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Most dog owners use Leave It and Drop It—but a lot of people use them as though they mean the same thing.

They don’t.

Leave It is pre-mouth. Drop It is post-mouth.

Leave It means: ignore that, disengage, and come back to me.
Drop It means: you already have it, so let’s make a fair trade.

In this episode, I break down how to teach both skills without turning either one into a wrestling match.

You’ll hear how I build Leave It from a treat in a closed fist, to the floor, to working on leash around distractions. Then we move into Drop It and why trading is so important—especially when dogs start guarding things they value.

A few of the biggest takeaways:

• Teach Leave It before the dog gets the object.
• Think of Leave It as a harder version of recall.
• Teach Drop It through fair trades instead of taking things by force.
• Use paired toys, Fetch, and Tug to make giving things up part of the game.
• Keep rewards handy so you can trade calmly when something unexpected happens.
• If a dog is already resource guarding, growling, snapping, or biting over objects, get professional help instead of experimenting.

And yes, we also get into the story of Jake the Rottweiler, a dead squirrel, and why a piece of kibble was never going to win that negotiation.

Related K.I.S.S. Dog Training Resources

Leave It vs. Drop It: The Most Misunderstood Commands in Dog Training
https://kissdogtraining.com/leave-it-vs-drop-it-the-most-misunderstood-commands-in-dog-training/

Teaching Leave-It: How Dogs Learn to Disengage and Choose You Instead
https://kissdogtraining.com/teaching-leave-it-how-dogs-learn-to-disengage/

Drop It & Trade Up
https://kissdogtraining.com/just-a-thought-on-resource-guarding/

Leave It at the Park
https://kissdogtraining.com/leave-it-at-a-park/

K.I.S.S. Dog Training
Dog Training Ain’t Cheap... Experience Counts.
https://kissdogtraining.com/

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Mike Deathe owns Keep it Simple Stupid (K.I.S.S.) Dog training. We can be reached through comments here, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kissdogtraining. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikedeathe/, Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mikedeathekissdogtraining/. And of course at our website https://kissdogtraining.com/