I have 2 questions. Is there a difference between the “leave it” command and the “yuck” command? Also, I was watching your video of teaching Meru to swim and I noticed you offered a reward to have him release his ball instead of giving him a command. Was this because of his age?

Hi Cindy.
Thanks for your videos. Exceptional! I have two questions:
I'm trying to determine if there is any distinction between a "leave it" command versus a "yuck" command. I've done some cursory research, but there is divergent information from sources that do not adhere to marker-based reward training. I trained my last Shepherd with "leave it" as a universal command to, well, leave it. So, is there a difference?

Also, I was watching your video training Maru to swim, and I noticed that you had him release his ball by offering a reward rather than a command. Was this just a function of his age?

Incidentally, wondering how old he was at the time, as I want to teach my pup to swim (she is 6-weeks old at this writing and will enter our home in 2 weeks) and am not clear on what age is best to begin water training.

Thanks so much.