Of all the commands that you will teach your Golden, this one is the most useful for dogs that love to pick up and eat just about anything they can get in their mouths. Owning a Golden Retriever is a lot like walking a vacuum cleaner down the street. If not trained properly, their scavenger qualities come out and they become eating machines. You can train your Golden not to eat everything in sight by teaching him the Leave It command.

The shaping steps for teaching Leave It are as follows:

• Start with a food treat in your fist and offer it to your dog at nose level.

• When he gives up trying to get the treat out of your hand, click and treat.

• Repeat this until he is backing off without even trying to take it.

• Now, put the treat on the ground with your hand nearby to cover it up.

• Click and treat him for not trying to take the food.

• Repeat this until you can move your hand away from the treat.

• Label the behavior Leave It when he is backing off regularly.

• Restraining your dog with a leash, throw the food just out of reach, and click and treat him for looking back at you instead of lunging toward the treat.

• Practice with different Leave It items — such as cats, kids with food, smells, squirrels, other dogs — until your dog will turn easily away from them and look at you.

• Label the behavior Leave It when he's looking back at you.