Meet Apollo! He's a nineteen-month-old Pitbull from Los Angeles, California here for our Two-Week Board and Train program! Apollo is very sweet and playful, but he has some issues with jumping, pulling on his leash, and following basic commands. Stay tuned for Apollo's fourteen day transformation!
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Pupdate: Sunday, May 29th 2022
After I picked up Apollo, we started training at Highlands Park! He's extremely friendly, so we played around a little bit before we started working! I think it's safe to say Apollo likes me! I started working on his Heel command, and for his first day, I think it's going well. For this command, I want Apollo to walk at my side with his ears at my knee.
Apollo arrived with a small hot spot on his side, but it looks like it's healing well. I'm going to continue to put neosporin on it daily to make sure it keeps getting better!
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Pupdate: Monday, May 30th 2022
Apollo went to Legg Lake and Almansor Park today for his first full day of training! He walked with some other training dogs, and did a great job staying well behaved around them! He did whine a little at first, wanting to play with all of them, but overall great job! His Heel is getting better, and we worked on a new command today: Come To Sit. For this command, I want Apollo to come to my right side, go around my legs, and sit at my left side with his ears at my knee. He seems to be doing a pretty good job with this so far!
In the above video, you'll see Apollo perform the Heel and Come To Sit commands. He is doing well with both. His mistake in the video is at one point I ask him to sit, which he does, but then he gets up right after. This is a very minor mistake, especially for his first full day, so I'm not worried!
I'll be posting a picture of Apollos hot spot each day, so we can keep better track of how it's healing! Today it looks pretty much the same as yesterday. Apollo also has sensitive skin in general. The skin in between his toes also seems to be a little irritated, so I'll be wiping down those areas daily to keep them clean and healthy!
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Pupdate: Tuesday, May 31st 2022
Apollo went to Almansor Park today! He started learning the Place command. For this command, I want Apollo to hop up onto a raised object, such as a bench, and hold his position there. He was a little hesitant at first, but as you can see in his first picture above, he made it! Having Apollo hop on these benches and other things can help boost his confidence! It also can be used in the household where you can have his "place" be his bed or a blanket!
Apollo's hot spot still looks the same, and I haven't seen him trying to scratch it or bite it!
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Pupdate: Wednesday, June 1st 2022
Apollo went to Brea mall today! We started working on his Down command. He didn't really want to lay down at first, as he'd much rather play, but he got it pretty quickly! However, I was very impressed with his ability to hold this position. In the above video, you'll see me ask Apollo to Down, and then a friendly stranger approaches us and starts talking to me. Apollo squirms a little bit, but he mostly stays still! Even this friendly stranger was complimenting how good he is! After that, several other people pass us, and he still holds his position. With how playful Apollo is, I wasn't expecting him to keep laying down, but he did it! This means I'll have to introduce more difficult distractions. I believe if there are other dogs nearby he will have a little more difficulty, but we will see! Great job, Apollo!
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Pupdate: Thursday, June 2nd 2022
Apollo went to the mall again today because it was pretty hot outside! He got to hang out and work around some other training dogs, which I think he enjoyed. He was a little bit more distracted around the other dogs, but he still did a great job with all of his commands!
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Pupdate: Friday, June 3rd 2022
Apollo went to the Santa Monica Promenade today! He is doing really well with his commands, he just gets a little too distracted by other dogs. I'm going to try to take him to places with plenty of dogs to try to get him used to being around strangers' dogs and hopefully get him to the point where a random dog walking by isn't interesting enough to distract him from his commands!
The first little bit of the above video features a very nice vendor offering Apollo some ice! This was great because it was warm today! Apollo did a good job of sitting and waiting for the ice to be offered, even though he couldn't reach it, so it ends up falling to the ground.
Another thing Apollo needs a little work on is sitting at my side without turning his whole body towards me. I'm glad he wants to look at me, because that means he's paying attention. However, I want him to simply plant his bottom on the ground when asked without squirming and turning.
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Pupdate: Saturday, June 4th 2022
Apollo went to Citadel Outlets today for training! He's really good about working around other dogs that he's been around for a while. He mostly gets distracted by random dogs passing by. That being said, he didn't try to run and play with them, he just focused on them a little too much. He still did a really good job with all of his commands, and he is even starting to sit without turning! Overall, a good day for Apollo.
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Pupdate: Sunday, June 5th 2022
Apollo went to Almansor Park today! I started having him perform his commands with his leash dragging on the ground. This gives me some idea of how he will behave off leash, while still having something to grab onto if I need it! He did pretty well with this today. He's getting better about not turning when he sits, but he still needs a little work with that!
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Pupdate: Monday, June 6th 2022
Apollo went to Wilderness Park today for training! His commands with the leash dragging are getting pretty good. I believe he'll be ready to start training off leash tomorrow! Today there were a few new training dogs working around Apollo, and he did a very good job of performing his commands without focusing on them too heavily!
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Pupdate: Tuesday, June 7th 2022
Apollo was off leash at Hollydale Park today! He was a little more curious than normal at the start of the day, but there were a few new dogs around who Apollo wanted to meet, so I think that threw him off a little today. After some warm ups he started behaving really well! In the above video you can see me Heeling with Apollo in front of a number of other dogs, and he only gets distracted by them once or twice! I'd say he did very well for his first day off leash!
Apollo's eyes get covered in eye boogers very frequently, so I decided to include a picture of that today. His owner warned me about this, so I don't think it's an issue. His right eye needs to be cleaned each morning, while his left eye seems to build up every few hours. The disparity between the two eyes is the only thing that slightly worries me. I'll continue to keep them both clean and report if I notice one getting worse!
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Pupdate: Wednesday, June 8th 2022
Apollo was off leash today at Citadel Outlets! He is getting more and more responsive to his commands while off leash. He's still not perfect, as sometimes he wants to pull ahead while heeling, or sniff around a bench before he places on it, but he is improving every day!
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Pupdate: Thursday, June 9th 2022
Apollo was off leash at Home Depot today! I think he enjoyed being inside for training! He did a good job with all of his commands, and he didn't seem have any issues working around the noises! He even did a great job working around the lumber section, which is notoriously noisy.
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Pupdate: Friday, June 10th 2022
It was another hot day, so we went back to Home Depot for training! It wasn't quite as crowded as it was yesterday, but there were still plenty of distractions to aid with training. Apollo did a great job with his commands, and at ignoring all of the distractions while training! After we left, we continued training in my home to get some extra work in, while still avoiding the sun!
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Pupdate: Saturday, June 11th 2022
Apollo went to the Santa Monica Promenade today! For his Pupdate I wanted to show some of the manners he's been working on. For greeting manners, I want him to sit nicely while he's being scratched by someone, without jumping or getting overly excited. For door manners, I want him to wait to be allowed out of the door when I open it, without rushing through. For food manners I want him to sit patiently for me to allow him to eat when I put food in front of him, without trying to gobble it all up immediately! For Car manners, I want Apollo to hop up into the car, and then walk straight into his kennel! Apollo has gotten good at all of these! Apollo has made so much progress in the last couple of weeks, and I'm very proud of him! I will really miss working with him each day!
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