I'd love to hear what he's thinking as I stand five feet away from a half-eaten burrito holding his four-foot leash. I'm sure it involves the thought, "man, humans are dumb!"
From a biological standpoint, our dogs think we are really stupid to pass by free food on the ground. Your puppy may never fully understand why we don't want to eat the pile of used tissues on the ground, but we can train him that we provide better and more consistent food options than what he can scavenge.
"Leave it!"
1. Place the treat on the ground, and cover it with your hand.
2. Your puppy will sniff, lick, bite (ouch!), scratch, and chew on your hand. Wait until he pulls his head away from your hand, then say "good boy!"
3. Give the puppy a different treat, and pick up the treat that was on the ground.
4. Repeat.
5. Now just cover the treat briefly with your hand then uncover it. As soon as puppy stops trying to get the treat, say "good boy" and give him a different treat.
6. Add in the verbal command "leave it," then place a treat on the ground and repeat the process.
7. The final stage is saying "leave it" then tossing a treat on the floor. Use your foot to cover the treat.
8. Now practice with puppy outside when he sees a juicy piece of trash. As soon as he stops pulling toward the trash, say "good boy!" and give him a treat, then immediately start walking.
9. Anticipate the things he will go for and repeat the "leave it" process.
10. Practice with dropping food from the kitchen counter, baby pacifiers, and other things.
"Give it!"
1. While puppy has a toy in his mouth, approach him with a nice treat.
2. As puppy releases the toy to eat the treat, pick up the toy with the other hand (say "good boy" when he releases the toy).
3. Repeat!
4. Begin saying "give it" right before you hold out the treat.
If your puppy is not dropping the toy, use a better treat, like hot dog or cheese!
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