Leave it
Teaching leave it with liver as the hardest test
Updated
Leave it training with liver uses the treat your dog wants most as the thing to ignore. The liver sits in a closed hand, or later under your foot, and the reward for looking away comes from your other hand, so your dog learns that leaving liver alone is what earns the next bit.
Why make liver the thing your dog has to leave?
Because it is the hard version. The high value training treats guide explains why liver tends to rank high among rewards, and that same pull is what makes it a useful test. A dog that can ignore liver in your hand has practiced ignoring something harder than a dropped cracker.
It also gets the dog's attention without any fuss. You will not need to talk the dog into caring about the lesson.
Start where it is easy. This is a skill with steps, and the first one is a closed hand. Nothing here asks for a promise about outcomes, only practice in small stages that you control.
How do you start leave it with liver in a closed fist?
Put one bit of liver in your fist and hold the fist out at nose height. The dog will sniff, lick, paw and nudge. Say nothing. You are waiting for one thing: a moment when the dog backs off, even by an inch, or glances away from the hand.
The instant that happens, mark it with a short word, and bring a bit from your other hand to the dog's mouth. The liver in the fist stays in the fist. Do that a few times and the dog works out that backing off from the closed hand is what pays.
Keep your fist still and your voice quiet. If you keep saying "leave it" while the dog paws at you, the words turn into background noise. Add the cue only once the dog is backing off every time without being asked.
When can the liver go on the floor?
When the fist is easy. When the dog backs away from the closed hand quickly and looks up, you can open your hand a little, then set a bit of liver on the floor with your foot or hand ready to cover it.
There is no timeline, and no number of sessions that means "ready." Go by what the dog does, not by the calendar. If it lunges at the floor, cover the liver, go back to the fist for a few reps and try the floor again later.
Make the floor version brief at first. Set it down, wait for the dog to look away, mark, pay from the other hand, and pick the floor bit up before the dog gets it. In time you can leave it down longer, or step back from it.
What do you reward with when liver is the temptation?
Both options exist, and trainers split. Some pay with another bit of liver from the other hand, so the dog learns that ignoring liver here gets liver there. Others pay with something plainer, so the dog learns to give up liver for a lesser treat, which is the harder lesson.
If you are starting out, pay with liver. It makes the game clear and the dog keen. Once the dog is reliable you can try a plainer treat for some reps and see what the dog thinks. If it falls apart, go back.
Whichever you choose, the payment comes from the hand that is not guarding the temptation. The dog never gets the bit it was told to leave.
How does leave it with liver carry over to walks?
In small steps, and not by promise. Practice with dropped bits at home first: let a piece fall to the floor from your hand, cover it, and pay for the look away. Then try it in the yard, then in a quiet corner of the street, with the dog on a leash. Every new place resets the difficulty a little.
On a walk, the thing on the ground is rarely liver, and rarely something you picked. So the lesson that lasts is the habit: when I look away from something good, I get paid. Do not rely on one training run to hold up on the street. Keep it up with short sessions in new places.
The recall cue is a good partner here. If you are working on both, our guide on liver treats for recall training covers the coming-when-called side. Count both in the day's treat budget, since VCA Animal Hospitals puts treats at 10 percent or less of daily calories, and the other 90 percent is a complete and balanced diet.
Wash your hands after handling the liver, as the bag asks, and keep the freeze-dried beef liver bag sealed between sessions in a cool, dry place.
Questions
Should my dog ever get the liver it left alone?
Not from the fist or the floor. The reward for leaving it comes from your other hand. Later, you can release the dog to a particular piece with a different word, so "leave it" never ends with the dog taking that same bit. Otherwise the dog learns that waiting works.
What if my dog snatches the liver from the floor?
Your step was too big, or your foot was late. Go back to the closed fist for a few reps, and next time keep your foot ready to cover the piece before the dog commits. A snatch is not a disaster. It is information about where to make the exercise easier.
How long before my dog can leave liver on the floor?
We cannot give you a number, because the dog sets the pace and no two move through the steps alike. Skip the calendar and watch the dog instead. When the closed fist is easy every time, try the floor briefly and be ready to cover the piece.
Can I teach leave it to a puppy with liver?
Yes, the listing includes puppies. Use very small bits and short sessions, and keep the floor stage brief. For questions about a particular puppy's diet or growth, your veterinarian is the one to ask.
Is leave it the same cue as drop it?
No. Leave it means do not take something yet. Drop it means let go of what is already in the mouth. They are separate cues with separate training, so keep the words apart. Teach leave it first, and teach drop it as its own exercise.
Do I say leave it once or keep repeating it?
Once. If you repeat the cue, the dog learns that the first one is just a warm-up. Say it a single time, wait, and help the dog succeed with your hands or your foot. When it works, mark and pay. When it does not, reset quietly and try again.