Meet Alfie! He's a four year old Mixed Breed from Thousand Oaks, California here for our Two-Week Board and Train Program! Alfie loves people, and loves to jump on them! He loves to dig holes in his yard and sometimes lays down on walks when he isn't motivated to move. He also needs a lot of work on his basic obedience skills! Alfie is a rescue who previously suffered severe pelvic injury, and the veterinarian says he needs to lose some weight to take some of the burden off of his leg. Over the next fourteen days, we'll work on Alfie's manners in and out of the house, practice his basic obedience skills, teach him how to properly greet people without jumping, get him started on his exercise journey, and show him how to be the best pup he can possibly be! Stay tuned for Alfie's two week transformation!
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Pupdate: 10/22/2023
After picking up Alfie, we stayed at the park for a few minutes to get to know each other! Alfie was immediately friendly to me and sat in front of me for pets as soon as we met. We walked around the park and Alfie did a good job staying with me. I did notice him favoring his right hind leg at certain times, but he was a trooper and seemed to enjoy the walk nonetheless. He seems to be good with his Sit command, although I'd like him to be a little more responsive, and eventually I'll want him to hold it for much longer than he can now.
Once we arrived home, I let Alfie sniff around my house to start getting settled in. He was skeptical of the stairs, but I'm not sure if he was nervous about them, or if he didn't want to walk up them because of his leg. Either way, he made it up the stairs moving slow and steady. He seems to be settling in very well, and I think he'll enjoy his time here!
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Pupdate: 10/23/2023
Alfie and I went to Whittier Narrows Park today for training! We started working on his Heel and Come To Sit commands, and introduced him to his E collar! For heel, I want Alfie to walk at my left side with his ears at my leg. He isn't the biggest fan of heeling, but he made a lot of progress today. For Come To Sit, I want Alfie to come to my right side, walk around my legs and sit at my left side with his ears at my knee. He's a little slow to make it to the correct position, but he's doing a great job getting the motion down! I'm hoping to get him a little more excited about working, but he's doing very well so far!
In addition to his video for today, I added a video tutorial for Alfie's E-collar. I would recommend watching it before he comes home so that you have an understanding of how it works before using it!
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Pupdate: 10/24/2023
Alfie and I went to Almansor Park today for training! I saw a little more of his excited side. There are tons of geese and ducks around this park, so I think he was excited to see those animals! That being said, he still did a really good job with the commands he's learned so far. Even when he was excitedly running around in circles, when I asked him to come back to me he did so without much issue. He got a lot of exercise at the park today, and was very tired when we got home. He got a well earned nap, and then his dinner. We'll be going back to this park tonight if he's up for it!
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Pupdate: 10/25/2023
Alfie and I went to Garfield Park today! We continued to work on his Heel and Come To Sit commands, and also added his Place command! For Place, I want Alfie to hop onto a raised object, such as the cot in today's video. This command is great for confidence building! It's also useful in the house, where you can ask Alfie to Place on his bed when you're making dinner or doing chores when he might be in the way.
The above video was taken towards the end of our session, so Alfie was already a little tired. He has no issue getting on low objects like the cot, but he has trouble getting on higher benches and objects. Due to his previous injury and his weight, we're going to take it easy on him with this command and ask that he hops onto very easy, low objects. With that said, he's doing a great job! Especially at the end of the session, he wanted to get on the cot and take a nap! I'm glad he likes it.
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Pupdate: 10/26/2023
Alfie went to The Santa Monica Promenade today! He was as polite and well behaved as always, even though there were far more people around than at the parks we've been to up to this point. He was greeted by a couple folks who wanted to say hi and pet him, and he did a great job of patiently sitting and waiting for his pets. While heeling around the Promenade he got distracted by a few smells and a dog, but generally walked well with me. He was able to Place on a ledge in front of a fountain with a great deal of confidence!
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Pupdate: 10/27/2023
Alfie and I went to Santa Anita Mall today! He behaved well the whole time, and we also started working on some of his commands with his leash dragging. Allowing the leash to drag gives me some idea of how he might perform off leash while still having access to the leash should I need it. While practicing this, his Heel was a little less tight than with the leash in hand, but that's to be expected, and he still did an awesome job! For his Come To Sit command, he often wanted to stop in front of me, however he would follow through when I created a little more distance and used a low level stimulation on his E collar. His Down command was very good, even without the use of the leash and with very little use of the E collar. The only command we have yet to practice with his leash dragging is Place, but I feel confident he will do well when we do! Yesterday and today were some big steps for Alfie, and I'm proud of how well he did both days!
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Pupdate: 10/28/2023
Alfie and I went to Almansor Park today! He continued to work with the leash dragging, this time on a slightly smaller leash. His Heel and Come To Sit commands are improving, and he managed to climb up onto a bench for his Place command!
Alfie growled at a dog that came up to him quickly, which is the first time I've seen him do that, but he stopped and sat next to me when I used the Off command in conjunction with his E-collar. Other than that, Alfie performed and behaved very well all day!
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Pupdate: 10/29/2023
Alfie went to Cerritos Mall today! We spent most of our time working around his brother, Bane. They were excited to see each other, although at a certain point Bane was trying his best to play with Alfie, and Alfie didn't want to so he grumbled and showed his teeth, at which point Bane stopped.
Other than that, Alfie performed all of his commands very well with his leash dragging. Every now and then, one of the brothers would want to stop to sniff the other, but they got back on task very easily with the use of the Off command.
Alfie got a lot of exercise walking around the mall, so he took a long nap once we got home!
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Pupdate: 10/30/2023
Alfie and I went to Bell Gardens Park today for training! He was off leash for about half the time. The park was mostly quiet, and Alfie had no issue with his commands off leash! We came across a cat at one point, which Alfie was very excited about. He looked like he was about to chase it, but I asked him come to me and he did without any trouble. He did great off leash today, so the next step will be seeing how he does while off leash around a few more distractions!
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Pupdate:10/31/2023
Alfie and I went to Almansor Park today for training! He was off leash most of the time, and he did pretty well! There were many more distractions here than at the park yesterday, so his commands were a little less tight, but he did great nonetheless. There were a few other trainers with their dogs, and Alfie mostly did well ignoring them. He was, however, a little more interested in some squirrels, and the smells of the grass. I'll be taking Alfie out tonight around the time kids should be trick or treating, so hopefully he'll get some exposure to some crowds after dark as well! Happy Halloween!
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Pupdate: 11/1/2023
Alfie and I went to the park this morning but spent most of the day working on his manners around the house. Often, when we get back from a workout, Alfie is so tired he goes straight to his bed, which I have set up in my living room, and naps for quite a while. This is great, however, it is not indicative of his everyday life, so I wanted to spend some time with him at home to further replicate his typical experience. He was around my personal puppy all day, as well as my other board and train dog. My personal pup is very pushy when it comes to playing, but Alfie managed to go the whole day either ignoring her advances, or playing along and having a good time. At no point did he growl or snap, which is what I was looking for. It seemed to me when he was under very little pressure to perform specific commands, he was completely okay with the other two dogs playing around him.
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Pupdate: 11/2/2023
Alfie went to Santa Monica Pier today! He did a great job, even though all the walking around had him exhausted by the end of the day. He was off leash for about half the time. Alfie performed each command beautifully, and behaved well despite the massive amount of people. He also got the chance to practice his greeting manners a few times! For his greeting manners, I want Alfie to be able to sit politely when approached by a stranger who wants to say hi! He got a lot of attention and did a great job being polite.
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Pupdate: 11/3/2023
Alfie and I went to the park for most of the day today! He was off leash the whole time, and did a fantastic job. There was one moment when I thought he was about to chase a goose, but I called him to me and he came with very little hesitation.
Alfie was happy and playful all day, but still listened to each command. He got tons of exercise, so again, he was ready for a nap when we got home! We spent the rest of the day working and playing around the house.
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Pupdate: 11/4/2023
Alfie and I spent the day at Almansor Park for his last full day of training! For his video today, I wanted to show his door manners. For Alfie's door manners, I want him to be able to patiently wait when I open the door, without him trying to run out before me. Ideally I want the door opening to be a nonevent for Alfie, so we've practiced this by opening and closing the door while Aflie either sits or lays down somewhere in the room. We also practice this each time we enter or leave the house, so Alfie has gotten pretty good with it!
Alfie will be going home tomorrow and I'm very sad to see him leave! He has been extremely sweet and fun to work with. I will definitely miss him!
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