[Dailydrool] the "off" commad

[Mary Mischelle Kemp]

Ok, for some reason Tas and Fiz are snickering at me and looking quite haughty?!? Anyway here is how you teach a basset to leave food (What ARE you two laughing at?).
 
To start out you want to use a treat that is less desirable than chicken, something your hound likes but isn't crazy about. Hold the treat between your index finger and thumb, the treat shouldn't be big enough that any is hanging out. Offer the treat to the hound and say "off" (some people prefer "leave it"), before they snatch it, pull your hand back, say "off" and tap them on the nose with your thumb and finger. You have to be quick, don't let them get the treat. This basically has the same effect as CBL's pliers trick, the hound grabs for the treat and something negative happens. The advantage is that you can do it at any time, you don't need to have pliers handy. Repeat this process until the hound hesitates before going for the treat. Most dogs will hesitate on the  3rd or 4th try, LOL most hounds will probably require 20 or so tries. As soon as they hesitate say "take it" and offer the treat. After a few repetitions the hound will start to hesitate automatically before they take the treat because they don't know if you going to give it to them or tell them "off". Once you get to this point you can start increasing the time and the desirability of the treat. Obviously the more you practice the better they will get, the great thing is you can practice any time you give them a treat so you don't need a lot of dedicated time and the hounds are more than willing to keep practicing if they keep getting treats. 
 
I also want to say again how sorry we are to the slaves of all the hounds who are going to the bridges. There are way to many of the departing right now. Fey Fey, please, please close the gates to the bridge for a while!
 
Mary, Pw. Tasselhoff and Fizban
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