Step 1: In a 'sit' or 'down' position, place a treat in your closed hand and move it towards your dog's nose/mouth. Start a bit further away to set your pup up for success.

Step 2: Once your hand is close and they acknowledge your hand, say 'leave'.

Step 3: If they don't go after the treat in your hand and stay in their position, 'mark' and treat. It's important to note - Do not reward them with the treat in your hand, use a different one so they don't get in the habit of thinking they can have what you ask them to leave.

Step 4: Once you are able to extend the amount of time they 'leave' your hand alone (5 seconds), you can then start trying closer to your pup or with an open hand.

Prompted Attention: Back Up & Focus

Start this exercise at home and with your dog on-leash. Have a few (4 -15) treats in your hand (or a toy if your dog loves toys) and start practicing this with a very low level of distraction – only enough to be of mild interest. Try putting a potato on a chair, or moving a houseplant onto the floor where nothing usually sits, far enough away that your dog can’t reach it.

1. When your dog looks at the distraction, call her name (once, not over and over again). As she looks at you, back up a few steps while feeding out your treats one at a time or playing with a toy. Tell her she’s great and smile. Keep moving backwards, or turn and move away from the object while interacting with your dog. Hold your treats above your waist so you don’t train the dog to look at your hands rather than your face.

2. Your voice is an important tool in training attention. Talk to your dog, praising and chatting with her as she moves toward you. This ongoing doling out of several treats (never just one treat for attention exercises), one after another, will help build the duration of attention.

3. Don’t always give the same number of treats. Sometimes give four, sometimes ten, sometimes six and so on. Keep it interesting.

4. As the dog gets used to this game, try it with more interesting objects like a bowl of food, toys, other interesting and non-scary things. Also, practice moving toward the object without allowing the leash to get tight – call your dog back to focus on you without her practicing a tight leash scenario.

Dynamic 'Leave It'

To play the game:

Step 1:

1. Place a treat in your closed hand and lower the hand to the dog’s nose level.

2. Wait until your dog stops trying to steal the treat. As soon as he backs off, mark and treat.

3. Once the dog is reliably backing away from the closed hand, wait until he backs off and then open your hand.

4. If he tries to steal the treat, simply close your hand. When he backs off, open again. When he stays back away from the exposed treat, 'mark' and treat.

Step 2:

1. Place the treat on your knee. Use your hand to cover if they try to steal it. When they stay off the exposed treat, 'mark' and treat.

2. Once the dog is staying off the treat placed in a number of places, wait a few seconds before you mark. When your dog looks at you say “Leave It” then treat.

TIP: Don’t set your dog up to fail! Many of us wait for the dog to back away, instead of noticing that the dog didn’t go for the cookie in the first place. You’re reinforcing “not taking the cookie,” not the action of backing away from it. A dog who doesn’t even approach that cookie is a superstar! Keep it fun!