Gizzy | Chihuahua X | Whittier, CA | In Training
- Alex Kruse
- Dec 11, 2025
- 10 min read
Updated: Dec 24, 2025
Meet Gizzy! He's a 1-year-old Chihuahua mix from Whittier, California, and he's here for our Two Week Community Board and Train Program. Gizzy is a little bundle of pure energy who often doesn't know what to do with himself! He wants to chase things, run out doors to be chased, grabs things he shouldn't, and greets people with a little too much enthusiasm. Over the next two weeks we'll make sure Gizzy knows all his foundational commands so we can get some of those impulses under control, teach him not to dart through doors or to jump on people, and teach him to leave things alone when told. Stay tuned for Gizzy's two-week transformation!
12/11/25
I took Gizzy to a park near my home to see what commands he already might know. He seems to understand the Sit command somewhat, but everything else? He either doesn't know or was simply blowing off the stranger so he could do dog things lol. He's got a pretty decent pull on the leash for a little guy, so we're going to work on his Heel pretty heavily right away. That and his Recall (coming when called) because it's important for him to understand and follow through on that despite what's going on around him. At home he got along with my other dogs right away. He doesn't appear to be anxious or stressed out at all, which will make the transition a lot easier and we can get him focused on working a lot faster. He considered trying to dash through the gate once, but responded well to a verbal correction. He seems like a smart, sweet little guy, and I look forward to bonding with him over these next two weeks!
12/12/25
So today we went straight into that Heel work on his E-Collar. I had it down at a Level 5, which was just high enough for him to respond to, but not so high that it would be stressing him out. As explained in the video, as long as he was relatively in position, he got praise and encouragement, and the occasional treat if he would take it. If he tried to pull out of position, he'd get a correction. Corrections started more heavily with the collar at first, then eased down to more verbals the more we worked. It's going to take a lot more practice, but he was starting to catch on by the time we finished out our session. Heading back to the car and then back to the house once we got back, even though I didn't ask for the Heel, he was already easing back on his own so there wasn't all the hard pulling he was doing yesterday. He's clearly very smart, so I think he'll catch onto this one quickly! At home, he had a great night, no issues, and an even better morning. He was inside for a little bit with my border collie, who fell in love with him instantly. They were running around with toys and generally playing chase back and forth from the room out to the run and back. They were so cute! And Gizzy is already catching on to the Wait when I'm putting down his food, as well as when we're going through doors. He's fitting right in!
12/13/25
I took Gizzy to one of my favorite easy walking trails along the wash today. It's narrow with very little distraction, so it helped Gizzy focus up more on what we were doing. He started off trying to zoom all over the place, but after a couple quick corrections, he seemed to remember what he learned yesterday and fell into position pretty well. He even looked at me several times today, which was great! I was able to keep the leash loose a lot more than I did yesterday. I also began teaching him to Sit whenever I stop walking. We also worked on extending the time for his Sit, which he's starting to get in-home fairly well, but I wanted to work on it outside with more distraction. I just stuck to the short leash today so I wouldn't make it too tempting to break position, but he was getting it okay so I'll try to switch to the longer line tomorrow for some more distance. We did a little bit of work on his Down and his Recall today too, with him being actually pretty decent coming when called even while he's distracted, but he'll need some more work on the Down before I can comfortably say he's grasping it. We'll get there!
12/14/25
Today we went to a large, relatively empty park to give us some space for Recall work and more distance with his Sit and Down. It became mostly a day of impulse control. He saw that big field and wanted to run! Which meant the Recall practice where he got to run over to me was pretty much a breeze, but the extended Sits and Downs were what we had to drill several times over. He's doing great with these commands at home, but that terrier in him definitely kicks in when we're out exploring! After our session I made sure he got to sniff around every inch of that field, and we even started some practice on his Place command when we got to the softball bleachers. He's picking everything up pretty well, it's just the control it takes to sit still for a few minutes is what's tripping him up. He's getting better and better at it each day, though, so I'm sure he'll have it down by the end of his two weeks!
12/15/25
It was our group practice today, which was great because I hadn't yet worked Gizzy around other dogs out in the world. He definitely wanted to go make friends with everybody, so we did a lot of those extended Sits and Downs again, and his Place on the cot, so he knew he couldn't just run over and say hi until released. It was also good for him to just watch their movements while remaining calm and still. We got to practice Heel around the other dogs as well, his Recall while distracted, and some general greeting manners with people. He did everything really well today for his first time around a group of strange dogs, I'm proud of him!
12/16/25
We started working on weaning Gizzy off the leash today. I did a little bit of Heel work with his short leash clipped to my belt so it would remain loose, but it was still secure in case he decided he'd rather take off. At no point did the leash ever go tight, and I only needed to use verbals to keep him in place if he strayed a little bit from his position. I then switched to the long line so I'd have something to grab if he darted, but again, I was able to drop it entirely and he didn't try to take off. He was able to do his Extended Sit, Down and Recall without me touching the line. We also did Place on the picnic table a few times over, and he did amazing with that. It was like everything really clicked into place with him today on what I expected and he made it a breeze. We also attempted to work with a chicken this morning! One got into my yard so I hooked Gizzy up to go see what we could do, but the chicken darted before we had a chance to even try anything. One did run past the fence a bit later on and he watched it, but he didn't bark or lunge. I'll try again if I see more!
12/17/25
I tried to take Gizzy over to my favorite horse trail to do some fully offleash work today, but it was sadly closed for maintenance. We diverted to a nearby garden trail that runs along a street, so I kept him on the long line for safety. He did really well with all his commands, but for some reason any time I'd break him from the Heel, he'd immediately try to go walk in the street. I assume that's a carryover from when he was a stray, but definitely something to be aware of. I corrected him each time he began to go that way, but it was still every single time I released him from his Heel without hesitation. That trail is pretty wide and not rough at all on the paws, so I think it was just a matter of habit rather than discomfort, and definitely something we need to break him of doing. I usually do more park work with heavy distractions the second week, but I'm going to divert to more neighborhood walks for him to make sure he knows if there's a sidewalk, he needs to stay on it!
12/18/25
We did a little bit of a mix between neighborhood walking and park practice today. He did fine walking the sidewalks, but his work at the park was on a whole different level because everything else there was hectic while he was behaved! And he was fully off leash too! First there was a guy who let his German Shepherd off her leash while I was filming. She was friendly, but not so much to my drone I film with. She came running by twice while Gizzy was holding his Heel trying to jump up and grab the drone. The guy finally leashed her and left, so we started again, but then we had issues with kids running over to try to grab the drone! Gizzy was perfectly mannered through all of that chaos, sticking close and holding his commands. For only having a week of training and this being his first time fully off leash with all that distraction, it's incredibly impressive. He did an amazing job today!
12/19/25
I took Bear out to the busiest playground I know today for more distractions and to work some greeting manners. He was very happy to be able to go say hi to anyone who was interested, even if he had to sit before getting attention. But he also worked just fine when I was giving him his commands, paying no mind to the kids running around him while he was focused on me. I did keep him on the long leash again for this just because we were working around a lot of small children, but I feel like he probably would've done fine without it. He never pulled and stayed close all on his own. He's really learned to lock in so from here on it's mostly just practice and refining!
12/20/25
Today we went over to a softball park in Duarte that's mostly fenced in. I worked him off leash the entire time, walking him all around the park and working on all our commands. When he's focused up and knows we're in work mode, he does amazing. He stays with me, his Heel is great, I can move away from him and he'll come back right away. I still wouldn't quite trust him off leash in an area that isn't fenced, though, he's not ready for that when he's been released from his commands. He sort of takes that as I'm free! and runs with it a little too literally. We'll keep working on it, but for now we're going to keep him on a long line if we're in open parks and neighborhoods. Otherwise he's doing great!
12/21/25
We went for a little Christmas photoshoot today in Old Town Monrovia. It's a Sunday, which meant lots of people were out and about, so we got a lot of good practice working on our Heel through crowded sidewalks, outdoor diners, and other dogs. He did great putting me up with me posing him for all the photos, and his Recall was spot on while we were practicing in the library's park. I kept him on the long line the whole time and was able to drop it to let him drag it in the park, and that seemed to be enough for him to not consider going on a solo adventure. It was a fun day for both of us overall!
12/22/25
We had one more group practice with Gizzy today and he did great! We ran through all his commands working around other dogs and people, and worked on his greeting manners some more. He's still very eager to say hi to people and play with dogs, but he often catches himself and self-corrects now before even being told, and he responds to his verbal corrections well. He ran through all his drills quickly with very few corrections, so I let him have some play time with the other friendly dogs to end out the session. He had a fun day overall with everybody!
12/23/25
Gizzy and I went back to Live Oak Park to practice again with some more distractions and to work on his greetings some more. There were a lot of dogs walking the track today, but he did well with leaving them alone when I told him to, and I'm hoping that'll carry over to the chickens! We ran through all his commands as we walked around, going from one to another without releasing in between, and he did very well with that. And he did amazing with his greeting manners, everyone loved him so much! He's a popular little guy!
12/24/25
It's our last Pupdate in your two week program! It was too rainy out to go have a fun park day, so we worked on all our inside commands one more time. He's gotten very good at waiting when told, staying in his Place until released, and leaving things alone when I tell him to. He's even learned not to grab socks (at least when he's being watched, but he's a smart little guy, so I still wouldn't recommend leaving them out when he knows you're not looking!).
Gizzy has been a blast to have around the house and a great little guest overall. He's a fast learner, he made friends with every other dog who came through, and he's super sweet. Some of the behavior issues he was exhibiting at home most likely stem from having too much energy with nowhere to put it, so I wasn't seeing some of them here while he had other dogs to play with. I think he would do great if he went to doggie daycare to burn off those zoomies, then he'll come home nice and tired. I'm sure he'll be a hit there like he's been at my house! He's a fantastic dog and thank you so much for letting me be a part of his learning journey!
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