off reliably, then practise with food on the floor and later on walks, with the lead short enough that a slip earns nothing. A dog with years of scavenging needs many repeats and great rewards. Kroki, a reward-based training app for puppies and dogs, teaches Leave it step by step and asks “How did it go?” after each exercise.

How to do it, step by step

  1. Find out what your dog really wants

    Line up three or four foods and see which one your dog picks first. Use a plain biscuit as the thing to leave and the favourite, maybe cheese or chicken, as the payment. A grown dog with a scavenging past needs the payment to beat the find clearly.

  2. Start with the treat under your palm

    Put the plain biscuit on the floor and cover it with your flat hand. Your dog may nudge, scrape or lick. Keep the hand there without a word. When it gives up and looks elsewhere, say “Top!” and pay from your other hand.

  3. Uncover the biscuit bit by bit

    Lift your hand a few centimetres, then further, then away. If your dog moves in, cover it again calmly. Sessions of three to five minutes are fine for most adult dogs; stop sooner if it starts to pant, whine or wander off.

  4. Add the cue and turn the head

    Say “Leave it” once, wait for the look away, mark and pay. Soon you can reward the moment your dog turns from the biscuit towards you. That head turn is what you want on walks, where you cannot reach the food first.

  5. Plant a few finds on a quiet walk

    Before the walk, drop two or three biscuits along a quiet path. Walk past on a lead held short enough that your dog cannot reach them. Say “Leave it” before your dog gets close, and pay generously for every look back at you.

  6. Keep the lead loose and stay ahead

    Never yank the lead when your dog dives for food. Stop, keep the lead still, wait for it to look at you, then pay. Watch the ground in hot spots such as bus stops and park benches, and give the cue early.

  7. Use it in real life only when it works at home

    A cue that fails on the street teaches your dog that it is optional. Until “Leave it” works with planted finds, steer around chicken bones and bins instead of testing it.

Teaching a young puppy?

A puppy under six months mouths almost everything and tires within a minute or two, so it starts with a closed fist, very short rounds and a tidy floor. Teething also plays a part. The puppy page explains that gentler start.

What studies say about rewards, aversives and older learners

Many owners of food-crazy dogs end up yanking the lead or buying a spray collar. In a trial with 63 pet dogs, those trained with rewards answered “Sit” and “Come” better after a single cue than dogs trained with remote electric collars (China, Mills and Cooper 2020). The study did not test “Leave it”, but it shows rewards are no weaker choice for adult dogs with established habits.

A review of aversive methods came to a similar view from the other side: they can harm a dog’s physical and mental health, and there is no evidence that they work better than rewards (Ziv 2017). For a dog that already guards or gulps food fast, fear around the food can make grabbing quicker, not slower.

Age is not a reason to give up. In a study with 95 Border Collies, older dogs needed longer to learn a new task, yet age made no difference to how well they remembered it later (Wallis and colleagues 2016). For a senior rescue, plan more repeats and keep going: once it has learned “Leave it”, the cue tends to stay.

Why grown dogs find leaving food so hard

  • Scavenging has paid off for years: every chicken bone your dog swallowed made the next grab more likely. Your rewards need to outweigh that history.
  • Some rescue dogs lived on what they found. They may eat faster and look less at people; give them extra time and patience.
  • Walks are full of smells and other dogs. A cue learned in the kitchen needs practice in each new place.
  • Hunger plays a part. Practise before meals, but never so hungry that your dog cannot think.

How long it usually takes

  • Indoors with a covered biscuit: many adult dogs get it within a handful of sessions.
  • Food lying in the open at home: usually a few days more of short practice.
  • Planted finds on quiet walks: often several weeks, depending on how long your dog has been scavenging.
  • Busy streets and picnic leftovers: keep managing with the lead and practising, because this level takes longest.

When to see a professional

A dog that eats things on walks can be in real danger. Get help if:

The help pages list services in Germany, Austria and Switzerland only. Elsewhere, ask your vet practice who they recommend near you.

Frequently asked questions

Can an older rescue dog still learn leave it?

Yes, an older rescue dog can learn “Leave it”, although it may need more repeats than a young dog. Use the tastiest rewards you have and practise first where nothing can go wrong.

Should I use a muzzle for a dog that eats everything on walks?

A well-fitted basket muzzle can be a safe stopgap while you train. Get your dog used to it slowly with treats, so it can still pant, drink and take rewards through the bars.

Why does my dog leave it at home but not outside?

Outside is a different, much harder level, because the finds smell better and there is more going on. Go back to covered treats on a quiet path and build up again from there.

Does leave it work for cats, joggers and other dogs too?

It can, once it is solid with food, because the cue means turn away from that and look at me. Start at a big distance from the cat or jogger and pay every head turn.

My dog swallows food before I can say anything. What helps?

Give the cue earlier, as soon as you see your dog’s nose drop or its head lock onto something. Scanning the ground ahead of your dog is half the job on walks.

Is it fine to pull food out of my adult dog’s mouth?

Only in a true emergency, because grabbing into the mouth can teach your dog to swallow faster or to guard. For things already in the mouth, teach “Drop” with a trade instead.

How long should a leave it session be for a grown dog?

Three to five minutes is plenty for most grown dogs. Stop earlier if your dog gets frustrated, and two or three short sessions in a week help more than one marathon.

Sources