Cooper | Goldendoodle | Playa Del Rey, CA | In-Training
- meganoffleashsocal
- Dec 29, 2024
- 22 min read
Updated: Jan 12
Meet Cooper, she's a seven-month-old Goldendoodle from Playa Del Rey, California! This sweet and playful pup is here with us for our Two Week Board and Train Program, where we will work on teaching her basic obedience and manners! She doesn't have much knowledge of any basic commands yet, and has a short attention span which causes her to be easily distracted. She comes to us with some common issues, such as pulling on the leash, eating things off the ground, and jumping up on people. Cooper tends to get into mischief while at home as well, such as counter surfing, getting into the trash, and barking excessively when her owners leave without her. Over the next fourteen days, we will work on establishing structure as well as improving her obedience and manners to set her on the right path to becoming a well-behaved pup both on and off leash. Stay tuned for her transformation!
Pupdate 12/29/2024
Today Cooper and I spent the day bonding and getting to know each other after she was dropped off with me. She was very friendly and excited to meet me, but she did jump up on me a lot, which is something we will be working on as time goes on, as polite Greeting Manners will be one of our goals for her training. While walking around the park after first meeting, she seemed very interested in her surroundings, and was eager to explore the area. Her attention span is definitely on the lower end, and she struggled to pay attention to me for more than a fleeting moment, which is to be expected for her young age! Generally she was much more focused on everything around us, and was very easily distracted by smells, people, dogs, and anything else she found interesting.
While at the park, I tested her current knowledge of commands to see if he's had any prior training, and what areas may need some extra focus on going forward. I asked her basic commands such as Come, Heel, Sit, Down, and Place, but she didn't seem to care for any of them and was more focused on sniffing around and exploring the park rather than paying attention to me or listening to what was being asked of her. She would sometimes Come over to me when called with lots of excitement and encouragement, though she would rarely come all the way to me, and mostly ignored the recall cue and her name. When asked to Heel, she didn't seem to recognize the command at all and was almost always at the end of the leash walking around wherever she pleased rather than staying next to me. She was unable to Sit or Down on command either. With some light pressure on her rear she was able to Sit down, however she would always stand back up and start walking away after a second or two, and overall seemed to excited to lay down at all. I asked her to Place on some low, easy to reach objects, but she didn't seem to understand what was being asked of her. She would sometimes put her two front paws up on the object, but seemed to lack the confidence to jump all the way up, even with plenty of encouragement. She didn't seem to have any understanding of leash pressure either, and was often trying to pull against the leash in an attempt to get where she wanted to go.
After our time at the park, it was time to head home and get her settled into my home. She was unable to jump into my car on her own, even when using some of her food as motivation, though she was comfortable being picked up and placed in the car. She was a bit unsure of the kennel at first, however she was able to enter it without physical guidance by using a few pieces of kibble to lure her inside. We will be working on Car Manners to help this process become more smooth and streamlined in the future. Anytime Cooper is to ride in a car with me, she will be secured in a kennel for her utmost safety. She will also be in a kennel at home during nighttime or any other time she is unsupervised. Once home, she happily explored around the new area, played with some toys, had some fun greeting my personal pup, and eventually she settled down for a nap. Later, we went out for a walk around my neighborhood to help her become familiar with the area. Starting tomorrow, will be taking walks around the neighborhood multiple times a day, so it'll be good to get her used to this environment. When exiting the house to start our walk, Cooper kept trying to run out the door as soon as it was opened, so we will also be working to improve her Door Manners to make sure she can respect the boundary a doorway creates as this will help keep her safe. When mealtime came, she was very excited and jumped on me several times, so we will also be working on improving her Food Manners. She seems to be settling in nicely so far, and we are so excited to begin this training journey together!
Pupdate 12/30/2024
Today Cooper and I visited a park, where we met up with some other OffLeash SoCal trainers and their pups, including Cooper's sister, Birdie! This was a great opportunity to train Cooper around major distractions such as people and dogs in a controlled environment. When we first arrived to the park she seemed a bit nervous overall about the new area, though she lit up when she realized her sister was there and she had some fun playing with her before we began training. Once we got into training, Cooper did struggle a bit with staying focused, as certain things would catch her attention and cause her to want to pause and stare at them or run and jump around, though overall she did well! We focused on improving her understanding of leash pressure and e-collar stimulation, as well as introducing the Heel command.
Pressure is a fundamental tool used in teaching basic obedience commands. The idea is that whenever pressure is applied, be it from a leash or an e-collar, it is paired with a command. The pressure then remains present until Cooper follows the pressure and the command being given. The moment she follows through, the pressure immediately turns off and a reward is given. Yesterday, whenever the leash was used to apply pressure, she would firmly resist it, try to pull in the opposite direction, and made no attempt to turn the pressure off, so it was clear she didn't quite understand the concept of leash pressure just yet. We spent a good amount of time focusing on teaching her what leash pressure means, and how to turn off the pressure once it's applied. She learned that trying to resist it was not successful or rewarding, and that simply following the directional pressure and paying attention to what I was asking of her was very simple and rewarding! After a while of practicing with this, she did much better and began showing a good understanding of leash pressure! In order to properly introduce the e-collar, it's very helpful for Cooper to first have a solid understanding of leash pressure, as this is the most simple form of pressure due to the clear directional guidance it provides. Once she understood the leash pressure, we began adding in a new form of pressure from the e-collar. By pairing these two forms of pressure simultaneously, she will come to understand that each pressure has the same meaning. With time and practice, this will allow the leash and e-collar to be used interchangeably. Be sure to check out today's video for an in-depth e-collar tutorial!
Heel is an important command for Cooper to begin developing early on in her training, as her habit of pulling every which way on the leash makes walking with her a challenging task. The goal for the Heel command is for Cooper to be able to follow directly alongside her handler on their left side at their heels, and maintain that position while walking unless released or given a new command. This precise positioning takes a lot of practice to master, but it will effectively eliminate pulling on the leash or veering off in different directions, and allow her handler to take the lead on walks instead of her trying to pull them around wherever she pleases. To introduce this command, I kept the leash short but loose, and ensured she stayed on my left side in roughly the Heel position as we walked. If she began to veer off, pull ahead, fall behind, or otherwise create tension on the leash, leash and e-collar pressure were applied, and the verbal command Heel was given until she returned to the desired position. During Heel, her sole focus should be following her handler's lead, and as such she needs to remain neutral to and ignore her environment, which means no sniffing, staring at distractions, or otherwise becoming distracted. When walking in the correct Heel position, the leash was loose, no pressure was applied, and lots of praise and rewards were given to create value in this position. As she gets better with this command, she will have an easier time staying in the Heel position without as much guidance needed, and will need to be given reminders less frequently. Overall she did a good job today and seemed to catch on pretty quickly, though more work will need to be done before she can Heel reliably, especially around distractions.
Pupdate 12/31/2024
Happy New Years Eve! Today Cooper and I visited a park, where we practiced her Heel command, as well as introduced two new commands, Off and Come to Sit. The park had some distractions around, such as people, other dogs, squirrels, and some sports games going on. There were also many grassy fields, which Cooper often found herself tempted to sniff around in and look for tasty things to pick up like sticks and leaves!
Cooper is often easily distracted, as she tends to focus on her surroundings even when asked to perform commands. Moments like this are a great opportunity to implement the Off command. The goal for the Off command is for Cooper to stop whatever she is doing, and focus on her handler. This is a very versatile command, similar to "no" or "leave it", and can be used in various situations, such as to interrupt fixation on distractions, barking, jumping on people, eating or sniffing things she's not supposed to, or any other behaviors that are undesirable or inappropriate at that time. The verbal Off command when paired with leash pressure and the e-collar allows us to interrupt the behavior and help her to refocus so that she is in a better mindset to listen for upcoming instructions. Once the Off command is given, it's beneficial to immediately follow it with another command such as Sit, Come, Heel, etc. Once she stops whatever behavior she was doing, asking her to set her focus on a task will help keep her attention away from what initially distracted her or caused the undesirable behavior. Cooper has shown good progress in understanding the Off command so far, and with each repetition, she seemed to be quicker to respond and refocus when prompted. However, more work will need to be done in various situations before she is fully reliable with the command.
Come to Sit is another important command to begin practicing early on in Cooper's training journey, as it will be our main form of recall. The goal for Come to Sit is for Cooper to come directly to me when called, and circle around to perform a Sit on my left side. The Come to Sit command when performed in its entirety, ensures that she not only comes when called, but also requires her to sit beside her handler and not leave that spot unless released or given a new command. By having her sit on the left side facing forward, we are setting her up for success to begin walking in a Heel as she is already in the desired position for it. We introduced Come to Sit today by combining the verbal command with leash and e-collar pressure to grab her attention and guide her towards me. Once she followed the guidance and approached me, the leash was used to then guide her around to my left side, where she was then asked to perform a Sit. As we practiced more, she began to rely less on the leash pressure to grab her attention and guide her, which is a good sign of progress! She would tend to sit slightly out of the desired position once she got to me, though for her first day, she did a great job overall! With each successful repetition, I made sure to reward her with lots of praise and affection, to build up a positive association with the command and coming to me when called.
Pupdate 1/1/2025
Happy New Year! Today Cooper and I visited a park, where we practiced her commands around distractions. The park had children playing, other dogs, squirrels, and other distractions around. We continued practicing Heel, Come to Sit, and Off, and also introduced the Place and Down commands.
The goal for the Place command is for Cooper to jump or climb onto a designated object, such as a bench, a bed, or another object with defined borders, and hold a stationary command while remaining on the Place object until released or given a new command. Before practicing at the park, we first practiced at home with a familiar object, a dog cot, that she is comfortable with. Later, we worked with more challenging objects such as park benches and rocks, which required a bit more skill to get onto than the dog cot. She needed a bit of help and some extra encouragement during the first few repetitions, though she did eventually become more confident and was able to climb onto the objects with very minimal if any assistance.
The goal for the Down command is for Cooper to lay down completely when asked, and remain in that position until released or given a new command. To begin working on this command, we used leash pressure, physical guidance, and occasional food lures to guide Cooper into the Down position while the verbal command was given. After some practice, she quickly seemed to catch on to the concept, so we began adding in the e-collar stimulation as reinforcement and gradually using fewer food lures. We kept the duration for this command pretty short at first with lots of breaks and praise, as this helps make the training fun and rewarding. As we continue to practice this we will continue increasing the duration gradually so she can learn to remain in this position for extended periods of time. We will also continue adding in more distractions so she can be reliable with the command in any situation or environment. While in quiet areas with minimal distractions such as at home, she has shown good understanding with this command and enters it when asked. However when in busier areas or when she is feeling a bit nervous or excited, she tends to need some physical guidance to help her into position.
Pupdate 1/2/2025
Today Cooper and I visited a park, where we practiced all of her commands around distractions. The park had a variety of distractions present, such as people, dogs, children playing, squirrels, and grassy fields. There were some quieter areas of the park as well as some busier areas, so we began in the quieter sections to warm up her obedience before venturing into the more distracting areas. Cooper overall seemed a bit overwhelmed when we first arrived, so spending some time in a quiet area allowing her to observe her surroundings from a distance seemed to help her settle down a bit. She seemed to get nervous and overstimulated when there was a lot going on around her, which made it difficult for her to follow commands with the same consistency she normally would. Once she had been exposed to the busier areas for a while, she seemed to be less concerned about her surroundings and gradually became more neutral towards them, however she never seemed fully at ease and was consistently displaying anxious tendencies throughout our entire visit.
Cooper did well with her Heel overall, and generally did a very good job sticking close to me in the correct position as we walked. She sometimes made some errors, though she was generally quick to correct herself when prompted and was able to do so with minimal to no leash pressure needed. Her Come to Sit was also good overall, and she seemed to understand to come when called. If she was a bit distracted or overwhelmed she sometimes needed to be asked again with the e-collar as reinforcement, though this was effective in getting her to recall most of the time without leash pressure being needed. She did often need some amount of leash pressure to correctly position herself however, as she would sometimes get confused about where to Sit once she got to me. Her Sit, Down, and Place commands were all pretty reliable and consistent today, which was great to see! She did however seem to have a tendency to try to leave my side to run off on her own to Place on benches around the park, even when we were simply walking past and not asking her to Place on them. While it's great to see her enthusiastic about the command, this behavior was discouraged as we do not want her breaking commands such as Heel to run off to do something else on her own accord, even if it's to Place.
Pupdate 1/3/2025
Today Cooper and I visited a local shopping strip, where we practiced all of her commands around distractions. This location had a variety of distractions present, including groups of people, lots of other dogs, and loud noises such as car engines, honks, and sirens from the busy street nearby.
This was a challenging environment for Cooper, as she was easily spooked by various stimuli, particularly loud noises or sudden movements. Whenever a loud car, motorcycle, or bus passed by, she would tend to break her commands and try to run away. This would also happen when walking past buildings that had automatic sliding glass doors, as the unexpected movement would tend to catch her off guard. We spent some extra time working around these difficult distractions today, and with time she did seem to be slightly less scared in their presence, however more work will need to be done before these distractions are something she can remain calm around.
Her tendency to flee and try to run off when spooked, overwhelmed, or distracted is something that will need some extra attention going forward. Today we worked with a six foot leash, and when this flight behavior occurred she would always run to the end of the leash. Asking her to Come or Heel during these moments and using the e-collar alone was not effective, as she seemingly was only able to regain a level head once the leash had physically stopped her movement. If she is to be allowed off leash, this will first need to be resolved, as it could pose a safety hazard if this tendency persists. Tomorrow, we will do some exercises with a long leash, to test the extent of this flight response by giving her more physical freedom to make choices and mistakes while still having her safety tethered should the leash prove necessary.
Pupdate 1/4/2024
Today Cooper and I visited an outdoor mall, where we practiced all of her commands around distractions. The mall had various distractions around, such as people, dogs, and birds. There was also a busy street nearby where many loud noises could be heard coming from engines, honks, and sirens.
In the mall itself, she seemed pretty neutral towards most distractions passing by around us. The unfamiliar environment seemed to make her feel a bit on edge at first, though she did become more familiar with it over time. However sounds from the street startled her a lot, more so the closer we were to them as she wasn't too concerned about these noises happening further in the distance. There was one instance where a loud motorcycle was revving its engine for several seconds at a stop light we were close to, and Cooper broke off from her Heel with me to speed walk in the opposite direction for the duration of the noise. We used a long leash today, and she had traveled nearly fifteen feet away from me down the sidewalk before the sound stopped and she was able to regain focus. During this brief moment, she was unable to recall with the e-collar alone, though once the noise died down she came running right back without having to use the leash. We will continue working hard to reduce the chances of her having flight responses so that she can safely be off leash in the near future, though until the issue is fully resolved, off-leash activities should be strictly reserved for when in safe locations away from risks such as busy streets to ensure her safety.
Today's focus was on practicing her commands with as little leash pressure as possible. In order for Cooper to be reliable with her commands while off leash, she first needs to master her performance with them on leash without the leash needing to be used to guide or reinforce. This is done by focusing more on the verbal cues and hand signals for the commands, and using only the e-collar as reinforcement. By reserving the use of the leash only for when she truly needs it, we can wean her off the concept of always needing physical guidance for his commands, and instead teach her to problem solve and use her knowledge of commands to follow instructions given to her. She ended up doing a good job with this, and was able to perform her commands pretty consistently without any leash pressure!
Pupdate 1/5/2025
Today Cooper and I visited a Petco, where we practiced all of her commands around distractions. The store wasn't overly busy during our visit, but there was still a wide variety of distractions to train around, including people, other dogs, treats, toys, and shopping carts. Cooper was nervous when we first arrived, especially when we first entered the store, and she needed a lot of time to adjust to the environment and to reach a point where she could reliably focus on commands.
We spent some extra time desensitizing her to shopping carts, as this was a distraction she was particularly uneasy about. Anytime someone pushed a cart past us, she would tend to break command to run or move away from it. We started by getting a cart out and keeping it stationary as we worked around it, which she ended up doing well with after a few minutes. We then began moving the cart slightly, getting her familiar with the noise and movement it made. By the end of the session, she was able to walk alongside me as I pushed a cart without issue, and no longer was concerned about people pushing carts past us.
Once Cooper was feeling more at ease in the environment, she ended up doing a great job with her commands! She was able to perform them each with no leash pressure needed, and seemed to understand what was expected of her anytime instructions were given. She also got many compliments from shoppers and employees on her great obedience skills, and her cute looks of course!
Pupdate 1/6/2025
Today Cooper and I visited a park, where we met up with some of the OffLeash SoCal trainers and their pups! The park was overall pretty quiet except for the squirrels and a few other park visitors, though working in close proximity to the other trainers and their pups was definitely a distracting environment. Her sister, Birdie, was also in attendance today, so of course the two of them had a blast seeing each other and playing around before we jumped into training!
While training, we continued to focus on practicing her all commands without using any leash pressure. We used the long leash again today, which continued to provide her with ample physical freedom to move around and make choices without interference from the leash. After a brief warmup and giving her a few minutes to familiarize herself with the environment and her surroundings, she did an excellent job with her commands without me needing to use the leash to guide her at all.
The park we visited was safely tucked away from any major risks like busy streets, so this was a great environment to take the next step in transitioning her to off leash training by practicing leash dragging! This is where the handler drops the leash on the ground and allows it to drag along during training. This helps to give us a good idea of her behavior while she is essentially off leash, while still having it handy should it be needed for any reason. She seemed to have no objections to this, and didn't seem to notice or mind that I wasn't holding onto the leash. Even with the total physical freedom granted to her, she followed through with all of her commands with nearly zero issues, and displayed an impressive level of obedience and understanding of her commands!
Pupdate 1/7/2025
Today Cooper and I visited a park, where we continued practicing each of her commands with the leash dragging while around distractions. The park had many children playing, other dogs, people, and squirrels around. It was also quite windy today as well, which caused leaves and twigs to blow around, providing an additional level of distraction to the environment.
Cooper was nervous when we first arrived, though she did calm down significantly after a short period of time. There didn't appear to be anything in particular that was scaring her, and it seemed to be simply due to being in a new and unfamiliar environment. Before jumping into training, we found a bench to sit at together where she could observe her surroundings while I praised and encouraged all calm behavior she offered. After a few minutes, her body language softened and she was less anxious, opting to offer me her focus rather than worrying about the environment.
Once we began training, Cooper did an exceptional job staying focused, on task, and performing all of her obedience commands without the use of the leash. We started off with the long leash, then to leash dragging with the long leash. She did a great job with this and experienced no issues, so we switched her to a short leash and continued leash dragging training. Leash dragging with a shorter, lighter leash helps further simulate off leash training, as it does not weigh her down and lessens the chances of it getting caught on things, which was especially useful today due to all the debris along the ground from the windy weather.
Pupdate 1/8/2025
Today Cooper and I visited a park, where we practiced all of her commands around distractions. The park had some people, children, other dogs, and lots of squirrels. The ground also had lots of branches and leaves from the earlier wind storms, which provided an additional distraction to the environment.
We began the session as usual by starting on leash and giving her some time to adjust to the environment. We have visited this park before, though the wind storms had knocked many trees over so the landscape had changed quite significantly! She didn't seem to recognize the area and as such needed some time to become familiar with it again. After a few minutes of strolling around and letting her investigate a bit, she calmed down a lot and had an easy time focusing on her commands.
While training with the leash dragging, there were no moments when I needed to pick the leash up for any reason, which was great to see! She had proven the leash to be unnecessary, so we removed the leash and continued the session while completely off leash! She did a fantastic job with this, and stayed focused, attentive, and obedient at all times and through all commands. She got to enjoy some of her off leash freedom too and enjoyed chasing a stick that I threw around for her during breaks!
As an additional note, we are keeping a close eye on the local wildfires throughout Los Angeles, and should any threaten my residence we have evacuation plans prepared to ensure everyone's safety. We are also monitoring the air quality from the smoke, and should it worsen to the point where it is unhealthy to breathe, we will either train at indoor locations or travel to an outdoor location that is not affected.
Pupdate 1/9/2025
Today Cooper and I worked on her training while inside my home to avoid spending too much time outside due to the poor air quality. We focused on practicing all of her commands while off leash, as well as putting some finishing touches on her house manners. Today's video showcases her Food Manners, and her skills with food refusal.
The goal for Food Manners is for Cooper to be able to hold a stationary command while her food is prepared and set in front of her. She is then asked to remain in that position until she is released before she can get up and eat her food. Cooper tends to get pretty excited about her food, and in the early stages of her training she was prone to jumping on me, jumping on the counters, and barking when anticipating food. She would also tend to rush to the food bowl the moment it was set down, even if it meant trying to bump me out of the way to get to it. As she progressed in her overall obedience, she quickly replaced her bad habits and learned to be polite and patient even when faced with very tempting distractions such as food directly in front of her! She now does very well with her Food Manners, and she is able to control her excitement and await the release command before digging in!
We have also been working on teaching her the concept of food refusal, as she came to us with a tendency to try to eat anything and everything off the floor without putting a second thought into it. This can be a dangerous habit to have, as she could unknowingly ingest something that is toxic or dangerous for her to swallow! As such, we have been teaching her to not grab or eat anything off the floor unless given explicit permission to do so. We showcased this today by using some of her kibble, as well as some tortilla chips, that I "accidentally" drop on the floor. You can see her notice the food fall, but instead of rushing in to eat it, she chooses to wait and look to me for instruction on her own accord, without me needing to ask for this behavior. If I tell her "okay!" then she is allowed to get up and eat it. However if I say "Off" she understands to leave it alone and waits for me to pick it up and dispose of it without trying to eat it herself. This concept also works while outside of the home, and has been useful in teaching her not to pick up random things and try to eat them without permission, such as sticks, leaves, trash, etc. She has been told "Off" regarding these objects enough times to understand she is not allowed to put any objects in her mouth unless it is specifically given to her and/or she is given permission with "okay!".
Pupdate 1/10/2025
Today Cooper and I worked around various areas of my neighborhood. The air quality improved in my area today, so we were able to safely spend some time outdoors.
While working in the residential areas of my neighborhood, we focused on practicing each of her commands while off leash. We encountered various distractions, such as many other dogs, bicycles, squirrels, and birds. Cooper did a great job with her commands while off leash and experienced no issues with any of them! She is very comfortable and confident around this area of my neighborhood as we walk around it often, which seemed to help her focus overall!
We also took a trip out of the residential areas towards the shopping strips and busy streets nearby, which allowed us to focus on her training around more challenging distractions such as loud noises from the street. For her safety we opted to keep her on leash while working near these busy streets, due to her previous tendency to flee in environments like this, however it remained completely unused during our session and it was able to hang loose at all times as she never needed it for guidance or reinforcement. She definitely got a bit nervous at times when a particularly loud engine, honk, or siren could be heard close by, though she didn't attempt to flee at any point, which was great to see! She seemed to understand that even though it wasn't her favorite situation ever, she could safely continue focusing on her training and following instructions given to her, and that remaining as neutral to them as possible would lead to a rewarding outcome!
Pupdate 1/11/2025
Today was Cooper's last full day with me, so we put all of her learned skills to use to have a great last day together! We visited an indoor mall, where we practiced all of her commands around lots of distractions while off leash. This was definitely a big test of her skills, but she passed it with flying colors! She did an exceptional job staying focused and calm, and was able to perform her commands effortlessly despite the busy surroundings. She also got tons of compliments from mall visitors and staff alike, and she got to say hello to lots of people! She did a great job keeping her feet planted on the ground and not jumping on anyone, and she was extremely polite and sweet. She definitely seemed to enjoy all the attention!
Cooper has made such an amazing transformation in these past two weeks, and the differences in her are truly night and day! She came to us with little to no knowledge of any commands, and had a tendency to become overexcited, distracted, and overstimulated by everything around her. She has since learned to stay calm, focused, and neutral to her surroundings even in the most busy of places. Her confidence, patience, discipline, and overall manners both in public and at home have all improved so much! Cooper has done an excellent job learning every command taught to her, and is able to perform them with great reliability no matter the environment. With her learned skills, she can now safely enjoy the fun and freedom that comes with being off leash! While she may seem like a whole new dog, she is still the same goofy, loving, and playful pup she always has been, and with her new obedience skills and confidence levels, she is even more of a joy to be around and take with on all sorts of adventures! Cooper has been such a pleasure to train and share my home with, and I am forever grateful to have had the opportunity to help this good girl become the best version of herself! With her intelligence and eagerness to learn, the sky is the limit for Cooper, and I know she has a very bright future ahead in her continued training journey with her family!
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