Hmm..that method of training for 'leave it' would confuse me if I was Gigi. It'd be like she's getting a reward whether she listens or not. If she leaves it, you give her a reward. If she takes it, she helped herself to a reward. I'm not sure it's the best way to teach leave it but..hey, if it works then good job!
I trained both my boys to stay with the following method:
- Have the dog beside you on leash.
- Tell your dog 'STAY!' and give a hand signal.
- Wait a few seconds, if the dog doesn't move, praise.
- If the dog does move, make an ugly sound like (UH UH!!), give a correction or anything to let the dog know that it did something wrong. Immediately place the dog back in the position it was in. I also place my dogs even further back so they know that not obeying a stay will get exactly the opposite of what they want..(to be with me).
- After the dog does a stay for a satisfactory amount of time (5-10 seconds), you can start stepping out. Start with two seconds first. Then increase the time.
- I find that it's more important to work on time first rather than distance. After all, you'll be closer to place the dog back in a stay if it gets up when you're 5 feet away rather than 20.
Good work with Gigi! It sounds like she's getting better at this obedience stuff day by day!
[edit]Oh yeah, after you have her doing stays for long periods of time and at good distances, you can start running around and going crazy (like I do haha). I test my dogs by leaving them in a stay then running around the room like a mad (wo)man, jumping up and down, throwing balls, just about everything I can think of. It's sure to test their stay just in case you need a good solid stay one day (like darting out of the house).
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