Meet Gigi! She is a 14 month old Basenji from Glendale, California here for our Three Week Board and Train program! Gigi has a great personality and is very smart but she struggles pulling on her walks and jumping on the family and new guests. Over the next Three weeks, Gigi will learn how to behave on leash and off leash, how to properly greet people and other dogs, and how to be the best pup she can be! Stay tuned for Gigi's three week transformation!
_____________________________________________________________________________ Pupdate 01/29/23
When I picked Gigi up she did have some Hives that just came up this morning due to allergies that the owner had made me aware of and is why there was no feeding done tonight. The hives have gone down slightly with the Benadryl.
Gigi and I headed off to a local park to get acquainted and see what she knew. While out at the park she was very excited and wanted to pull to every dog and person that passed by. She did okay getting into a sit but struggled holding it or getting into a down. She avoided the place board and did not come when called. We then headed home to let her get settled in her new environment and spent some time bonding and playing.
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Pupdate 01/30/23
Gigi and I started off some training in home introducing the remote collar along with her come to sit command. She was a bit timid when we got started in our first session but did better throughout the day. She struggles with adding leash pressure and has a tendency to buck up so we are working her through that. By the end of the day she started to pickup on her come to sit command and did great coming all the way to me but struggled popping into a sit. She has settled in well and her hives have completely gone away today!
_______________________________________________ Pupdate 01/31/23
Gigi and I headed off to a local park to work on her come to sit command and introduce the place command. She was very distracted during our first session when we got to the park. After about 15 minutes of training she started to get into the swing of things. When we first started working on place she was timid and tried to avoid the place board. For certain dogs the board can be new and intimidating but after some repetitions she had no problem going over them. We will start adding some duration and distance over the next few days to this command. No hives again today which is great news!
_______________________________________________ Pupdate 02/01/23
Gigi and I headed off to Glendale this morning to work around some other trainers and dogs. Gigi struggled her first 20 minutes to follow through with any of her commands as she was distracted by the dogs and the kids playing. She got a bit nippy at the ankles at times but we were able to push her through it! By the end of the session she was walking well and holding her sits as distractions passed by. We will focus on some parks with a lot of kids running around the next few days as I saw today that was a big struggle for her. Her come to sit command is still a work in progress but she is getting better by the day!
_______________________________________________ Pupdate 02/02/23
Gigi and I headed off to a couple different local parks to work on her heel and come to sit command. We also worked on finding some new place objects to get her up on. She started to get into the swing of things today and only needed a couple reminders that when I ask her to come she also needs to pop into a sit. She did much better with her heel command around low distractions but did struggle not wanting to chase the birds. We found some new place objects and that was a struggle, as she did not want to jump up on higher surfaces. I have seen her jump higher at home so I know she can do it, it is just a lack of confidence getting onto new surfaces which we will continue pushing her through! We worked around some kids at the park and did fantastic from a distance but struggled holding commands once we closed the gap. We will continue finding parks with kids playing to help her be the best she can be!
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Pupdate 02/03/23
Gigi and I headed off to a couple different parks to work on all of her commands. While out at the park a fellow Basenji owner came up and admired how well she was doing. I attached apart of the video also showing how well she held her sit. She did struggle when he walked away to get back into training mode but within a few minutes she paid little to no mind. She has almost mastered her come to sit command and is doing much better holding positions and getting onto her place board. We have tried place on benches and tables and that is a struggle for her and something we are going to focus on as it will help her boost her confidence!
_______________________________________________ Pupdate 02/04/23
Gigi and I got started today working on all of her commands while dragging the leash. This was a struggle for her when we first started but she has gotten into the swing of things. At times I still need to pick it up to reinforce or tighten up commands but the goal is to continue phasing her off all leash pressure throughout the next few days. We also worked on getting her onto some new place objects like a park bench and table. She still struggled holding commands at times but we will continue working and pushing her to be the best pup she can be!
_______________________________________________ Pupdate 02/05/23
Gigi and I headed off to a local softball game and park to work on her commands around distractions. She struggled today more than the other days. Even after a 15 minute warmup she needed multiple reminders to stay in her heel command and it was very difficult for her to hold her sit command. Some days can be tougher than others so we will continue to work around as many distractions as we can and keep pushing her to be the best that she can be!
_______________________________________________ Pupdate 02/06/23
Gigi and I started off some training in home this morning and then headed out to the park this afternoon to meet up with my manager. I wanted to see how Gigi did with someone else working with her. While her and I have made great progress, Gigi still struggles at times to follow through with commands. I know she knows them all, but at times she chooses to not follow through. What that looks like is her blowing off what I am asking and continuing sniffing, not wanting to hold a sit or down, or wanting to pull towards something. With her struggling to hold positions like her sit, down, and place command it all goes back to impulse control which we will eventually gain with more time and repetitions. She still has a lot of time left in her training and she will continue to get better by the day! She is so goofy and playful and it is a blast to see her progress daily.
_______________________________________________ Pupdate 02/07/23
Gigi and I headed off to a couple new local parks to work on her impulse control. We went back to some of the basics with her today and she did much better. Sometimes we go to quick to fast and need to take a couple steps back to help give her some victories! We focused on her holding sits with less distance and a lot of movement. We also worked on getting her up on some new place objects. She did much better holding her sits but still needed a few reminders. She was a bit timid of the holes in the bench but after I got up there with her, she hopped on up all on her own. She did well with her “heel” command around no distractions but as soon as we got near people and other dogs I lost her focus. We will continue working on closing that gap but also taking into consideration what Gigi’s threshold is around distractions.
_______________________________________________ Pupdate 02/08/23
Gigi and I headed off to meet up with some other trainers and work around some dog distractions. She struggled this morning wanting to pull towards dogs, new people and new smells. We then headed out to a local park after with less distractions and she did fantastic. Gigi struggles in new environments and reverts back to old behaviors a lot of the time. Usually, after a 10-15 minute warm up she gets into the swing of things but at times she still can be stubborn and not want to follow through. We are working on taking her to as many new places and working through all of her commands reinforcing that the rules apply wherever we go.
_______________________________________________ Pupdate 02/09/23
Please see video for voiceover.
_______________________________________________ Pupdate 02/10/23
Gigi and I headed off to Santa Monica first thing this morning to work around some distractions. While there it took her a good 20 minutes to warm up and once she did she got into the swing of things. She still struggled at times getting distracted when birds flew over or new people walked up to us. We then headed home to give her a little play time with the other dog boarding with me who she loves! We then headed off to a local park to focus on her holding her commands on a place board. Sometimes using a “target” of some sort can help there brain understand what is being asked a little easier.
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Pupdate 02/11/23
Gigi and I headed off to a couple new parks today. We focused on adding in her down command outside along with holding her place and Sit command for longer durations. She did much better today and started to get into the swing of things. She only needed a few reminders to hold her sit and some light leash pressure to get into a down. You will see throughout the video the leash is loose 98% of the time and even was able to drop the leash today on a couple of commands and she followed through which was a huge improvement!
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Pupdate 02/12/23
Gigi and I headed off to a couple local parks today to work on all of her commands dragging the leash. While the park doesn't look to busy there are kids running around the playground, basketball behind us and a baseball game going on. This was Gigi's first session of the day which is huge improvement. Her warm up times have lessened the past few days and gets into the swing of things much quicker. Smells at times can still be a distraction for her so I am keeping myself as fun to her as can be by adding in some change in pace for her to make it a game. We also worked on starting to send her to place so we are not having to walk to the board each time. At times she still needs a few reminders to hold her sit or down command but gets into her commands much faster.
