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In the end it says to avoid removing things from pup by force, but even when walking with treats, the highest value we have does not compete with used tissue, or used Covid masks (people are pigs) I think in these cases, we need to evaluate and troubleshoot what may be going on. For instance, if we say our "leave it" too late, that is, once the dog's nose is already sniffing the item and getting ready to pick it up, it would likely go to deaf ears. Fun fact: when dogs sniff, they use 30 percent of their brain to study those odors so there's quite a good amount of concentration going on there. That's also why sniffing is considered such a tiring activity. So we want to say "leave it" before the dog is already close or getting close at sniffing point. I like to work on "leave its" purposely creating some set-ups. This can be a fun game to play. You can have a helper place some mildly interesting items on a path ( items that are safe and can't be eaten by a puppy in case he grabs a hold of them) and then you purposely walk by them, initially far enough the he can't reach them, and the moment you catch your pup's interest, you would say "leave it" and then feed the higher value treat. This is a great exercise to consolidate the training for leave it you have started at home. It's also a great exercise for you so that you can work on your timing in catching your puppy before he's already in sniffing/grabbing the item mode. An important consideration: when we haven't trained a fluent response to a cue like "leave it" or "come" well enough and the dog therefore doesn't respond fluently to it, we are at risk of creating a phenomenon known as "learned irrelevance." In other words, we cause those words to risk becoming irrelevant and the dog starts no longer being responsive to it. So we need to ensure that we set our pups for success by starting with easy leave its and gradually increasing difficulty so that we maintain the power and energy of those words. Learned irrelevance is our enemy as it ends up draining that power. For me, in that case, it's a matter of safety... Is there a way to limit the impact of those forced removal? He's definitely turning the head when he senses I will go for it, but if he doesn't take the treat, I'm not sure I want to leave him chewing on a used Covid mask...(we train Leave It, which is OK at home with a kibble, but way more difficult outside with a new thing he never saw before) Scanning the environment is one of the best things to do in these cases, I call it the defensive driving version of walking puppies. My hubby is often upset with me when we go for a walk and I am bringing along a pup and I never pay attention to what he tells me. This is because I am constantly scanning the road for things on the ground and stimuli approaching. I become the dog's eyes and ears. I struggle concentrating in this state of mind. I am overly cautious because there are things out there that can really harm a small puppy. I imagine walking with a toddler surrounded by potentially poisoned candy on the floor. No phone allowed on these walks! The moment I notice something on the ground, I will walk at a distance from it so that the pup can't get a hold of it even if at the end of the leash, or if the pup knows "leave it' I will purposely walk close enough to it to the draw the pup's interest, but not that close that he can snatch it. I will say "leave it" the moment he makes eye contact with it and reward with the treats in my treat bag or pocket. To answer your question about limiting the impact of a forced removal, there is a strategy I use, but I practice this a lot before hand at home, so that the pup always has a positive association with it and isn't startled or defensive. It's mentioned in this article under "mouth inspections:" https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/the-importance-of-preventing-resource-guarding-in-puppies/ I am posting that section here: "Getting your puppy used to having his mouth checked is good for getting your puppy used to having his teeth brushed and mouth checked by your vet, but also in case you ever need to retrieve some item out of his mouth. Every now and then, open your puppy’s mouth open and stick a tasty treat inside. At some point, if you catch your pup with an item in his mouth (that he isn’t prone to guarding), let him sniff a super high-value treat as you gently extract the object from the mouth, promptly replacing it with the tasty treat. This will make your puppy more collaborative and help him learn that when you remove something from his mouth, something tasty will follow. However, aim to train your puppy to “drop it” so he’s a willing participant and you no longer have to manually extract things." As Jennifer has mentioned below, you need to work on finding what your pup really loves. *Note for Jennifer: Yes, Jennifer you are correct! We aim to form those strong associations so that, when the dog hears leave it or drop, it's music for their ears sort of like "ding-ding-ding! you just won the slot machine!"