Let's talk about leave it and why we need to be really careful that we're not turning it into something punitive without meaning to. When we ask our dog to leave it, we want it to mean hey, let's not do that right now. It's a cue meant to create redirection, interruption, not a reprimand. But here's the problem. Sometimes we accidentally teach our dog that leave it means trouble, not because we said it in a harsh voice, but because of what we do after they respond. Let's say your dog starts to chase the cat. You call out leave it and he actually does. He disengages, he comes back to you and then you, still riding that wave of panic, say bad, dog, you shouldn't be chasing the cat. Now your dog's sitting there thinking, dang, I did leave it and I still got in trouble. That's confusing and it teaches them that they can't win and, worse, it could start to chip away at the trust. You ask them to make a better choice and they did, but then you punish them anyway.

Over time this can make your dog start to think that whatever is associated with the cue is bad, something they should fear or chase away before they get in trouble. And we don't want our dogs to fear the cat or the neighbor or our grandkids. So let's flip the script. If your dog responds to leave it, celebrate it, even if the original behavior wasn't perfect. Maybe they barked at the cat and then left it. Reward the moment they chose to listen, the moment they chose to respond to the leave it cue.

That's the teachable moment. That's when the magic happens. And it doesn't have to be food every time. Maybe sometimes you just smile at your dog, you say thank you, maybe you offer a treat or a short play break. The point is make your dog feel good about the choice that he just made, because the goal of leave it isn't to scold them for noticing something. It's to teach them that noticing something and choosing to walk away equals a win. So next time you cue, leave it and your dog responds, even if your heart is still pounding because it was a close call, take a breath and reward the behavior that you want more of. That's how you build a confident, responsive dog and keep leave it working with you and not against you.