Meet Artemis! An energetic 8 month old husky mix from Long Beach, CA who has joined Off Leash So Cal for our Three Week Board and Train Program. Over these next three weeks Artemis and I will be working on her reactivity towards other dogs, Greeting Manners and Leash manners as she does not like to be restrained. She defaults to nipping in an effort to get away from the leash. We will be counter conditioning her habits and expose her to new environments to work towards the goal of being Off Leash! Stay tuned for her three week transformation!
Pupdate 10/9/2022
Today I got Artemis all settled in at her new temporary home. We walked around together down my street then hung out together in the backyard to work on some bonding. She is a very sweet pup, always wanting some love! We will commence training tomorrow.
Pupdate 10/10/2022
Artemis and I began our day of training by working on the Heel command as we walked around the neighborhood together. I utilized a slip lead along with the e collar pairing stimulation of the e collar with leash pressure. I guide Artemis with directional changes of the leash showing her where to go. When she began to pull ahead I popped the leash upwards and made a turn cuing Heel. She began to follow my lead and even began to check in with me as I said her name. I mark it with a yes and reward whenever she offers me her attention to build engagement.
Artemis was okay with me putting the slip lead on her yet did show a little resistance at first to the e collar. I slowed the process down and first rewarded her when she approached the e collar to smell it. After a few repetitions I slowly put on her e collar marking it with a Yes and rewarding her first for letting me wrap it around her, then for letting me buckle it onto her. We will keep pairing the E collar with some tasty treats to help counter condition her nervousness with being restrained.
Pupdate 10/11/2022
Artemis and I took a trip to the local park today where we worked on her Come to Sit, Heel, and Place command. She follows leash pressure quite nicely and does not resist much to it as I guide her to come around me and Sit on my left hand side. After she placed herself on my left hand side ready to Heel, I cue Heel before moving forward from a stationary position and before I change direction to give her the heads up to follow my lead. When I introduced her to Place she jumped up onto the bench as I guided her with leash pressure. I tried Place eventually without leash pressure and she was hesitant which showed me she still needed that extra guidance to jump up. She then released herself a few times. The goal is to have her stay onto Place until I release her with the cue Break.
Place is a great command to use to build confidence with her as well as prevent unwanted behaviors like jumping when greeting new people. Place can also be used on any surface inside or outside of the house. Artemis struggled with staying on there at first. When I began to work her and apply corrections more frequently, she began to display signs of frustration and begins displacement licking my arms. Displacement behaviors are normal behaviors that are expressed in an out of context situation. It is used as a stress relief, coping mechanism or to avoid conflict. It can be a lick, yawn, shaking of the body, teeth chattering, whale eye, etc. When she began to lick me I knew she was suppressing the urge to do something else such as nipping. It is important to work her through it and follow through with certain commands, then release her with frequent breaks during these situations to diffuse her anxiety build up. This method worked for Artemis as she demonstrated a more relaxed body language during the rest of our training. I also added in more rewards in situations where I worked her past her threshold, to release that feel good chemical of dopamines when she hears Yes to counteract her stress. We will keep working her more and more past her thresholds to increase her endurance and also patience during training.
Pupdate 10/12/2022
Artemis and I took a trip to The Citadel Outlets today! This was our first outing in a highly distracting environment. Our primary focus for today was building engagement during training as Artemis has a lot of energy which can lead to her being very distracted. We Heeled together making frequent turns. After about 15 minutes of training she acclimated to her new surroundings and began to check in with me when I would call her name. I followed it up with stimulation from the e collar if she needed help with checking in. After building engagement we worked on her Place command which she improved with, now being able to hold it for up to one minute while distractions are near. We Heeled by a few dogs on leash. Artemis began to fixate on the pups which is what leads to reactivity and lunging towards other dogs. I cued Off and stimulated her with the E collar to make a 180 turn with me in the opposite direction. This helped grab her attention and she began to check in with me again. Good work Artemis!
Pupdate 10/13/2022
Artemis and I focused our work today on improving her Extended Sit, Place and Down command. She did great with her Sit, improving her duration all the way to a minute near another pup. She no longer needs leash pressure to jump onto Place which shows me her confidence is improving. We are working on increasing distance between us next. Good work Artemis!
Pupdate 10/14/2022
Artemis and I had a fun day of training at The Block Of Orange! She had the opportunity to work on her commands with another trainer and began to test him at first. After Heeling with the other trainer she warmed up to him and followed his lead. They focused their work on her Down, Heel and Place. Artemis is very agile and can jump quite high! We will utilize this and challenge her with different surfaces to practice on. We then built distance between us and Artemis displayed no signs of separation anxiety which is great!
Pupdate 10/15/2022
Artemis and I started our day with a stroll around the neighborhood in the morning before we got to work on her manners. Before Artemis is fed, she is cued to Sit or Down before I bring the food over to her so she can already be in a calm state of mind. I then place the food in front of her as I go out of sight. Once I come back I release her with the cue Break! She has learned to control the impulse of wanting to go after her food right away when I am gone. Great impulse control Artemis!
Pupdate 10/16/2022
Today I introduced Artemis to a new friend, Mushroom! They hit it off rather quickly, matching each other’s energy as they ran around together. After some proper socialization, we went on a trip to the outlets where we worked on training as well as did some shopping together. Whenever we first arrive somewhere public, I give her a potty break so she doesn’t have one inside any stores. She does well with going on command. We then worked on her Heel with the leash dragging, as we walked around the Outlets together. Artemis is beginning to check in with me a lot more than before. We are also able to add about 10 ft distance between us consistently while she holds her Extended Sit and Down.
Pupdate 10/17/2022
Artemis and I took a trip to the local park today where we had the opportunity to work on all of her commands near other dogs with the leash dragging. She was very engaged as we Heeled making frequent turns. I then introduced her to a new command today which was the Under command. Under can be practiced when out in public with Artemis. She is expected to hold a Down position while Underneath a surface until released. She was naturally okay with following leash pressure as I guided her Under the table and into the Down as another pup was walking around her. Great work Artemis!
Pupdate 10/18/2022
Artemis and I took a trip to the beach today! This was our first time out to the beach together and was great exposure for her as bicyclists and other dogs passed by her. Once she had a few minutes to acclimate to her surroundings we worked on her Heel as we had a pack walk around the beach. She worked with another trainer which showed me her few signs of separation anxiety. After working with the trainer for about 15 minutes, she stopped looking for me as much as she did before and was fluent with her commands. We are hoping to shorten that gap!
Pupdate 10/19/2022
Artemis and I worked on proofing all of her commands around plenty of distractions today at The Citadel Outlets. She was able to Heel with me Off Leash as we worked on her Send Away to Place, Under, Come to Sit with distance, and Extended Down. She did well with each command, needing a bit of help with Under initially. As I helped position her into performing Under, I noticed she was not comfortable with being touched near her rear end area or paws. We began to work on this as I touched her gently near areas she was nippy. If she tried to nip I cued off with stimulation of the E collar. Once she stopped nipping I began to reward her for controlling the defensive impulse she has. It is a work in progress as another trainer and I are exposing her to proper body handling slowly
Pupdate 10/20/2022
Artemis and I worked on adding distance between us with all of her commands while at the park today! She did well around all of the distractions with her biggest distraction being squirrels. She has a high prey drive and wanted to chase after them. I stimulated her with the e collar as I repeated the command to get her attention which helped her follow through with commands as we Heeled past the squirrels. We will continue to work near smaller animals to help her impulse control overall.
Pupdate 10/21/2022
Artemis and I worked on proofing all of her commands near the other trainers and their pups while on a pack walk at the Outlets! At first we worked on exercising her and exposing her to her environment. Then we began to work on her Send Away to Place which she can do consistently at a distance of about 15 ft. We then worked on this with another trainer which took her some getting used to. After some repetitions she was fluent with her commands while working another trainer as well!
Pupdate 10/22/2022
Artemis and I began our day by working on her engagement when around her triggers such as small animals (due to her prey drive). After a few laps around the squirrels that we saw, she began to check in with me more frequently. If she began to fixate I Cued Off then called her name to get her attention again. She is working through this impulse control. We are testing this threshold of hers and pushing past it.
When we got home she had the chance to run around and play with the pack!
Pupdate 10/23/2022
Today was a fun day of socialization as Artemis had the opportunity to help me socialize one of my other board and train pups Teagan, who is quite timid when dogs are present. Artemis was able to bring out the playful side of Teagan and ran around with her! Artemis is learning to respect social cues which is great when playing with dogs of different energy levels. Good work Artemis!
Pupdate 10/24/2022
Artemis and I ventured out to the park today where she had the chance to work with another trainer and practice all of her commands Off Leash. She was a bit confused at first, being so used to working with me she had the tendency to Come and sit by me. We shortened the distance between her and her handler which helped her eventually figure out who was giving the Cues. She then Heeled with the other trainer as they passed by other dogs, and people.
Pupdate 10/25/2022
Artemis and I spent our day working on all of her commands with duration up to two minutes minimum, distance of 15 ft or more between us, and distractions such as bicycles, skateboards, other dogs and friendly people wanting to say hi. We emphasized our work on Under and Send Away to Place. She did well with adding distance to all her commands. We will begin preparing for her Final video tomorrow!
Pupdate 10/26/2022
Artemis and I took a trip to the Block of Orange outlets together where we worked on her Off Leash obedience and prepared for her Final Video. This was great practice with many distractions present, especially around reactive dogs which quickly grabs her attention. We worked her through it and as soon as she thought about running to approach, I cued off along with stimulation of the E collar which helped her come right back to my left side to Heel. Walking her when she is overstimulated helps her calm down from that state of mind. She then was able to pass by a few more reactive dogs and maintain her Heel as we worked through everything she has learned so far. Great work Artemis!
Pupdate 10/27/2022
Artemis and I worked on filming for her Final video at The Block Of Orange. There were plenty of distractions present to work her through as she held her Extended Place today for a record of up to 3 and a half minutes. Her Come to Sit is very consistent and her Under has improved significantly since she used to stick her head out previously. We were able to practice her Greeting Manners as well. Artemis has done well with maintaining her impulse of jumping on new people.
Pupdate 10/28/2022
Artemis and I took a trip to the Outlets where we filmed some more content for her Final video. After warming up she was consistent with holding all of her commands for two minutes, and was able to be sent away to place from a distance of about 15 ft or more. The biggest distraction for Artemis are reactive pups. The energy from a reactive pup triggers her to become overstimulated. With a lot of coaching (cuing her to Off and Heel) she will stay by my side. Artemis is the type to look for an opportunity to have her fun if caught off guard so it is important to stay vigilant and provide plenty of leadership for her to succeed.
Pupdate 10/29/2022
Artemis and I spent the beginning of our day working on our Heel around the neighborhood as we passed by many distractions Off Leash. Artemis has improved with her impulse control when around reactive dogs, checking in with me now instead of becoming overstimulated. When I Cue Off she stays by my side and offers me her attention. She holds her Extended Sit and Down for a minimum of two minutes but has a record of holding it for 3 and a half minutes. She knows to wait patiently for the Door and for her food. Her Under has remained consistently at a minimum of a minute and she can be sent away to Place from a distance of 15 ft or more.
Thank you for trusting me with Artemis. We have had so much fun together these last three weeks and we can’t wait to show you what she has learned tomorrow!
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