Hazel | Pitbull Mix | Yorba Linda, CA | In Training
- Tanner Strong
- Sep 15, 2024
- 10 min read
Updated: Sep 29, 2024
Meet Hazel! She's a twenty one month old Pitbull Mix from Yorba Linda, California here for our Two-Week Board and Train Program! Hazel is a sweet and loving pup, but she is often very anxious anywhere but home. At home, she often barks at the door bell and gets extremely excited when someone comes in, running around and jumping on everyone! She pulls heavily on her leash and can be reactive to other dogs, especially if they bark at her first. She knows a few commands, but her impulse control needs a lot of work. Over the next fourteen days, we will work on all of Hazel's manners in and out of the house, help build her confidence and impulse control, tighten up all of her basic obedience skills, and show her how to be the best pup she can possibly be! Stay tuned for Hazel's two week transformation!
Pupdate: 9/15/2024
After picking up Hazel, we spent some time hanging out at the park to get to know each other! She didn't bark at me or jump on me, but was a little standoffish at first. She pretty quickly sniffed me and let me walk her. She's a huge leash puller, but very sweet. She was definitely nervous to leave her family, but she's starting to like me a lot I think! When asking for her basic commands, she gave me a good Sit, and even a couple Downs. I'd like her to respond to these commands every single time, however, and be comfortable enough to hold her Down position for longer.
When we got home, I let her sniff around my house, and she started getting settled in. After several minutes, she started getting fairly comfortable. I think she is starting to like it here!
In addition to her first video today, I'm adding a tutorial and picture of the E-collar we will be using with Hazel. This will make the turnover process go a little more smoothly once Hazel is done with her program.
Pupdate: 9/16/2024
Hazel and I went to Whittier Narrows Park today for training! We had the opportunity to work around several other dogs and trainers. She was extremely nervous, especially at first. She was constantly scanning, looking from person to person. We worked on her commands, but also took some time to simply sit as comfortably as possible near all the activity. This seemed to help her get through her anxiety, and by the end of our time there, she was a little more comfortable. With her commands, she did a great job. Her Heel is still a work in progress, but already much better!
Pupdate: 9/17/2024
Hazel and I went to Santa Anita Mall today for training! It wasn't too busy, so it was a good time to introduce her to this environment. She did a better job of walking with me on a loose leash, and we practiced her Place command on various benches. Hazel was very nervous here at first, and Place is a great command to practice to help build her confidence in these areas. Her Down command is getting more reliable, although she still wants to get up very quickly when she's nervous. Overall, she did well for her first time in a place like this with me, despite being pretty anxious. Next time we go here, it will likely be a little more crowded, so we'll be working hard to prepare for that!
Pupdate: 9/18/2024
Hazel and I went to Garfield Park today for training! She was still a bit skeptical when we first got there, but much less than most days. We continued focusing heavily on her Place command, adding a bit of difficulty by having her Place on some smaller objects. On the smaller objects, she had a little more trouble holding her positions, but she actually did a great job hopping back on immediately when she made a mistake. Her biggest distractions today were the tennis matches going on. It was unclear if she wanted to chase the tennis balls, or if the noises made her uncomfortable, but either way we spent some time walking around the perimeter of the tennis courts to practice! I can slowly see her confidence building a little more each day, but she was still relieved when we got home and she was allowed to lounge around and eat a snack.
Pupdate: 9/19/2024
Hazel and I went to Almansor Park today! We continued working on her commands throughout the day. I started dropping her leash for short amounts of time while practicing her commands. Allowing the leash to drag gives me some idea of how she might perform off leash while still having access to the leash should I need it. She continued to do well with each command while the leash dragged around minimal distractions. She had the most trouble with her Come To Sit command. The more precise movements required for the Come To Sit make it a bit tougher, so I often needed to pick the leash back up to help her follow through. She didn't show any signs of nervousness or anxiety today, and even got pretty playful, which typically reserves for when we're back home. Even though the distractions were few today, I still think it was a big step in the right direction!
Pupdate: 9/20/2024
Hazel and I went to Home Depot today! She doesn't usually like areas like this, so I thought working with her alongside a friend might boost her confidence. Having another dog right next to her added an extra distraction, which was a great exercise for making sure her commands are reliable. She was definitely more distracted during our training, but she seemed a little more confident walking around the store. There were a few times where she got a little too distracted and wanted to play, but I think having the other pup with her was overall a good exercise, helping me to show Hazel that the store isn't too scary.
After Home Depot, we went back to the park, where we could work on Hazel's commands where she's a little more comfortable!
Pupdate: 9/21/2024
Hazel and I went to the park today to continue her work, but also spent a lot of time working on her in home manners. In today's video, we are practicing her door manners! For door manners, I want to be able to open the door without Hazel rushing through before me. Ideally, I want the door opening to become a nonevent. For the purposes of practicing and video, I have her sitting right in front of the door, but in everyday life, she can be anywhere in the house, and I'd like her to have little to no reaction to the door opening. Once she is reliable enough with this, I should be able to even leave the door open and bring in groceries from my car without having to worry about Hazel going through. The key to this is teaching her to respect the threshold of the door. While we practice, I'm showing her that she should only cross that threshold when I ask her to. This same idea can be applied to any thresholds. Gates, fences, even the line between the living room and kitchen can be treated with this respect. Hazel still feels the urge to walk through before I say, but we practice this a little each day and she's getting pretty good!
Pupdate: 9/22/2024
Hazel and I went to Whittier Narrows Park today! She was pretty nervous, even though we've been to this park before. There were a few events going on around the park which made her anxious, but even when we were far away from them she wanted to turn to stare. She continued to do a good job with her commands, but the nervousness made it very difficult for her to hold her positions and stay still for very long. She was a trooper today, but was relieved when we got home. She's taking a nap currently, then we will go to Almansor Park for the evening where she seems much more comfortable!
Pupdate: 9/23/2024
Hazel and I mostly worked in and around the house today, working on her manners and behavior inside. For today's video, we're practicing her food manners and food refusal! Working on this impulse control will be great for her overall behavior. It can make her meals much easier, and it can also be a great safety measure to prevent her from eating something dropped accidentally that could be harmful. I want Hazel to Sit politely when food is placed in front of her, without trying to gobble it up immediately. We can practice this each time she eats, but also increase the difficulty a little bit by using more appetizing human food. In this example, I'm using breadsticks. I want her to be able to break past the breadsticks and come directly to me. She really wanted the breadsticks, so this was pretty tough for her, but she's doing a great job!
Pupdate: 9/24/2024
Hazel and I went to Almansor Park today! She is progressing well in a multitude of ways, but she still has tons of moments where her nervousness and anxiety comes out. We spent most of our day working on her confidence level. The Place command is great for building confidence, especially when out in public spaces! We worked on her Place command on several objects, some pretty easy, some a little tougher. She did much better than I thought she would do! The stone barrier is fairly difficult to balance on, and it takes a lot of confidence to walk across it. She managed to overcome this obstacle in only a few tries! The more difficult object for her was the bleachers. The texture of the bleachers is strange, which some dogs don't like. She had very little issue getting on the bleachers, but staying in place, and walking across them gave her more of a hard time. After some repetition, she got more used to the feeling and started doing better! Tomorrow we will be going somewhere a little more difficult, so I'm hoping our work today translates to her having an easier time in a more populated area.
Pupdate: 9/25/2024
Hazel and I went to Santa Anita Mall today for training! We went with another dog I'm working with, and this seemed to help Hazel get comfortable. She was visibly anxious when we got there, but walking with the other pup gave her something to take her mind off the environment. That being said, she was a little distracted by Tele, the other dog, and had a slightly more difficult time with her commands. After she got used to walking around with another dog just inches from her, she started doing much better. Taking everything pretty slow and stopping every so often to practice staying on place benefited her a lot. She was able to take in her surroundings and work on remaining calm with people walking all around us with some support from me and the other dog! Even with the nerves, she did a good job today! Her biggest mistake today was getting jealous when I gave Tele love, which would lead to her sometimes breaking a command, or putting her paws on me. Even when she did that, she would usually do a good job sitting and waiting her turn after, but I'd like to practice this more to the point where she doesn't need to be asked the second time. Overall, today was a tough but worthwhile day at the mall!
Pupdate: 9/26/2024
Hazel and I went to the Santa Monica Pier today! It was pretty tough for her, but she made it through! While we were out on the pier, she did an admirable job with her commands, especially Heel and Place. I could tell she wasn't the biggest fan of the environment as she was frequently scanning ahead of us and looking all over the place. She found it difficult to look at me and hold her focus on me, but that didn't seem to stop her from succeeding with her commands more often than not. There's an arcade on the pier that gave her a hard time each time we walked by. Those noises in particular were very strange and distracting to her. She also had a bit of a hard time with her Down command, but we worked on it and she started doing that much better. While the noises and environment seemed too tough for her, one thing she did extremely well today was walking very close to crowds of people without becoming too distracted by them! This is a great skill for any area she goes, and she proved that she's getting really good with it. When we were finished at the pier, she started trying to walk ahead of me once she realized we were going back to the car. I stayed on top of her with her Off and Heel command to make sure she wasn't pulling me toward the car, as it is very important that she finishes her workout on a high note! Overall, today was quite difficult, but Hazel pushed through!
Pupdate: 9/27/2024
Hazel and I went to Santa Anita Mall today for training! We've been here a few times and she's getting pretty familiar with the environment. We went with a couple other trainers and their dogs, and she ended up doing pretty well! When we first arrived, her ears were pinned back in apprehension, but after a nice walk she began relaxing more and more. After a tough day at Santa Monica, she found it much easier to relax at the mall. We got the opportunity to practice her greeting manners with some strangers! We did this after she was already more relaxed and comfortable. To practice this, I ask her to sit, and then invite the person to pet her chest. I want her to remain seated while receiving the greeting, without getting up or jumping. She did well with each person we met. For the first person, she sat nicely, but raised her paw. She didn't touch them though, as I reminded her to Sit and used the Off command, which she responded well to. For the next person who wanted to pet her, she kept all four paws on the ground, but leaned as far as she could towards them when they approached. I reminded her to Sit, and she settled back in and then received her love perfectly, even wagging her tail. After those people, we practiced her manners with anyone who asked, and she did much better, holding her Sit without needing to be reminded.
Pupdate: 9/28/2024
Hazel and I went to the mall again to get a little more work in around the general public! We focused more on her greeting manners, which you can see at the end of the above video. Each of her manners get better and better every time we practice! We've gone over her Door manners, Food manners and greeting manners, which are the most important ones to me, but we've also been working on her car manners! For car manners, I want Hazel to wait politely while I open the car, usually in a Sit, then hop right up into the car. I usually recommend having a crate in the car for safety, and if you do, I also want Hazel to walk directly into her crate when she hops into the car. For the first several days Hazel was with me, she would be very hesitant to make the jump into the car, and I would usually need to help her up. Now, she's hopping right up and happily walking into her crate, eagerly awaiting her next adventure! Hazel will be going home tomorrow, and I couldn't be more pleased with her progress. She's a super sweet pup, and she's been a pleasure to work with and have in my home! I will miss her a lot once she goes home!
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