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Drax | Boxer | Rossmoor, CA | In - Training

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Meet Drax! He is a 1 year old Boxer from Rossmoor, CA who has joined us for our Two-Week Board and Train Program. Drax has a lot of energy and loves to play, especially with kids! He has a tendency to play too rough at times, likes to jump when greeting new people, and is reactive to dogs while on leash. We will be working on his obedience around distractions, and impulse control as well. Stay tuned for his 14 day transformation!


 

Pupdate 2/20/2022


Drax and I had a fun little stroll by the duck pond today before we did any training to build positive experiences together and some trust as well. After our stroll I introduced him to the e collar and worked on our Heel. He initially kept walking forward every time I turned. I began to cue Heel everytime I was about to turn to give him a heads up we were changing direction. If he followed my lead and turned with me I marked it with a Yes and gave him a lot of praise. If he didn’t turn with me I gave him stimulation with the e collar to check in with me and turn. After a couple stimulations he caught on quickly and checked in with me frequently! I then worked on his Sit everytime I stopped walking. After a few repetitions he offered the behavior voluntarily without me having to give him the cue. This is very impressive for his first session!

After our training session I brought Drax home and got him all settled in. He met my dogs through the fence and they were happy to see each other. We got some playtime in the backyard with a ball and ran around together. We will keep working on new commands together. Great job Drax!



 

Pupdate 2/21/2022






Drax and I went on a field trip today to Legg Lake. We introduced him to a new command such as Come to Sit and also worked on his Heel. His come to Sit is the action of him coming behind me from a distance and sitting on my left hand side until I release him with the word “Break” or until I say Heel and begin walking. At first he was struggling to come to me with leash pressure and stimulations. He would resist the pressure and jump on me. After we worked through it repeatedly he learned that the only way to turn off the pressure was to follow the direction of the leash. I created a pressure path with the leash and added stimulation. I kept the stimulation light and only tapped it occasionally when he really needed since he only needs one or two to follow. If I tap repeatedly when he is distracted he begins to jump on me so I was very mindful of that. He began to work through it and stopped jumping on me towards the end of our session. We will keep building distance with his Come to Sit. We then began to work on his Heel around distractions like other dogs. He is reactive when he sees dogs which is why I work him as close as he can be next to another dog while still being successful. As you can see in the picture above he did great with his Extended Sit next to our other trainer’s dog Sam. We have some work to do still with his Heel but he is beginning to fight that impulse to say hi to dogs and people. Once we finished our training at Legg Lake we went home and I put him in his crate to rest. He doesn’t seem to enjoy the crate too much. I want him to enjoy crate time and associate it with positive things. I began to toss the leash in the crate and pull it through the other side to create a leash pressure path into the crate. I praised him a bunch and encourage him to go through. After a lot of praise he walked into the crate multiple times getting really excited whenever I told him “Yes!” I then began to close the door on him in little increments of time to get him used to that. I put his food and some treats in the crate after repeatedly practicing this and he didn’t cry while he was in there anymore. It’s important to get him to go in the crate on his own so he doesn’t feel forced or trapped. We will keep conditioning him to enjoy his crate time. Amazing job Drax!



 

Pupdate 2/22/2022

Drax and I went on a field trip to Home Depot today. It was great exposure to loud noises and crowds. We started our session in front of the store where it was less distracting for Drax. After we practiced our Come to Sits, Extended Sits and Heel we took it inside the store. There was a loud machine inside of Home Depot as you can hear in the video, which led me to using it as a training opportunity for Drax. He initially was unsure of the sound so I gave him extra praise and reassurance, especially whenever he checked in with me. This encouraged him to check in with me more often and we worked through it.

Once it was time to go home I began to work on his Car Manners. I circled back and forth with him walking towards the car encouraging him to jump up and now he is offering it more consistently building that confidence to get into the crate inside the car.


 

Pupdate 2/23/2022









During our training session today we emphasized working on the commands Down and Place. Initially Drax struggled with the command Down. I began helping him with the Down by stepping on the leash, which added leash pressure towards the ground. After a couple tries he became consistent with the down offering it each time I asked. We then practiced down in the Place command. Place is a great command to use when trying to create a calm state of mind. It is the action of Drax going to whichever specific place I point to until I release him with the cue “Break”. When I cued Place to Drax he put his front paws on the bench but didn’t want to jump up. I helped him up onto the bench to show him he really can do it. After I helped him up that first time he became confident and jumped on all by himself! After becoming consistent with those new commands today we worked on all of his other commands such as Come to Sit. He is coming to me from a greater distance now. I tested his Heel and Come to Sit next to the other trainers dogs today. We were right next to a dog park where other dogs were playing off leash behind the fence as well. Other dogs are a big distraction for Drax so I am focusing on his obedience next to those challenging scenarios. Once we finished training and came back to the house we worked on his Door Manners and Food Manners. He waits for my release to eat and cross any threshold such as doors. Great work Drax!



 

Pupdate 02/24/2022



Drax and I emphasized our work today on the Heel command with sharp turns. I want Drax to stay with me no matter how quick our turns are so I used a lot of hand guidance which seemed to help him follow me. We then began to work on his Come to Sits with a greater distance. Towards the end of our session Drax didn’t need any leash pressure which is getting us closer to our Off Leash work! His downs are becoming more consistent and he now offers the behavior the first time I cue it. Amazing progress Drax!



 

Pupdate 02/25/2022




Today Drax and I went to the Americana! It was great exposure to loud noises since there was a lot of construction, and new things he has never seen before. When we arrived Drax was initially very unsure of the water fountain. It had a water show coming on every so often and Drax didn’t want to be anywhere near it. We worked through it together. I walked him back and forth starting from a distance and working our way closer to the fountain. I praised him a lot with “Yes” whenever he came closer to it. Towards the end Drax was able to Place right next to the water fountain! After we did some confidence building with Place, we began to work on our Heel with frequent turns in crowded areas. There were a lot of dogs walking by us which was great to work through with Drax. Initially he wanted to go say hi but after some redirecting and stimulations he stayed by my side. We will continue to work around dogs to build obedience near them.


 

Pupdate 02/26/2022



Drax and I went to the Santa Monica Pier today. It was a lot to soak in for Drax so I started out our session by Heeling around the whole Pier to give him proper exposure. After we took a stroll together we began to work on his Extended Sits. The Extended Sits were challenging for him in a really crowded area like the Pier. There were kids running around, strollers, bikes, and skateboards which made Drax very anxious. He initially didn’t want to Sit far away from me. Everytime I moved away from him while he was sitting he would follow. This is due to a lack of confidence without me being there. We worked on this and I only walked away as far as he was comfortable with. Then I slowly took one step at a time further away from him. By the end of the session I was able to be about 10 feet away from him in a crowded area. That was an improvement for him and we will keep building distance. After noticing this I emphasized working on his Extended Place command with distance as well. He is less anxious being away from me while he is in the Place command. This is due to having a visual target to stay on. It creates a calmer state of mind for Drax. He then was able to say hi to someone and practice his Greeting Manners. He stayed sitting the whole time and didn’t try to jump. We will keep building distance, distractions and duration for all of his commands!



 

Pupdate 02/27/2022








Drax and I went on a field trip today to Huntington Beach! I can tell he was very excited to be there and got more excited the closer we got. I began to work him as soon as we got there to teach him how to work through excitement at new places. Initially he was reactive towards a few dogs and skateboards that he saw going really fast near him. We worked on our heel with a loose leash. I had to apply some leash pressure when we first got there due to his pulling but after about 10 minutes of working through it the leash was loose and he had a consistent heel walking near dogs and all the bicyclists. He was able to hold his Extended Sit for 2 minutes around all these distractions. I was able to add distance as well. We worked on his place with multiple surfaces and he is confident about that holding it for a whole two minutes. His come to sits are consistent and overall he did great with the distractions. The exposure to all of these environments has helped him gain confidence in these situations.

When we got home he was able to play with my dog Bear. They waited right next to each other for my release word “Break!” to start playing . I am teaching Drax to have a solid recall even during playtime. He is doing good with this, and Comes to Sit by my left side whenever I request. They are great play buddies and had a ton of fun together!


 

Pupdate 02/28/2022


Drax and I got the chance to work on everything he has learned at Pan Pacific Park. There were a lot of dogs at this park and some even off leash. Drax was interested in all of the dogs around him, but he did work through it and stayed quite calm most of our trip. We worked on Extended Place a lot today and on different surfaces. At times he hesitates going up on surfaces so I help guide him with my body language and leash pressure. I hardly have to apply any leash pressure now, only when we intially get to places or when he needs help with Place. Distractions are the main thing we focus on proofing our commands around. Great work Drax!



 

Pupdate 03/01/2022






Drax and I began our Off Leash work today. He only had the bungee leash on which I hardly had to use with him. He stayed next to me the whole time we were at El Dorado Park. His heel Was impressive while around ducks that were moving everywhere. The biggest distraction for him were squirrels that he wanted to chase but after reminding him to heel with stimulations he checked back in with me. He held his Extended Sits and Place for 3 minutes each. This means he has already beat our 2 minute minimum standard. We then worked on his Come to Sits which is difficult when there are a ton of distractions, but he worked through it and was able to do it at a distance. We will keep building distance and distractions in new environments!


 

Pupdate 03/02/2022



Drax and I continued his Off Leash work at The Citadel Outlets. He stuck by my side while we were there the whole time. He gets excited when he sees other dogs but not nearly as excited as he used to. I give him a couple of “Off” cues with stimulation whenever he seems to get too interested in another dog which helped him do good with not trying to approach any at all. He was able to say hello to a few friendly people at the outlets and practice his greeting manners as well. He hasn’t tried to jump while being pet and we always make sure he is sitting the entire time he is being pet. If he gets up from the sit position the petting stops. This applies to whenever he is overexcited. After the Citadel we went to the local park to relax and bond together. I laid out a blanket and asked him to lay Down with me on it. He did and we stayed there for a whole hour while I did some reading. Any trips we take together is always great exposure to distractions for him!



 

Pupdate 03/03/2022







Today Drax and I took a field trip to The Block Of Orange Outlets. We worked around a lot of distractions like people and dogs. There were high energy dogs that caught Drax’s attention. We worked through it and got about 10 feet away from the dogs without Drax reacting. After practicing around those dogs we worked on all of his commands he has learned. He did great with his Heel command Off Leash and his Extended Sit is consistently at 2 minutes. When he gets tired of sitting he lies down but this is after we have worked together for a few hours which is understandable so I give him frequent breaks to let him lay down. He has done good with exposure to loud noises. I have noticed his biggest trigger is really loud carts that pass by him. He did not like the janitor cart that was passing by us. We will keep exposing him to loud noises and big objects like that. After the Block we came to walk around a grassy walk way in my neighborhood. We had fun just walking together and he enjoyed being able to sniff around and explore.



 

Pupdate 03/04/2022


Drax and I went to Hollywood today! It was a big day for him because there was so much going on. The noises of the bus and large crowds of people with skateboards instantly made Drax anxious. I let him soak in his surroundings and kept walking around to give him exposure and help calm him down. It’s best to keep moving forward so he doesn’t focus too much on anything specific. Once he seemed less anxious we began to work on everything. We didn’t do much off leash work since he wasn’t too confident in this area but as time passed he wasn’t as anxious and was able to lay down comfortably during our break. Even though we used the bungee leash I didn’t apply much leash pressure because I still want him to figure everything out on his own now. His Come to Sits were off leash and he did great with coming to me especially towards the end. Exposure is key to building confidence with him in new areas.



 

Pupdate 03/05/2022






Drax and I went to Santa Monica Pier today. We did off leash work the entire time while at the Pier and Drax did great. He was very consistent with his Heel making sure to follow me everywhere I went. He has improved with his Place cue not needing me to guide him with any leash pressure for Place which shows me he is building confidence. He was able to say hi to multiple people and sat the entire time. Our other trainers dogs were there with him during his breaks which is great exposure and practice to remaining calm when dogs are near. Reacting to dogs is rare for him now. If the other dog is extremely high energy and reactive Drax does get the urge to become reactive. When I notice his energy shifting I give him stimulations at whichever level he needs at the moment and go up levels on the E collar in increments of 5 until he checks back in with me. This only happened once today with a dog that was barking and lunging at him. There were numerous dogs Drax was able to Heel perfectly by and I couldn’t be more proud! Outstanding progress Drax!



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