Meet Charlie! She is a 16 week old Golden Retriever who has joined us for our 3 week Puppy Board & Train program. Charlie is your typical puppy who displays adventurous behavior and willingness to investigate new environments as most puppies would once they are outside. She comes to offleash to work on her basic obedience training which will help build her confidence up amongst others. Charlie will bark while inside her crate, biting at a persons heels, and jumping on others. She is very sweet and lovable once she's is engaging with people but still needs to learn and have a better understanding while socializing amongst her peers. Come check out her 3 week transformation with me as her personal dog trainer!
Pupdate 8/6/2023
Today I met Charlie, the little golden puppy retriever! After meeting her parents I took her for a walk to see if she had any capability to give me engagement. Most of the time she was distracted while walking around a park in Corona. Shortly after I took her inside my car she remained silent throughout the car ride back to Fullerton. We stopped by my old middle school I used to attend when I was younger and continued to engage with Charlie since her attention is everywhere while we are outside. We stayed in the shade trying to do commands such as heel and sit. Charlie gave me her sit obedience command at times but could not hold it for long. We stopped training after 20 minutes of being at the school and headed home.
Once we arrived at my house I gave Charlie plenty of water and gave her the freedom to explore my house, meeting my family. After some time passed by I took her for a walk around my neighborhood. Once she got on some grass she decided to plant her behind down and keep herself there rather than walking. I simply picked her up and removed her from the grass and continued our walk without much of an issue. As we were walking she would travel to the left and right side and I let her just to keep her on a pace with me which seemed to work but as we headed home I put her into obedience training using the small space I have in my kitchen to teach her heel. I had her stay on my left hand side and any time she tried to travel I would apply small leash pressure to redirect her back onto my left side. Each time she would follow through I would reward her heavily and make each moment very positive for her so she comes to an understanding of which side to stay on rather than going side to side while walking.
Charlie met my personal dog Hunter who was inside his crate, sniffing each other on opposite sides of the crate and within a few seconds they were done greeting each other. I'm going to give them space and time to see each other through their crates so eventually they can meet each other and play! When placing Charlie in her crate she was quiet for the first hour of being inside it but started to vocalize and whine. I would ignore these moments and whenever there was silence coming from her I would reward her with a small treat and pet her from the inside letting her know that behavior will always be rewarded. She seems to be doing good so far settling in with me so with the next following days coming up we will work on various tasks and objectives for her to understand boundaries and rules that are gonna be set for an everyday socializing experience.
Pupdate 8/7/2023
This morning I took Charlie to a park in Rowland Heights, CA to work her obedience training to focus on her impulse control and proper engagement. Charlie has the idea that when she's outside she's going to travel where she wants and smell things at her own accord rather than listening to me when asking something. I kept her in the shade and used a bench to work on her place command, followed up by sit. Charlie isn't the smallest pup but big enough to jump on certain platforms that are leveled to her height. She was able to jump up without so much issue when asking her to place but at one point in the video she decided she wanted to stop training and keep her behind down without listening to any of my requests.
In the video above you can see Charlie keep herself planted on the bench for a brief moment. I applied very small amounts of leash pressure as I asked her to come to me for her "break". When breaking a dog it's to let them know they are done working for the moment and have the ability to do what they want. As soon as training goes back into effect it can be followed up by any obedience command or even asking Charlie for her name for engagement back to me. I'll have her come around my body and follow up by continuing the process of asking her to place then sit. Once she does this fluently I will give her a treat since most of the other times she needs my assistance. I don't use treats as often when working on something that is easy for a dog to do, but if they start picking things up with good intentions a treat can be given to Charlie. There are many ways to reward our pets but this is how I will reward her with a limited amount rather than her getting a treat for every obedience command she performs. We will return tomorrow to this park to socialize around some of the other Offleash trainers and their dogs.
Charlie has been spending time around Hunter and they have been having little moments of playtime but their friendship is still in development. Hunter is very comfortable with his new friend but Charlie seems intimidated by him at times but something I've noticed that motivates Charlie is when I tell Hunter to roll over she will actually get excited and come to his attention and paw his face. So far no accidents have happened and she's been going potty outside last night and this morning as well!
Pupdate 8/8/2023
This morning I took Charlie back to the previous park in Rowland Heights to meet up with some of the other trainer's and their pups to work on socializing and proper engagement while being around them. Charlie is very young but was confident enough to try and approach every dog or person that passed by us during the visit. I had to keep her distant and motivate her to heel towards me anytime she seemed distracted while looking at some of the dogs. Each time she was able to walk past the dogs and commit walking towards me I would praise her and give her a lot of pets for listening during these moments.
After some time I took her to an area to work on her heel obedience command. While practicing her heel obedience command any time she would try to forge to the right side of me and I would apply leash pressure to keep her on my left hand side while in motion. Every couple of steps I would also ask Charlie for her sit obedience command and repeat this process to help her maintain her engagement with me. She would still get distracted at times but we continued this practice for a quality amount of time before taking a break. I had sat next to her on the bench we practiced at yesterday and as some of the other trainers passed by us Charlie would get excited and get up to try and greet them. I would keep redirecting her back into a sit each time this happened until she submitted herself into a down letting the dogs pass us.
After our break I provided Charlie with water and continued to practice her engagement with me passing dogs and her heel obedience until we left the park. Charlie took a long nap and a couple hours after her and Hunter got to have their play time together which they seem to start picking up. Charlie will give Hunter attention but eventually get distracted smelling my backyard. Anytime she keeps her nose stuck on a leaf or something smeared on the ground I will call her name to keep her from trying to bite things from the ground. Her crate training has been fairly well, even though she cries sometimes it doesn't last for long and she has been quiet while I've been gone and returning home if I have errands to do. I will randomly praise her verbally and give her treats randomly for being quiet.
Something I've noticed about Charlie is that she has some trouble listening even at home when speaking to her or even using a clicker to get her attention. I'm speculating that there's a possibility she has a hearing problem since she won't respond to her name but only hand signs and visual movement from my body. I'm testing out methods to see if this is just her normal puppy behavior or if there's something more going on. She seems happy as usual and nothing has interfered with her training but her response time is a little unusual compared to most dogs.
Pupdate 8/9/2023
This morning I had taken Charlie for a walk with some distance going around the neighborhood traveling farther than yesterday's previous walk. Once we returned home she got to play with Hunter and they have been more comfortable with each other but Charlie likes to get distracted still and adventure away from Hunter when she can. I'll have Hunter roll over in front of her and this seems to always get her attention back on him to play. Charlie has been displaying new play behavior towards Hunter which keeps them playing for longer but eventually she will stop giving him her attention and smell around in the backyard. I have also been keeping her from biting stuff from the ground so she doesn't develop a foraging behavior with things from the ground.
Once the dogs were done playing I had put Hunter away in his crate and started training Charlie in the living room in my house. We continued our practice of place followed up with sit but extending the time of the obedience command. She could only hold her sit for 5 - 10 seconds but now she worked up to 15 - 30 seconds today. At her age I wouldn't want to practice an even longer duration so making her sit for 15 - 30 seconds and rewarding her for this duration in the future can lead up to a 2 or 3 minute sit. In the video above Charlie is seen giving me a longer duration of the obedience command and I'm able to move around her without her breaking position. At one point she tries to jump on me and applying leash pressure gets her back into a sit when redirecting her for this moment. For the last sit obedience command in the video is the 30 second sit she was able to accomplish and I break her to finish our practice ending it with praise and a lot of pets.
Speaking to Charlie today she seemed to acknowledge me when I'm speaking compared with all the types of distractions that are outside. I have to be more appealing to Charlie since this gets her attention and I'm able to get the engagement from her that I want. Charlie has been going potty outside and hasn't had an accident inside her crate. Her crying inside the crate has gone down a lot especially after training .
Pupdate 8/10/2023
Today I took Charlie to a park near my house that has a dog park not too far from it to work on her obedience commands as well as build confidence when seeing a dog.
We first started off in the park and we were lucky to have a group of kids in the distance playing so they were a distraction while we worked on conditioning Charlie's extended sit. While practicing Charlie was able to place herself into her sit faster than the previous days. We worked up to 45 seconds today and once she achieved that goal I asked for her to break to come to me and be rewarded. Before heading to the outside of the dog park we practiced her heels on the walkway towards the dog park. Charlie did very well responding and following through with the multiple heels we practiced.
Once we arrived by the dog park there weren't too many dogs to see Charlie from the outside of the dog park but we did have 2 German shorthair pointers make eye contact with Charlie who started to follow us alongside the gate. Charlie was timid at first but only took a couple steps away from me. I would ask for her heel obedience command with small leash pressure and she surprised me on how fast she was willing to come to me with the dogs at the gate. I praised her and after that one interaction we were able to walk around the perimeter of the dog park and practice heeling and sitting by the dog park. When we made it to the end the dogs came up to the gate again barking somewhat and giving Charlie their attention. I had her heel to me and as she followed through I praised her and rewarded her with pets. We walked back to the park in the open field and I gave her a break to roam around and be herself but she would still follow me and want my attention so I laid on the ground with her giving her non stop affection for being a good girl.
Later on in the day we started our door manners and practiced followed up with playtime with Hunter as usual.
Pupdate 8/11/2023
This morning I took Charlie for a farther walk around my neighborhood again and she did well not trying to branch away from me and go onto the grass as much from the variation of smells that used to distract her. By the end of our walk I took Charlie for a jog and she was able to keep a pace with me as long as I wasn't going too fast for her.
Hunter and Charlie had their playtime after and have adjusted with each other compared to the first few days Charlie started her training. They can play up to 30 minutes non stop but I will cut them off from too much play time so Charlie isn't always in a play mood.
Later in the day after Charlie had her first nap of the day we started to focus on a new objective which was door manners. Most dogs have a tendency to run out the front door or side door of a person's house. When practicing with Charlie I'm gonna start off with her place pad to help make it a challenge since she's already performing one task by staying on the place pad. As the door opens she already has the instinct to break herself and follow through trying to pass the door. I had to redirect her with some leash pressure in the beginning since she was very adamant about getting off. Once she gave me proper engagement I distracted her with a treat, luring her in a circle around me and placing her back onto the place pad. As long as I make this practice fun she won't even think about going through the door and worry more about what I can provide and show her. Each time I would open and close the door she would still get up but go back into her sit without too much issue. Once I break her I walk through the house going through the kitchen and making our way back to the place pad.
When stepping outside she gets up once and I redirect her by going back onto the place pad. After that one redirection she was able to let me step outside and was patient for me until I walked back inside the house. For the last variation of this practice I dropped the leash entirely and walked towards my car and walked back into the house to break Charlie and reward her with a lot of praise.
Pupdate 8/12/2023
This morning Charlie and Hunter had their usual playtime early in the morning until I gave Hunter a break to focus on some obedience training with Charlie. After our morning practice she took a nap and a couple hours later once she woke up me and my younger brother took Charlie to Cerritos mall in Cerritos, CA to go shopping with us. When we first arrived I was skeptical on how she would do since we went at a time where a lot of people were shopping so I didn't want to overwhelm her but Charlie surprised me by showing her confidence throughout our visit. We visited multiple stores and throughout each visit I would have her sit and stay by her side while my brother was looking around for shoes.
When walking to each store Charlie was in a proper heel at times but with so many people there they would give her attention or make baby noises which would catch her attention and distract her. Each time this happened I would call to her to heel back to me which she did to continue our walk. Charlie did well staying on my left side nor did she try to travel to the right side of me but she would try to catch up to people ahead of us to try and smell them. I wouldn't let her get these opportunities and use leash pressure to disengage her from what she was trying to do. At the end of the visit she was tired and could keep a proper heel with me until we made it back to my car to go home.
Later at night we focused on her down obedience command with more playtime at night with Hunter.
Pupdate 8/13/2023
Today we had our usual walk in the morning and followed up with training instead of playtime. We practiced come to sit which would be our recall. This obedience command is to have Charlie come around my body and end up back in the heel position followed by sit. Everyday since Charlie has started her training I have practiced the motion of this command without being verbal just to build up the muscle memory in Charlie once I really started to condition this to her. For the first couple of practices she would go around me but would sit 2 feet away from me. I improved this by getting close to my garage door using it as a barrier to prevent Charlie from creating space away from me. When Charlie would complete the task and end up in her heel position I was able to mark this behavior with a treat and this motivated her to sit faster when she would end up in the heel position.
In the video above is the progress and daily clips I've recorded of Hunter and Charlie playing together. Charlie was insecure the first day meeting Hunter but she's very confident when she wants to be and was able to get along with Hunter with the help of him as well. Hunter would roll over and end up in a submitted position to show Charlie he was harmless and just wanted to play. Once Charlie got used to approaching Hunter and smelling him their friendship started to the point where she always wanted to stay by his side. Hunter is very gentle with Charlie even though Charlie can act like a dominant dog when playing with him. She tries to overcome Hunter but since she's so little she does what she can when playing with him.
Later in the day we focused on conditioning down and come to sit. Charlie sometimes needs to see a treat in my hand to help her go into a down but I have been weaning her off from treats since everything else seems to be coming along well when training. No accidents have happened yet nor do I see Charlie having an accident at home since she's very aware to go outside now since I've been praising her each time she's been going potty.
Pupdate 8/14/2023
Today we had our usual routine of our daily walk and playtime with Hunter early in the morning. We have also been practicing our door manners and food manners before we went for our visit to the local pet store here in Fullerton. When practicing door manners Charlie had her tendency to lunge out the door but with a few redirections Charlie started to give me her patience and we were able to continue our practice and extended the duration of her sit before breaking her through the door. When practicing food manners Charlie does well waiting for me to break her but the only moment she will break her position is when I start to travel past her and end up behind her. As long as I'm in her eyesight she remains calm but once I pass her she thinks practice is over. We will continue to progress these manners with longer durations of sit and other variations of distractions to challenge Charlie
When visiting the local pet store Charlie was somewhat distracted in the beginning with all the smells in the store. Charlie wanted to smell everything in close distance from us but I would remind her of the "off" obedience command to acknowledge she can't engage with the things she wanted to smell. After 10 minutes of training in the store Charlie was more engaged with me and training was getting easier when practicing recall, sit, and place. At one point a owner and her dog were walking around the store and her dog started to bark at Charlie and I. Charlie didn't react but she was distracted by this dog so I would heel her back towards me rather than saying off. She was able to follow through and praise her for working through something simple like this even though it can be a challenge for some dogs. For the remainder of our visit we continued to work on her obedience commands until she tired and wanted to rest.
Pupdate 8/15/2023
This morning we got to meet up with some of our friends from offleash and work on some proper socialization and obedience training amongst the other trainers. When working around the other dogs Charlie was very distracted with her environment seeing a numerous amount of dogs she's never seen. When asking her to sit or down she had no intention of keeping those positions intact while being around the other trainer's dogs. Once Charlie started to relax she became more neutral to the change of scenery and was able to hold her sit around some of the other dogs.
In the video above is our practice of the heel obedience command while working around Priscilla and her dog. The first couple of heels going back and forth is a perfect example of how to direct a dog when keeping them on the left hand side of a person. We practiced this until Priscilla joined us for our practice. There were very few moments when Charlie wanted to stare at Priscilla dog but I would speak to her and ask her to heel which she was able to follow through with. I had Charlie perform her sit obedience command while she passed me multiple times and Charlie gave me a lot of engagement by giving me constant eye contact. Each time I praised her and gave her my attention throughout this variation of distraction to keep her confident. Once we were done I gave her a break and remained praising her for being a good girl and listening well for this type of distraction.
Pupdate 8/16/2023
This morning Charlie and I got to meet up with the other trainers from offleash again and did some obedience training in El Monte. We helped two other trainers with being a distraction, even practicing our obedience training around them.
Later on in the day once we returned home we worked on other house manners such as door manners and food manners. When practicing door manners Charlie has shown me a lot of improvement and can keep her sit until she's given her break. While practicing her food manners she would still try to get up several times to get her food without being patient. I had given her small portions of food to wait for and within several minutes she was able to wait patiently for more than one minute.
In the video above is the last practice of our food manners. I had given her the rest of her meal and had her wait while I started to throw in variations of distractions to confuse her but she showed me differently and was able to wait for more than one minute. This is a good example of how to properly show food manners rather than just staying in front of her and not moving and showing her these types of actions with body language. I had left her sight momentarily and grabbed things around my kitchen to see if she would get up. I'm also opening cabinets and walking behind her but she showed me her confidence to wait until she was given her break. We will continue to improve on this and all of her other house manners.
We followed up with the rest of the day practicing her obedience training at home and spending time with Hunter having their playtime.
Pupdate 8/17/2023
Charlie had her first accident in the crate last night. She will vocalize only if she has to go potty from what I've noticed now but other than that she will remain silent in her crate. The moment if she starts to whine or cry it's most likely because she needs to potty.
Today was another morning of proper socialization around the other trainers and their dogs from offleash. When first arriving we got there pretty early so Charlie and I worked on place walking along the table seat making it more fun rather than just placing her and doing nothing else. In the video above she's able to guide herself to both of these tables back to back and after I break her to reward her. I'll use my right hand and point at exactly where I wanted Charlie to place herself. She will jump up with confidence now and even perform him sit once I asked her. I asked her to hold an extended sit for a short period of time before breaking her to reward her again for being a good girl. We continued to practice this until the other trainers arrived with their pups.
We focused for some time on the down obedience command which takes Charlie some time without the assistance of treats. Charlie can make this her most difficult obedience command to perform since everything else she does she's able to do with ease. We had moments sitting near each of the other trainers and today she wasn't too adamant about getting up all the time.
By the end of the visit in our second part of the video above Charlie is tired but was able to still perform her come to sit with all the other trainers being around with their dogs. She still gives me her attention even while looking around at her environment. When I tell Charlie to come I'm very vocal and consistent about saying the word come until she ends up on my left hand side to ask her for a sit. If she doesn't follow through, just some pressure from her leash helps with the assistance of her getting into the sit. We have done this numerous times with treats but now in her training for certain things she already knows she doesn't need the treats for assistance because this can also be a bad thing where she will only do things for a treat if it's shown to her. I will pretend to grab treats from my pouch and act as if I have some in my hand just to recreate the idea in her head of what I'm asking for. This will motivate her to still follow through with her task and once we are done I will break her and end our training.
Pupdate 8/18/2023
Today was our last day meeting up with some of the other trainer's from offleash in El Monte so we worked on socialization and our obedience commands that we have been working on to improve.
Later on in the day once we returned back home Charlie was energetic enough for some house training. We started off with our door manners which Charlie has been picking up very well. She will also wait patiently for the side gates on both ends of my house. For the front door she will sometimes get up if I'm walking from behind her as if we worked on a come to heel which is something completely new to her. In the video above I walked out the house and went into the kitchen coming back around towards Charlie's back. This is when she tries to follow me but I redirect her back into a sit for doing this. Every command should be treated the same once a dog breaks their position from an obedience command even if it's out of curiosity. Once she's back into her sit I walk out again and Charlie remains in her sit until she's given her break. The difference now is I've replaced the place pad without using it for assistance.
In the second part of the video we worked on food manners which went really well. Charlie will always try to get her food right away as any dog would once the bowl is placed on the ground. I start to perform cleaning tasks and other variations of distractions so she can visually see me do things and wait patiently. We are still working up to 2 minutes and me completely leaving her sight for a longer duration since this will cause her to break sometimes. We will focus on impulse control when I leave her sight completely to challenge her and create a better engagement with her food.
Pupdate 8/19/2023
This morning I took Charlie to Hillcrest Park in Downtown Fullerton for some exercise. Most Saturday's this park has a decent amount of people roaming around the park doing exercise so Charlie had exposure to people on their bike, runners, and people just walking. When we first arrived our first challenge was going up a long stair set that Charlie hasn't been exposed to yet. When trying to go up Charlie wanted to run and travel in front of us but I would have to reset ourselves at the bottom of the stair set until she was able to follow my pace instead of running. After several repetitions Charlie kept checking up on me each step on the way up. Once we made it to the top I rewarded Charlie with praise for completing this task and we were able to start our walk around the park.
There was a group of runners heading in our direction so I had Charlie sit to watch them pass by. As soon as they started to pass by she seemed timid so instead of keeping her in a sit we continued our walk and this seemed to be more effective with Charlie's confidence keeping her more uplifted rather than scared to see some runners pass by us. She would sometimes stop to look at them but I would ask her to heel signaling her with my hand to remain walking which she did. We had a couple pass us with their dogs while practicing place and this didn't bother Charlie nor did she seem overstimulated seeing them. As we continued our walk throughout the park there weren't any issues with distractions or practicing our obedience commands so we stayed for the remainder of the hour before heading home.
Later on we practiced down with extended duration and come to sit which have been progressing as the days pass by. Most of her other obedience commands Charlie will acknowledge but down and come to sit have been something we need to spend our time with. Charlie and I are gonna work on these specific commands more rather than the other commands she already knows.
Pupdate 8/20/2023
Today was raining so we didn't get to have our usual walk in the morning so instead Hunter and Charlie got to play early in the morning. They played longer than usual which lasted about thirty minutes before Hunter wanted to take a break.
Shortly after we worked on extending the duration of down with using a tug toy as a distraction and implementing the obedience command off to keep Charlie from acting on her impulses. In the video above once I placed Charlie into the down position and as soon as I moved the toy around she got up right away. I place her back into a down which at this moment you can see Charlie doesn't want to follow through with but is quick to come to her senses now and perform the task. I'm able to continue our training and use the tug toy to help educate Charlie on the off obedience command. I move the toy numerous times around my body and mark the behavior with good girl as each time it passes her face. You can see Charlie's attention is on the toy the entire time. I drop it intentionally twice and this gets her to break but as always placing her back on the place pad and starting over is the best way to educate her. Once she's waited for the duration I wanted her to eat I break her to play. Using the toy as a reward is just as valuable as a treat.
For the last part of the video, we are focusing on come to sit. Charlie has been doing well following through each time I show her my hand signals. I gave Charlie some treats for completing the first couple of come to sit but after I relied simply on praise since I don't want her to be dependent on treats alone. Each time I throw my right hand behind me she comes around and ends up on my left side to follow through with her sit. She has a habit of taking some steps back but we are gonna work on keeping her closer to me rather than pushing far behind.
Pupdate 8/21/2023
This morning once the sky started to clear up I took Charlie to a park in Downey, CA to work ons specific obedience commands such as extended down, extended sit, and come to sit.
When we first arrived I took Charlie for a walk around the park to get all her pent up energy out since she didn't get to play with Hunter in the morning. We stopped by a playground and practiced heeling around some of the objects there. After we stopped by the pond to see her reaction towards ducks and geese that are always here at this park. At first she was very timid seeing the other animals but I had her heel to me when the window of opportunity was there. Once she was able to pass them with confidence I was able to praise her and continue walking alongside them. We found another group of ducks who were distant so I asked Charlie to place herself down while looking at them. She did this with ease and we stayed by them so Charlie could look at them and try to understand that they weren't gonna do anything to her.
We found some benches near another pond to work on extended down and extended sit which went very well. Charlie was able to hold both positions for 2 minutes before being given her break. I was thrilled to see Charlie performing most of her obedience commands with ease even if she takes some time to get into her obedience positions.
When people pass by us she seems to keep her attention still on strangers as if she's interested in them rather than being timid. We continued our practices until Charlie started to show signs of tiredness before returning home.
Throughout the rest of the day Charlie had more training sessions along with playtime as always.
Pupdate 8/22/2023
This morning we went to Ronald Reagan Park in Diamond Bar, CA to work on specific obedience commands such as extended down and greeting manners. Throughout our visit we focused on place following through with down which is visible in the video above. Charlie seems more energetic than normal as she's been growing up with the days passing by. She's faster when doing her obedience and making training easier with her participation.
When working on extended down I was surprised to see her complete her task the first time without breaking her position while in her down obedience command. I stepped out of her sight hiding behind one of the pillars to see if she would get curious and get up to look for me but surely enough Charlie was able to stay confident and keep her down until she was given her break.
We practiced greeting manners with some of the other trainers that were at the park with us. In the beginning when attempting to have people greet Charlie she would always stick her paws out and try to climb their body to get to their face. I would have to redirect and reset Charlie for this practice until she was able to stay still momentarily so I could break her. I'm looking for the behavior of her being calm and confident and from that moment once she's able to let someone walk away from that moment I'm able to mark the behavior with a good girl and reward her with a treat. In the video above, Amanda, who is another professional dog trainer comes up to greet Charlie and it's visible to see that Charlie remained calm enough for her to pet her. This was one of our best attempts to perfect this greeting manners and as she walks away I break Charlie for behaving as most dogs should rather than jumping and being overly excited.
Pupdate 8/23/2023
This morning we went to Huntington Beach, CA to have some sun and practice our obedience training with all the people and dogs walking around us with our offleash friends.
When we first arrived we stayed by the walkway in front of the sand to let people pass by us so Charlie could observe the environment and process people, bikes, and dog owners passing us. We walked along the walkway with our friends from offleash and took a break for some water and potty break. Charlie also got to greet some of the other dogs and had no reaction nor did she try to play with them but instead had a proper socializing moment meeting the other trainers dogs.
In the video above is part of our practice of heeling along the walkway with a heel turn and ending it with a place to extended sit. Once Charlie was placed she was somewhat distracted by some type of smell from behind her but she remained in her sit entirely and eventually got over her curiosity. We finished up our training in a different area practicing come to sit & extended down which went well. We had no issue practicing our obedience commands but the only thing to catch Charlie's attention was the amount of pigeons that would be on the pavement or fly by us. This would stop Charlie in her tracks but I would redirect her with an off obedience command each time she disengaged herself with me. Everything else at the beach she saw or encountered she had no issue with.
Pupdate 8/24/2023
This morning I took Hunter and Charlie out for a walk together. They had a pace together but Charlie liked to bump into me or Hunter as we walked as a group. Once we returned home they had their quality play time until they both tired out.
I took the time to work on all of Charlie's obedience commands in my backyard and most of her house manners. She did very well compared to the beginning of her training. Now I'm able to signal her for all of her commands but she's still fairly young so there are small moments she can still get distracted for being the young puppy that she is.
We worked on something new which is setting boundaries inside the house. Most of the time when I let the dogs play I have them stay by my mother's kitchen door until they are given a break to enter the other part of the house. I took the time to try this without Hunter and I was impressed to see Charlie hold her extended sit while I showed her different variations of what boundaries can be. I try to create every possible situation inside my home that will help educate Charlie that she has to keep her extended sit until we go back into my side of the house. Once I finish I close the door and break her to reward her for listening and being just a good puppy. We also took the time to have her offleash in my backyard to challenge her with the off obedience command when she tries to grab stuff off from the ground. There are moments where Charlie listens but even after redirecting her verbally she will continue to grab things from the ground. I have been grabbing toys for her to play with such as a tug toy or ball to distract her which works but I'm constantly playing with her keeping her engaged with me which helps distract her from her impulses to bite stuff from the ground.
Pupdate 8/25/2023
This morning Charlie went on a walk with me without Hunter and did fairly well with some distractions slowing her in her tracks but not entirely stopping her from keeping a pace. Once we returned home she got to play with Hunter as always until it was time to take a break.
I took Charlie with me to Cerritos mall for some shopping and to practice our obedience training. When we first arrived I noticed she was able to keep a better pace with me compared to last time coming to this mall. Each time before entering a store I would ask Charlie to go into a sit which she did. After some time walking around I took a seat near some couches and did some obedience training with Charlie as people walked by us. Some people were commenting on how cute and well behaved Charlie was. Eventually we had some guests who wanted to say hi to Charlie. Each time Charlie was greeted it was under my permission and I had these guests acknowledge Charlie was in training so they were more respectful on greeting her properly rather than treating her like a human baby. We had up to 4 guests greet Charlie and only once did Charlie get up from her sit but without jumping or being too overly excited. Each time Charlie was greeted properly I would break her to help educate her that this behavior is what I'm asking for and the more Charlie is calmer when being petted she can be heavily rewarded with praise or treats.
Later on in the day we continued more of our obedience training followed up with playtime with Hunter as usual.
Pupdate 8/26/2023
Today is the last day for Charlie's board and train and it has been an adventure helping her progress with her obedience training. This morning I took her for one last walk around the neighborhood before returning home. Instead of giving her playtime we focused on most of our house training early in the morning. We focused on door manners, food manners and loading up in the car. She did very well with these practice sessions and her reward after was getting to have extra playtime with Hunter. Throughout the day we periodically worked on obedience inside and outside the house working on all obedience commands that Charlie has learned throughout the 3 week board and train.
Charlie has shown significant progress as a young puppy being able to perform her obedience in most places and settings she's encountered. My favorite thing to see from her is the change in her personality from a somewhat timid puppy to curious and adventurous. Charlie is excited to go home and show her owner's her confident personality and how playful she can be now with the use of creativity through obedience.
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