Hi Everyone! This week I decided to take some time and work on perfecting Winnie’s skill of “leave it.”

We have practiced “leave it” quite a bit since the training session where we learned it, but recently, we have needed her to really listen when we ask her to leave something. Since Winnie is a Lab/Shepherd cross, her nose is constantly up against the ground sniffing and trying to eat everything in sight. Last week, Winnie must have ate something not so good because she had an upset tummy for a few days.

This is why perfecting Winnie’s “leave it” would be very beneficial. So that if we see something on our walks, we can tell her to leave it before she ingests something bad again.

Here are some pictures that I took of Winnie practicing “leave it”:

This first picture is the easiest since she can’t see the treat in my hand. She nails this every time.

This second level is more challenging but Winnie has pretty much mastered this as well.

The last step is the toughest since the treat is on the ground right in front of her. Winnie is pretty good at this. Sometimes the very first time we do it, we have to say “leave it” more than once, but overall she’s very good. Especially since she looks up at us until we say “take it.”