Any tips please???

[lesley]

Just wondering if anyone could help?

Alfies gone back to chewing and picking up everything in sight. As a pup, i've pulled various sticks, stones, pine cones, leaves, money and even drawing pins out his mouth. he did stop it all but in the last wk or 2 he's been picking everything up.

On walks he usually walks v well, unless he gets scent of something....then he goes into "sniff mode" and theres nothing i can do to distract him or make him focus on me. he's driving me mad, this morning i think i had to stop about 30 or 40 times on a 15-20 min walk to either take things out his mouth or pull him away from things.

just now im just saying leave and pulling him away, i was going to try a loud noise/shaker to reinforce the leave and help take his focus away but just wondering if anyone had any tips. when he's doing this and focusing on either sniffing or picking something up, i struggle to get him to listen to me.......and i;m not the most patient person in the world, so the whole staying calm thing and praising him when he comes back and leaves it is becoming more difficult

[Suzanne H]

I'd teach him the 'leave it' command - you can do this in the house by using things he really likes and when he goes for it, say leave it and reward him with a treat when he leaves it. Once they know it, they know it. But you have to be able to transfer it outside. So I'd use a long line and if he goes to pick something up, tell him leave it then pull him to you and remove what he has in his mouth and keep on walking.

I tend to have to shout it outside to get the focus back....had many a strange look. But the command should work for anything from other dogs to hot food dropped on the floor to rabbit poo.

Our pup eats grass, but we've got him to listen to leave it.

[John Thomson]

I agree with Suzanne.......the leave it command covers a multitude.....to my dogs it means stop doing what you are doing which includes beginning to focus on cats/dogs/people/scents and return their focus to me......never going to be 100% but with practice, treats and praise it will develop.

john
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John Thomson
www.cumbernaulddogtraining.co.uk

[lesley]

Ta. I've been doing leave while on walks and just giving him sharp tug away but I'll def try practice more with toys etc in house to get him used to what I mean.