Honey Bear | Shepherd Mix | Monterey Park, CA | In-Training

Meet Honey Bear! She is a six month old Shepherd mix who has joined us for our One Week Board and Train Program. Honey Bear is here for basic obedience, nipping, jumping to greet, and leash pulling. She is easily distracted and likes to nip her owner’s heels when she wants attention. The goal for Honey Bear is to stop the leash pulling for better walks, and to accompany her owner to public places. Over the next seven days, Honey Bear will be given structure and will work on her behavior, with the hopes of becoming a well mannered pup. Check in to see her progress!

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Honey Bear and I spent the day getting to know each other. She was great in the kennel on our ride home with no whining. We settled in at home, and had some playtime in the front yard to establish a bond. After a break, I took Honey Bear out for a walk around my neighborhood and introduced her to Heel. Heel consists of having Honey Bear walk with me on my left side. Whenever she would pull away from me, I would turn around, walk in the opposite direction, and guide her back towards me. It is a work in progress, but Honey Bear is starting to pick up on the concept. From here on out, Heel will be implied on every walk we go on.

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Honey Bear and I drove out to a local park today  and she was introduced to Place. Place consists of having Honey Bear getting onto an elevated object and remaining there in a Sit or a Down. This technique can be of great use when guests are over and it helps to build confidence in a dog. To teach Honey Bear, I used leash tension as guidance to help her front legs up, and assisted her back legs by giving her a boost. It took some time for her to understand the concept, and even though she is still having a little trouble using her back legs, she is learning how to get on and slowly building her confidence.

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Honey Bear was introduced to her recall today which is known as Come to Sit. This technique consists of having Honey Bear come towards me and have her Sit on my left. To teach Honey Bear, I used leash tension and her kibble to lure her into sitting on my left. Initially, Honey Bear would come towards me and Sit in front of me. To assist her in following through, I used her leash as guidance, and used her kibble to lure her into making a u-turn before sitting next to me. She is picking up on it, but at times, she would Sit off to the side of me. When that occurs, I reset with her, work her through it, and reward her with praise when she gets it right.

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Honey Bear has been working on her Extended Sit and Extended Down but was having trouble maintaining it whenever I would start increasing distance. To help her with that, I moved back one foot at a time with five second increments. One foot back is five seconds, two feet back is ten seconds, three feet back is fifteen and so on. She did come out of her Extended Down a couple of times, but I was able to reset and work her through it. Honey Bear is doing well as she is almost up to one minute, which is thirty seconds short of her goal.

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Honey Bear and I have been working on Door Manners since the day I brought her home. Anytime I opened a door, Honey Bear would always want to be the first one to go through. To help her into not doing so, I would ask Honey Bear to Down when we approached a door. Once in a Down position, I proceeded to open the door, and made sure Honey Bear remained in her position. When I opened the door, every time she sat up meant the door would close, and the process would repeat itself.  Once she understood what I was asking, I began to increase time and distance to keep her in a Down longer. With patience and consistency, Honey Bear is now able to wait patiently for my cue to go through a door.

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Honey Bear has learned all of her commands and today we began to piece everything together to see how well she does with distractions all around her. She still needed a little guidance with her Place but we worked on it and managed to clean it up. Honey Bear did great and has shown amazing progress in just a short amount of time. She catches on quick, and this little lady is just about ready for her Final.

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Honey Bear has completed her One Week Board and Train Program and is ready to come home. She did very well in her Final and I am looking forward to showing you what she has learned. I want to thank you for trusting me with Honey Bear while she was under my care, and it was a pleasure to have worked with her and being her trainer. She was a great companion and she will be missed. Thank you Honey Bear!

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