Akira | Mini Aussie | Encino, CA | In Training
- Alex Kruse
- Sep 7
- 14 min read
Updated: Sep 27
Meet Akira! She's a 4-month-old Mini Aussie from Encino, California, and she's here for our Three Week Puppy Board and Train Program. Akira is a typical puppy, wanting to jump around and play with her family, but with no awareness of how sharp her little teeth are! Being an Aussie, she also likes to chase and nip at ankles, her herding instincts kicking in early! Over the next three weeks we'll teach Akira how to play gently without those teeth, how to stop jumping up, get all her basic commands nice and solid, and work on getting her housebroken. Stay tuned for Akira's two-week transformation!
9/7/25
I took Akira to a little park near my house to see what she could do, and she actually was doing pretty good with her Sit even though it was our first time meeting and she was in a new area. She was able to Come a couple times when I called her, but I couldn't get her to do a Down for me, and we're definitely going to need to work on that Heel. She jumped up on me a few times, and while I did run around a bit to see if she'd try to go for my ankles, she was too excited dashing around the park to bother with me! After I took her home I just gave her some time to get acclimated. She was a little nervous at first, letting out some small barks at anything she heard or saw that made her a little wary, but she settled in pretty quickly. I let her meet one of my Corgis, Panda, who plays well with everybody. She did well at first but got overwhelmed after a few minutes, so I'll be sure to introduce her to other dogs at a pace that's comfortable for her. Overall, though, she seems to be calm and content hanging around with me, and I look forward to getting to work with her over the next three weeks!
9/8/25
Today we had our group practice at the park, so Akira got to meet our other trainers and their dogs. She barked a little bit at first at some of the other dogs, but quickly realized there was nothing to be nervous about and settled right into her training. We worked on establishing our Marker and Release words as described in the video, did some work on her Recall, taught her the beginnings of Place, and worked on her Heel a little bit. She seems to catch onto anything new pretty fast, and she's very eager to work for the treats, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get her grounded with all her basic commands. We worked a lot on her potty training as well the last two days, taking her outside to try to get her to potty, and putting her right back into the crate inside for about 10-15 minutes if she doesn't do her business. We go back and forth several times before she finally potties, after which she gets free time in the house. This is teaching her not only that she doesn't get freedom inside until she goes potty, but also that she only has about 10 minutes tops to do so. This way you aren't stuck outside for ages waiting for her to go. If she doesn't go during her walk, she also goes straight back into the crate when we get home, and we start the process over again of 10-15 minutes in the crate, then 10 minutes outside back and forth until she finally goes, then she gets free time inside again.
9/9/25
Today I took Akira to a fenced park to work more on her Recall and starting to extend her Sit and Down. See the Recall tutorial in the video above! At home we're doing a lot of work on her puppy manners. She's learning that she needs to sit before going through any doors or gates, and before she comes out of her crate. We're also doing a lot of work on her jumping. So far she hasn't been doing much puppy biting or herding, but she's still adapting, so we'll see if she starts up those behaviors as her confidence grows around my house. She's been doing really well with her housebreaking in general. She hasn't made any messes inside, and last night and all day today she's been going potty outside within just a couple minutes of me taking her out. Progress!
9/10/25
Today we were back at the park to work on our Heel. In the tutorial above you'll see two different methods - one with handheld treats, and a small hack I like to use for the really short dogs that makes training easier on your back and knees! Please note that we're very reward-heavy at the start of puppy training, but by the time the three weeks is up, we'll be a lot less reliant on those treat lures and far more reliant on our verbal cues. The puppy mouthing! I finally was able to get some of that behavior out of her today. She's very good with me saying "Ouch!" in a high, startled voice any time she puts teeth on me. She stops immediately and looks at me, much like they should if they were playing with one another in a pack and another puppy lets out a yelp when they get bit too hard. This teaches dogs proper bite inhibition, which is controlling the amount of force they're allowed to use while biting without causing harm. In our case we're going to pretend that any amount of teeth on skin is an Ouch! so she stops trying to bite altogether. Note the high pitched Ouch! doesn't work on all dogs. Sometimes it can make them more excitable and want to bite more, in which case we generally switch to a deeper, more corrective No! or Off! For the time being though, she's responding well to the false yip, so I'm going to continue using that unless her behavior negatively changes.
9/11/25
Today I took Akira to a local playground where normally I can find several kids running around, but only a couple showed up today during the time we were there. She barked a little bit at first when they arrived, but otherwise she mostly just shot them some curious glances while we worked on her basic commands. She's starting to show some good improvement with all of those, able to respond faster and hold each for longer, and she's starting to really catch on that if she gives me a Sit for things she wants (attention, going through doors, waiting for food) she gets them a lot faster than barking, jumping, or generally trying to bully her way into them. She still hasn't tried to grab at anyone's ankles, and the puppy mouthing during play today was at a minimum. This morning when I let her out of her crate and took her outside, she did all her business within two minutes, no problem. My room has a door that leads out to a dog run that I typically keep open with a bug screen that can be easily walked through. When she has free time in my room, she's also learned to let herself out to potty on her own without prompting; and if the door is shut she'll paw at it to let me know she needs to go out, so she's coming along great with the house breaking!
9/12/25
We went out to another park today that's fully fenced in to work more on all her commands while on a longer line. The park is nestled in a busy neighborhood so there were several people walking around outside the fence with other dogs, strollers, a scooter went by, and there were some kids. She did very well overall with all the distractions, mostly just giving them curious looks, but it was easy to get her focus right back onto me. She's doing really well with some added duration and distance with her Sit and Down, her Recall gets more and more clean each day, and she's starting to grasp her Heel without me needing to have the lure so close to her face as frequently. In the video I show how to work on her Place, which is still going to take some practice. She's really good at initially getting into her spot and laying down, but she's always eager to move, so we're still working on increasing that duration. A few seconds little by little, but we're getting there!
9/13/25
We had a great day at the big Arcadia Park where I really pushed her limits with distractions. We hung out near the playground for a little while just to give her that exposure to the kids running around, making sure she knew to sit and stay there without darting over to chase anyone. I also practiced her Recall quite a bit, letting her get to the end of the long line and fully distracted before calling her back. She did great with that one every time. I noticed she gets a little nervous and does some barking around other dogs. This park also has plenty of friendly dogs walking around, so I encouraged her to make some friends with several of the regulars I know from other visits. I want to give her as much positive exposure as I can on that front so she doesn't grow up to be reactive to other dogs on leash. She started to become a lot more confident and relaxed about it as we made our way around the park, and it's something we'll continue working on over the upcoming weeks!
9/14/25
We went adventuring today over at the Santa Fe Dam where she had an absolute blast! There's walking trails, geese and ducks, playgrounds, and a little beach area where she could splash in the water a little big and dig in the sand. I could tell I gave her a lot of first time experiences with some of these things! We worked on all of her basic commands per usual, and she did really well considering the high level of distractions we were competing with. She even came when I called her while she was investigating the geese! As you can see in the video, she does still have some moments where she works those springs in her legs, but in general she's jumping up a lot less while we're out and especially at home. She frequently runs up and sits right in front of me now when she's asking for attention, which is great. She's had a great first week of training and learning all of her new expectations, so now we just need to polish everything up!
9/15/25
It was Monday group practice today, so we got another chance to work with our fellow trainers and their dogs. She's still a little nervous when meeting new dogs for the first time, but after just a few minutes she was able to settle in just fine around them. I also noticed she gets a little anxious and barky around strangers, usually more with men than women, but she greeted the other trainers today without issues. She barked at a couple of other people who were just enjoying the park, so we worked on some positive exposure and redirection. I'll be focusing more on some counter-conditioning techniques over the next couple weeks as well just to help lessen the odds of her becoming a reactive dog as she grows older. Other than that, she's improving a little more each day!
9/16/25
We wandered over to the Library Park in Monrovia today where we did some more practice with distractions. She's starting to give me a nice Heel here and there without me having to ask for it or correcting her as much, her Recall is coming along nicely, and her Sit has gotten really smooth and quick when I ask her for it. She still has some trouble holding commands for lengthy periods of time before she gets her release word (competing with that puppy brain!), but we're getting there! Also, she didn't bark at a single person at the park today, which was great! She just looked at them curiously and went on her way with that 'No big deal' attitude I'm hoping she'll continue to exhibit moving forward.
9/17/25
I took Akira to one of my favorite trails to work the Heel. As you can see, it's fairly narrow and closed off on both sides, so it keeps the dogs nice and focused while we're working on strengthening that command. I was able to keep her in place with mostly just verbal encouragement and a few corrections with the leash, but without the heavy treat luring we started off with. I was genuinely pleased with how well she did with this today!
9/18/25
I took Akira to walk up and down Old Town Monrovia today. She did really well walking past all the strangers, but the sounds of some of the delivery trucks and extra city noises made her a bit anxious. It's nothing a little more exposure won't solve, and she wasn't reactive or trying to herd anything, just very clingy and jumpy with some of the sounds. Otherwise she had no issues when we paused here and there to practice all of our commands, and she really enjoyed getting a chance to check out all the new smells!
9/19/25
I took Akira to a large park in Duarte today where it's common to spot other dogs walking around and kids playing soccer. She was definitely more distracted today by the kids kicking the ball around, so after doing some Heel work I did some exposure and impulse control work closer to the court where they were playing. It'll definitely need to be something to keep working on as she moves forward. She was still able to do all her commands, but this was the most distracted she's been by something she wanted to chase since I got her. I've had her near playgrounds with running kids, and I've had her near adult soccer games, but the combo of the two was apparently a little too much temptation!
9/20/25
I wanted to work with a bit more dog distraction today, so I took her over to my favorite dog park that has a nice field space on the other side of the parking lot. There were dogs in the field playing where we were practicing, as well as plenty running around in the fenced off-leash area. She did great with all her commands despite the distractions and didn't bark at any dogs or people, which was great. She didn't look anxious or overstimulated at all, and let people come up to pet her without being overly wary. Her confidence is finally building around strangers, and we'll continue working on that exposure to keep that up!
9/21/25
We went over to the Royal Oaks Trail today to give her somewhere new to practice. She did so good with her Place today! I was so pleased with her! Her Heel is getting more solid. She still needs a few verbal corrections and light reminders on the leash when she gets distracted, but generally she knows where she should be while we're walking. She's getting much better at coming to a Sit when I stop too. And, most importantly, someone came up and wanted to pet her and she sat so nicely without jumping or shying away! It was a great little walk and she really enjoyed herself! At home she always sits on her own now when I feed her and waits until I give her the release before eating. She's gotten really good at going out and pottying right away with no accidents in the house over the last two weeks, and she waits politely at the doors. Her puppy mouthing has reduced quite a lot, and when she does go for the nibble, it's very light. I haven't been able to get her to chase ankles even when running around, and even when watching kids at the park, she's gotten really good with simple redirections. She's coming along really well overall!
9/22/25
We had our last group practice today! She's gotten very good at performing and holding her commands around other dogs and people. She's a little bit sharper when we're on the slip lead than the line just clipped to her collar, which is expected, and mostly she only breaks the Heel a little bit just when she spots something she wants to go see. Otherwise her general Heel is good on both types of leashes, and she's gotten good at falling back inline with light corrections. A big win has been watching her confidence grow. She's still just a little bit timid when people bend down to pet her, but she's learned that she doesn't need to bark and shy away from them. She loves the attention and has learned she'll get it if she sits nicely. She's also stopped barking at other dogs pretty much entirely. I haven't had an incident in the last several days where she's barked at other dogs on leashes, which is great. As long as we keep up that positive exposure then she'll be a well-socialized dog!
9/23/25
Akira had a fun day at the park today! We did our work first where I took her around a bunch of distractions such as people playing Wall Ball, dancers, and of course the big playground where kids were running around. A little girl was very excited to come over to say hi to Kira, so I made sure to make her sit and wait politely for attention. When the girl began to laugh and run around, Kira was definitely interested and excited, but she didn't grab at ankles, nip at, or try to jump at the girl. She was wiggly and happy, but kept her manners! Afterwards I brought out a little squeaky ball and let her run it out in the field a bit. She had a great time, and came home to have a nice, long nap!
9/24/25
At the park today there were some dancers practicing that Akira was very interested in, so I spent some time just walking her in a Heel around the group (they all thought she was very cute!). I also made her Sit and hold it while we watched, just getting her more acclimated to the movement and the sounds until she finally got bored with them and we could move on. This was typical exposure work, getting her used to performing her commands when new things are going on that she's unfamiliar with, and making sure she can be calm and composed around most any type of situation as he grows older. We also worked on her Place, Down, and Recall with the continued distractions in the background. Nothing was quite as exciting as those dancers while we were doing that, so she did great with all those! She's been doing really well in general while we're out and while we're at home, but I've noticed she only starts getting ornery, a little more mouthy, and more stubborn when she's actually just tired. She acts like she's more amped up and will start doing more zoomies, but that's typically the cue that it's time to put her up for a little puppy nap. She always crashes right out, then she's calm and sweet again once she wakes back up!
9/25/25
I wanted to show off some of Akira's house manners today! As you can see, she's learned to be a lot more patient when it comes to getting fed, going through doors, and going out on adventures! She is expected to Sit and wait to be released in order to get any of those things, and we also do the same when it comes to her getting attention, and when putting the leash on her. It helps keep her from jumping up or biting at people and the leash to get what she wants. She will often automatically give that Sit now for different things, so we try to catch that good behavior and reward it any time we see her doing it as opposed to only correcting her when she's doing the wrong thing. That way she's more willing to lean into the behaviors she already knows will benefit her instead of her playing guess and check with behaviors we don't want to see.
9/26/25
We went back to the big playground today where there were a lot more kids running around than last time. It was some great practice in impulse control for her, and she did great! We had just a couple slight struggles in getting her to Sit around the chaos, but considering staying still is one of her top struggles around busy toddlers, she did incredibly well! I could tell she really wanted to go play chase, but she managed to hold her composure impressively well for a puppy her age. On top of that, she made no attempts to chase after joggers or other dogs who were walking the track. I'm really proud of her today!
9/27/25
It's our last Pupdate in your three week program! I threw everything at her today with kids running, soccer balls, other dogs, wagons, and lots of noise!. She did amazing with her drills even while being surrounded by all of that distraction, with only a few slips that needed correcting. For such a young dog and a herding breed, she handled all that chaos phenomenally well, and I'm sure if she's kept on her training that she'll grow up to be a fantastic little dog!
Akira has been a great house guest all around, and it's been an absolute pleasure having her stay with me for her training and growth process. She caught onto the housebreaking within the first week, she played well with my dogs, she learned to respond to corrections and verbal cues very quickly, and her manners have greatly improved over the weeks. I'm really going to miss having her around! Thank you so much for letting me be a part of her learning journey!
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