George | Golden Retriever | Pasadena, CA | In Training
Updated: Jun 13
Meet George! He's a 10-month-old Golden Retriever from Pasadena, California, and he's here for our Three Week Reactive Board and Train Program. George is a big dog, and he knows it! He throws his weight around to get his way with his owners, often jumping, grabbing the leash, and mouthing as a means of bullying people until he gets what he wants. He's very happy to see any person, but he's reactive towards other dogs and will lunge and bark at them. Over the next three weeks he'll learn that he can't push people around anymore or jump on them for greetings, how to be around other dogs on leash without lunging at them, and that he still has to listen to all those commands he learned as a puppy but wants to be selective about in his teen months. Stay tuned for George's three-week transformation!
5/24/26
After George's drop-off, I took him out into the park to see what he would do for me on his first day. While he was able to give me his Sit pretty cleanly, everything else was pretty much just George being George. He got the zoomies almost right away and was having a great time bounding around and grabbing at the leash. Heel was definitely not happening, and while he did come when I asked him too, it was more of a charge than a clean Recall. He was mouthy when I was getting him to drop the leash, and he was all too glad to show off those reactive behaviors when another dog walked by. On the plus side, he was actually really well-behaved in the crate on the way home, so I don't anticipate issues there! At the house, introductions with other dogs also did not go well. A lot of times dogs can be leash reactive but they're fine when it's off. George was not having it with friends at all today. It was his first day and I know he's a little thrown off by being in an all-new environment with strange smells and people, so I'm hoping we can try again once he gets settled in more, but as of right now we can't risk any play time with other dogs. He does have plenty of space in his own play yard and didn't bark or fuss at all while in there, so if we can't graduate him to having friends, he's perfectly content with his private suite at least! He also doesn't seem to be overly anxious about anything, and didn't do too badly with trying to push me around today, but he did already try to test a few boundaries. House rules, manners and expectations are certainly going to be the first in line to be reinforced, then once he knows he can't get what he wants until he gives me what I want, everything else should fall right in line!
5/25/26
It was our group practice day today, so we threw George straight into it where he had to start learning how to perform his commands around several other dogs and people. We did a lot of work initially on just his greeting manners, making him Sit and hold it before he was invited to sniff other dogs. We noticed a pattern of him doing decently well with it until the other dog made any fast movements, so then we switched to just making him Sit and watch as we sent a dog running past him chaotically several times. He did lunge once, but I was able to correct him quickly and after that he was able to maintain his Sit without issues. We also ran through all of his general basics, working on getting him to hold his Sit longer, stay in a proper Heel while walking, and teaching him how to come around into the Heel position directly during his Recall work. The Down is where we ran into issues. I know he knows how to do it because he did it for me yesterday once at the park, but today he was not having it. He fought me on it quite a bit so I got help from one of the other trainers, and with a lot of effort and trying different methods, we were finally able to get him to go Down several times. He's very stubborn and he knows how strong he is, so we'll have to keep working on it before he'll do it smoothly, but it's a start! As far as at home goes, he did a little bit of fussing in his crate last night, but it didn't take too long before he settled down. He did try to pull some of his bullying techniques here and there any time I handled him, but I'm quick to correct him on it so he learns those tactics aren't going to fly here while he's in doggie bootcamp! After session and after his nap, I was able to take him into the play yard with my border collie today for a brief, supervised visit. He was much better than yesterday, exhibiting none of the reactivity he did when I tried before. They sniffed each other, and I let him walk around the yard on a tether, keeping the energy low with both him and my dog. I'll keep doing these small sessions until I'm confident that he's going to stay friendly, but he's got a bit of a hair trigger, so I have to go very slow and careful with him. I'm very pleased with the level of improvement he's showing just after one night, though, so let's hope that's a good sign of how quick his progress is going to be overall moving forward!
5/26/26
In a direct opposite from yesterday's experience, I brought George over to a small local neighborhood park to work where there were almost no distractions. This way I could reinforce his commands without the difficulties of performing around anything that could divert his attention outside of new smells. While he did pretty good with giving me his Sits and holding them until released, he gets really amped up whenever I break him, going into full zooms for a second until he calms back down. I'll have to get him to release more calmly before I can graduate him from the short leash to a longer line. Otherwise he's going to get us both all tangled up! He did give me his Down commands today without all the difficulty he was giving us yesterday, though, so that was a great improvement. The first several times he did it, he flopped all the way over on his back, but after correcting his form a few times he began to do it normally. And his Heel work and Recall were pretty smooth today. At home, he was able to sleep in his crate last night without the Trazodone this time, and he didn't have any today, so considering it's still extremely early in his training, I have high hopes that he won't be needing it by the time he goes home. I also tried him in the yard again and he did well on the line, so I let him off it for a little bit. He started to play nicely with one of the other high-energy dogs, doing his play bows appropriately and taking turns on who was chasing who. When he got too riled up in another dog's face and the other dog gave him a small correction growl, however, George immediately went on the offensive. Nothing happened, I was right there to correct him on the collar and I instantly sent the other dog away, but it was pretty much what I expected. He has that hair trigger I mentioned yesterday and he takes corrections from other dogs as a challenge when he needs to learn to simply back off when he's told to. Until he can learn that, I wouldn't have him alone with other dogs just for safety reasons. But we'll keep working on it!
5/27/26
I think I finally had that breakthrough with George I was hoping for! I took him out to Pamela Park, which is another neighborhood park close by my place, but bigger than the one we visited yesterday. He was able to give me all of his commands with almost no pushback on anything, including the Down, and I was able to teach him Place on top of the picnic table within only a couple tries. I made sure to run him quite a bit during our Heel work not only to make sure he knew to keep up with me and stay in position, but also to get out some of that abundance of energy he always seems to have. That worked like a charm! We didn't have any moments between commands where his zoomies kicked in, and he was really mellow when we were just walking around the park afterwards to let him explore and do dog things. He's still a little reluctant to get into the crate in the car, but that's the only thing we only mildly struggled with today. I'm really happy with how much he keeps improving each time I take him out, which is giving me high hopes on where he'll be come the end of his third week. We had a busier daycare crowd today, so I decided not to test his social skills for everyone's safety. He did walk by the yard without starting up a fuss and went back into his own run to lay down, no problem. He did even better in his crate last night, as well, so he's starting to get used to it, and we're in Day 3 without having to use the Trazodone. The firm house rules and general rigid structure in regards to his behavior seem to be really helping him to regulate himself a lot better. He's definitely still a goofy, happy boy, but he's quickly learning that having good manners is getting him a lot further with what he wants than by trying to push people around. He's catching on quick and I can't wait to see where it goes!
5/28/26
George had somewhat of a hit and miss day today. Mostly hits! But it was one of those days where we started off with him really trying to see how much he could get away with at home before session. While he does like going out, he knows he has to behave when he has his gear on, so he was fighting me a bit while trying to get him ready to go. He only tried to mouth me once, though, so it wasn't too bad, mostly it was just working on getting into a position where he couldn't stand up on his hind legs to paw at my arms while I was trying to get him geared up. I kept going until he gave up, and he will hopefully remember moving forward that it's easier to just let me do what I need to do because he isn't going to win anyway lol. On the positive side, we did our session out at Arcadia Park, which is huge and has lots of distractions like squirrels and other people walking their dogs around. I graduated him to the long line today, so I was able to make more distance with his Sits and Downs, and have him come to me when called from further away. He did great with all of that, only needing a few corrections here and there as reminders on what the expectations were, and he didn't lunge after any squirrels or dogs. I do need to work on getting him disengaged from other dogs, though. He would Sit for me and stay there, but he would always turn to sit so he could see where the other dogs were. I'll have to work on getting him to focus and face me instead, but at least he wasn't throwing a fit at any passing dogs, so we're heading in the right direction! And then, to end on more good notes, he got in the crate in the car all by himself when we were leaving the park with no corrections and no extra coaxing. And he was able to have a longer, more appropriate play session in the yard today where he's finally starting to learn how to read cues from other dogs. We may have had a little bit of a rough start, but we had a very strong finish today!
5/29/26
We had a much better day with George today! He behaved perfectly while I geared him up for session this morning, and I decided to go ahead and challenge him a little more by taking him to the dog park. We don't work dogs inside the park, but there's plenty of action outside the fences and in the field across the parking lot. I started off on the short leash again for better control while I had him Sit by the gate so he could see other dogs at high-activity. Even with dogs running and barking just inside the fence right next to him, he stayed nice and calm for me. Seeing that he was going to behave, I took him to the grassy area and switched him to his long line, working him on all his basics while he was in sight of dogs at all times. Today he did great with just ignoring them and paying attention to what I was asking for. There were still a couple times he acted out when it came to wanting to roll around when I asked for a Down, and he broke his Place command a few times here and there, but with a couple reminders and corrections until he got it right, he shaped up again. At the end of the session I went ahead and tried a leash drag on him, where I'm only holding onto the very end of the line so he has to follow all his cues without any leash guidance. We only did it for a few minutes, but he was doing great with it! That being said, I feel comfortable with trying him without the prong collar tomorrow back in a low-distraction area. George is very smart and he's going to be aware that it's not on, so I'll have it with me in case I need it, but hopefully with only the e-collar for corrections he won't act out. He's shaping up quick, so I'm hopeful!
5/30/26
Brace yourselves for this....George gets an A on his report card for today! We went out to Library Park in Monrovia, which on Saturdays is usually crawling with kids, picnickers, and lots of other people walking their dogs. And, of course, squirrels. Not only did I take George there during a busier part of the day, but I worked him on the long line, entirely on the flat collar, no prong today. And he did amazing! He only briefly attempted to roll onto his back once when I asked for a Down, but he righted himself with a quick verbal correction. He didn't try to pull on his Heel or even when I let him have the lead to be a dog for a little while in the open grassy area. He came when I called him every time without any leash pressure. And, this made me chuckle a little bit, a lady walked past very closely with her tiny little poodle creature who was going absolutely nuts on its leash. George sat there and watched like it was no big deal, and the lady commented, "Look how calm that dog is, why can't you be like that?" Success! He's a role model now and we're only a week in! He did startle just a little bit when a guy on a bike zoomed by us a little too close, so I kept an eye out for more bikes as I was wandering around. I found some kids doing circles in the empty parking spaces at one corner of the park, so I had him sit and watch just for a little while so he could get used to it. He wasn't bothered by them at all, so I think the first one was possibly just a fluke because he went by so fast, but I'll try to test that again over the next couple weeks. I want to make sure I get him some exposure in case they're a trigger, along with scooters and skateboards if I can. Once we knock everything he might want to lunge at off the list he should be the normal, mellow Golden on his walks that we expect him to be!
5/31/26
In the continuing saga of George keeping me on my toes, I found out today that he is infatuated with basketball lol. I brought him over to Live Oak Park, which tends to be one of our busier ones, especially on the weekends, but I didn't anticipate basketballs to be the thing he had issues with! There were plenty of people walking their dogs, kids swarming all over the playground, plenty of tennis and pickleball games going, and bikes going by, but he wanted to stare at the courts. So a lot of today was actually letting him do that. I would work him a little bit, then bring him over to (calmly) watch the games, then run him a little bit, then bring him back to watch some more. I wanted him to get used to all the movement and the balls bouncing around without having any reactions to it all, and while he was still watching closely by the end of session, I did get him laying down right next to the court. Outside of that he did pretty good. The table I had him do his Place on was very close to the basketball players, so he wasn't as clean with that as normal, but we got there. And then there's a small moment where a child right ran up behind us much like the bike rider did yesterday, and just like yesterday, George spun around pretty quick (I marked the moment with an arrow in the video). He again didn't lunge or bark, but I could tell he was uncomfortable when he did it. So I don't think it's particularly the bikes or people themselves, but he doesn't like anything coming up fast behind him. I'll have to practice with that some more so he isn't so tense about it. He's certainly allowed to want to look and make sure nothing scary is happening back there, but his reactions are a little too sharp for my comfort. A little more exposure with that, though, and he should be fine!
6/1/26
It's Monday, which means it was another group practice day. This time I had other trainers take him again on just the flat collar and long line to see what he'd do. As expected, he needed to test each person I handed him off to before he'd behave like he does with me. Mike had to put the slip lead back on him, being the first one to test him out, but then George got better with each person I handed him off to until he didn't really fight the last gal much at all. I think he was tired by then! He was also, as seen on the video, a little reactive to that little hyper dog who was spinning around on the leash (and it was also squeaking at the time). That's the first time in days that I've seen George actually react to another dog at all, so it's definitely still in him and more than likely he was still being feisty because I wasn't the one handling him. That being said, I know we still have two weeks to go, but I do want to stress that when he gets home, everyone needs to be incredibly firm with him. He's a very dominant dog and he's going to go right back to testing how far he can push his limits and get his way, and he's not going to fully behave until he realizes that he is not in charge of the house. Some of that is still the leftover hormones and his age so he should calm down more in the coming months, but he is very much a 'give an inch, take a mile' kinda guy, so no more inches! He's doing really great with his manners at my house now after only a week, so it shouldn't take long for him to get the hint when he gets back home too, but it'll be crucial to keep that up with him. He's a really fun, sweet, cuddly boy when he knows he's not the boss of the house, so don't be afraid to use authority with him when he needs it, and he'll be just fine!
6/2/26
George and I wandered over to the Home Depot today to see how he'd do in that sort of environment, and it was definitely Distraction News for him! I had to be a little heavier with him on the corrections than I've had to be in the parks, but he was able to remember his manners after a few minutes of work. With people walking by in such close range and telling him how cute he was left and right, it was a lot harder for him to maintain his commands, so we're definitely going to step it up a notch in working him around crowds. A forklift and the big floor cleaner machine also passed right by us, and while he was absolutely infatuated with both, he was able to hold his Sits nice and pretty for me both times. He was really good with leaving things alone when I told him too, though, his Heel was really clean after those first few minutes of excitement. He knows all his stuff, so at this point we just really need to work on getting him more exposure to everything. On the plus side, he's not showing any anxiety anywhere we've been so far. He's just really excited to be there!
6/3/26
In our ongoing experiment of "will George behave here?" I took him over to the Santa Anita Mall today. I brought the prong collar with me just in case he acted out since I knew we'd be around a lot of foot traffic and a younger crowd than the Home Depot yesterday, but I never had to use it. He was a little tuggy on his Heel when we first went in, but like yesterday, he settled into place within a few minutes of walking and corrections. He was really good with all the general distractions, but we still need to work on making sure he doesn't break position when people are talking directly at him. He's cute and he knows it and wants to go say hi so badly when people are complimenting him! We'll continue to work on those manners of his even when he's excited so he learns that he isn't going to get attention from anyone if he's not sitting politely. Outside of that, though, he did fantastic for his first time in the mall with so many people around!
6/4/26
It was pretty hot today so we stuck to indoors, this time at PetSmart. There was certainly less foot traffic than at the mall, but he was actually more distracted today than yesterday with all the smells. It took a little longer to get him focused up on what I was asking him, but as usual, he fell inline after a few corrections. He only broke his commands when, again, people were coming up to pet him and compliment him. I had a harder time instructing people to wait until he was sitting than I did instructing him to stay put lol! He's just so big and lovable-looking, people can't resist him! On the plus side, he didn't try to jump on anybody, so we're seeing definite improvement there. Even better, whenever he seemed a little too interested in anything, I'd shoot him a Leave It command and he would turn away from whatever he was looking at. There were no moments where I had to wrestle stolen goods out of his mouth lol. He also paid no mind at all when we were passing other dogs, so his reactivity with dogs simply walking by seems to be nonexistent now. I'd still be wary of hyperactive dogs or reactive dogs that are lunging towards him, but for the most part, he's become way more interested in new sights and smells than he is towards other dogs in general. He's certainly improved a lot and knows what he should be doing, so I think really just having more practice and exposure in new areas will be what helps him most. He doesn't generalize very well, so we need to make sure he understands that, yes, he still has to behave in each and every new place he goes. It'll take a little time, but I'm getting him out to as many different types of environments as I can to give him the idea. Slowly but surely we're getting him there!
6/5/26
George and I wandered out to the Royal Oaks Trail today, which tends to have a lot of dogs and serves as a bike path, so I wanted to see how he'd do with all that. For the most part I kept him at a firm Heel, knowing he'd want to sniff at everything, and he certainly did try to take advantage here and there in moments when he thought I wasn't paying attention. With some quick corrections, he realized I wasn't going to let him get away with it (as usual lol), then he was fine with everything for almost the rest of the walk. He gave me all his other commands without much difficulty, so on the way back to the car I did go ahead and let him have some lead to sniff and do dog things. As long as he wasn't pulling and he would come back when I called him, he was allowed some freedom, and then of course that was when that motorized bike came up behind us! I didn't hear it between the cars going by next to the trail and my drone buzzing away, but despite that, George didn't even bat an eye at it! He did have a moment when we were close to the car again and I had him back on his tight Heel that a lady coming in our direction from ahead jogged by and he made a move towards her. He'd been relaxed and tired before then, staying in place without issues as we walked past other people, strollers and dogs, but for some reason that lady set him off. I was super quick on his collar correction so I don't think the jogger even noticed that he turned towards her, but once again I need it to be known that he still does have that random trigger about things here and there. We haven't had issues with joggers before (especially when he could clearly see them coming) so I'm not sure what it was about this particular girl that set him off, but it's a solid reminder that we always need to be aware of what's in George's space so we can stay on top of him before he has a chance to get too wild. He's really good for the most part, but sometimes he still can be weird about things moving quickly in his direction, so as long as we stay vigilant and prepared, he should be okay!
6/6/26
George and I went on a grand adventure today! I wanted a shopping area where there were a lot of people that wasn't the mall, so I pretty much just drove from one end of Las Tunas to almost the other looking for where the most people were lol. We wound up in Downtown Alhambra where plenty of shoppers were out and about, giving George lots of new challenges on more narrow walking space than he's used to. I had to remind him not to try moving ahead while on his Heel a few times, but outside of that and one stubborn moment near the end where he kept breaking his Down without being released (he was over posing for pictures at that point, but I kept on him until he was successful with the command, and then let him just be a dog the rest of the way back to the car), he did really great! He didn't try going after anyone at all today, including the kid that went by on the scooter, the man in a motorized wheelchair, and a Frenchie who was lunging and barking at him from less than three feet away. He did think about trying to sniff a lady's bag that had takeout in it, but he responded immediately to a quick Leave It command, and at one point we had to walk through the middle of a whole birthday party group full of young girls and their balloons all cooing at him because of how cute he is. He left all of them alone as we passed by, but did give them a happy smile and a tail wag! I also did let people pet him when they asked this time, but made sure he knew to sit and behave before they would touch him. He didn't try to jump on anybody, though after the teens all pet him, he did immediately go into play-bow zoomie mode for a second before I got him back into his Sit lol. He got lots of compliments today and overall was a pleasure to walk through Downtown with!
6/7/26
So for today's video I'm going with something a little different. It's very easy to show when George is doing well. And for the most part he really is! In today's video I wanted to show where he's struggling because I need it to be clear what he can handle and where he might still display some issues. I took him back to Live Oak because we know already he had a thing about the basketball players. He was totally okay in the city yesterday with tight crowds, but everyone was moving at a walking pace. In the open park where he's more comfortable and had plenty of space, he went right back to being triggered by anyone who was running, much like with the jogger the other day. (And probably the basketballs and soccer balls themselves also triggered him). Today there were people running around the park in all directions, so he had a really hard time not getting overwhelmed by all of it. Early in the video you see him looking off to the left, totally unfocused on our Heel work. That's where the basketball courts are, and we were a good distance away from them. Then he spotted the family kicking a ball around up ahead, so I worked him over there just trying to get him to focus on me. Then you can see him struggling to hold that Down - he wanted to go run into the fray so badly he was practically vibrating! After I made sure he could hold it without breaking on his own, I ran with him a little bit to get some of that energy out, then we headed back to check out the basketball players. He was able to do his Down much better there, so I do believe giving him somewhere to put that energy helps some. But, as you can see right after, I just worked on having him Sit. He did sit every time for me, but I wanted him to sit facing me, not facing everyone he wanted to look at. That was incredibly hard for him to do. I went back to using treat lures to regain his focus, and we did that over and over again until I saw some improvement. All that being said, things he didn't go after were bikes, other dogs, and the numerous kites that were floating around. At one point there were bikes coming up to pass a jogger on the pathway. George was not looking at the bikes but was interested in the jogger. So people running in general is most definitely a trigger for him, which is something to be mindful of. I can run around just fine and he'll chase me and not knock me over or grab at me, but I can't promise the same for a stranger or especially a child who can't handle his weight. For the next week I'll be taking him back to this park as much as I can just because we've found more triggers there than anywhere else. I'll do my best to get him to calm down around all of this, but I do want to make it very clear that these sorts of environments are where he might struggle most, so maybe the local soccer game won't be the best place to take him! He did have a whole crowd of children petting his belly before we left, though, so he is very friendly and can handle being pet. He just doesn't like a lot of people running, but I'll keep working at it!
6/8/26
It's Monday, so it was our last group session with George. This time I brought along a couple balls to have people kick around in hopes of showing him that he can't just go after toys he sees other people playing (and especially running around) with. One was a regular soccer ball that he was never allowed to touch. The second ball, on the other hand, was specifically for him. So it was a matter of showing him that, no, he can't play with that ball because I said so and because it wasn't offered to him, but he could play with the one he was given. If he was patient and could wait, then he'd get his own to play with. It was certainly hard for him, but we were making progress by the end of the session. He still wanted to focus on the ball instead of giving me his attention, but he stopped trying to lunge for it and was able to maintain his Down with less of a struggle. Granted this was with less people running in tandem with the ball being kicked around, but he needs the baby steps anyway, plus I could keep this very controlled. He still did the thing where when I handed him off to other trainers, he had to test them, so I'm positive he's going to still be a challenge when he first gets home and starts testing boundaries again. The first several days will be critical in establishing expectations, but he does catch on very fast, so if we can get through a couple days of being extra firm with him, he should be mostly okay. And I'll keep working on conditioning him to those triggers. He's clearly not bothered by the other dogs at all anymore, so little by little, we're getting there!
6/9/26
We all know George can be a handful when he's out, but he also has a lot of energy when he's at home, so of course we've been working on his house manners too. I wanted to show some of his progress there, namely displaying how far he's come with his impulse control issues. We already know George was taught to wait until released for his food, which we've reinforced a lot, but I've also been working the same drill with high-value treats in the bowls. In the video, there are several different types of treats he really loves, including cheese, so it was extra challenging for him, but he held his Sit until released like the good boy he's trying to be! Then he's also expected to wait until he gets into the car, which George already had a tendency to do because he preferred to be lifted up into it. He also was not a fan of the crate at first, so in this case, as opposed to just showing off that he can wait, I'm actually showing that he not only will get into the car on his own now, but will also willingly get into the crate without a fight so he stays nice and safe on his ride! Then the big one, of course, is staying put at open doors and gates. George used to love barreling through exits when he had the chance, whether it was to go outside, to come back inside, or in and out of the gates to the dog yard. He wanted to do things on his own agenda, so we've worked on that one a lot during his stay to make sure he knows he can't go through an entryway until he's released. This is not only a safety concern for him, but also for the people he tries to run over! He knows better now, so make sure to keep it up at home so he doesn't fall back into bad habits. He can absolutely behave, so don't let him tell you otherwise!
6/10/26
We went to Live Oak Park once again, but this time I brought George into the actual playground area. It wasn't crawling with quite as many children as usual, but there were still enough running around for me to see how he'd react. He was actually fine with them! I thought his prey drive would kick in a little more with tiny humans darting everywhere, but thankfully he does seem to know to be gentle with kids. He's certainly gotten his belly rubbed by enough of them! He was curious about them, but never really locked in on them like he's done with runners and of course with anyone playing with a ball. He was still fascinated by the basketball players, but I worked hard on correcting him any time he zeroed in on them, and praising any time he disengaged. I also brought the ball along that he's allowed to play with and used that to continue establishing the rule that he cannot go play with any ball except for his own, so he might as well not even bother. He was doing well with that until we moved a little too close to the courts, then he locked onto the players again, but once we made some more space he was back to playing with his own ball. With a little more of that type of practice I think we can break him of the bad habit. We'll be back to work on it again tomorrow!
6/11/26
We went over to Live Oak Park again today, but no one was there! That park isn't the best for shade, unfortunately, so I think it was too hot to people to want to be out playing sports. That being said, we aborted that plan and came back over to Pamela Park near where I live, which has tons of shade and I know there's usually a small "gang" of kids riding their bikes around the grounds lol. Sure enough, the kids were all there, so I did have some distraction to work George with. I'm pretty certain he's over the bikes, though, as he hardly paid any attention to them at all. I'd still be wary if they come up super close from behind, but he barely gave any of them a glance today. He just did his commands when asked and otherwise had a good time sniffing around and rolling in the grass. It was a nice casual outing at the park with no behavior issues in sight!
6/12/26
George and I went back to the mall today to do his official "pro-shot" video, and while we did get one that was clean with all his commands, I actually wanted to share this slight blooper one more. He flubs his Come-to-Sit a little bit, but it's also the part of the video that I'm so happy with. Normally when you come to the mall you don't expect to encounter people sprinting through the hallways, but of course that's exactly what happened right in the middle of us filming. I had him in his Place command and I felt my own heart skip a beat when those two boys came dashing right by us, which naturally I wasn't expecting to have to work on there, but while George certainly did notice them, he didn't break the command. I went ahead and called him right after they went by, seeing that he was losing focus, but I didn't realize that the little girl was still zooming up behind us. He definitely noticed her coming and was clearly excited, but he wasn't reactive in a negative way at all and was able to direct back to me with some quick prompting. He got himself back into working brain pretty quickly without mishap, and then did fantastic when the lady stepped up right beside him during his Sit, which I also wasn't expecting. Normally people make a wider birth around a big dog like that, but she got so close she practically brushed him with her bag! On top of that, people were literally chasing us down left and right to ask to pet him, including a blind man with his guide, so George got quite a bit of practice having to control himself around enthusiastic people. I did have to give him some reminders to stay in his Sit around the people who were amping him up a little too much, but he didn't jump on anybody, so that's a win! He did so good today, he definitely got some good treats when we were done!
6/13/26
It's our last pupdate in your three week program! I had a YOLO moment and took George over to the Santa Fe Dam. On a Saturday. When it's about as busy with everything under the sun as it's going to be. There were bikers, peddle-car riders, swimmers, people barbequing all over the place, people fishing, other dogs, of course people kicking soccer balls around and the volleyball players, and we also had geese to top it all off. I basically threw every trigger I could think of at him at once, and you know what? He handled it like a pro! And only on the flat collar! He was still interested in the ball players and I had to correct him a couple times when he wouldn't look away as promptly as asked, but outside of that, he had zero issues with anything else. That's including the geese! He was interesting, but didn't go chasing after them or anyone else at all. I really had hoped he'd go for the water since he's a Golden and all, but he was so timid about it! It took a long time for him to go further in than just his toes, but he was getting braver little by little each time he'd step in the water. The video clip was as far as he was willing to go in, but I think with a little more practice, he can still be the water dog he's supposed to be!
George has certainly been a challenge, but he's come a very long way in the three weeks I've had him. He's still very headstrong and requires a firm voice to keep him in line, but once he respects you, he'll test you less and less. There's also the fact that he's still very much a puppy, so he should grow out of some of the more exuberant behaviors in the coming months. He's a sweet, goofy guy who really just wants to play and have a good time. He just needs to be reminded that he can do so without breaking boundaries! He's been a lot of fun despite the challenges and thank you so much for letting me be a part of his learning journey!
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