Meet Blondie! A 1 year old Presa Canario who has joined us for our Three Week Board and Train program. Blondie is a big pup who definitely has a mind of her own! Over the next three weeks we will be working on Blondie’s greeting manners, recall, socialization & obedience (especially around kids!) introduce her to boundaries, and teach her how to follow through with commands in different environments. Blondie vocalizes when worked and can get nippy. We will be working on her muzzle conditioning to safely train together and build a solid foundation for obedience. Stay tuned for her 3 week transformation!
Pupdate 8/1/2022
Today I got Blondie all settled in at my house. I introduced her to my other board and train dog Mochi through the fence and Blondie seemed happy to see another dog around. She became a bit playful which is great! Mochi is a shy girl so it will take her a while to open up to Blondie. After introducing Blondie to Mochi, I attempted to put Blondie in her kennel. She vocalized with a low growl and resisted to go into the kennel. I placed a few treats inside of the kennel and around the kennel. Blondie ate the treats around the kennel but not inside. The next method I will use will be applying leash pressure towards the kennel. Once Blondie follows the path of the leash I will release that pressure. I will proceed to this step once Blondie has become comfortable with the muzzle to safely work her through this. I will be feeding her inside of her kennel and put her toys inside of it as well.
When I apply leash pressure to Blondie her frustration builds and she vocalizes. Due to her displaying signs of aggressiveness while being worked, I was not able to weigh her. She does not like to be repositioned or grabbed by her collar. To safely work with Blondie, I have begun the muzzle conditioning process for her. I put a treat at the end of the muzzle and wait for her to put her snout inside of the muzzle to get the treat. She did this a few times but still showed signs of discomfort when I showed her the muzzle. It is important that I work her at her pace and completely put the muzzle on her once she is ready so that she can have a positive association with the muzzle and not resist. After muzzle conditioning, we will be able to work on all of her obedience.
Pupdate 8/2/2022
Blondie and I emphasized our work today on muzzle conditioning as well as crate training. We started our muzzle conditioning with placing the treat inside of the muzzle. This required Blondie to keep her snout in there to eat it. Once she did this I rewarded her outside of the muzzle because the goal is to eventually be able to do this without the treat inside of the muzzle. By me marking the behavior with a yes and rewarding her after putting her snout in the muzzle, she began to understand that she was rewarded for that behavior. After repeatedly practicing this I began to test her and didn’t put a treat inside the muzzle. Blondie began to voluntarily put her snout inside of the muzzle without a treat in there. I rewarded her immediately after she did it herself, then continued to practice it. We will be doing this for the next day or so. Once Blondie shows more signs of comfort while having the muzzle around her, I will proceed to desensitizing her to the strap being put on.
After muzzle conditioning we worked on crate training. Blondie is still not comfortable with the crate but has begun to take treats from inside of the crate with her whole body almost inside of the crate. Once she has gone in there completely on her own, I will begin to shut the door on her periodically leaving her in there for short periods of time then work our way up to more duration in the crate. Once we finished crate training we went on a walk together around the neighborhood. I use a slip lead to walk with Blondie which helps me guide her during the walk. I create leash pressure in the direction I want her to go. She has begun to follow the path I create for her and does not resist as much as she did before.
Blondie has shown signs of discomfort around her ear so it is definitely recommended to treat this as soon as possible to help ease her pain and train with ease.
Pupdate 8/3/2022
Blondie and I worked some more on muzzle conditioning her today as well as her Heel while out on a walk. She is looking more comfortable around the muzzle and has been more consistent with voluntarily putting her snout inside of it . At times I help motivate her by putting a treat in there when she is unsure of it. After muzzle conditioning, we went out on a walk. During our walk we practice the Heel command. Heel is the action of Blondie walking next to me on my left side, sitting when I stop walking and turning when I turn. I cue Heel whenever I move forward from a stationary position or am about to turn so Blondie can have a heads up we are changing direction. If she turns with me I mark it with a Yes and continue to walk. If she doesn’t turn with me when I cue Heel I apply a pop of the leash in the direction I want her to go. Blondie has been turning with me more frequently and is more comfortable with leash pressure. She sits on Cue and is working on holding it for a longer period of time. Good work Blondie!
Pupdate 8/4/2022
Today Blondie and I went on a vet visit. She was prescribed medication for her ear and recommended to be sedated for her ear cleaning tomorrow. They were able to weigh her as well. She did well with having a muzzle on. I encouraged her to walk onto the ramp which led to the kennel in the car. This helped her go into the crate which she is not a fan of. We then went on a walk around the neighborhood after the vet visit.
Pupdate 8/5/2022
Blondie had a big morning visiting the vet. The procedure went well and Blondie was quite tired when leaving due to the sedatives. Once she came back to the house, I gave her some water and had her lay in bed to rest. Per the veterinarian recommendation Blondie will not be working on training. She will be spending time at my residence and have short potty walks. Blondie will be receiving her medication later tonight as well.
Pupdate 8/6/2022
Today I was able to administer medication to Blondie with ease. She eats her pills when I mix it with a treat or two. I have gotten her more used to me touching around her ear, which also seems a little less irritated. I was able to spray the outer part of her ear today which is great!
Pupdate 8/7/2022
Today Blondie and I worked on her crate training to help prepare for her upcoming vet visit. I started by throwing a valuable treat inside the crate by the door. Once Blondie stuck her head inside to eat it, I marked it with a yes and rewarded her outside of the crate so she knew she was getting rewarded for going inside of it. As she got more comfortable, I threw the treat further and further inside. Once she fully went inside, I jackpot rewarded her with multiple treats and let her come out on her own so she doesn’t feel forced in there. The next time we practiced this, I added the door to it. Once I closed the door I rewarded Blondie. After I opened the door I cued wait to Blondie and closed it if she tried to bulldoze herself out of the crate. She quickly learned to wait for my release word Break to exit the crate. This is a great improvement for Blondie since she hasn’t cared for treats that have been sitting inside of the kennel for days. Great work Blondie!
Pupdate 8/8/2022
Blondie has been recovering nicely from what it seems. She no longer shakes her head or picks at her ears. I am able to spray inside of her ear daily. We have worked on crate training the past few days and Blondie has shown quite an improvement. She now is able to go inside the crate on cue without needing to see a treat thrown inside. I reward her once she goes inside of the kennel and have been increasing the amount of time she spends in there.
Pupdate 8/9/2022
Blondie has been a very sweet girl, and is becoming more playful as she recovers from her procedure. She is gentle with the other board and train dog Mochi yet curious. Her crate training has improved greatly, she goes in the crate voluntarily as I always leave it open for her when we are hanging out together.
Pupdate 8/10/2022
Blondie and I had a little playtime today with the ball. She was interested in it initially until she saw my cat. She wanted to initiate play with my cat Nala. Blondie began to follow her around then began to lay next to her. Nala was hiding underneath the bench the entire time so Blondie did not have access to her. I then fed her and gave her medication. Blondie has improved with waiting to eat her food until I release her with the cue Break.
Pupdate 8/11/2022
Blondie had some fun soaking in the sun today and has become very playful with me & the other board and train pup Mochi. Her ears are looking much better and we will do some more crate training tonight to prepare her for her vet visit tomorrow!
Pupdate 8/12/2022
Today Blondie and I prepared for her vet visit. Last time we went to the vet, Blondie did not want to go up the ramp and into the kennel. Another trainer and I had to improvise and put her in the kennel first, then lift it into the car. Today I trained with her to walk onto the ramp laid out on the floor and rewarded for her it. Once she had a positive association with the ramp, we practiced her going up the ramp and into the kennel. I applied leash pressure towards the kennel, encouraging Blondie to climb it and rewarding her every couple of steps. After a number of tries, Blondie went into the kennel and was ready to go to the vet. After the vet visit, Blondie climbed onto the ramp and went into the kennel with ease. The vet examined her ears and cleared her for training which will officially begin tomorrow!
Pupdate 8/13/2022
Today was Blondie’s first time being introduced to the E collar. We began to E collar condition her at home first, in a familiar environment. We initially started with a muzzle to be safe in case Blondie resisted and became snappy but that wasn’t the case today! Although at times she did resist, she did not growl or snap at me. I took off her muzzle and continued to train with her, rewarding her whenever she followed the directional changes of the leash I guided her with along with E collar stimulation. When she follows where I guide her with leash pressure, I release the pressure immediately and stop stimulating her. This teaches Blondie how to turn off the pressure. She caught on quickly and began to Heel nicely with me. Heel is the action of Blondie walking nicely next to my left side, turning when I turn and sitting whenever I stop walking. We then worked on her Extended Sit. The goal is for Blondie to be able to hold her Sit for a minimum of a minute and a half or more. She is already holding her Sit for a minute which is great. I reward her as she stays seated in increments of 15 seconds. Once I release her I cue Break! It is important for Blondie to wait for my releases and not get up whenever she pleases. After I trained with Blondie I trained with my other pup Mochi. We were practicing the command Place on an elevated dog cot. Blondie saw Mochi placing and decided to voluntarily Place herself on the dog cot. This was great participation from Blondie as she was watching and learning from my other dog. I of course praised her for being such a good girl, eager to please. Good work Blondie!
Pupdate 8/14/2022
Today Blondie and I had the opportunity to work on her Heel and Extended Sit with other trainers! Blondie was able to Heel next to the other trainer while walking and running at different paces. We are working with other trainers to make sure that Blondie’s commands can be performed no matter who she is with. Her Extended Sit was great and she was able to hold it for a minimum of a minute. We then began to work on her Car Manners. Blondie now has become more consistent with going up and down the ramp that leads to the kennel in the car. We tried this with the other trainers and Blondie was able to perform it with them as well. She didn’t want to leave the kennel! Which shows me she is warming up to the kennel, seeing it as her safe place. Tomorrow we will work some more on new commands with other trainers. Great work Blondie!
Pupdate 8/15/2022
Blondie and I ventured out to a local park where we worked on her Heel, Extended Sit, and introduced her to the Down command, as well as Come to Sit. Down is a great command to use to help Blondie enter a calm state of mind. I began by pointing to the floor and adding slight leash pressure downwards. Blondie was naturally good at this and didn’t take long to offer a Down. I rewarded her as soon as she offered it then repeatedly practiced it. Once she became fluent with this behavior, I rewarded her with an intermittent ratio reinforcement schedule. This means Blondie receives rewards at random and unpredicted times after offering the behavior to increase her consistency while weaning her off the continuous reinforcement schedule.
After working on her Down command, we worked on her Come to Sit which is the action of Blondie coming around behind me from the right side, to Sit on my left hand side ready to Heel. I guided her with leash pressure and she followed quite nicely. I walk backwards when calling her to come to encourage her to walk towards me. Blondie followed the leash pressure and my guidance nicely, sitting by my left side until released with Break. Once Blondie became fluent with this, I handed her off to another trainer so she can generalize working not only with me but everyone else as well. She did great and even went Down for another trainer! Excellent work Blondie.
Pupdate 8/16/2022
Blondie and I ventured out to two different places today! We went to visit a regional park to work with other trainers. Blondie had the opportunity to practice her Heel, Come to Sit and Down with another trainer. She performed all of her commands consistently yet at times offered a Down that was on her side. When she did this we reset and had her perform it again then marked it with a yes as soon as she offered the behavior correctly. After working with another trainer we drove over to the Montebello mall where we practiced her Car Manners some more. Blondie is at the point where she can fluently go up the ramp and into the kennel. It took a few steps prior to this to get her to the point. In the video above I demonstrated each step we took to get her to this point.
Pupdate 8/17/2022
Blondie and I took a trip to the beach today. We Heeled together around the beach then began to work on her Extended Sit with distance. Today was her first day practicing all of her commands from a distance on the 20 ft leash. She did great with holding her commands until I released her. I reward Blondie whenever she offers me her attention in busy areas, this helps builds engagement during training. We practiced her Down and Come to Sit while next to the playground where plenty of kids were running around and playing. Initially Blondie was very interested in the kids. After rewarding her for focusing on me and redirecting her, she was consistently Coming to me and holding her Down. We had the chance to practice her Greeting manners with friendly people that wanted to say hi. I reminded Blondie to stay seated while being pet and she worked through it. Good job Blondie!
Pupdate 8/18/2022
Blondie and I focused our work today on her Place command with distance and more duration. She takes her time initially to go into the Down position. We began to practice having her go onto Place and are pairing Place with Down consistently to increase her fluency with going Down. I always offer a lot of praise when she does it quickly the first time. Her Come to Sit and Extended Sit are very consistent in distracting areas. We will begin to film for her final video tomorrow! Good work Blondie!
Pupdate 8/19/2022
Blondie and I took a trip to Fashion Island today! This was a big trip for Blondie with a lot of exercise. We took frequent breaks to ensure she had enough energy to perform for her final video. With a lot of encouragement, Blondie was able to jump onto an elevated surface and stay in the Down position for up to two minutes until released with the cue Break. Blondie received a lot of attention from friendly people and was able to hold her Sit the entire time, even while kids pet her! She worked with other trainers and was very consistent with all of her commands. Excellent progress Blondie!
Pupdate 8/20/2022
Blondie and I have worked on proofing all of her commands at new environments with new people. She was able to Heel nicely and is good at making sharp turns despite her large size. She takes her time laying Down when someone new requests it. This is her way of testing new people since it is a submissive position. We work her through it until she performs it. At times resetting her may help by walking in a circle and trying again. This video is from the other day when she worked with another trainer that she has never met.
Blondie is a very sweet and playful girl! She knows how to be gentle when playing with Mochi my other pup and has really helped bring Mochi out of her shell since she is a shy girl. Good work Blondie!
Pupdate 8/21/2022
Blondie and I worked on all of her commands that she has learned so far at a local park! As we Heeled around the park together, we passed by a pond that Blondie was curious about yet unsure. We walked closer to it and I encouraged Blondie to explore it. Once she had the chance to sniff it and come closer, she had no problem working near it. We have been working on improving her Off command when in new environments. She responds more frequently yet at times needs stimulation from the E collar to follow through when she is very curious of something. When she comes to me instead I always praise her so she knows coming to me is rewarding as well.
Blondie is very consistent with holding her Extended Sit and Down for a minimum of two minutes. She can jump onto slightly elevated objects and does great with waiting for me to release her. She used to vocalize quite a lot when asked to perform commands for extended periods of time. She is now eager to please and much more patient. We can’t wait to show you how far she has come!
