11/11/2025
“Leave it” vs “on by”
This is tricky and a lot is simply semantics and which cue you use for what thing
Training as I have, “on by” means “continue moving straight ahead.” “Leave it” means “ignore that”
There’s a bit of overlap in the sense that “on by” is usually an incompatible behavior. You can not continue moving straight ahead and also stop to say hi to someone jogging
But if this is how you trained “on by,” and have no “leave it,” what are you going to say when there’s someone standing right smack on the corner of an intersection, texting away while their little dog leaps up and down shrieking at you, and you need to turn right?
Similarly, dogs are quick and clever. If this is how you’ve trained “on by” and what they want is a road kill squirrel… they’re gonna get it even with an “on by.” They’re gonna “on by” and snag that thing so fast to carry down trail
Or, if you’re not moving at all. You’ve stopped and locked brakes to water and check some booties, and a fox darts across the trail in front of you. You definitely can’t “on by” that!
The point isn’t that you have to use one cue or another. You can teach “on by” exactly the same as “leave it” and have two cues that mean essentially the same thing with an entirely separate cue meaning “continue straight ahead.” You can use none of these words and teach your dogs that “taco sauce” means “don’t touch that” and “helicopter” means “continue straight ahead.” They don’t speak our language, they don’t care what you name a cue. They might not run very well for someone else if you go that far out of the box, but I digress
The point is just to think about it. Make sure you are using clear cues and have all your bases covered with what you have trained
