Hi, I have a lovely, lovely Bernese Mountain dog who is slowly driving me demented with her scavenging.
She's an 8 month old puppy who I originally thought was a bit daft but it's becoming increasingly apparent that the it's been her training me and not the other way round.
Been to all the puppy classes and she appeared to be really slow in 'getting' things but I've realised that she simply isn't interested unless she sees the point of it herself. Anyway, one of my main problems is that she is constantly scavenging - chewing gum, stones, litter, glass - the list goes on.
As she's quite food orientated, the trainers at puppy class suggested a 'leave it' command followed up by a treat. Initially this worked well unless it was something soggy and smelly and then there was no chance of any release. I've noticed however that she's now purposefully picking things up to ensure she gets a treat. I've tried to leave out the treating altogether, treating every 2 or 3 time rather than every time or resorting to distraction. Nothing's working ! She simply won't give it up unless I have a treat and she eyes me up to ensure that a treat is on its way.
It's the same with pulling on a lead, unless there is a constant supply of treats, I can forget about her walking alongside. She's now on a gentle leader which is a bit of a temporary fix. Clicker training didn't work - if she was human, I would swear that she was peeing herself laughing at the very idea.
I'd prefer not to muzzle her as she simply lies down and won't move - no amount of coaxing can get the big daft beautiful mutt to move and we've been know to block traffic.
Would love any suggestions or ideas on how to train this command or similar and yes, am beyond embarrassed that my puppy has trained me !