Harper | Golden Retriever | Ventura, CA | In-Training
- Scott Hansen
- Sep 21
- 19 min read
Updated: Oct 5
Meet Harper! Harper is a six-month-old Golden Retriever here for our Two-Week Community Board and Train Program. Harper is a sweet young pup; however, she does display several unwanted behaviors. Harper is a rambunctious, playful young pup. Harper can be easily excited when meeting new people and will jump on them. Harper is not afraid of jumping on counters or tables to get into things she shouldn’t be in. Harper has poor leash manners and will not recall. Harper can perform a command or two, but she lacks structure and will perform the tasks inconsistently. Over the next fourteen days, Harper 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. Harper will learn to perform all these things on and off-leash through a positive and balanced training environment. Through structure and consistency, Harper will demonstrate how great a pup she can be! Stay tuned for Harper’s two-week transformation!
Harper | Golden-Retriever | Pupdate | 09/21/25
Today, Ms. Harper joined me for her two-week community board and train program. On the way home, we stopped at a local park to see what commands Ms. Harper could perform. She did not do very well! But I think you knew 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. Harper's temporary residence for the next two weeks.
Once we got home, I let Ms. Harper smell Ms. Toji through the front gate. Ms. Toji was excited to see Ms. Harper. Ms. Harper paid her no attention. Ms. Harper was reluctant to enter my house, but with enough pressure, she did make it inside. I let her explore each room and meet everyone. Throughout the introductions, Ms. Harper showed no adverse reactions. I took Ms. Harper outside to meet Ms. Toji. There were no issues with their meeting, and Ms. Toji paid her no mind.
We then went on a long walk around the block so that she could get used to the sights, sounds, and scents of his temporary new neighborhood. She pulled me around the block, stopping to smell occasionally. I didn't see too much unwanted behavior on the walk, except for the hard pulling on the leash. That should be easily corrected with the prong collar and e-collar.
I gave her food, and I'll leave it for her and see if she finishes it overnight. I keep track of her weight and will ensure that she maintains his weight while with me.
Attached is the e-collar familiarization video. Please review it a few times before Ms. Harper's turnover. We'll practice together to make sure you are comfortable with the system before using it with Ms. Harper. I will introduce the e-collar and training for her tomorrow.
Harper | Golden Retriever | Pupdate | 09/22/25
Today, Ms. Harper and I headed to Whittier Narrows in El Monte, CA, to work with some of our fellow Off Leash trainers. Unfortunately, Ms. Harper threw up in the car on the way over. I had to clean that up real quick when we got there, and then we moved on to her training.
Let me just say that Ms. Harper is one tough and stubborn cookie! She is hard-set in her ways, and getting her to crack is going to be a challenge. I have to deploy a firm but fair approach to ensure that she learns appropriate consequences. There are positive and negative consequences. Most negative consequences will always be leash pressure. Pressure up to shape the "sit", downward leash pressure to shape the "down", and pressure forward or backward to shape the "heel" into the proper position. Ms. Harper, as it turns out, can handle quite a bit of leash pressure. She pulls all over the place, doesn't "sit" politely, and even with adequate leash pressure, Ms. Harper just goes right back to doing what she wants. This means that I will have to consistently apply pressure when she performs the unwanted behavior of pulling or not performing the task. The converse side is that when she does the task properly, I'm going to release all leash pressure immediately. I might even slide her a treat for doing so well. The pressure is not a negative thing in and of itself. The pressure is a cue to perform a task. We need this pressure so that we can replace it with the stimulation of the e-collar. I will introduce the e-collar tomorrow as today was a lot for her to learn. We are reprogramming her go, go, go puppy brain to calm down with structure. An example is how I already introduced the door manners to her. She is not allowed to go through any door until she sits calmly. I will then open the door and go through it before her, and then allow her to come through. This takes a few extra seconds at each door, but she must understand that she is not running the show based on impulse. She can only go through the door when properly allowed to. If she gets up to go through the door, I simply close the door and use upward leash pressure to put her back into a "sit". And we start over again. Simple as that. We do that as many times as it takes for her to figure out that we are not going through the door until she waits. She is starting to pick up on this.
Back to the training at the park, we focused on her "heel" as this is going to be the battle of the century! The will of Ms. Harper vs the will of her Trainer! Just kidding, it really is a one-sided affair. She is not going to get her way. I tried to use the prong collar's pressure to shape her "heel" at first, but Ms. Harper was quite resistant to this approach. Dogs have an opposition reflex. This means that the harder I pull her towards me with steady leash pressure, the more she wants to pull in reverse. It's the same concept that drives sled dogs or dogs on harnesses. The backward pressure compels them to pull through it. We can try to make it uncomfortable, or we can find a better tool and a more positive way to shape her behavior. I chose to switch out the prong collar for a gentle leader. She had no issues with this too,l and as you can see in the video, for several passes, I was able to walk with her in the "heel" with the leash nice and loose. As I mentioned above, as soon as she performs the task, all the pressure is released. She might even get a small pat on the head for doing a good job.
After the "heel" practice, we practiced her "place", "down", and "sit" commands around a few other pups. Ms. Harper did well with these besides breaking the "sit" and "down" every 30-60 seconds, as she is still mastering the impulse control portion. No problem, a quick reset and we carry on.
There will be a time in the next few weeks when Ms. Harper will realize that no amount of resistance will decrease the leash pressure and that it is entirely up to her whether or not the leash pressure and stimulation from the e-collar are applied. It's going to be a challenging few weeks, but we'll do our best!
Harper | Golden Retriever | Pupdate | 09/23/25
Today, I introduced Ms. Harper to her e-collar during a backyard session. I like to start with just playing around with her and being herself. She wasn't too interested in the tennis ball. I was prepared for this with a pocket full of treats. She is very strong-willed and can be one-track-minded. With the treats, instead of fighting with her, I can guide her into positions without battling her so much. I have noticed how ravenous she is when it comes to her food, so treats seemed like a good idea. I was right! She loves to work for treats!
I start just by putting the e-collar on and doing nothing with it. Then I slowly start to press the black "S" stimulation button 5 levels at a time until I see her give me a physical and mental reaction. I could see the stimulation moving her muscles around 15, but she ignored it. I was able to get more of a response from her around 20-25. This is where she starts to scratch at it and give the sensation attention. She should be good around 20, which is a fantastic number considering that the e-collar goes all the way up to level 100. It is a very fine and distinct progression.
Once that was settled, I continued to give her treats along the way. I used the treats to work with her on the "heel", "place", "sit", and "down". I had the gentle leader on hand in case I needed it, but she was doing just fine with the treats as a lure. Today was a lot better than the last few days have been with her. She is pulling me less and less when we come into the house. I am using the leash on her at all times to ensure that learning is occurring at every opportunity. We will continue to ask more and more of her each day in terms of structure, consistency, and clear communication.
Harper | Golden Retriever | Pupdate | 09/24/25
Today, Ms. Harper and I headed over to Rynerson Park in Lakewood, CA. Ms. Harper is starting to get on board with her commands. She can still be a little stuck in her ways, even with some treats as a reward for good behavior. One of the biggest rewards she is getting is the lack of leash pressure and stimulation from the e-collar. The absence of pressure increases the wanted behavior. The presence of pressure is to decrease unwanted behavior.
She did ok with the "sit", "place", and "down". We're going to have to conduct some extended daily walks to reinforce her "heel". We went for a long walk around the park after the video. I put the prong collar back on to increase the pressure and make it clearer for her what was ok and what was not acceptable. This was much better than what she was doing on only the flat collar plus the e-collar.
She is doing much better with not running out of the crate or trying to run into the house until I have the leash on her.
We are a little behind in teaching her final command, "come-to-sit," as I've been trying to find a balance of appropriate pressure, positive reinforcement, and making it as fun as possible, but I think after today, we are on our way to a clear and productive path forward.
Harper | Golden Retriever | Pupdate | 09/25/25
Today was one of the last backyard sessions for Ms. Harper and me. I started off by reviewing the commands she does know. She did pretty well with all of these, which is good progress! She is still not showing any adversity to the e-collar around 20-30. She responds more to the continual pressure of the e-collar. As you can see, she is still more than willing and happy just to be a puppy and play.
I spent a few minutes practicing the "come-to-sit" at the end. It is the most difficult task to teach, and with a bit of quick-moving and high-pitched encouragement on my part, she was starting to pick up on it and follow me around. I am happy to see that she has taken to me and enjoys playing with me. Who wouldn't want to play with Ms. Harper? She's adorable. My mini-trainer comes over and says hi to her every chance she gets.
We do have to review her house manners, such as door manners and car manners, in the next few days. Obviously, with her occasional car sickness, she isn't exactly thrilled to jump in the car on her own, but I'll do my best to make it rewarding and fun to jump in the car. We practice her food manners every day, twice a day. She loves her food, so this is the ultimate impulse control mechanism. We will also be heading out to public places to practice more. I would like to be leash dragging all her commands by Sunday or Monday and introduce off-leash no later than Wednesday of next week.
Harper | Golden Retriever | Pupdate | 09/26/25
Today, Ms. Harper worked on her house manners. We have been spending a lot more time with her roaming around more freely while I monitor her behavior. I have been leaving the e-collar on for an hour or two after our training so that she is comfortable with it at all times. She wears it when eating, taking naps, spending time outside with Toji, and any other regular part of her life. This ensures that she understands that she can still enjoy her life and be a happy pup, but also allows me (and you) to ask her politely to perform commands or be respectful as needed. It also allows us to quickly address unwanted behavior as needed. When Ms. Harper is not on a leash, the only way we have to communicate with her "remotely" is with the e-collar remote.
I demonstrated for you the two types of door manners. The first is when you want to step outside and grab the mail or maybe your recent Amazon delivery. You can put Ms. Harper in a "place" and "down" by the door and have her patiently wait for you. Once inside, you can give her the "break" command, and she can go back to doing her thing. You can use this technique when guests come over. Ms Harper can be told to place and down, then you will let your guests in, and then they can say "hi" to Ms. Harper and move on. Ms. Harper is not allowed to get up or move from there until you give her the 'Break!" command. I always ask people to wait 10 seconds at the door so that I can put the pup in the proper position and then I will let them in. I tell them to ignore the pup if they are overstimulated or if the pup is behaving, I'll let them say hi real quick. You can also use this when you are eating, so she doesn't come begging at the table.
The second way that I demonstrate is the most common use of door manners. Ms. Harper must sit patiently at the door while you open it. You will always go first and then allow her to come through the door with "ok". This is going to be the very first thing you will do when you take her home next week, to let her know that the new rules and foundation that I built into her are now in play.
Please be mindful that the manners are structured and done in a specific order. They do not mean that Ms. Harper won't come running through an open door when not properly managed. When she masters "come", then you will be able to recall her.
She's understanding the rules more and more and being more respectful of them, which is making our training much more efficient and higher quality. Good job toda,y Ms. Harper!
Harper | Golden Retriever | Pupdate | 09/27/25
Today, Ms. Harper and I headed over to a busy Liberty Park in Cerritos, CA. Kids were playing on the playground, some even said hi to Ms. Harper; there was beach volleyball, people working out on the track, and several parties being set up. Ms. Harper was interested in some things and nervous about others. Overall, I think she did well until the end of our training, where she was a little overstimulated and started to give up on herself.
We started with the basics as always. She is doing much better with the extended "sit". Her "heel" does look better, but not perfect. She enjoys "place" and "down" because she has correctly realized that performing these tasks results in zero pressure and no stimulation. Speaking of stimulation, she is now down to about a 10 on the e-collar remote! This is the level where I can feel it in my hand, which is awesome! I can't feel it any lower than that, and this is a good sign that she is more responsive to the stimulation.
Some kids wanted to meet Ms. Harper. We were able to work on her greeting manners. Everyone compliments Ms. Harper and wants to say hi to her. She is such a cute and lovable pup. I enjoy being out with her, and when people compliment her on her looks and how well-behaved she is. This means that the training is working and we are making progress.
Lastly, we worked on her "come-to-sit". As you can see, she starts lying on the ground and revolting. This is very common around one week in. The pups are resistant, then comply, and then give another burst of resistance about one week into the training. We just stay consistent, persistent, and give clear communication to the pup, and we'll get there. As you can see, almost all the other commands were with the leash on the ground. I am feeling better about her not bolting off anywhere, but on the "heel," she can get distracted, or on the "come-to-sit," she can break off to do her own thing. She's not necessarily running away, but she's avoiding performing the task. We will continue to put the time and repetitions into getting her on board. I would usually like to be at this point by last Wednesday or Thursday, but I think since we turned the corner, we can increase our expectations of Ms. Harper and she will crush them!
Harper | Golden Retriever | Pupdate | 09/28/25
Ms. Harper and I headed over to Home Depot today to see how well she would do with medium distractions in a more confined space. Being at Home Depot is a lot different from being in a wide-open park where the distractions are not right next to her. At a place like Home Depot, the distractions are nose level or right next to her, such as the Halloween decorations, carts, forklifts, and all the other various items at the hardware store.
We had an opportunity to practice our greeting manners again, and we worked on her controlling her impulse while I exposed her to various distractions. She would want to break her commands, but once again, she isn't running away; she's just trying to come to me. Lots of compliments for Ms. Harper as usual.
Tomorrow we are heading back out to the park and continuing to reinforce the leash dragging and her ability to manage her impulsive behavior with as little leash pressure from me, and relying on the e-collar remote.
Harper | Golden Retriever | Pupdate | 09/29/25
Today, Ms. Harper and I headed over to Whittier Narrows in El Monte, CA, to meet up with our fellow Off Leash trainers and their pups. Today was one of our best training days yet! I kept the leash dragging the entire time, and she did so well! I was proud of her. She maintained her "place" and "down" with all the other pups and distractions around.
We kept reinforcing the "come-to-stay". It has progressively improved. She can do it about 50% of the time. The other half, she gets distracted or doesn't make it all the way around. We have to keep being persistent with her. Overall, we are making good progress and should be back on track.
We have to dedicate a day to focus on her car manners and loading into the car, as she is still reluctant to go into the car on her own. I have a few tricks to work on this and help her make a positive training experience. Look out for that video in the next day or so.
Good job, Ms. Harper!
Harper | Golden Retriever | Pupdate | 09/30/25
As I mentioned in yesterday's pupdate, I needed to practice Ms. Harper's "Load Up!" command. I took the time to make it more structured and formal so that she understands what is needed from her. We started by introducing her to my ramp. The surface of the ramp has a grippy texture, and I like to introduce it on the ground so the pup can be comfortable with the surface. You can see that at some points she lies down and is being stubborn. As I mentioned before, the pups will give resistance around this time. Sometimes, they are guessing what we want, or they're trying to avoid the task at hand. She has learned that when she lies down, I leave her alone. She is thinking that if she lies down in the middle of the ramp, I'll leave her alone, but that's not what I was asking for. I had asked her to "heel" and follow me on the different texture. She was given an "Off!" to disrupt her sniffing the grass. That was enough for her to say "no thanks, I'm just going to lie down". That's not what I asked her to do, so I just used gentle leash pressure to keep her going.
Once she was back on board and went across the ramp without any issues, we moved to my porch. We practiced her jumping up and down the porch. I know she can do it as I've seen her do it several times before; she just needs some encouragement. My porch is a good transition to jumping into the car. The porch is open and allows her to jump up without any issues. I started by going with her and then having her do it on her own. While we are going up the porch, I say, "Load Up!" This is pairing the act of jumping up onto something. You can see that she lies down again because now she's thinking this is the "place" command, where she has to jump onto something and then lie down. Once again, not what I had asked of her. I encourage her to break the command and use the e-collar, as she was being resistant to the leash pressure. Once she was comfortable going up and down the ramp in conjunction with jumping up and down, we were ready to switch to my car. I did start using a few treats to reward her for going up on the ramp.
I used my ramp at first on my car to prompt her to go into the crate. I took the door off the crate completely and let her come right back out. I would lure her with the treat up the ramp and then toss it in the back of the crate where she could reward herself. I gave her "Break!" right away and let her come back out. I gave her another treat when she got to the bottom. I then took the ramp away and used a little bit of leash pressure to get her up into the crate while tossing a treat in. She was getting better and better. I then decided to get her to do it without the leash attached. I continued to toss a treat in to lure her all the way up and into the crate. On our last two runs, I didn't give her the treat until she came out. She went up on her own and received no treat. We don't want to have to carry treats with us all the time, but they can help shape behavior and are meaningful rewards to positively reinforce wanted behavior.
When it comes to treats, we only want to give one at a time. There is a concept called "jackpot," where we give a lot of treats for good behavior, but that is not effective. One is enough to reinforce the behavior.
Harper | Golden Retriever | Pupdate | 10/01/25
Today, Ms. Harper and I headed over to Liberty (biberty) Park in Cerritos, CA. It wasn't as busy as I would have liked, but it worked out since I wanted to give Ms. Harper a chance at being fully off-leash. I usually introduce off-leash in my backyard, where it's fully contained and the pups can't run away. I have had a good feeling about Ms. Harper not wanting to break off on our walks. Nor have I seen her overly interested on our walks that she would choose the distraction over me. I made a calculated guess that she was ready for the off-leash work.
Ms. Harper did amazing with all her commands off-leash! She's doing so well! I'm proud of her for turning the corner and making such good progress! It's amazing what a consistent, balanced training program paired with clear and consistent expectations can do!
Just going to be a lot of rinse and repeat until you receive Ms. Harper back. I'll keep looking for parks with greater levels of distractions to help her stay focused and continue to grow!
Harper | Golden Retriever | Pupdate | 10/02/25
Harper and I headed over to Rynerson Park in Lakewood, CA, to continue our off-leash work. Ms. Harper continues to show her mastery of the commands. Kids were playing on the playground, people were walking their dogs, and kids were riding bikes around the park, and she paid them no attention. The park is right next to the riverbed path where bicyclists, runners, walkers, and pet parents are constantly traversing back and forth, and Ms. Harper was not distracted by them at all. She did decide to roll around in the grass without me asking her to, but I simply went up on the e-collar stimulation until she came back to my side. Other than that, she was a perfectly well-behaved pup.
Harper | Golden Retriever | Pupdate | 10/03/25
Today, Ms. Harper and I focused on her manners around the house. We practiced her door manners, food manners, and car manners. Ms. Harper is very good at her food and door manners. We practice those every day, multiple times a day. Car manners are something we practice every day as well, but since we started a little late on her doing them off-leash, she decided she was going to go off and do her own thing several times. That's fine. I put her back on the leash and practiced again. Once she was back on board, we resumed practicing off-leash, and there were no issues. She's a fast learner. Also, she wants to make us happy and be happy, so we can capitalize on that.
Good job today, Ms. Harper!
Two more days and you'll get your happy pup back!
Harper | Golden Retriever | Pupdate | 10/04/25
Today, Ms. Harper had one more refresher session at a public park. We reviewed all of her commands off-leash around medium distractions.
Just a few reminders about Ms. Harper. She is still a puppy and will do puppy things from time to time. If you are not prepared to address the unwanted behavior with a leash or the e-collar to disrupt and redirect that puppy energy, she gets a free win. It's going to happen. It's hard to be on top of them at all times. She may seem like she's perfectly behaved and then decide to just go do Ms. Harper things. She is a living, breathing, autonomous creature. We have to give her plenty of time to be a puppy and a dog. Remember to make sure she is well hydrated, fed, well rested, given a chance to go potty, and physically and mentally rested. When the pups are tired, need to go potty, or are hungry, they have a hard time behaving themselves. We are asking them to ignore their biological needs for us, and we should never do that. We want to make sure their biological needs are met, and then we can ask them to do all the obedience in the world. I compare it to when schools let kids have recess to run around and burn up the energy and refuel with snacks. Once that's all out of their system, back to work in the classroom. Maybe adults could benefit from a daily recess? I digress.
Hope you enjoyed all the pupdates and Ms. Harper's progress!
Attached to this pupdate are the pictures of the e-collar that I have been using with Ms. Harper and that you will be receiving at the turnover tomorrow.
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 into place.
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 review how to perform all these tasks 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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