Charlie | Labrador/Pit Mix | Rancho Palos Verdes, CA | In-Training
- Scott Hansen
- Feb 23
- 9 min read
Updated: Mar 1
Meet Charlie! Charlie is a thirteen-month-old Labrador/Pit mix from Rancho Palos Verdes, CA here for our One-Week Board and Train Program. Charlie was rescued by a very special lady from a local shelter. She brought Charlie to us for training before he goes off to his future forever home. Charlie likes to jump on people and lacks impulse control. Charlie gets excited and distracted by small critters like squirrels and pulls hard on the leash. Charlie can perform a command or two, however, he lacks structure and will perform the tasks inconsistently. Over the next seven days, Charlie is going to learn to be a confident, obedient pup through consistent, clear communication, and balanced training in areas such as at home, and in discovering new people and places. Charlie will learn to perform all these things on a leash through a positive and balanced training environment. Through structure and consistency, Charlie will demonstrate how great a pup he can be! Stay tuned for Charlie’s one-week transformation!
Pupdate 2/23/25
Today Mr. Charlie came home and joined me for his one-week board and train journey. This is going to be a whirlwind week for him full of new experiences and learning opportunities. On our way back home we stopped at my local park to see what commands Mr. Charlie could perform. Unfortunately, it appears Mr. Charlie was not a fan of my driving or was not a fan of my music but he threw up all over my crate. I cleaned it up while I had Mr. Charlie hang out next to a tree. I did find something really hard in there that was either plastic or a bone. Then we practiced what he knew. It should come as no surprise that he only could do a "sit" and only when he wasn't distracted.
After a quick photoshoot for his profile picture for his Blog, we headed home to start the clean-up process and introduce him to his last home away from home. I took Mr. Charlie out and rinsed off his paws from the throw-up. He wasn't a big fan of that process but I didn't want his paws to be smelly. I let him meet Ms. Toji and Mr. Rusty through the fence outside. Once his feet were clean, I let him inside the house to explore every room and check everything out. I let him sniff Ms. Toji and Mr. Rusty again through the inside door. We then went outside and I let the dogs meet each other. Mr. Charlie got into the privates of both and checked them out. Once all that was done, I had to clean out the crates.
After the crates were clean, I took Mr. Charlie out for his walk around the neighborhood to get used to the sights, smells, and sounds of the neighborhood. I also introduced the prong collar as Mr. Charlie has been pulling me all over the place. We want to stop that as soon as possible. Afterwards, we finally got inside and I let him relax. He ate his concoction of food. I introduced the "heel", door manners, and a few other commands.
Later on in the evening, I'll introduce the e-collar and the rest of his commands. Tomorrow it will be off to the races with all the commands for the rest of the week!
Pupdate 2/24/25
Last night Mr. Charlie and I got to work! I continued the work with the prong collar, and fully introduced the e-collar. We formally introduced all of his commands which are "sit", "place", "down", "heel", and "come-to-sit". Now it is practice, practice, practice, and more practice for the next week. We practice those commands at home, in public places, in places with critters, other people, and other animals to give Mr. Charlie the best foundation possible.
I am going to just give Mr. Charlie rice instead of the wet food. I don't think his stomach is ready to process the wet food as his poops are a little runny. The general rule of thumb is wet food in, wet food out.
I kept Mr. Charlie separated from the other pups for most of the day but during socialization, he did have the e-collar on in case he got too overwhelming. We do have to let the pups give their social corrections and establish their hierarchy but we don't want fights breaking out. Mr. Charlie did well in his crate overnight.
Lastly, Mr. Charlie is showing some signs of fear, and timidness in urination. I went to bring him back in this morning after his morning break and as he was walking away from me he pittled a little bit but he didn't do anything in my house. I assured him he was fine and petted and loved on him. I have been firm but loving. He is not used to the structure and likely due to his trauma it's a little overwhelming for him at times. He can do a lot of the tasks and I can see the potential for him to be an amazing pup with a little more solid living conditions and family. With being moved around a lot recently he is probably confused and now I am coming in telling him to do all these things and he's like what is happening? This is all understandable and I am trying to be patient with him but we only have a few more days so we have to encourage Mr. Charlie to push out of his comfort zone to accomplish amazing things!
Pupdate 2/25/25
Today Mr. Charlie and I continued to reinforce all his commands. We worked on things outside in the front yard where he had the chance to make decisions on whether to listen or try to do Mr. Charlie's things. Overall, he was willing to perform the tasks I was asking of him. He seems to be coming along moderately. He is a little timid at times and other times he is a bull in a china shop. This is a sign of not being adequately socialized and understanding boundaries. He has likely spent this much of his life doing what he wants and only suffered an occasional correction from other dogs. Humans have likely given him food every once in a while but when I'm here asking him to do all these things he doesn't understand why I am not just the candy or food dispenser. I will do that for him but only once he performs the tasks.
I added rice to his food and took out the wet food and his poop looks so much better! He is even gaining a little bit more weight!
Pupdate 2/26/25
Today Mr. Charlie and I headed over to Liberty Park in Cerritos, CA. We reviewed all his commands around distractions. Overall he didn't do too bad. We focused on his "place" and "down". It's not surprising that he is reluctant to "down". It is a vulnerable position. He did start to go into the "down " after a few trials. We will have to keep at it for the next few days working on the come-to-sit and "down". A few other items we need to reinforce are his door manners as he has tried to bolt through and out the door a few times.
His diet and poop are much better now that I've moved away from the wet food. He's gaining weight and continues to eat all his food. He hasn't been too excited about his treats when doing the training but he's been good.
He has been spending a limited time with the other dogs throughout the day to slowly acclimate. My goal here is to teach him his basic obedience. He can be a little toy possessive and that will vary from pup to pup how they handle that. He can get along with my current pups but I don't want any incidents with him or my other pups so they won't be best friends in this one week but they can hang out for an hour or two.
Pupdate 2/27/25
Today Mr. Charlie focused on his extended sit and extended down in the backyard. He has a short attention span and wants to be close to me. He will break the sit to come closer to me. Although this is not a terrible thing, this is not what I am asking of him. These micro behaviors are things that when reinforced or we say "Aw, that's so cute" and then pet him, actually reinforce him not following directions. This is not a good way to raise your pup. You are letting them run the show and then rewarding them for it. If you want to love and pet him, tell him "Break!" and then he can come up to you and say hi and love you. Consistency, consistency, and consistency are what is important here. I think we have also made some progress with his "down". As you saw yesterday, we worked on it and worked on it and worked on it. Today was more of the same. Now we have to incorporate his recall, the "come-to-sit" and then we will be ready to head home in a few more days! Great work Mr. Charlie!
Pupdate 2/28/25
Today Mr. Charlie headed to Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos, CA to work on his commands around distractors. This was a much-needed trip. Although he has been doing moderately well with his commands, he needed the stimulus and distractions to be around to have him focus a little more. I would say that his weakest command by far is his "come-to-sit". I will likely have to use the prong collar or slip lead for a little bit to reinforce this command. We only have a few days left so we will have to do this over and over and over again. I'll try to reward him and lure him with a high-value treat, maybe some hot dogs will do the trick. He hasn't been taking the bait with regular dog treats when the e-collar is on. He does love his food but he knows when the e-collar is on that it is time to behave and sometimes he shows resistance or is confused. A high-value item such as a hot dog could help him overcome that. Two more days and Mr. Charlie will be at his forever home!
Pupdate 3/1/25
Today Mr Charlie headed over to the Citadel Outlets in Commerce, CA. We reviewed all of his commands around distractions. He did an amazing job! I was so proud of all the progress we have made this week! He's going to do great in his new home.
A few reminders going forward. This is a very basic foundation. Mr. Charlie aka Aspen will charge through the door if you let him. Mr. Charlie will destroy toys if you leave him alone for too long. Mr. Charlie will swallow hard plastic toys and the hard bones which then he will either vomit or it will create strains in his digestive system. Monitor the chew toys you leave for him. He has had no accidents sleeping in the crate. All his meals have been served in the crate and he has had no issues with that. If you choose to not let him sleep in the crate, I can not guarantee there will not be any accidents. Once again, I recommend not feeding him any wet food unless there is a medical reason. He has gained almost two pounds while here with me eating regular chicken and rice added to his food and getting the diarrhea under control. I had to loosen his flat collar up two levels. He has been given time to hang out with the other pups. Ms. Toji is 5 years old and Mr. Rusty is 4 years old. They were able to get along with Mr. Charlie's antics. Many times I would see Mr. Rusty or Ms. Toji with the tennis ball and not Mr. Charlie. Once again, it depends on the dogs and proper supervision should be used in the first few weeks. There is a general rule that I like; it takes 3 days for the dog to destress in their new home, 3 weeks to figure out their new routine, and 3 months to start to feel at home. Don't forget that the other pups are having their regular routines and structure modified as well. There will be changes for everyone. Mr. Charlie is adaptable, lovable, and worth living a long beautiful life!
As a reminder, here are the obedience commands that he has learned while with me:
Sit/Extended Sit: Press the black "S" button + say "Sit".
Down/Extended Down: Press the black "S" button + say "Down".
Place/Extended Place: Press the black "S" button + say "Place".
Come-To-Sit: Press the black "S" button + say "Come" + use your hands to guide into place.
Heel: Press the black "S" button + say "Heel".
Food Manners/Refusal: The pup must patiently wait in either a "sit" or "down" while you prepare the food and then say "break" allowing the pup to access the food.
Door Manners: Place the pup in a "sit" open the door and then allow the pup to go through with you or say "ok" and let the pup inside
"Off" + black button "S" to stop the pup from performing unwanted behavior. Always press the black "S" when using this command.
"Break!" - no stimulation and the pup can freely sniff or go potty.
We will be reviewing how to perform all these tomorrow during the turnover! We can't wait to show you how much she has learned and how great of a pup he will be in the future!
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