Impulse Control/Leave-It Foundations: Clamshell Game (Patreon)

This is the clamshell game. This game is used to increase your dog's impulse control around food and distractions. It's also a fun game to see how quickly your dog can learn a default leave-it behavior, and to defer to you when they want something, by giving you eye contact to "ask for it", or backing away from the item they want. 

The way this game works is that your hand is what is training the dog. What we're going to do is put 3-5 treats in your hand and present your closed fist to your dog. She will try to nibble, lick, chew at your hand. As soon as she backs off your hand, the hand opens to reveal the cookies. If she dives back in for them (which she likely will) the hand closes. When she backs off, even for half a second, the hand opens. If she can back off for one second, you mark that with a "yes" and use your other hand to take the cookie from the hand that is "in play" and reward. 

The goal is to have the hand open all the time with a pile of food in front of her. However, in the beginning it will look like a hand that is opening and closing a lot! This is a game for the human coordination too! So remember, hand is only closed when she tries to get the food, otherwise the default position is open. And it's important that your hand never moves away. The hand stays planted in one position, and simply opens and closes. Glue your elbow to your side to remind yourself of that if you need to, as everyone's initial reaction is to pull the hand away rather that simply just close your hand over the treat. 

Once you master this game in the hand, you can also play it with food on the counters to teach a dog not to steal food from the counters (treat from your pouch, not the counter), on the floor, on a coffee table, all over the place, to increase the level of difficulty. 

Happy Training!