Gwen | Bull Mastiff | Long Beach, CA | In-Training
- Scott Hansen
- Apr 12
- 16 min read
Updated: Apr 25
Meet Gwen! Gwen is an almost five-year-old Bull Mastiff here for our Two-Week Urban Board and Train Program. Gwen is a nice pup; however, she does display several unwanted behaviors. Gwen has poor leash manners, will not recall, and has highly unreliable obedience. Gwen has also shown reactivity to certain triggers during walks and in the household, such as growling, barking, and lunging. Gwen can perform a command or two with proper motivation; however, she lacks structure and performs tasks inconsistently. Over the next fourteen days, Gwen is going to learn to be an obedient pup through consistent, clear communication and balanced training at home and by discovering new people and places. Gwen will learn to perform all these things on leash through a positive and balanced training environment. Through structure and consistency, Gwen will demonstrate how great a pup she can be! Stay tuned for Gwen’s two-week transformation!
Gwen | Bull Mastiff | Pupdate 04/12/26
Today, Ms. Gwen joined me for her Two-Week Urban Board and Train Program. On the way home, we stopped at a local park to see what commands Ms. Gwen could perform. She did ok but not great! But I think you know that, and that's why she's here. After I tested her skills, we had a mini photoshoot for her profile picture for her blog. I don't know if you know this, but as soon as dogs see a phone or camera in front of their face, you are now invisible to them, and they must ignore you at all costs. Once we got what we needed, we loaded up and headed to Ms. Gwen's temporary residence for the next two weeks. Ms. Gwen had no issues with the car ride. It was tricky to get her back in the crate – I’ll get the rear hatch fixed ASAP so she can load in and out easier.
Once we got home, I let Ms. Gwen smell Ms. Toji and Ms. Lyra through the front gate. Ms. Toji was excited to see Ms. Gwen. Ms. Lyra was growling a little through the fence. Ms. Gwen showed interest in the pups but didn’t seem too excited. More skeptical interest if anything. Ms. Gwen had no problems coming to the house. I let her explore each room and meet everyone. Throughout the introductions, Ms. Gwen showed no adverse reactions. I took Ms. Gwen outside to meet Ms. Toji. Ms. Gwen was excited to meet Ms. Toji. I think Ms. Gwen and Ms. Toji will be fine hanging out with each other. I then brought in Ms. Lyra since Ms. Toji and Ms. Gwen were fine. I couldn’t tell if Ms. Toji or Ms. Gwen was growling a little when they were all hanging out, but I disrupted them, and they all calmed down.
We then went on a long walk around the block so that she could get used to the sights, sounds, and scents of her temporary new neighborhood. She had no issues with walking around the block. She walked ok on the leash. She was super interested in and a little stubborn when sniffing things she enjoyed. She went ahead occasionally and lagged at times, but mostly stopped to investigate some dog “hot spots” and was willing to keep walking. She mostly ignored all the other dogs in the houses that barked at us as we went around.
She was a lot more trusting of me after our walk and introductions around the house; I am not sure what her triggers are. Dogs of her age should be more adjusted and comfortable around things. At this age, they can be a little more willing to display their attitude towards certain things, such as growling, barking, and lunging. Furthermore, a lack of addressing that unwanted behavior from the moment it was displayed has conditioned Ms. Gwen to understand that acting like that gets her what she wants. It’s ok for her to be uncomfortable and skeptical, but she’s not allowed to cross a certain line, and we need to teach her where that line is. I expect to see her work well with the structure and positive reinforcement. We will be using the prong collar (as long as I have enough links to fit around her neck) with her, and this should help make it clear that those behaviors are unacceptable. With clear, persistent communication and expectations, she will learn to be a well-mannered pup!
I gave her dinner and observed how much she ate. I keep track of her weight and will ensure that she maintains her weight while she is with me.
I've attached the e-collar familiarization video. Please review the video a few times before Ms. Gwen's turnover. We'll practice together to make sure you are comfortable with the system before using it with Ms. Gwen. I will introduce the prong collar for tomorrow’s training. I don’t want to introduce too many adverse tools while still trying to earn her trust.
Gwen | Bull Mastiff | Pupdate 04/13/26
Today, Ms. Gwen and I worked on introducing her commands in the backyard. Ms. Gwen has been quite skeptical of me and the new environment. She is not willingly coming out of the crate. I have been doing my best to lure her out with treats or otherwise. She is giving me quite the skeptical look. I didn't want to reach in and force her out based on the attitude she gave me during the turnover yesterday. But she eventually let me get her collar, and I clipped in the leash and have been able to get her in and out as needed. She is getting along well with Ms. Toji and Ms. Lyra. Ms. Lyra is much bigger than Ms. Gwen, and because of that, Ms. Gwen has been reluctant to hang out with her.
I took the time to introduce the prong collar today and forego the e-collar for now due to her hesitancy around me. I did not want to do the e-collar and overstimulate her and have her be less trusting of me. I am still working on building a good relationship with her, and the prong collar allows me to work with her without it being too stressful. As you can see, she responded well to the prong collar. She listened well and was much more friendly to me today! Great progress! I'll probably wait until Wednesday to introduce the e-collar when I have more of her trust.
She didn't eat much of her food yet, but I'll keep giving her chances to eat. She is drinking water and going potty, so no issues there.
Off to a good start!
Gwen | Bull Mastiff | Pupdate 04/14/26
Today, Ms. Gwen and I headed over to Rynerson Park in Lakewood, CA, to review what she learned yesterday and introduce the "come-to-sit" command. Before we even left, it was a struggle to get Ms. Gwen into the crate. She was highly resistant and didn't want to go into her crate. Bad news for Ms. Gwen! She isn't in charge; her weight and resistance will not get her the result she wants. The leash pressure on the neck continues until she performs what we ask. Nice and steady pressure wins the day. She will resist and not want to perform the task at times, but as long as we are patient and persistent, the steady pressure will only be released upon successful completion of loading into the car.
At the park, she did well with her commands. A longtime local native was asking about Ms. Gwen and thought she was doing a great job. Ms. Gwen was hesitant to placed onto the dog cot, but with a little pressure, she went on. She is willing to perform the "down" but sometimes pops up due to her excitement. She wants me to pet her and give her attention, but too much attention is getting her overstimulated, and she jumps up to get more attention. She likes me and my attention. I introduced the "come-to-sit" with some treats. Now it is rinse and repeat, and taking Ms. Gwen to various public venues to work on her commands in environments with various distraction levels.
When we left, Ms. Gwen got into the car a bit more easily. She was excessively drooling when we arrived at the park, and when we got home, her paws were wet from the excessive drool. This is a sign of stress and possible overstimulation. She will get better at these things as time goes on when she realizes nothing bad is going to happen to her, and we are going to fun places to train and hang out.
Last night, she was a blast to hang out with. She was playing fetch with the toys. She kept wanting to jump into my lap while I was watching TV and playing video games. She let me pet her and rub her all over. I was looking for any adverse reactions and if she would respond in any way, but she let me check her without issue.
She still can be skeptical about coming out of the crate. She hasn't eaten much of her food, so I will keep an eye on that and monitor her weight. Right now, her weight and energy are good, so we will keep on trucking!
Gwen | Bull Mastiff | Pupdate 04/15/26
Today, I introduced the e-collar to Ms. Gwen. I used Ms. Toji to help me play with Ms. Gwen as I was introducing the e-collar; however, Ms. Toji decided to urinate on my training grass, so we had to send her back to her side.
Once we put Ms. Toji back, I worked on figuring out what a good level for Ms. Gwen is. She's about a 7-10 on the e-collar. I worked up to about 20-25 to see what her limit was, but she didn't really show much resistance to a higher level, which is good news, especially in case we need to disrupt her during a high-stimulus trigger.
Once I figured out her level, I reviewed the commands I had introduced to her, such as the extended "sit", "place", and "down". We practiced "heel" using the e-collar to direct her. I left off the prong collar so as not to overstimulate her with too many aversive tools. I even had my son come out and pet her to start her getting used to him. My goal is to have him walk her and practice with her so she can get used to being around a younger-aged male and still be responsive.
Over the next few days, we will be heading out to more public places, reinforcing the "come-to-sit" and working on her loading into the car. She really does not like loading into the crate, and we need to work on this since I plan on taking her to several places, and I don't want to battle with her every time.
Food note: She isn't eating much food. I did mix in some of Ms. Toji's fresh food, and she did eat significantly more with that mixed in. I'll keep mixing a little bit in to get her to eat. Her weight is still looking good, and her energy is still high during training and playing.
Also, I will be putting some Neosporin and cleaning the little cut she came with. It's pretty red/raw like she's picking it at, but I don't want it to get infected.
Gwen | Bull Mastiff | Pupdate 04/16/26
Today, Ms. Gwen and I headed over to Liberty Park in Cerritos, CA, to review all of her commands. We operated with the e-collar only. We were at about level 25 throughout the training. We worked on "Off!", extended "sit", extended "place", extended "down", "heel", and "come-to-sit". She did really well with all these commands.
As you can see in the video, Ms. Gwen was excessively drooling during the training. This is due to the stress of the training and leftover side effects from her trip in the car. She was excessively drooling on the way there and back. When she exits the vehicle and crate, her paws are all wet from the drive. She is responding well to the training and not lethargic or sick, so we will keep on trucking.
After the video, we walked around the park reinforcing her "heel".
She showed no adversity to any of the kids playing at the playground or people walking around the track.
Gwen | Bull Mastiff | Pupdate 04/17/26
Today, Ms. Gwen and I focused on her house and car manners. I demonstrated for you how to perform the two different types of door manners. She is coming along quite nicely. The first version requires her to sit and wait for us to open the door. This is the most frequently used door manners. We do this when we go in and out of the house. This is the most critical task to perform when you get Ms. Gwen back. You will need to set the tone immediately that the rules she learned with me now apply with you. She did a great job of patiently waiting at the door. The rule is that she can not go through the door before us. She may go through with us or after us, but never before us. As a reminder, this is a highly structured process and is foundational. It does not mean your dog will not run out of an open door.
The second method is to have Ms. Gwen perform a "place" and "down" or simply just a "down" near the door while we go in and out with groceries, take the trash out, greet people, etc. She is not to get up from this command until we release her with a "break!" The longer she can hold it, it will depend on how much you practice and reinforce this when you receive her back. Hopefully, with enough practice, you shouldn't need a leash when practicing this command.
Lastly, I demonstrated the car manners. This involves having Ms. Gwen perform a "sit". Opening the door and saying, "Load Up!" This one has come along extremely well. At first, she refused to jump into the car at all. Now she can do it from the ground, straight into the crate. Great progress, Ms. Gwen!!
Food note: I have been mixing in some of Ms. Toji's Just Food For Dogs fresh food into her kibble. This has motivated Ms. Gwen to eat a lot more of her food. She wound up finishing all of her food overnight.
Gwen | Bull Mastiff | Pupdate 04/18/26
Today, Ms. Gwen and I headed over to Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos, CA. I have not seen the parking lot this full since the holidays. It's hard to tell in the video, but each branch of the mall was full of people. You also can't hear the background noise of that many people moving around inside there. This is a lot of stimulation for Ms. Gwen, but she performed so well!! She's doing so great! She performed a great extended "place" and "down". I had her perform a "come-to-sit" after the "place," and she nailed it! We also practiced her extended "sit" on the carpet so that she doesn't slide on the tile floor. She did well with this one, too!! Lastly, we walked the entire mall, and Ms. Gwen did great ignoring other dogs, kids, different scents, and sounds while maintaining her "heel".
Gwen | Bull Mastiff | Pupdate 04/19/26
Today, Ms. Gwen and I headed over to our local Home Depot in Lakewood, CA. There were people in every section, and Ms. Gwen paid them no mind. We worked on her extended "sit" and "down" in the crowded and space full of different sights, sounds, and smells. Overall, she did really well! She ignored almost everyone and performed her tasks well. She did try to get up from her "sit' and "heel" with some Home Depot employees who walked past her, but I quickly reset her, and she was fine. She's making really good progress overall. My goal is to have my eleven-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter walk her at some point this week. I want the training to carry over to whoever is holding the leash. I will run the e-collar as needed, but they will hold the leash. We want to let Ms. Gwen know that she is not in charge of the family, but a pack member.
Food note: She remains very picky about her food. My new delivery of Ms. Toji's food just came in, and it wasn't defrosted for her dinner or breakfast, but I'll have some tonight to entice Ms. Gwen to eat her food. She won't turn down a treat, but that's not enough to get her to eat her food.
Gwen | Bull Mastiff | Pupdate 04/20/26
Today, we headed over to Klingerman Park in Rosemead, CA, to meet up with our fellow Off Leash trainers and their pups. Ms. Gwen had no issues with the other pups or other trainers. I had a few trainers, including a male trainer, say "hi" to Ms. Gwen. She showed no reactivity or issues with his petting her. We mainly focused on her managing her impulses. She has an internal timer that goes off at some point, and she wants to get up and move. Today, I simply kept resetting her and asking her to relax while there was so much commotion with the other pups and trainers. Overall, she did well with this task. I had her in the "place" and "down". This is also to reinforce that it is not Ms. Gwen's world, and her job is to listen to the human. She displays this lack of impulse control at the house when she goes to jump on me or my recliner. She gets excited and wants to jump on everyone and everything. This is unwanted behavior in my house. She has to learn that it is ok to just relax and there is a time to play.
Gwen | Bull Mastiff | Pupdate 04/21/26
Today, Ms. Gwen and I headed over to our local Petco in Lakewood, CA. This was a good trip for us. Ms. Lyra tried to break off a couple of times to check stuff out or break her "heel," but low-level stimulation (around level 25) was enough to get her back on task. We checked out the toys, birds, cats, and treats. I was even able to have her try on a life vest! She looked uncomfortable at first, but super cute! I let her sniff around the treat aisle with it on, and she was fine. Now you know if you ever need to grab her a vest, she can wear it!
Overall, she's been doing really well! I was reading your notes for Mr. Wayne about the jumping on people between him and her. I think one of the best recommendations for Ms. Lyra is to leave her e-collar on for most of the day. You can take it off when she goes to bed so it can charge, but other than that, I would leave it on her so she can quickly and promptly address any unwanted behaviors from her. Ms. Lyra can handle a stimulation between levels 20 and 50. Anything higher than that, we might need to remove her from the stimulation or check that it is making a proper connection with her skin. Also, don't forget to check that it was paired properly, or if you have two dogs using e-collars, that you have the correct remote.
Gwen | Bull Mastiff | Pupdate 04/22/26
Today, we reviewed Ms. Gwen's "heel" with my mini-trainers. We also reviewed her other commands around the house. In the video, you can see me getting Ms. Gwen started with the "heel". She tried to break off a few times to smell things or tried to pull ahead. I let the e-collar guide her behavior by using a stimulation + command. For example, when she went to the tree, I said "off" + stimulation. She tried to pull ahead, and I said "heel" + stimulation. We were working around level 30. When I gave her the initial walk, I had my son walk her while I managed the remote. She had no issues with him walking her. Then my daughter, who is an expert dog trainer, took the reins and walked Ms. Gwen. Ms. Gwen is twice the size of my daughter, but my little one is fearless, brave, and loves helping train the dogs. She knows all the commands and loves helping train the pups. As you can see, we don't need to rely on overpowering Ms. Gwen. We can let the e-collar motivate and keep her on task. I think Ms. Lyra now has the foundation to continue to be a great member of your family!
Gwen | Bull Mastiff | Pupdate 04/23/26
Today, we had a comprehensive review of all her manners around the house, including door, car, and food manners. Ms. Gwen was extra excited to perform these commands. She always comes in from hanging out with the other pups in a really good mood, ready to play and, unfortunately, jump on everyone. Good thing we have the e-collar remote now to give her the "off" command.
Overall, she did well. Due to her excitement, she broke the "place" and "down, we just reset her and started over again. I am most happiest about her car manners. We went from not wanting to get in the car to willingly jumping in and being ready to go over the last few weeks. I am proud of all the progress we have made on this journey.
Gwen | Bull Mastiff | Pupdate 04/24/26
Today, Ms. Gwen and I headed over to Rynerson Park in Lakewood, CA, for one last review of her commands before we head back to the mall tomorrow to conduct a comprehensive review of her commands in a busy environment! She is doing amazing! We were just playing around today with her "heel". I was running, slowing down, walking normally, running again, and just varying up the pace for the "heel". I even tried to show that I wasn't using the e-collar for every single command. You will need to use the e-collar when you get her back to ensure she understands the same rules that she learned with me also apply with you. She will think that she can go back to her old ways, but you will let her know that she can no longer behave as she previously behaved. I will review with you how to manage the e-collar remote to ensure that you are staying on top of Ms. Gwen and what she is capable of handling with the remote. We had a fun day of playing and practicing today!
Gwen | Bull Mastiff | Pupdate 04/25/26
Today, Ms. Gwen and I headed over to Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos, CA, to conduct a final comprehensive review of her commands in a medium distraction environment. She did really well! Some tasks we had to repeat due to her excitement, but she was resilient and figured them out. She let several people say hi to her without any issues. I am really happy with her progress. As I stated yesterday, I will demonstrate for you how to use the e-collar to get the desired behavior you want from her. It is all about timing and consistency.
Please review the e-collar video from Day 1 before our turnover.
As a reminder, here are the obedience commands that she has learned while with me:
Sit/Extended Sit: Press the black "S" button + say "Sit".
Down/Extended Down: Press the black "S" button + say "Down".
Place/Extended Place: Press the black "S" button + say "Place".
Come-To-Sit: Press the black "S" button + say "Come" + use your hands to guide them into place and say "sit" when they are on your left side.
Heel: Press the black "S" button + say "Heel".
Food Manners/Refusal: The pup must patiently wait in either a "sit" or "down" while you prepare the food and then say "break," allowing the pup to access the food.
Car Manners: Press the black "S" button + say "Load up!"
Greeting Manners: Have the pup "sit" then allow for the new person to say hi
Door Manners: Place the pup in a "sit", open the door, and then allow the pup to go through with you, or say "ok" and let the pup inside
"Off" + black button "S" to stop the pup from performing unwanted behavior. Always press the black "S" when using this command.
"Break!" - no stimulation, and the pup can freely sniff or go potty.
We will be reviewing how to perform all these tomorrow during the turnover! We can't wait to show you how much she has learned and how great a pup he will be in the future!
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