Dear Critter Corner:
We just adopted a new puppy and I am worried about him getting into our holiday decorations around the house. Are there any tips you can give me to help this holiday be less stressful for all?
This is a great time to work on teaching your pup a ‘leave it’ cue, this will help in teaching them to leave your holiday decorations alone among other things. Remember that you will need to still manage your pup around any decorations and generalize the cue to all different types of items.
To get started you will put a treat in your hand so that your pup can’t get to it and place it in front of their nose. Allow them to go after the treat and wait for the moment they stop trying to get it on their own, be patient it will happen. The second they stop; mark that behavior with a cue like ‘yes’ and follow with a treat other than the one they just left. You will repeat this several times until they are readily backing away. Now add the verbal cue ‘leave it’ when you present the treat and wait for your pup to back away, and then mark and treat.
You can now start with a small pile of treats on the ground with your hand placed over it. Give the cue and try to uncover the pile, if your pup goes after it, cover it back up and repeat until you are able to uncover the pile without your pup going after it.
You will need to generalize the cue and practice with all types of items and in all types of environments. If your pup is getting the pile of treats, you are too close and you need to make it easier so that your pup is successful. If your pup is extra curious, you may want to block access to the room with the decorations unless you are there to manage them.
If you are still having problems, please reach out to our behavior department to schedule a 1:1 consult at [email protected] or 650-340-7022 ext. 667 .