Brodie | Labrador Retriever | Walnut, CA | In Training
- Alex Kruse
- Nov 23, 2025
- 9 min read
Updated: Dec 6, 2025
Meet Brodie! He's a 9-month-old Labrador from Walnut, California, and he's here for our Two Week Community Board and Train Program. Brodie is a typical excitable young dog in the height of his teenage rebellious phase. He wants to dart everywhere and grab everything when on leash, he jumps when he's eager to say hello, and while he knows some of his commands, he basically wants to do them on his own time. Over the next two weeks we'll teach Brodie to calm down when he's greeting people, how to walk nicely on a Heel, and make sure the commands he already knows are nice and solid. Stay tuned for Brodie's two-week transformation!
11/23/25
We spent a little bit of time at the park today before heading home just to get a feel for what Brodie could do. I definitely got to experience the pulling on leash issue firsthand, so that'll be one of the first things we'll set straight. He's strong! He did sit when I told him too with relatively few issues, so on that one we just need to work on getting him to hold it for longer than a second, and the same with laying down. He also came when I called him, but that led to him circling me and jumping up. It's great that he's excited to be called, but we'll make sure he learns to come into a sit instead of being all over the place! Once I got him home I introduced him to my dogs, and while he was a little timid at first, he adjusted to them pretty quickly and then spent time exploring the yard. He's more curious about everything than anxious, which is great. We didn't do anything too difficult today so he'd have some time to adjust, but tomorrow we'll get straight into it and start getting him on track!
11/24/25
Today was our group practice day, so Brodie got to start off at the park with other dogs and their trainers. He was a little excitable, but he did great once he adjusted to the prong collar and e-collar. He's catching onto things very quickly--I ran him through all the major commands he'll learn over the two weeks, and he picked up on all of them pretty much right away. That means mostly we just need to work on refining everything and getting through his puppy impulse control.
At home he's doing great with the other dogs and we're working on his jumping. He gets so eager to greet people, and he's too big for that! Other than that, he's been pretty good so far with his general house manners, and he's picking up on the crate training quickly. He was a little bit anxious overnight, but settled in to sleep within an hour and stayed knocked out the rest of the night. Basically he had a great full first day and I can't wait to see how far he'll come along during his time with me!
11/25/25
Today we went to a little park in my neighborhood that's mostly fenced off and has little distraction. I wanted him to be able to focus up purely on me while I worked him through all his commands. I'm so impressed by how fast he's able to pick things up! He's incredibly smart and eager to please, so if we can get his excited energy under wraps, I think he's going to turn into a really great dog. I'm aiming for just another day or two on the prong collar before I try working him on just the flat collar, then I can start weaning him off leash. At home, he's also starting to catch onto his Crate command. He does a little whining when he first goes in, but it doesn't take him long to settle down. His jumping is still an ongoing battle but he was definitely doing it less for me today than he did the last few days. We're getting there!
11/26/25
Today we wandered over to the Monrovia Library Park and found it all decorated for Christmas, so we took advantage and did a little photo shoot! Brodie did incredibly well at staying in position where I put him, waiting patiently for me to snap my shots until I released him. He did a little pulling at first on his Heel when he realized we were somewhere new and exciting, but a couple small corrections set him straight again. After we took pictures we also spent time in the field working on his Down and Come, then we went over to the picnic tables to practice his Place. We also worked a lot more on his jumping at home, and he did significantly better today. He's starting to give me his Sit for attention now without being told, so it's sinking in!
11/27/25
First, happy Thanksgiving! I bought a little Thanksgiving box from our local dog bakery that had dog cookies all shaped like traditional holiday foods, so I made sure Brodie and his friends got to celebrate too! For our session we went to another local park that had plenty of room to spread out with distractions, but at a distance. I started Brodie with the prong collar on per usual, then the second round of Heel you see in the video is without the prong. We did it! He listened to all his cues using mostly just verbals and very light on the collar. And he didn't jump up on me at all today! He's still got a lot of excited puppy energy, but he's finally learning to use it in more appropriate ways. It was a great holiday all around!
11/28/25
Brodie and I went to a park with a playground today for some distraction with kids. He's a big boy so the kids mostly stayed out of his way, but he did well with everybody and didn't try to jump on anyone. He was once again purely on his flat collar, so next week as we get into having him entirely off leash, I'm feeling much more confident about him listening without being tethered to a person. He's still doing some jumping at home, but instead of jumping on people, he's taken to just bouncing up and down in front of them like a rabbit lol. Better than being clobbered, but we'll continue working on it until he stops. He's down to just one or two jumps before he remembers it gets him nowhere, then he'll sit for me without me telling him to. He knows it, it just takes a second for his puppy brain to remember!
11/29/25
We started working on getting Brodie off his leash today, so we went out to Rotary Park in Monrovia that is 100% fenced in. I clipped his leash to my training belt so I could be mostly hands-off, and only had to pick up the leash to correct him a couple times. I had a drone recording and as soon as the kids spotted it, they all came chasing after it. Brodie got a little unnerved thinking they were running after him at first, but he recovered quickly enough and we were able to continue working. Any time they came back to check out the drone they were rowdy and yelling and laughing, but Brodie stayed calm and focused on me. It was truly impressive! We also worked on his Recall, extended Sit and Down with him just dragging the long line around. That was all fully hands-off on my end, but I could snag him up if I needed to. I never even had to touch it. He did incredibly well today, I gave him extra treats for being so good around all those kids!
11/30/25
Today we wandered over to Upper Hastings Ranch, which is known for having some pretty big Christmas houses. It's a little bit early still for their full opening so a lot of people were still setting up, but as we wandered the neighborhood on our Heel we did manage to find a few great spots to take some pictures. I kept Brodie on the leash today just because we were roaming a neighborhood with random traffic so I wanted to keep safe, but he didn't pull at all and he gave me his Sit and Down when asked. He's also gotten really good at posing for pictures now. He's caught onto the drill!
12/1/25
Today Brodie and I went over to Duarte Park to practice in the softball fields. The whole area is fenced except for a couple small entryways, but we were so far in the back of the park that it wouldn't be obvious for Brodie to dart that way if he decided to take off. We worked fully off leash during the whole session, and I let him have free time running around off leash as well. This way I could test his Recall when he was in full distraction mode, and it only took one reminder with the collar for him to realize that yes, he still had to come when I called him even when he was goofing around. He did great with everything else with only a few small hiccups at getting back in the Heel on the correct side, and I also tested his Sit when my back was fully turned to him. I hadn't done that before when we were in an area he didn't know, so it took a couple corrections for him to get it, but we got there! The next test will be to try him off leash in areas with more distractions, but I think he'll get it just fine. He's a good listener once he locks in!
12/2/25
Today I took Brodie out to the horse trails that run near the Royal Oaks hiking trail. He wasn't quite ready to tackle the main trail off leash (we started there and he was a little too distracted by everything to focus up properly), but he did great on the quieter trails. We spent part of the hike walking with him on a solid Heel, then I also let him run ahead and sniff things a bit where I practiced calling him to me, then releasing him back to go explore. He did great with that and with his Sit, Down and Place when I put him in positions. At home we also worked more on his counter surfing. I think he knew I was trying to set him up this time. He wandered over, looked at the food I was putting within reach, and just sat for me. That's exactly what I want though, none of the jumping! He didn't even try to reach for anything, just sat there politely for me and waited for his praise and reward. I think once he gets over the puppy impulse control issues he's going to be a really great dog!
12/3/25
Today I wanted to show off some of Brodie's house manners, which he's gotten really good at. He'll sit and wait for me to release him for pretty much anything now, and he can do it for a long time. So you'll see him waiting for food, waiting before going out the door, and waiting before jumping in the car. He also has to wait before going through the gate for the play yard, and before jumping out of the car. He's incredibly well-mannered once his brain goes into training mode. It just might take a minute or two of initial puppy excitement before he gets there lol. He'll grow out of that, I'm sure, and he's incredibly smart. Give him a few more months to grow out of the pup mind and he's going to be amazing!
12/4/25
Brodie and I went to the shopping center to show off everything he's learned. I walked him around a little bit on leash first to get out his initial puppy excitement, but once he locked in, he was good to go! He was really curious about people's bags so I had to tell him to leave it a few times, but he caught on quickly to that one too and stopped being so nosy. What surprised me most was him holding is Place when that cart rolled by. I could see it in his eyes, he was thinking about moving and checking it out, but he listened and kept himself under control really well. I'm really happy with how far he's come in his two weeks!
12/5/25
Today I took Brodie for a nice, long walk along the wash trail in my neighborhood. I went back and forth making him stay at his Heel, then letting him loose to run along and sniff things, then calling him back to me. He responded very well every time, even when there were barking dogs on the other side of the fence! I only clipped him back on the leash when we had to go back out to the street as there aren't sidewalks in the area, but he was doing amazing without it!
12/6/25
It's our last Pupdate in your two week program! I wanted to make sure he had a lot of fun today, so I took him over to Arcadia Park, which is gigantic! It was a nice afternoon so there were lots of other dogs, people playing soccer and tennis, kids running everywhere, and lots of little picnics and events going on. I let Brodie have some free run time, but despite all the distractions, he came back to me every time I called him, even when there were squirrels! I'm so proud of him today!
Brodie definitely is still getting over his teenage dog months, but he's almost there! He still has some impulse control issues when we're first beginning any session, but he locks in pretty quickly now. I'm positive as soon as the puppy energy leaves him that he'll be a fantastic dog. Thank you so much for letting me be a part of his learning journey!
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