Bruno | Belgian Malinois | Loma Linda, California | In Training

Meet Bruno! He's a Two year old Belgian Malinois from Loma Linda, CA. Bruno is here for our Two-Week Board and Train program. He has issues pulling on the leash, following basic commands, and jumping on people. Stay tuned for Bruno's fourteen day transformation!

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Pupdate: Sunday, May 15th 2022

After I picked up Bruno, we started training in Anthony Munoz Park. We worked on his Sit and Heel commands. Bruno is already fairly responsive when I ask him to sit. He will sit for me roughly half the time, which is a pretty good note to start out on! His Heel still needs a lot of work, but he seems to be picking it up very quickly. For Heel, I would like Bruno to walk at my left side with his ears at my knee.

After training, we went home and spent some time bonding! He's very friendly, and I think he's starting to like me!

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Pupdate: Monday, May 16th 2022

Bruno and I went to Almansor Park today for training! He was definitely very excited to get going today, but his Heel is getting much better! We also worked on a new command. Come To Sit! For this command, I want Bruno to come to my right side, walk around my legs and sit at my left side with his ears at my knee. He's pretty good with this one so far!

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Pupdate: Tuesday, May 17th 2022

Bruno and I went to Legg Lake today for training! He's getting really good with all of his commands so far, and today we worked on the Place command. For this one, I want Bruno to hop up onto a raised object such as a bench, and hold his position there. He's doing very well with this so far! You can also use the Place command inside your home, and make the "place" his bed or kennel.

To get some of Bruno's excess energy out, I also took him for a light jog around my neighborhood! I think he enjoyed this, and I'm going to start trying to do this with him daily.

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Pupdate: Wednesday, May 18th 2022

Bruno and I went to Glendale Galleria today! He was very nervous in this new environment, but he still managed to behave himself very well! We worked on all of his commands, as well as added the Down command.

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Pupdate: Thursday, May 19th 2022

Bruno went to Citadel Outlets today! He did well with all of his commands. He worked around a few other pups for much of the day. There were times when he focused too much on another dog. While we're Heeling and going through other commands, I'd like Bruno to focus more on me, so when he hyper focuses on another dog, I use the Off command, and give him a light stimulation with the E collar. When his attention is back on me, I usually give some verbal praise such as, "Yes!" Or "Good boy, Bruno!"

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Pupdate: Friday, May 20th 2022

Bruno went to The Block of Orange today for training! He still seemed a little nervous around all the distractions, but he's improving daily! My main goal with Bruno is to get him around as many people as I can. He gets very excited around people, so I'd like to get him to the point where passing a crowd of strangers is not a big deal.

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Pupdate: Saturday, May 21st 2022

Bruno went to Downtown Brea today! He is excellent with all of his commands. He gets very excited and distracted around other dogs, specifically male dogs. He still performs his commands around them, but I have to stay on top of him much more than usual.

A stranger approached Bruno today and he sat very nicely and patiently while she patted his head! It seems he's getting much better with his greeting manners!

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Pupdate: Sunday, May 22nd 2022

Bruno went to Almansor Park today! I started having him perform his commands with his leash dragging. This is to see how he would do off leash, while keeping the leash attached in case I need it. Bruno performs very well!

At the end of the video, I release him from command and try to get him to start playing. He has had issues with jumping in the past, so my goal is to play with him until he jumps on me, then correct him. Once he starts to jump on me, play time ends, I tell him, "Off" and ask him to lay down. Doing this consistently should show Bruno that it's inappropriate to jump on people!

There were also several dogs around the park today! Bruno did a pretty good job of keeping his attention on me, though.

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Pupdate: Monday, May 23rd 2022

Bruno went to Wilderness Park today! He did well, although he still wanted to play with the other dogs a little too much. A couple other trainers went through commands with Bruno, and he did wonderfully! This tells me that he really does know everything he's learning. He also greeted those trainers without jumping on them, which is very good for Bruno. Based on his performance today and yesterday with his leash dragging, I believe he will be ready to do some off leash work tomorrow! Check back tomorrow to see how he does!

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Pupdate: Tuesday, May 24th 2022

Bruno was off leash at Almansor Park today! He was able to perform all of his commands superbly without the leash. Bruno seems to be mostly distracted by other dogs, specifically male dogs, and there weren't very many at the park today. He did a great job focusing on me while we were close to the few other dogs there, but I'd like to see how Bruno does off leash in a more crowded environment.

In the above video, you can see how great Bruno is at holding his position from a long distance. It's difficult to tell, but the distance I put between us at certain points in the video is fairly large, and Bruno holds his position perfectly until I either ask him to come, or release him from command!

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Pupdate: Wednesday, May 25th 2022

Bruno went to Home Depot today for training! He was much more nervous than I thought he would be, but he was around quite a few dogs today, so the difficulty was raised significantly from yesterday. At one point, he got so excited he peed! However, he still did a wonderful job off leash. He's doing very well at greeting manners. He is to the point where he won't jump on me at all, but even with others he's doing great. Another trainer initiated play with him today, and he did a great job of playing around in a friendly way, without jumping up on her!

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Pupdate: Thursday, May 26th 2022

Bruno went to Citadel Outlets today. I was hoping there would be a few more dogs there to distract him, but either way, he did a great job.

For his video, I'm showcasing his food manners and his door manners. For both of these, I want Bruno to sit nicely until I either release him or ask him to do something else. He does well, although he does lay down when I want him to stay in a sit.

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Pupdate: Friday, May 27th 2022

Bruno went to the Santa Monica Pier and Promenade today! He did a pretty good job with all his commands in such a busy area, even though he was a little bit nervous. His main issue today was holding his position for an extended period of time, so that's definitely something we'll work on tomorrow. For the Down, Sit and Place commands, I want him to be able to hold those positions for at least two minutes. Ideally, if we stay vigilant with his commands, he will be able to hold each position indefinitely, but for now, two minutes is the goal!

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Pupdate: Saturday, May 28th 2022

Today is my last full day with Bruno! For training, we went to Almansor Park. Since he was having trouble holding his positions, I worked with him a lot on that today, and now he's managing to hold for a full two minutes without much trouble.

For today's pupdate, I wanted to show some more of the manners we've been working on. For car manners, I want Bruno to sit and wait as I open up the car, and then hop in and walk straight into his kennel when asked. For greeting manners, I want Bruno to sit when being greeted by a stranger without pulling toward them or jumping on them! This one was very tough for Bruno, but he has become much better with it in the last two weeks!

Bruno is such a sweet and intelligent dog, and I've had a great time working with him! I'll definitely miss him once he leaves me.