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Writer's pictureReine Melnick

Heidi| German Shepherd | Los Angeles| In-Training


Meet Heidi, a 4 year old German Shepherd from Los Angeles, CA! Heidi will be joining us for our Three Week Board and Train program. She is such a smart, loving, and mellow girl who just needs some basic guidance! While on walks, Heidi sometimes gets excited and will pull her owner around. Even though Heidi came with knowledge of her commands, sometimes she has selective hearing and chooses when to listen! During her stay, Heidi will be fine tuning her commands and learning to properly heel on the leash! Stay tuned for her pawsome transformation!

 

Pupdate 4/25/22


Today we focused on getting Heidi acclimated to her new surroundings by taking plenty of walks around my neighborhood! Since Heidi was pulling quite a bit during our first walk, I decided to use a prong collar on her to try and stop that behavior quickly! She responded very well and started walking nicely! We spent about 30-45 minutes at a quiet park nearby and she enjoyed smelling the grass and plants! Later we went to another park in Thousand Oaks to work on re-shaping Place and Come! Heidi did awesome and got the hang of it very quickly! She was a very good girl and also very quiet in her crate!


 

Pupdate 4/26/22






Today Heidi and I started the day with a structured walk around the neighborhood and worked on Heel, Sit, and Come! She did very well on her commands so far and was very good on the leash! Heidi has gotten way better about not pulling on the leash but will slip up a little more when excited. Later in the day we went to a park and worked on Place and Down. When we did her down command, Heidi was not a huge fan of doing the command and tried to redirect towards me. Due to his behavior, I will be using a muzzle for the next few sessions when working this command until she understands it! I also practiced touching her feet a little bit and she was really good!


 

Pupdate 4/27/22


Today we started our morning with a structured walk around the neighborhood and focused on Heel, Sit, Come, and Place! Heidi did pretty well overall but sometimes does her commands on the slower side! This is totally understandable due to her large size and age! Later we worked on Door Manners at home and also practiced handling her feet! She did really well while I was desensitizing her and stayed very calm! Very good work today Heidi!


 

Pupdate 4/28/22





Today we started our morning with an early walk around the neighborhood and focused on Heel, Down, Come, and Sit! Her commands are getting better but she likes to do them slowly which is fine for now as long as she performs them when asked! Later on we went to Balboa Park and worked on Heel, Place, Down, Come, and Sit! Again Heidi did very well and even stayed focused around other dogs! Very good progress for Heidi today!


 

Pupdate 4/29/22


Today Heidi and I started the morning with a structured walk around the neighborhood and focused on Duration Down and Come. Heidi did very well during our walk and performed most of what was asked! She has gotten a lot better with going into her down and isn’t as grumpy when I ask! Later on we went to Janns Marketplace and focused on Heel, Come, Sit, Place, and Down! She did very well with all her commands but got a bit tired during our session and started going into a down after her come. Other than that little mistake, Heidi did very well!


 

Pupdate 4/30/22




Today we started the morning with a structured walk around the neighborhood and focused on Heel, Down, Come, and Sit! Heidi has gotten a lot more comfortable performing her Down command even around distractions! Since Heidi is a more mellow dog, she likes to do her commands slow and in a relaxed manner which I don’t mind as long as she does it the first time! Later on we went to a mall and practiced Down, Heel, Place, Come, and Sit! She did really well with each command and wasn’t too bothered by all the kids running around!



 

Pupdate 5/1/22


Today Heidi and I started our day with a structured walk around the neighborhood and focused on Heel, Down, Come, Sit, and Place! She did pretty well and did all her commands but does everything slowly. Later we went to Lowes and worked on Heel, Sit, Come, and Down! She did well and performed all of her commands very well! Since Heidi is a very mellow and has a relaxed personality, she performs most of her commands slowly.


 

Pupdate 5/2/22





Today Heidi and I started the morning with a structured walk around the neighborhood to work on Heel, Down, Come, and Sit! She did fairly well and performed everything that was asked! She was a bit slow with her commands but still performed! She did have a bit of an upset tummy and had runny poop this morning. To help her settle her tummy, I would like to put her on rice and chicken so she can reset her stomach! Later in the day, Heidi and I went to Thousand Oaks Park and worked on Place, Down, Come, and Heel! She did very well with each command but was a bit slow with performing.


 

Pupdate 5/3/22


Today Heidi and I started the morning with a structured walk around the neighborhood and worked on Heel, Down, Come, and Sit! She performed her commands very well but was a bit sluggish during our morning sessions and didn’t seem very motivated to work. Later we went to Simi Valley Mall and continued working on her commands. She did ok but noticed she still was a bit unmotivated and not really engaged. Once I got home from working her, I decided to just let her relax around the house and out of the crate. She ended up just sleeping for the rest of the day except for when she wanted to go pee.


 

Pupdate 5/4/22




Today Heidi and I had a mostly relaxing day where we hung out at home and watched a bunch of movies! We did go on our usual morning structured walk around the neighborhood and worked on Heel, Down, Come, Place, and Sit. She was a bit unmotivated during our walk and just did all her commands slowly. After our walk, we watched a few nature shows on the tv and gave Heidi some time to just sleep and relax. Later we went to the outdoor mall and spent a small amount of time working on Heel, Down, Place, and Come. She did fairly well but was a bit sluggish and just seemed not very excited to train today. We spent the rest of the day lounging around the house and hanging out in the yard.


 

Pupdate 5/5/22


We started the day as usual and took our morning walk around the neighborhood and worked on Heel, Sit, Come, Place, and Down! She did well with her commands but was a bit in a lazy mood. In the afternoon, we focused on Door manners because she has a tendency to walk out the house first out of excitement! She did very well and wasn’t impatient! Later on, we spent some time watching some nature shows on the tv while Heidi took a few long naps!


 

Pupdate 5/6/22




Today we started our morning with a relaxing walk around the neighborhood and focused on Heel, Come, Down, and Sit! She was a little stubborn this morning and wasn’t too eager to train. I have been letting her hang around my family room during the day because her mood is super affected by being in a crate. She has been very well behaved during our chill out times and just sleeps or watched the nature documentaries I leave on my TV! Later we went to a mall and worked on offleash Heel, Place, Down, Come, and Sit! She did very well with her Heel, Sit, Down but she struggles with Place. I believe due to her large size and her age, Heidi finds jumping on an object that is elevated a bit hard. If I practice Place too many times, Heidi gets tired. After our training session, we went home and relaxed while watching animal documentaries!


 

Pupdate 5/7/22


Today Heidi and I had our morning walk around the neighborhood and worked on offleash Heel, Down, Come, and Sit! She was a bit better this morning during our training session and was more alert! Later we went to Petco because I had to get more supplies for my dogs. We worked on a quick offleash session in the store and she was very well behaved! Later we had a more relaxed training session close to my place and just worked on Heel, Down, Come, and Sit! She did well and was less sluggish today!


 

Pupdate 5/8/22




Today we started the day with our usual walk around the neighborhood and worked on all of Heidi’s commands while offleash. She was a lot better with her Heel and didn’t swerve at all during our walk! We later went to Lowes and continued working on offleash Heel, Down, Come, and Place! She did very well and even stayed in a down while carts and kids went by! She even stayed calm when a little dog started lunging and barking at her! Huge progress for Heidi! Afterwards Heidi and I watched a movie and hung around the house.


 

Pupdate 5/9/22


Heidi and I went on our usual structured walk offleash around the neighborhood and focused on Heel, Sit, Come, and Down! She did very well and was in good spirits throughout our session! Later we took a trip to Northridge Mall and worked on putting all of her commands together! She did fairly well but seemed to get overwhelmed as we trained longer. So instead of stressing her out having her offleash, I had her on her 6ft leash and continued working! This seemed to help ease her stress a bit! We even worked on some door manners with the automatic doors at the mall. I had her practice staying calm and remaining in a sit while strangers walked in and out! She did very well with this but again, Heidi seems to only react or get protective in her own domain.


 

Pupdate 5/10/22




Today we had a relaxing day again because Heidi has been working really hard this weekend and yesterday! We did take our routine structured walk around the neighborhood and worked on Heel, Down, Come, and Sit! She did well starting out but as soon as she got tired she got more lazy with performing. Once we got home I let Heidi relax for a couple hours to regain her energy! Once she got some well needed rest, Heidi and I went to Janns Marketplace and spent some time working on Heel, Down, Come, and Place! She did better but her performance is hindered the lower her energy is! After Janns, we spent the rest of the evening relaxing and watching movies!


 

Pupdate 5/11/22


Today Heidi and I had a relaxing morning and took a quick walk around the neighborhood and focused on all of her commands! She was pretty good and seemed in good spirits! After a bit of time after our walk, we went to another trainers home and continued practicing her issues with people ringing the doorbell or knocking on the door. I wasn’t surprised that she did well because it’s a new location and its not her personal home. I highly recommend that you put her on place if people are gonna be coming into your home instead of having her right by the door. Other than that, she was a very good girl and relaxed for the rest of the evening!


 

Pupdate 5/12/22




Today Heidi and I started the morning with a structured walk around the neighborhood and focused on putting all of her commands together! She did fairly well but sometimes got bored or just don’t care mood. Since she went into that mood, I decided to let her relax a bit more before heading to The Collection in Oxnard. When we were there, we continued practicing putting all her commands together. She did awesome with her Heel, Down, and Come but struggled with Place a bit. I believe due to the slightly hotter temperatures today and being an older dog, she got tired pretty quickly. While we were working, I did notice a small scratch on her back leg. I believe this is due to the fact that she piles up her blankets at one side of her crate and then sleeps on the other side. I will add some more blankets to see if that helps and put cream on it to start the healing process!


 

Pupdate 5/13/22


Today Heidi and I had a more relaxed day with a couple training sessions! We started our morning with our routine structured walk around the neighborhood and focused on Heel, Come, Down, and Sit! She did well and enjoyed an early session before the heat kicked in! Once the heat kicked in, I wanted to keep Heidi inside or only do quick walks around the neighborhood because she doesn’t do too well in higher temperatures! Later in the evening once the temperature dropped, Heidi and I went to a park and practiced Under and she did very well!


 

Pupdate 5/14/22


Today Heidi and I started the morning with a structured walk around the neighborhood and focused on all of her commands! She did very well on the walk and was a lot more chipper! Since I knew it was gonna be hot around 12pm, I decided to go to the mall before it got too hot and worked on Heel, Down, Come, Place, and Sit! Heidi did very well and stayed calm while kids played close by! Later in the day while it was too hot to work, Heidi and I relaxed indoors and watched a couple movies!


 

Pupdate 5/15/22




Today we had a pretty relaxed day due to the high temperatures most of the day! We did take our routine walk around the neighborhood and worked on Heel, Sit, Come, and Down! She did very well and was a lot more energetic! Once the temperatures started getting hotter, Heidi and I spent some time hanging out inside with the A/C and watched a couple movies! In the evening once the heat went away, we went to the park so that Heidi could lounge around and relax in the grass! She was very happy to just hang out and not be too focused on training! She is very excited to show what she has learned!


















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