Meet Darla! She's an eleven-month-old French Bulldog from Santa Fe Springs here for our One-Week Board and Train Program! She's extremely sweet and cuddly, but sometimes that means jumping all over people and furniture! She also loves to pull on her leash and has trouble following her basic commands. Over the next seven days, we're going to work on Darla's manners in and out of the house, teach her how to respect the boundaries of those around her, and show her how to be the best pup she can possibly be! Stay tuned for Darla's one week transformation!
Pupdate: 4/6/2024
After picking up Darla, we headed home so that we could get to know each other! Darla has been extremely sweet so far, and I believe she's settling in well. Once we relaxed at home for a bit, we went over to the park by my house for our evening walk.
She has already taken to me, which is great, however I can absolutely see how much she likes to jump on people! Every time we stopped walking for even a second, she would turn to me and hop up on my legs. She's a very good girl, she just needs to learn to respect boundaries! Great job so far, though!
Pupdate: 4/8/2024
Darla and I went to Santa Anita Mall today! Typically I save the mall environment for a little later in our program, but she did a great job nonetheless! We mostly worked on her Heel command. For Heel I want her to walk politely next to me despite any distractions.
Darla tried to keep up, but she sometimes wanted to pull back on her leash. A few people wanted to say hi to her, at which point I advised them that she was in training and helped her through those interactions. She still loved to jump, though! It's important to understand that not everyone needs to say hi to Darla. It's much better for now for her to work on sitting politely around those distractions so that we can start mitigating the jumping.
Pupdate: 4/9/2024
Darla and I went to Almansor Park today for training! We continued to work on her Heel command, which is coming along nicely.
We also started working on her Come To Sit and Place commands. For Come To Sit, I want Darla to come to my right hand side, walk around my legs, then sit at my left with her ears at my knee. She's done a great job with this so far!
We also started on her Place command. For Place, I want her to hop onto a defined object, such as the rock in the above pictures! The object can also be a bench or a place cot. This is great for building confidence, but is also an invaluable command for your everyday life once she learns it inside. Anytime I have company over, start cooking dinner, or start cleaning my house, I always ask my dog to place first. Then depending on her behavior, she might be allowed to say hi once everyone is calm. For Darla, who is a notorious jumper, she will need several minutes in a neutral state before she is allowed to say hi to anyone. That being said, this is a brilliant command for practicing those indoor manners!
Pupdate: 4/10/2024
Darla got to see her sister today! She did just as well as usual with her basic commands.
She was a little more excited to see her sister, but it only took a few minutes for her to heel next to me as politely as she usually does.
She needed a few corrections to say hi to some other people without jumping, however. This is her biggest issue for now, and it seems like staying on top of her with the E-collar has her behaving appropriately, but it will take a little bit of time and consistency before she understands she's not allowed to jump at all. That will be our main focus going forward.
Pupdate: 4/11/2024
Darla and I got to see her sister again today! We went to Huntington Beach and worked the girls around each other. Both girls did well, however, Darla was having a little trouble with her Down command around the distractions. After we walked around for a while, she started to settle in and was performing her Down with much more ease! She also said hi to a few people and did a much better job holding her sit and not jumping up!
After the beach, we went to the park so Darla could go somewhere a little more relaxing!
Pupdate: 4/12/2024
Darla and I went to Santa Monica Pier today for training! Similar to yesterday, she did a great job with her commands and behavior, other than her Down command. After several minutes of walking and warm up time, she began performing her Down command very well!
After the pier, we went back home for a nap and cuddles!
Pupdate: 4/13/2024
Darla and I went to the park this morning to make it outside before the rain! Even with the impending rain, it was still relatively busy, with a couple baseball and softball games going on. She did well at the park, even walking by the sports games where she got attention from tons of people!
After the park, we went home to avoid the rain and work on her inside manners! It's been a good day for Darla despite the weather!
