Meet Benji! Benji is an 18 month old Chihuahua Mix from Marina Del Rey, CA and he is joining us for our Two Week Board and Train Program! Benji needs help building his confidence as well as solidifying his basic obedience. Benji tends to be very anxious around new people and dogs and will at times bark at strangers that get too close to him. Benji pulls on his leash when out for walks and needs help following through with his commands. Benji is a sweet and loving boy who is ready to learn! Check out his 14 day transformation.
Pupdate 6/22/2022
Benji and I spent the day working on getting to know each other at Pan Pacific Park! He was really timid and shy in the beginning but did a great job when I took him out of my car. He is a little more on the reserved side and didn’t find any interest in hanging around the other pups. When we would walk by a dog or a dog was walking behind him, Benji would panic and scurry ahead of me or jump up to get away from the dog. The dog that was behind him was more than 5 feet away. Benji also worked on getting familiar with the e-collar and he did a good job with it. He was a little confused but adapted quickly! We worked on his first lesson which was ‘come to sit’ and ‘heel’. Benji is starting to understand what I mean when I ask him to ‘come’ but really struggled with his ‘sit’ command. After a couple of reps he did a great job and was sitting on his own without having to be asked multiple times. Benji adjusted really well to the kennel in my home and took a much needed nap before dinner. Benji did a great job today!
Pupdate 6/23/2022
Benji and I worked on his ‘heel’ and his ‘come to sit’ today in my neighborhood. It was a little hot so we made sure to take lots of breaks in between our training sessions. It is taking Benji some time to warm up to me. He is still very wary but doesn’t run off from me. While we worked on our ‘heel’ today Benji did a great job though it did take him a bit to realize he couldn’t go up to every patch of grass and sniff everything. Benji was really distracted being out in my neighborhood and wanted to walk ahead of me. There were times when he wanted to switch sides and would get a little upset when I switched him back to the other side. He still needs a lot of work on his ‘sit’ since he doesn’t want to do it unless I give him a bit of pressure on his back. Benji and I ended today by working on his ‘down’! He ate more than half of his breakfast and half of his dinner. He drank a bit of water but is a little hesitant to drink a lot of it. Overall, he is doing great!
Pupdate 6/24/2022
Benji went to Citadel Outlets where he was able to work around distractions. He did struggle in the beginning with his ‘heel’ and ‘come to sit’ but did a great job after a couple of minutes. Benji did want to go into every store we passed and was really interested in going up to people. Benji did have trouble with his ‘sit’ and would pop back up a couple of times. We worked on it the rest of the day and he did amazing. He did have a bit of runny stool today but drank lots of water to keep him hydrated.
Pupdate 6/25/2022
Benji and I went to a local park where he was able to work around a lot of distractions. He did great with his ‘heel’ but it did take him some time to adjust since he wanted to sniff every grass patch he saw. Benji is doing a lot better with his ‘sit’ but still struggles to hold his ‘down’ for an extended period of time. We’re working on increasing the time slowly hoping to get him to hold it for two minutes. Benji is learning his ‘come to sit’ really well but still struggles with coming around my back. He’ll do it fully sometimes and other times he’ll stop short and sit behind me. His tummy seems to be doing a lot better today. His stool was still a bit runny but not as much as yesterday. He ate majority of his breakfast and dinner and drank plenty of water!
Pupdate 6/26/2022
Benji and I worked on all of his commands today with a loose leash. He was a little hesitant when doing ‘place’ but that was because the bench may have been a little high for him. In the end he was able to jump up no problem. Benji was also able to do his ‘come to sit’ with no leash pressure. I still had to encourage him with my hand to get in the correct position but he did great. Benji is still struggling holding or going into a ‘down’. I have to give him a lot of leash pressure to actually have him down comfortably. That is a command we are going to work on more tomorrow since he is more confident with the other commands. Overall, Benji did a great job and is eating majority of his food. He does like to leave the kibble pieces that don’t have wet food.
Pupdate 6/27/2022
Benji and I worked on some of his commands around my neighborhood and near my home today. He is getting really well with his ‘heel’ and was able to walk with the leash dragging today. He still needs a lot of guidance for some of his other commands but he is slowly getting the hang of everything. Benji is also coming out of his shell a little more and even engaged in some play with me. He is being such a good boy and is eating his breakfast and dinner. Benji is still getting the hang of his ‘down’ there are times when it takes him a while for him to do it. Same with his ‘sit’. Overall, Benji is doing great and is improving slowly. I did notice he did get spooked by some passing cars that were a little too loud but did great with all the other distractions
Pupdate 6/28/2022
Benji did such a great job today with all of his commands! We went to Lowe’s to work on all of his commands. He was a little spooked by all the loud noises but did great regardless. He is still struggling with his ‘down’ and will go in the ‘down’ position but will not fully commit to it. I had to give him a little nudge for him to go down all the way. He is improving everyday and is getting better with his ‘come to sit’ as well. Overall, Benji is being such a good boy! He ate all of his breakfast and more than half of his dinner.
Pupdate 6/29/2022
Benji spent the day working on all of his commands around distractions at Little Lake Park. He was able to work on his ‘place’ and his ‘down’ which he is getting more confident at. He also spent some time building confidence by being exposed to loud noises and running children. He doesn’t like when anyone walks too close to him or a child runs past him. Benji is working with a loose leash and was even able to walk with the leash dragging today. Overall, Benji is improving everyday and is being such a good boy!
Pupdate 6/30/2022
Benji and I spent the day going to Petsmart today. He did such a great job but was a bit distracted with all of the smells. He didn’t mind any of the dogs who were there doing a Petsmart training and was just looking. He is spooked by people or objects coming too close to him so that will make him get up. He definitely didn’t like the shopping carts and was spooked by them. Benji is doing a lot better with his ‘down’ but still needs help with his ‘come to sit’. I did notice when he gets nervous he tends to want to sit on my legs or next to me. Benji enjoyed some time playing in my back yard with a couple of squeaking toys. He ate more than half of his breakfast and dinner but will leave behind some kibble. Overall, he is a good boy!
Pupdate 7/1/2022
Benji enjoyed Citadel Outlets today where he was able to work on all of his commands around distractions. We worked with a dragging leash today and he did great. He didn’t like when the leash touched his paws so he would stop and look at the ground a couple of times. He is getting the hang of all of his commands with no leash tension. There are a couple of times when he would get up when working on his ‘down’ around a lot of people. He gets really uncomfortable if they pass close to him and he’ll jump up and walk over to me. We’re working on having him be more comfortable with louder noises. There were a couple of fire works that went off today in my neighborhood and that seemed to spook him. He spent the remainder of the day lounging on my couch watching movies. He is such a good boy and is improving so much! He ate majority of his breakfast and dinner and is drinking plenty of water.
Pupdate 7/2/2022
Benji spent time working on all of his commands at Wilderness Park today. We spent time working around all of the ducks and families. Benji still tends to be a little nervous when going in a new environment so he was a bit uncomfortable today at the park. He didn’t like the really big ducks but didn’t make an effort to hide from them or scurry ahead. We made sure to keep a comfortable distance for Benji. Benji did a lot better today with his ‘down’ but still got up a bit when he was feeling nervous. I would just reset him and we would try again. Benji did enjoy playing freely in the park and laying under a tree. He is doing great with his ‘come to sit’ and needs no guidance. There was a time when he messed up while we ‘heeled’, he accidentally went on my right instead of staying on my left. After a second he corrected himself as you can see in the video. Benji has improved these past couple of days with all of the loud noises but is still very wary about people. He doesn’t bark at them and doesn’t give them any attention but will get nervous if they pass too close. This will make him get up and walk over to me. Benji was also able to work around skateboards and bikes, he didn’t spook like he did before. Overall, Benji is doing great and is drinking plenty of water.
Pupdate 7/3/2022
Benji and I spent the day working on his food and door manners today. He did such a great job and was really patient throughout training. He did have a little trouble with his ‘door manners’ and would want to get up from a ‘down’ or he would take a couple of steps towards the door and sit. After a couple of tries Benji was able to get it. We went to a local park where Benji was able to play off leash. He loved running around the grassy area freely. We transitioned from play to training here and there to get him used to going in commands after play. He did great and listened really well. Benji ate all of his breakfast and dinner and drank plenty of water. He spent the night lounging in my home since he was a bit spooked by the fireworks. Overall, Benji has improved so much and he can’t wait to show you all that he’s learned.
Pupdate 7/4/2022
Benji and I went to La Miranda Park to work on all of his commands around dog distractions. He did such a great job and didn’t mind any of the other dogs. He definitely prefers his space and was sticking to me the whole time. We worked around ducks as well and he was a bit spooked by them since they did get really close to us. Overall, Benji did a great job and even worked on his ‘greeting manners’ with some of the other trainers. Benji was a little shy about meeting the other trainers. Benji ate all of his breakfast and dinner and had some treats before bed. He spent the remainder of the night laying next to me on the couch while we watch some movies. He doesn’t really like the fireworks so he was a bit anxious all day.
Pupdate 7/5/2022
Benji went to a Citadel Outlets where he was able to work on all of his commands off leash. He did such a great job but was a bit spooked by some people who did walk close to him. He did great around strollers and low hanging shopping bags. Benji tried to work on his greeting manners today but was really uncomfortable being pet. We took it slow and he did great after a while. Benji ate all of his breakfast and dinner and drank plenty of water. He can’t wait to show you all that he has learned!
