Meet Cash! He's a seven month old Pitbull Mix from South Gate, California here for our Three-Week Board and Train program! Cash is very sweet and loving, however he does have issues with jumping on people, barking at people, pulling on his leash, play biting, and following basic commands. Over the next three weeks, we'll be working on Cash's obedience and manners to make Cash the best pup he can be! Check back here to witness Cash's twenty one day transformation!
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Pupdate: 9/11/2022
After picking up Cash, we went to Hollydale Park! We spent time walking and getting to know one another. He definitely wanted to pull on his leash, but he was otherwise well behaved. We then went home and I let Cash sniff around my house for a while and tried to get him used to being there with me.
Even though he barked at me when he first saw me, it didn't take long for him to warm up to me. So far, Cash has been very good!
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Pupdate: 9/12/2022
Cash went to Almansor Park today for his first full day of training! We worked on his Heel and Come To Sit commands. For Heel, I want Cash to walk nicely on my left side with his ears at my knee. For Come To Sit, I want Cash to come to my right side, move around my legs and sit on my left side. Cash is picking up the Come To Sit command very quickly, however, he still likes to jump around and try to play when we Heel. Over all, he did a really good job for his first full day!
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Pupdate: 9/13/2022
Cash went to Wilderness Park today for training! His Heel and Come To Sit commands improved greatly since yesterday. We also introduced a new command: Place! For Place, I want Cash to hop up onto a raised object, such as a bench, and hold his position there. Cash seemed a little hesitant about climbing up onto certain objects, and he wanted to jump off immediately at first, but the more he performed the command, the more his confidence grew!
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Pupdate: 9/14/2022
Cash went to Legg Lake today for training! In today's video, Cash performs the Place command and tries to hold the position while a couple other dogs walk around him! He does a good job jumping onto the bench when asked, however he does get distracted by the other dogs. He was around several other dogs throughout the day, and he definitely still has the impulse to try to play with them, but I believe he's starting to get better at controlling that urge.
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Pupdate: 9/15/2022
Cash went to Citadel Outlets today for training! He was very nervous around all the strangers. He managed to perform each of his commands fairly reliably, although he had a much more difficult time in this environment. I'll definitely be taking him to more places like this to get him as much exposure as possible!
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Pupdate: 9/16/2022
Cash went to Almansor Park today for training! He did a great job with his commands! Even though the park wasn't very busy, Cash still got very nervous when people came too close. In the above video, you can see an example of this. In the video, Cash performs each of his commands very well, until about half way through when a man walks by, and Cash seems unable to focus until he's gone. I would like to get Cash to the point where people passing us isn't a big deal for him.
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Pupdate: 9/17/2022
The weather was very nice today, so Cash and I walked to the local park for training! The park was fairly busy, but Cash stayed calm nearly the whole time. He still gets spooked if someone approaches quickly, but I can tell he's starting to get more accustomed to being around people! A big improvement from the last couple days. Good job Cash!
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Pupdate: 9/18/2022
Cash went to Montebello Mall today for training! He still gets very overwhelmed in crowded areas, but he's improving little by little each day! Today we started working on Send Away To Place. This command is just like Place, except I want Cash to go to the object while I'm standing several feet away. As you can see in the above video, Cash is picking this up very quickly! He does get a little excited a couple times and tries to jump on me, but other than that he performs his commands very well!
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Pupdate: 9/19/2022
Cash went to Century City Mall today for training! I believe today was the most progress he's made so far! He was still a bit nervous at first, and once he calmed down he was easily distracted by other dogs and people walking by. I consider that an improvement, as opposed to him being nervous the entire time as he has been on other days. There were times today that Cash was behaving well enough to where I could drop the leash and let it drag while Cash performed certain commands. Performing commands with the leash dragging allows me to get an idea of how Cash might behave off leash, while still having access to the leash should I need it. Cash still has a lot of work to do before he'll be ready for more leash dragging or off leash training, but today was a good step toward that goal.
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Pupdate: 9/20/2022
Cash went to Almansor Park today for training! We worked on his commands with the leash dragging in a lower distraction area. He did very well for most of the day! There were several instances where he would fall behind during a Heel, when he wanted to stop to scratch, sniff or try to chew grass/sticks. When he did this, however, he would usually return to his position immediately when asked. I'm still not ready to have him off leash, but I believe he's on the right track!
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Pupdate: 9/21/2022
Cash went to Legg Lake today for training! He did a good job and even got to play with another pup for a few minutes! He had fun playing, however, I noticed he seemed to ignore some dog to dog social cues. For example when the other dog stopped wanting to play, Cash kept trying to egg him on. Cash should hopefully learn these skills with more socialization. I switched to a shorter leash but kept it dragging a lot of the time! The shorter, lighter leash dragging will create less friction and therefore be less noticeable to Cash, bringing him closer to being fully off leash.
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Pupdate: 9/22/2022
Cash and I went to Century City Mall for a few minutes today, but unfortunately he had some runny stool so I decided to take Cash home and have him take most of the day off to relax! He seemed very chipper and playful after, so I'm hoping his runny stool will go away by tomorrow. I switched his food this afternoon and evening with rice and pumkin, which should help his tummy!
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Pupdate: 9/23/2022
Cash felt much better today! His stool was completely normal, but I continued to feed him rice today, just to be sure. We went to Fashion Island today for training! Cash did a good job with his commands, however there was a new dog who Cash had never met before, and Cash was infatuated with him! Cash found it very difficult to perform when that new pup was around! Other than that, Cash did a great job today!
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Pupdate: 9/24/2022
One of Cash's biggest weaknesses right now is his ability to focus when new pups are around him. To help with this, we went to Pawsadena Dog Park today! Cash started out the day much too excited to see all the dogs. By the end of the day he started to get more comfortable performing his commands near the other dogs. He still wanted to stare at them, but I think he made a good amount of progress.
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Pupdate: 9/25/2022
Cash and I went to Citadel Outlets today! He was a bit nervous around some of the larger crowds, but did a good job over all. He's starting to work on his last command, which is the Under command! For this command, I want Cash to Down underneath a bench or a picnic table. Cash was very hesitant to go under an the objects at first. He's starting to get used to it though! He also started to behave himself well enough to where I was able to take his leash off for a few minutes in a less crowded area!
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Pupdate: 9/26/2022
Cash went to Legg Lake today for training! He was off leash the whole time, and did a wonderful job! There was one instance where another trainer with a dog was walking ahead of us, and Cash very much wanted to go in front of me to get to them, but he regained his Heel position fairly quickly once the mistake was made. Other than that, he did exceptionally well with his off leash commands! There is a rock-like object that I used to practice Send Away To Place, and Cash had a blast jumping up and down on it! All I had to do was gesture toward it and he ran and jumped up without hesitation! For Under, Cash made a huge improvement since yesterday. It seemed like he was scared of crawling under the bench yesterday, but today he was able to conquer that fear!
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Pupdate: 9/27/2022
Cash and I went to Home Depot today in an effort to stay out of the heat! He was a bit nervous around the loud noises, especially in the lumber section. The squeaky carts and forklifts also distracted him. For these reasons, I kept the leash on while we were there. He managed to perform each of his commands very well, although while we Heeled through the narrow aisles, he would try to go ahead of me to look around the corners. A lot of our time was spent sitting near the main aisle, letting people and carts pass to get Cash used to the noise!
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Pupdate: 9/28/2022
Cash went to Almansor Park today! He was off leash most of the time and behaved well. He got a little distracted by a flock of pigeons flying around, but that didn't last very long! Over all a great day for training! Cash's stool was a bit loose this morning so I added some rice to his dinner again!
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Pupdate: 9/29/2022
Cash went to Montebello Mall today for training! He was much less nervous today! The mall wasn't very crowded, but I'm still proud of Cash for walking through the mall with a mostly confident demeanor. He did great with all of his commands, and behaved fairly well all day! Also, his stool was completely normal again!
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Pupdate: 9/30/2022
Cash went to Citadel Outlets today! It wasn't quite as crowded as last time, so he was much more calm the whole time. He did get a little nervous and distracted while passing larger crowds, but he did a great job all around! In the above video, Cash goes through several of his commands off leash, and he nails them! He gets spooked by a man walking very close to him at the end, but other than that, he is calm and collected throughout the video!
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Pupdate: 10/1/2022
Cash went to Almansor Park for his last full day of training! For his Pupdate today, I wanted to showcase some of the manners he's been working on. For food manners, I want to be able to put food in front of him without him immediately trying to gobble it down. For door manners, I want Cash to wait when I open a door without trying to rush through before me. For car manners I want Cash to hop up onto my car when asked and walk directly into his kennel. For greeting manners, I want Cash to sit nicely when approached by a stranger and allow them to pet him without dodging or jumping. Cash had the most trouble with greeting manners, because he would get nervous around certain people, but he ended up doing very well with all of these!
