09/04/2026
A lot of my clients use these 3 words:
"Leave it" - "drop it" - "off"
In reality, these all mean very similar things. Your dog can understand context. If they go to pick up a pizza crust from the sidewalk you'd say "leave it" before they grabbed it, or "drop it" if they picked it up.
If your dog was on the furniture you'd say "off" but if you wanted your dog to stay off of a specific chair, maybe you'd say leave it.
Instead, just teach one single command → out.
Out means move away (from the fridge, the person chopping onions, the kid eating grapes, the window, the door, the guest, the dog they're playing too rough with or showing too much interest in); it means drop it during a game of tug or when they grab something they shouldn't have; it means get off of the furniture; it means leave that piece of food alone.
YES, one command can really do ALL of that 👆
Some trainers don't even use "out" and they prefer to just say "no" - but I find there are many situations where I like to have an "out" command in place of "no."
So a little trainer tip for your → just say "out"
