Ellie | Shepherd Husky Mix | Bellflower, CA | In-Training
- Adrienne Lascari
- Oct 29, 2023
- 15 min read
Updated: Feb 29, 2024
Ellie, a five month old Shepherd Husky Mix, has joined OffLeash SoCal for our Two Week Board and Train Program. Ellie comes to us with puppy behavior such as being mouthy, not walking properly on the leash, little knowledge of commands, and is easily distracted. She is a very happy and excited puppy, but her excitement causes Ellie to jump when playing or greeting, bark when passing other dogs, and being reckless in the house. Over the next two week Ellie and I are going to work on her off leash manners and obedience. Check in to see her progress!
Pupdate 10/19/2023
Ellie fit right in when I brought her home with me today. She had the best time meeting and playing with her new friends. I gave Ellie a water bowl, but instead of drinking it, she thought it would be more fun to play and spill it all over. So I ended up filling our doggie pool so she can play in that water instead. After Ellie had her fun, we got right to work. I wanted to see what commands Ellie knows and how well she follows through with them. She is familiar with sit and down, but she does not follow through the first time I ask the command and also breaks command within a few seconds. These are things we will work during her training.
I have also added a video explanation on the e-collar I will be using during Ellie's training. Today we did not use the e-collar just so Ellie could settle in to my home.
Pupdate 10/30/2023
Today Ellie and I worked on heel and sit at La Mirada Regional Park. In the video I explain how we worked on heel. Ellie was very distracted by any movement around her, so we are working on using the "off" command to get her focus back on me. When she does not want to listen, she tends to throw tantrums, be very vocal, and bite the leash. It is important to work through these habits to teach Ellie that those are not ways to get what she wants. I have not implemented the e-collar yet since she is learning a new command and also she's learning what a correction means with the leash pressure. After working past her tantrums, Ellie began to heel next to me. She still made mistakes but it was an improvement from her pulling like she did before. She then ended her day splashing in the pool and playing with her friends
Pupdate 10/31/2023
Today Ellie and I worked at Hacienda Park on her sit, heel, and a new command down. Since she’s already familiar with the word lay, I will continue to use that when giving the command. She’s doing a lot better with her heel and no longer pulls as much like before. She still makes little mistakes like leading ahead, but she quickly fixes her mistake after a correction. She’s also holding her sit longer, and I can also add distance between us. She is getting better at doing the command when I first ask, but it is not consistent. Although she understands lay, she will go down into the position and get right back up after she takes the treat. After a few repetitions, she got better at holding the command. I’ve also started conditioning her with the E collar. She starting to understand the feeling of the stimulation. When teaching her new commands, I do not use the E collar, but I have been using it when she gets distracted and fixated on something. Today she was very focused on people walking around the park and tried to bark at them but I had said ‘off’, corrected her with the E collar, and she stopped barking. She can be stubborn when it comes to her fixating on some thing, but it is important to tell her off right away and if she does not listen, turn the collar up a bit and tell her off again until her focus is back on you.
With the collar we are not going to have a set number to what Ellie is going to be working on. In low distraction areas the number may be low and with higher distraction areas the number may be high. In the case of her being focused on other people, dogs, or anything she should not be focused on, we are going to keep turning up the remote until her focus is back on us.
Pupdate 11/1/2023
Today, Ellie and I worked at home on a new command, place. In the video, I explain how I teach place and what the command is great for. You could see that she was a little distracted because the other dogs were playing, but she did great learning the new command. Right now, we are starting off with teaching Ellie on low objects, but once she starts to understand the command, we will then move on to high objects like benches. We are also working on the commands she already knows. Place is a great way to build on Ellie's knowledge of sit and down because it's a comfortable spot for her to be on. This will help build duration and distance for those commands. Since Ellie has been learning new commands, we have been practicing in low distraction areas.
Today Ellie and I worked around Macy School neighborhood. We practiced all the commands she has learned now with a long leash. This will allow me to work on duration and distance while still having a hold of her with the leash. We also have been using the E-collar for corrections now that she knows the commands. Because Ellie is still a puppy, she can get bored of training, so it is important to keep it fun and have her engaged. We are still using treats when Ellie follows through with the command, but also adding in correction when she is making mistakes. Our goal is to not have to use treats when asking a command, so what helps with leaning off of them is randomily giving Ellie treats rather than each time she follows through. She still throws her tantrums when she doesn't not want to work and also is being mouthy. Giving into the tantrums and stopping the work at that moment will teach her that’s how she can get her way. The equivalent of giving the child a lollipop after you already told them no, just because they were throwing a tantrum. Also, whenever she tries to be mouthy, I tell her 'off' and correct her with the e-collar.
Pupdate 11/3/2023
Today Ellie got to show off her new skills in public at Lowe's. She did great following through with her commands. She has improved on her duration and distance as well! There were a few times Ellie got scared and it was when people walked by, holding large objects in their hands. I heeled her past the object she was scared of, and after a few laps she relaxed. I am very happy with how well Ellie is doing with her heel as well. She no longer pulls, except for when she had gotten frightened.
Pupdate 11/4/2023
Happy six months to Ellie! Today we worked at the Whittwood Town Center. We continued to practice all her commands around more distractions. At times Ellie was fearful towards people that greeted her, but she has gotten better at staying focused on me when going over commands. One thing she was distracted by was bikers and skateboarders. Any other distractions, she comes back to focus after I say 'off', but with bikers and skaters her curiosity gets the best of her. We will continue to work around these types of distractions to improve Ellie's focus. She is improving on all her other commands and is getting better each day with adding more duration and distance!
Ellie has been doing great going potty on the grass and has not had any accidents at home or out in public. Her potty schedule is normally right in the morning when she wakes up and is let out, in the afternoon noon (a while after she has eaten), and once or twice before bed time. I will continue to monitor her to keep you updated on her potty schedule.
Pupdate 11/5/2023
Today Ellie and I came back to Lowe's to work on her skills around light distractions. This time we practiced on leash dragging to work towards her becoming off leash. I wanted to practice more on her come to sit. When she is home and free, she tends to not follow through with the command. To work on this when I recall Ellie, I break her by throwing a treat so she can become distracted, then I recall her again. It keeps her engaged while also feeling like a game. After our practice, she now comes when I recall at home. She also was reactive at Lowe's when people came up to talk to us. When she barks I correct her, but she tends to have a hard time bringing her focus back on me. We are continuing to work through these habits the more we go out around distractions.
Pupdate 11/6/2023
Today Ellie and I worked on her off leash skills at the Brea Mall. I first started to heel Ellie on the leash, because in a new environment and lots of distractions, she was very curious of her surroundings. We then practice off leash in a low distraction area, then moved on to more distraction when she was ready. We are taking baby steps during this process, because any excitement can cause Ellie to lose focus. When walking around the mall, you can see that I'm going at a very slow pace because speeding up can heighten the excitement level. As we are heeling, I am also constantly telling Ellie "heel, good heel, good girl" the entire walk. It's not only keeping her engaged but also giving her direction on what to do. In the video you can see I turn in front of her a few times, and this is because she starts to lead. By making a sharp left turn into her, it causes Ellie to run into my leg and she learns she has to stay focused on the moves I make.
There was one time Ellie got over excited and barked at a dog, but what caused this was that the other dog was pulling on the leash, trying to go towards Ellie. She then matched the other dog's energy. There also was another dog who had passed us and payed no attention to Ellie, which then she stayed calm and even looked away from the dog. The only times I had used the e-collar was when I told Ellie 'off' any time she was fixated or sniffing things she should not be.
Pupdate 11/7/2023
Today Ellie and I went to the Citadel Outlets. We met up with another pup in training and we got to work around lots of distractions. We practiced more of her off leash obedience which she is doing well with. We took a walk around the mall on leash at first to familiarize her with the surroundings. She then got her excitement out and we were able to work off leash. She is still very curious of her surroundings, but she follows through when giving her constant direction.
When we first met up with the other trainer, Ellie stayed calm when approaching the other dog. Then when his dog showed excitement, Ellie began to bark. She did stop when I gave her a correction, but we will continue on her not being reactive when other dogs show excitement.
Pupdate 11/8/2023
Today Ellie and I trained at Huntington Beach. I had her dragging the leash today because I wanted to test how she would react walking past excited dogs. She is improving on keeping her focus during her commands! As we walked past many dogs, Ellie stayed calm and continued to heel without barking, even when the other dog wanted to come up to Ellie. I allow Ellie to look at other dogs or any distraction as we are walking to allow her to make the right decision. If she were to become fixated and lose focus, I would then give her a correction.
As for potty training, Ellie is continuing on the same schedule. She does not try to go potty when we are out in public nor has she had any accident as well. When we get home from being out, she will then go potty. Overall Ellie is showing lots of improvement each day in every part of her training!
Pupdate 11/9/2023
Today Ellie and I trained at home. We practiced her food and door manners. With food manners, we want Ellie to wait until we say she can have her food. This is a great way to prevent Ellie from eating things that she should not. With this command, you should be able to walk away and even turn your back from Ellie and she should still wait to eat her food. She has been doing great with her food manners! We also worked on door manners, and this allows you to be able to open your door without Ellie rushing out. This is great for when you need to run out the door to grab something or even let guests in and you don't want Ellie running out the door. At the end of the video you can see Ellie heeled out with me. When you are ready to leave with Ellie, again from preventing her from running out the door, it is great to heel her on the way out.
Pupdate 11/10/2023
Today Ellie and I worked around her biggest distractions, dogs and kids. We worked on all her commands on the outside of the dog park and near the playground. We first practiced on leash incase Ellie got too excited, but we quickly switched to off leash since Ellie was doing so good following through with the commands. There were a few times where she would not sit or lay the first time asking. After correcting her with the e-collar, she then followed through. She did not try to bark at other dogs, especially when they showed intrest in her and she did not try pulling in their direction. She did great walking past these distractions, but is very curious and likes to look at what's going on around her. This is okay unless it causes her to break command. Ellie and I have been working on the command "look" where she makes eye contact with me which helps to make sure she still is paying attention. This is different from saying "off" which is what we would use when Ellie is doing something that she should not be such as barking or jumping.
Pupdate 11/11/2023
Today Ellie and I went back to Brea Mall to train. She is doing great with her off leash obedience in high distraction areas. Many people gave Ellie compliments on how good she was being. We walked through some stores and Ellie thought she would help me do some shopping and decided to grab clothes off the shelves. After I noticed what she was doing, I would correct her and say off when she would try grabbing something. Overall, Ellie has shown great improvements and she can't wait to come home and show you what she has learned!
Pupdate 11/12/2023
Today Ellie joined me for some shopping at West Covina Plaza. We went into Sephora were she got lots of compliments on how cute and obedient she was being. The workers had asked if they could pet Elllie so we got to practice more on her greeting manners which she did so well with. This time she did not try picking things out for me off the shelves, but she was very interested in the boxes I would grab. She broke her sit only once to see what I had in my hand, but with a correction she fixed her mistake and went back into a sit. We walked by a few dogs who barked at Ellie but she stayed in her heel and looked away when I would say off. Ellie is improving each day on all her training!
Pupdate 11/13/2023
Today Ellie and I worked at Henry Boisseranc Park. We had met up with more pups in training which means we were able to practice more on Ellie's reactivity towards dogs. She did great following through with all the distractions around. A few times she tried to break the sit or lay command because she wanted join the other dog playing fetch, but when I gave her a correction, she went back into the sit or lay. Because she was being so good, I let her have some play time with her Husky friend. We also got to work on her recall with lots of distance. She does great coming to me when I call her, but her excitement sometimes causes her to not go into a sit. After some repetition, Ellie had a perfect recall!
Pupdate 11/14/2023
Today Ellie and I trained at home and practice all her commands. Because we train out in public most of the time, when we get home Ellie gets to have her playtime. Since home is fun to her, she tries to get away with not following through with commands. Today I wanted to practice with Ellie to show her the same rules apply here as they do when we are out of the house. This may happen when Ellie comes home to you because she was used to getting away with things at home, so it is important to not be lenient when giving Ellie commands. At first she was dristracted and wanted to play with her friends, but I held Ellie accountable to following through with her commands. Ellie did great with training today and showed more improvement!
Pupdate 11/15/2023
Ellie and I headed to the Irving Spectrum to work around distractions. She did great walking off leash although she was a little distracted because her friend Koda came along for the walk. She was in a playful mood out in public today, but I made sure Ellie followed through with all her commands. She did try to chase two birds that flew by us, but I corrected her and she went right back into the heel.
Pupdate 11/16/2023
Ellie and I trained on Birch Street today. I wanted to work on her heel, especially with her friend around, so we brought Koda along for the walk. Before she would be distracted when my sister walked Koda in front of us. Ellie would start to lead the heel because she was distracted. When this would happen I would do a sharp left turn into her and correct her with the e-collar if she bumped into me. After a few turns and corrections, Ellie began to pay more attention to me and less on Koda. She is still doing great on following through with all the other commands.
Pupdate 11/17/2023
Ellie has been doing so good with all her commands, so today we learned a fun new command! Ellie and I worked on 'through', where she walks under my legs and sits. We were able to build off her knowledge of the command come to sit to be able to teach her this new command. Ellie is such a fast learner, she already started to understand the command after a few tries! We also practiced her distance come to sit and come to heel. Come to heel is a bit different because when we ask Ellie to come, we are in motion rather than standing in one place.
Pupdate 11/18/2023
Today Ellie and I went to Whittwood Town Center to work on her off leash obedience around distractions. She did well walking past other dogs. She still likes to look at them, which is okay, and she has made great progress in not being reactive. She got so many compliments on her great obedience, and what a cute puppy she is. We worked on her through command today as well, which she is already understanding. Ellie also made a new friend today who is just as playful as she is!
Pupdate 11/19/2023
Today Ellie and I took a walk around the neighborhood and practiced more of her greeting manners. She did great being polite when greeting new people. In the video you can see that after Ellie gets affection, she becomes distracted and tries to lay in the direction of the person that pet her. When this happened, I gave Ellie a correction and moved forward to have her fix her positioning. This is important to fix even though she is following through with the command because she is focused on something else. This shows she is not paying attention to me. Her positioning should be parallel to you leg facing the same way as you. Letting these little mistakes go teach Ellie that she can do whatever she wants and can lead to her pushing more boundaries.
Pupdate 11/20/2023
Today Ellie was a helper to another pup in training. We worked around a dog who is reactive towards people and other dogs. We kept our distance so he can go through his training and Ellie and I got to practice more on her commands. When the other dog barked at Ellie, she did look his way, but she did not pull on the leash or bark back like she used to. These last few weeks Ellie has shown great improvements and we are are proud of how far she has come!
Pupdate 11/21/2023
Today Ellie and I headed down to Lowe's with her best friend Koda. We walked around and looked at their Christmas decorations. In our first week of training, we came to Lowe's and Ellie was easily distracted, pulled on the leash, and was frightened of people holding large objects. Today she was confident and obedient especially with her off leash heel! When I needed to grab something off a shelf, I had Ellie go into a lay and I stepped away from her to get what I needed. She waited patiently until she was asked to heel and we made our way to the checkout. When I needed to pay, I asked Ellie to 'through' so she can be out of the way of any by passing shoppers with carts. It is also a great command for instances like these where you are paying attention to one thing and want to have Ellie close by. I think 'through' may be Ellie's favorite command because she even does it at home when not asked. Ellie also got a new toy today. She is in her chewing phase, so we got her a durable toy for even the toughest chewers like Ellie. The rest of the day we spent at home playing fetch.
Pupdate 11/22/2023
Ellie and I went to Irvine Spectrum where there were a lot of holiday shoppers. She was a little distracted which caused her to break command, but I held her accountable and put her back into a down. Ellie did a great job staying focused and not reacting when dogs were present. She was interested in the little children that were running and playing, but was still able to follow at my side and heel past them.
Pupdate 11/23/2023
Happy Thanksgiving from Ellie! Today she spent celebrating the holiday with her best buds. She ran around the yard and played all day. We even pulled out the doggy pool for a fun pool party. This may have not been the best idea because all the pups got muddy, but at least they were having fun. After the fun we cleaned the pool out and it was time for everyone to get a bath. This was Ellie's least favorite part of the day, but we wanted her to look her best to greet all the guests who came over for Thanksgiving dinner.
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