Meet Dini, a one-year-old Miniature Schnauzer from Los Angeles, California who is here with us for our Two Week Board and Train Program. This sweet and playful pup has some knowledge of a few basic commands, but she is easily distracted and overwhelmed by her surroundings and struggles to listen when asked to do something. Dini has some bad habits, such as pulling heavily on the leash, jumping on people, and playfully nipping when she is overly excited. She is easily overstimulated when seeing other dogs, and often reacts with outbursts of barking and trying to pull or lunge towards them. Dini also tends to be a nervous pup overall, and can be a bit anxious when around unfamiliar people, situations, or environments. Dini will also be working on her potty training during her stay with us. Over the next fourteen days, we will be working to improve Dini's obedience, confidence, and manners, as well as improve her issues with reactivity to set her on the right track to becoming a well-behaved pup! Stay tuned for her transformation!
Pupdate 11/3/2024
Today Dini and I spent the day bonding and getting to know each other at the park after she was dropped off with me. She was a bit hesitant to meet me initially and shied away from me if I tried to get near her, though with time she seemed to understand I was a friend and warmed up to me! While walking around the park, she seemed eager to explore but a bit overwhelmed by all the distractions around. Her attention span is definitely on the lower end, and she struggled to pay attention to me for more than a fleeting moment. Generally she was much more focused on everything around us, and was very easily distracted by smells, people, toys, leaves, and anything else she found interesting. We did encounter one dog while at the park, and when seeing it from a distance Dini immediately fixated on it and began barking and trying to pull towards it. As the dog and their owner got closer to pass by us, Dini switched to more nervous body language and ended up trying to hide behind me and run away from the dog, despite it being around twenty feet away from us already.
While at the park, I also tested her current knowledge of commands to see if she'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 was more focused on her surroundings rather than anything I was asking 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 seemed to somewhat understand Sit, but more often than not she was too distracted and excited to perform this command on cue, and if she did follow through, she would always stand back up and start walking away after a second or two. She didn't seem to understand the Down command. 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 didn't seem to have any understanding of leash pressure either, and was often trying to pull against the leash and flail around in an attempt to get out of the leash. She was also very keen on biting and pawing at the leash.
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, but was comfortable with being picked up and placed into the car. She wasn't quite sure what to make of the kennel, and was hesitant about entering it. She wouldn't go in on her own and resisted when I tried to guide her in, but she was able to be picked up and placed inside. Anytime Dini 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. This may be a useful tool in her potty training journey as well, as pups are instinctually discouraged from going potty inside their sleeping area. Upon arriving home, she was very hesitant about walking up my stairs, but after lots of encouragement, she walked inside and began exploring the new area! Later, we went out for a walk around my neighborhood to let her go potty and become familiar with the area. When she did go potty, she was praised heavily to encourage this good behavior! Starting tomorrow, will be taking walks around the neighborhood multiple times daily to work on potty and obedience training. When exiting the house to start our walk, Dini 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. After our walk she found a nice comfy spot on the floor to curl up on beside my desk, and enjoyed a nice nap. I offered her some dinner in the evening, and while she was excited for it initially by jumping on me and running around, she only ended up eating a few bites before losing interest in it. To set her up for success with potty training, we will be establishing a feeding schedule, as free feeding is a common cause of potty accidents! Overall she seems to be settling in nicely, and we are so excited to begin this training journey together!
Pupdate 11/4/2024
Today Dini and I spent the day working in various areas around my neighborhood. She was introduced to the concept of leash pressure and e-collar pressure, along with the Come to Sit command. We began the day in a quiet, distraction-free area along my neighborhood streets to provide Dini the best opportunity to learn and focus as we begin her training journey. Later in the day the neighborhood got more busy with some people and other dogs out on walks, which helped serve as distractions during our evening session. She was a bit nervous at times, but when around minimal to no distractions she showed an increased level of focus on me compared to yesterday. She did fixate on and stare at the dogs we encountered, but she didn't end up barking at any of them today. We also spent a good amount of time walking up and down the stairs, as this is something Dini was still quite scared of and struggled to confidently walk up and down them.
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 Dini 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 Dini 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!
Come to Sit is another important command to begin practicing early on in Dini's training journey, as it will be our main form of recall. The goal for Come to Sit is for Dini 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 a bit 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 11/5/2024
Today Dini and I visited a park, where we trained around some common distractions such as people, other dogs, children playing, and small animals such as birds and squirrels. We continued working on her Come to Sit command, and introduced two new commands, Heel and Off. She had a few temper tantrums here and there when she didn't want to do something, which would lead to her jumping around and biting or pawing at the leash. However, she seems to be slowly understanding that this behavior will not get her out of the behavior she is being asked to do, and is becoming less common as the days progress.
Dini 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 Dini 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. Dini 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.
Heel is an important command for Dini 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 Dini 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.
On another note, Dini's potty training is coming along well so far! She has not had any accidents inside, and seems to be developing good habits for going potty outdoors. We are working to develop a feeding schedule and potty routine that works for her, and so far it seems to be going well. She hasn't been super interested in her food, so for today's dinner we added some warm water and a few small pieces of dehydrated chicken breast treats to top her kibble, and this seemed to help encourage her to eat more.
Pupdate 11/6/2024
Today Dini and I visited an outdoor mall, where we practiced her commands around distractions. This location was decently busy, and there were many distractions around such as many groups of people, other dogs, children playing, food, and music. Dini did seem a bit overwhelmed by it all when we first arrived, though she did gradually appear to settle slightly down over time. Before we made our trip to the mall, we first worked on introducing two new commands while at home, Place and Down. Once she began to grasp the concept of these commands, we moved the training session over to the mall to incorporate more distractions into the practice.
The goal for the Place command is for Dini 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. This has been a challenging command for Dini overall, as she tends to become hesitant when asked to jump or climb onto an unfamiliar object, even if it is low and easy to reach. Dini tends to be very underconfident, so today we focused on improving her confidence and slowly working our way up to more challenging objects. At home, we practiced with a familiar object, a dog cot, that she is comfortable with. While she was initially very hesitant about this object when first introduced to it, she has since learned that it is a safe and comfortable place to sit or lie down on. While at the mall today, we worked with more challenging objects such as 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 assistance. She sometimes needed a bit of help performing the Sit or Down once on the object, though her willingness to attempt the climb up was a great step in the right direction and a good sign of progress!
The goal for the Down command is for Dini 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 Dini 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 reliability and understanding with this command and enters it when asked. However when in busier areas or when she is feeling a bit nervous, she tends to be much more hesitant and needs some physical guidance to help her into position. She still has lots of work to do until she is reliable with Down without assistance, regardless of the situation.
Pupdate 11/7/2024
Today Dini and I visited an outdoor mall, where we practiced all of her commands around distractions. The mall was pretty busy with groups of people walking around, as well as a few other dogs, music, and food. Dini was definitely overwhelmed by her surroundings, and needed a lot of time to adjust before she was calm enough to focus on her training.
We ended up finding a comfortable spot to sit at together before we began any training, and we spent some time letting her sit on my lap to observe the environment in a place where she could feel safe and secure at. After a while she seemed to calm down and be less nervous, and she began to become more curious of her surroundings rather than scared of them, which was a good step in the right direction! Once she was more settled, we began using the Off command to encourage her to focus on me rather than distractions around us, and she quickly picked up on the concept.
We spent some time practicing Heel and Come to Sit around the mall, which she did pretty well with overall! She seems to be catching onto these commands, and is understanding the general idea of them. We spent most of the session focusing on improving her confidence with Place, as this is an area she seems to struggle with heavily when working with unfamiliar objects or objects that require a skill such as jumping or climbing to get onto. The video today showcases an example of an object we practiced with today, a fountain that was well within her physical reach to get onto but that Dini lacked the confidence to Place on initially. She needed several repetitions with physical assistance, but after some more practice she was eventually able to jump up all on her own without physical help! Having me climb onto the object first and encourage her to jump up and follow me seemed to be effective in helping her achieve success today, though the goal will be for her to eventually be able to Place on objects like this on her own without having her handler need to climb up first. We made sure to celebrate each little victory we achieved today as each step was in the right direction!
Dini's potty training is also going great, and she has continued to have no accidents in the house. We are working to extend the time between potty breaks to encourage her to hold it for longer periods of time. As a young adult dog, she should be able to hold her potty for at least around 5 hours in between breaks during the day, so we are working up to this goal by gradually increasing the interval between breaks. During the first few days with me we took frequent potty breaks every two hours or so, though we're currently up to around four hours without any issues which is great progress! At night time, she has been comfortable with holding her potty and sleeping through the night for around eight hours at a time with no issues.
Pupdate 11/8/2024
Today Dini and I visited an outdoor mall, where we practiced all of her commands around distractions. The mall had a variety of distractions present, including groups of people, other dogs, children running around, food, and music. The small waterfall fountains around the mall also were a good distraction to work around, as Dini found them to be quite spooky! Dini didn't bark at any of the dogs we encountered today which was really great to see! There was even a dog that barked at her a lot as it passed by, and while it did distract her a bit, she didn't react back and was able to maintain her obedience!
Dini was once again a bit nervous when we first arrived, though she did end up calming down the longer we spent here. We had also visited this mall once before a few days ago, so the environment wasn't completely new and unfamiliar which seemed to help a bit. We did a similar tactic as yesterday, where we found a bench to sit at together for the first few minutes before exploring around much, as this gave her the time she needed to observe her surroundings in a way she felt safe and secure. We spent some extra time working around the fountains and waterscaped areas of the mall, as Dini was initially scared of walking near them. It took some time and a lot of reassurance to get her comfortable, but she was eventually able to walk past and around the waterfalls without hesitation!
Dini did well with her Heel overall, though one mistake she seemed to make frequently was trying to walk too far to my left instead of directly next to me. We want to encourage a tight Heel position so that she is close to her handler, instead of her creating a large gap in between. She needed some guidance to manage this, though overall she seemed to understand not to lag behind or pull ahead while we walked which was good. Her Come to Sit was also pretty good, and she seems to understand the command well. The only time she struggled with this was when she was recalled while I was standing near the fountain, as initially she would refuse to move closer to it, even if she was being given the Come command. However once she was no longer scared of the fountain she was able to perform Come to Sit near it without issues. Her stationary commands Sit and Place were both pretty good overall, and while she did need some assistance with Place for some higher up objects, she was able to Place on her own after more practice. She struggled with Down again today however, and while she did calm down a lot over time, she still seemed too nervous and on edge to comfortably perform Down while at the mall. She was able to Down in the parking lot however, as it was calm and quiet which helped her achieve success with the command.
Pupdate 11/9/2024
Today Dini 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.
Dini was a bit overwhelmed by everything at first, though as we spent some time walking around and training here, she began to settle down and adapt to the environment. She was however easily spooked by various stimuli, particularly sudden loud noises or movements. Whenever a loud car or bus passed, she would tend to break her commands and either freeze or try to move away from where the noise was coming from, though once the noise stopped or we moved away far enough she would gather herself pretty quickly and recover the obedience without further issue. 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 get more comfortable and was able to stay more neutral in their presence. More work will need to be done before she is able to maintain her focus when first encountering distractions such as these, though great progress was made today!
We also encountered lots of other dogs today, and the narrow sidewalks often put us in close proximity to them. She ended up doing a fantastic job around all the dogs we saw today, and she didn't bark at or react negatively towards a single one! She even got barked at by a few other dogs, and while this wasn't her favorite situation ever, she didn't try to bark back or lose her composure in these moments. She would sometimes be a bit distracted by other dogs and want to look at them, but she understood not to fixate on them and her attention was able to be diverted away with use of the Off command. We practiced both walking past other dogs while in a Heel, as well as stepping off to the side slightly to practice having her hold a Sit while the dogs passed by. She did great with her Heel, and understood not to pull or veer towards or away from the dogs, and she did pretty good with her Sit too! She would sometimes try to inch her way to hide behind me when a dog would pass while she was holding a Sit, which is something we will work on, but this is still much better than her trying to lunge at, bark, or run away from passing dogs. Dini's potty training continues to go very well, and she has had no accidents in the house. She's been able to hold her potty for around five hours during the day, and continues to have no trouble holding it throughout the night.
Pupdate 11/10/2024
Today Dini and I visited an outdoor mall, where we continued practicing each of her commands around distractions. The mall wasn't overly busy, but there were still some good distractions around such as other dogs, food, music, birds, people, and also noisy sounds from the nearby street.
Dini needed some time to adjust to the new environment when we first arrived, though as usual she did calm down significantly after we spent some time in the area. She ended up being pretty neutral to her surroundings overall, and didn't seem to be bothered by anything in particular! Even when faced with tough distractions such as other dogs and loud sounds, she kept her composure and her focus quite well.
She did a good job with each of her commands overall, and is making good progress with each of them! Minor mistakes were naturally made on occasion, though each one was a learning opportunity that worked to help Dini better grasp the expectations for her obedience. We spent some extra time focusing on her Down command today, as this is the command she seems to struggle with the most when in public places. At home, she's just about mastered her Down command and happily performs it when asked, though in public she still tends to hesitate and refuse to Down on command. With just a bit of physical guidance, she's able to get into the position and she's usually good about holding it as well, though the goal is for her to not need this extra help and be willing to perform it when asked even while in public. She seemed a bit more comfortable practicing Down while on Place objects as opposed to the floor, so we used this to our advantage today to help set her up for success. By the end of the session, she had successfully performed Down multiple times without guidance, which was great to see!
Pupdate 11/11/2024
Today Dini and I visited another shopping strip, where we continued working on each of her commands while around distractions. We encountered various distractions, including groups of people, other dogs, food, and noises from the busy streets nearby. The narrow sidewalks also placed us within close proximity to these distractions.
Dini was able to adapt to the environment pretty quickly today, and was able to maintain a good amount of focus! She was relatively calm and neutral to her surroundings for the majority of our visit, even in the face of major distractions such as other dogs and loud noises like sirens and honking.
Dini did well with each of her commands overall today, and continues to make improvements with her obedience skills! She did well with her Heel, and was able to stick beside me with very minimal physical guidance needed from the leash to help her maintain the position. Her Come to Sit was reliable as well, and she always came right to me when called. Her stationary commands were also good, and she showed great confidence with her Place command! She confidently hopped onto a variety of benches and other objects around the area without any assistance needed. Her Down was better today as well, and while it still wasn't exactly consistent, she was able to Down without guidance about half of the time, which is significantly better than previous days. We'll continue to spend time working on this command to improve her reliability with it.
Pupdate 11/12/2024
Today Dini and I visited an indoor mall, where we practiced all of her commands around distractions. The mall was quite busy, and we got lots of practice working in and around crowds and groups of people. We also encountered a few other dogs, as well as distractions like music and food.
Dini was a bit unsure about all the hustle and bustle at first, though very quickly adapted to the new environment and was able to stay calm and focused with relative ease! Our tactic of finding a spot to sit together and allow her to observe our surroundings worked very well! Within just a couple of minutes, her demeanor changed from timid and hesitant to more relaxed and neutral. This set her up for success with training, and as we began walking around the mall she seemed to understand the situation better as she had a head start at developing some familiarity with the types and levels of distractions we would encounter.
Dini did great with her commands today, and was able to perform each of them with good reliability! We focused on teaching her to perform her commands with minimal physical guidance from the leash, which works to encourage her to problem solve and use her knowledge of the command instead of relying on the leash to move her around. Minor mistakes were naturally made here and there, though she was often able to correct herself without use of the leash, which was great to see! She also did a great job with her Down in particular today, and was able to consistently perform the command without any guidance, which was fantastic!
Dini's potty training also continues to go smoothly, and no potty accidents have occurred. She seems to be comfortable with the routine we have in place, and is also catching on to the cue of "go potty" which is used to encourage her to go potty during breaks.
Pupdate 11/13/2024
Today Dini and I visited a park, where we continued to work on each of her commands while around distractions. The park was very busy today, and there were lots of distractions like other dogs, groups of people, children playing, and small animals such as squirrels and birds. The breezy autumn weather also brought about lots of fallen leaves, which Dini happens to think are the most fun toys ever! We of course had our playtime and she had a blast chasing the leaves around during breaks, and while training they served as a great distraction to proof her Off command around.
Dini was definitely excited when we first arrived and a little bit overwhelmed by all the busy surroundings, though she quickly adjusted to the environment and was able to achieve a calm and focused mindset during our training session. She did especially well around all the other dogs we encountered, and she never barked at or fixated on any other dogs. She mostly ignored them when they were at a distance, and even when in close proximity she didn't seem overly interested in them and was able to remain neutral to their presence.
We used a long leash during training today, which was a great way to provide Dini with additional physical freedom to make choices and work on her commands with minimal guidance from the leash. One focus was improving her recall from a distance while distractions were around. We positioned ourselves near interesting and distracting areas around the park, such as near where dogs or children were running around playing, and while I was a distance away from her, asked for her recall command while she was out exploring and distracted by her surroundings. She has been doing great about recalling when already in an obedience mindset such as while holding a stationary command, though when on a break she sometimes isn't quite as reliable. It's important that she is consistent with her recall regardless of where she is, what she is doing, or what is around her at any given moment, so this was a great exercise to work towards this goal!
Pupdate 11/14/2024
Today Dini and I worked on all of her commands around my neighborhood. She did a great job with all of the distractions we came across, and her progress is becoming very apparent! Dini is not only excelling with her skills and manners while out in public, but she has also made huge transformations in her behavior inside the home as well! House manners are something we have been working on little by little each day since day one. Even seemingly mundane day-to-day tasks can provide excellent opportunities for training! These manners include areas such as Food Manners, Door Manners, and Car Manners.
The goal for Food Manners is for Dini 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. Dini tends to get excited about her food, and in the early stages of her training she was prone to jumping on me or the counters when anticipating food, and rushing to the food bowl the moment it was set down. 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!
Another area of manners we have been working on is Dini's Door Manners. The goal of Door Manners is for Dini to hold a stationary position while near a door and remain there until released or given a new command, such as Come or Heel. She is asked to hold the position at the location asked of her, and not break the command even if the door is left open, if someone is knocking on it, or if people walk in or out of it. This practice teaches important boundaries and the importance of thresholds, and prevents impolite and possibly dangerous behaviors she once displayed, such as trying to escape through open doors, shoving through people's legs when walking through doors, or rushing over to jump on people who enter through the door. Dini has made a massive transformation with her manners related to doors, and understands to follow instructions no matter what distractions the door may present. After Dini has been asked for a stationary command, a door can be left wide open, and she understands to not get up or walk through the doorway unless given permission to, and when invited she can walk nicely through the doorway without shoving through or trying to rush out. I can even leave her sight completely and walk in and out without her feeling the need to get up and follow me, and she has also been doing great with holding her position calmly while people other than myself enter or exit through the door.
Having good Car manners makes transporting Dini easy, safe, and as hassle-free as possible. The goal for Car Manners is for Dini to be confident and able to jump into the car when prompted without needing any physical assistance. Once in the car, the goal is for her to willingly enter a kennel when asked, without needing to be physically guided or lured inside. Dini came to us very underconfident, and was not initially able to jump into the car on her own, however with all of our Place practice came a new level of confidence within her, and she is now able to make the jump into my car effortlessly! She also used to need some guidance to get her loaded up into the kennel, but now she happily enters it on her own when asked, which makes the entire process much smoother!
Pupdate 11/15/2024
Today Dini and I visited an outdoor mall, where we practiced all of her commands around various distractions. The mall was quite busy, and had many groups of people and other dogs to serve as distractions during our training. Dini did a great job with her commands today, and she didn't have any notable issues with any of them! We were able to capture some great footage of Dini practicing her commands here today which will be used in putting together her final video, so be sure to check out today's video for a sneak peek! Dini was slightly nervous as usual when we first arrived, though she very quickly adapted to the environment and calmed down a lot, allowing her to focus on her training with ease. We have visited here before, and she seemed to remember the area which seemed to help as well. Certain distractions that used to spook her or make her uneasy, such as the water fountains, were no longer scary for her and she did a great job working around them. The difference in her overall demeanor and behavior while at the mall today was drastically different than our first visit here, which was great to see! Dini was also in good spirits overall today, and even enjoyed playing around and being her goofy self during her breaks, which is something she was previously far too nervous to do in such a busy environment.
While at the mall Dini got tons of compliments on her fantastic obedience skills and her adorable looks! Many people stopped and asked to say hello and pet her as well, which provided some great opportunities to work on her Greeting Manners! This is an area of her training we have been working on whenever the opportunity arises, whether it be at home with me or my guests, or out in public with new people. The goal for Greeting Manners is for Dini to be able to greet people calmly and politely, whether in public or at home, both with new people and with people she already knows. To help Dini perform the desired manners, we first have her perform and hold Sit or Down, as this gives her a task to focus on and discourages poor behaviors such as jumping, pawing, or mouthing. When having a new person greet Dini, it's important to inform them of her training and the expectations set for her, that way they can help reinforce the training appropriately. All praise, attention, and affection should be reserved strictly for when she is stationary, calm, and following instructions. If she is rewarded when behaving poorly then the training will be inconsistent and detrimental to her progress, so staying consistent with these manners has been key to her success. She has come to understand that jumping on people or other impolite behaviors is not rewarding, and only delays or prevents her from getting what she wants, which is to say hello to people and get attention from them! She did a great job with her greetings today, and was very polite, sweet, and calm with everyone she met.
Pupdate 11/16/2024
Today was Dini's last full day with me, so we spent the day putting to use all of her learned skills to have a great day together! We took a walk to a local park, and practiced each of her commands around distractions both at the park and on the way there. We encountered many major distractions such as other dogs, people, and noisy street traffic, but Dini didn't seem to mind the distracting surroundings and was happy, focused, and upbeat during our entire session. She had no trouble with her commands, and was given many compliments from park visitors! We also of course had a great time playing and exploring around the park together, and Dini had a blast running around chasing a ball and playing with leaves!
Dini 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! Dini has done an excellent job learning every command taught to her, and is able to perform them with great reliability no matter the environment. She has also mastered her potty training, and is no longer prone to having accidents while indoors. 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! Dini 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 Dini, and I know she has a very bright future ahead in her continued training journey with her family!
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