Meet Ivy! She's a one year old Goldendoodle from Lakewood, California here for our Three-Week Board and Train Program! Ivy's sister recently graduated from our program and it's time for Ivy to catch up! She's a sweetheart who loves to cuddle, but she also loves to jump on people. She's constantly pulling on her leash and barking at other dogs. One of her favorite pastimes is chasing the cat around the house. Ivy has also been a little nervous in high distraction areas. Over the next twenty one days we'll work on Ivy's obedience skills in and out of the house, teach her how to properly greet people and other animals, and show her how to be the best pup she can possibly be! Stay tuned for Ivy's three week transformation!
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Pupdate: 7/16/2023
After picking up Ivy, we went to Almansor Park to get to know each other. She started to like me very quickly, although that might be because she could still smell her sister on me! Either way, Ivy pulled on her leash and jumped on me several times, but I have yet to see her bark at another dog. Besides those things, she behaved fairly well for our first outing together! She seems to understand the Sit command, although I'd like her to become much more responsive to it. Once we got home, I let Ivy sniff around my house, and it seems like she's starting to settle in. She hasn't eaten her dinner yet, but I'll leave it for her and maybe add some water or peanut butter to entice her a bit more if she doesn't eat soon.
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Pupdate: 7/17/2023
Ivy and I spent her first full day of training at Eugene A. Obregon Park! We started working mostly on her Heel and Place commands. Her Heel is starting to come along well, although there were several times she got a bit distracted by some other dogs at the park. I wanted to start working on her Place command as soon as possible, because it is a great tool for building confidence! So far, Ivy hasn't been too anxious in the spots we've gone, but since she's been known to become nervous in high distraction areas, I want to go ahead and start with this command. She's doing very well so far! Ivy ended up eating her dinner last night after simply adding a small amount of water to her kibble. She also ate her breakfast fairly quickly, and has eaten about half of tonight's dinner so far!
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Pupdate: 7/18/2023
Ivy and I spent the day at Almansor Park working through her basic commands. She's starting to be able to Heel with little to no leash tension. Her Sit command is becoming more and more responsive. We started working on Come To Sit, which she is starting to understand as well. She sometimes wants to stop when she's right behind me, but with some encouragement and a low level stimulation from her E collar, she follows through reliably. She spent a lot of time on her place cot to continue trying to build her confidence, but also to give her a quick rest from time to time. She seems to like that.
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Pupdate: 7/19/2023
Ivy went to Home Depot for training! It was the first time I've fully seen her nervousness in motion. For about half of our time there, her tail was tucked and she stuck right by my knee, pressing up against me for comfort. Her breathing was slightly labored and when she wasn't looking at me, she was fixated on whatever the nearest noise was. Usually that would be the carts and forklifts moving throughout the building. There were a few kind people who wanted to greet her, at which point she would become much more comfortable, although she didn't want to sit down. Towards the end of our time at the store, Ivy was walking around significantly happier, but I can still tell that she has a lot of confidence building to go.
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Pupdate: 7/20/2023
Ivy and I went to Whittier Narrows Park today for training! She was able to maintain a great Heel and perform her Come To Sit and Come To Heel commands with the leash dragging around several other dogs. There were a few times she wanted to break her positions to come to me early, but she still did a great job! While Placing on a bench, she had a hard time holding her Down position, which I think was from her finding it difficult to completely relax around all the new faces. Good job today, Ivy!
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Pupdate: 7/21/2023
Ivy went to the Santa Monica Pier today for training! She wasn't quite as nervous as I thought she would be. Her tail was up for much of the experience, and her head was held high. That being said, she was looking around wildly for a lot of the time, especially towards the beginning of our time, and when she was in the more crowded areas. She maintained a great Heel nearly the whole time, and was able to hold her Sit, Down and Place commands even at a distance of fifteen feet.
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Pupdate: 7/22/2023
Ivy and I spent most of our day home working on her household manners. Her behavior is great, although she seems to get overwhelmed if another dog is out with her. She sometimes prefers to go in her kennel, even without being asked. She's a sweet girl and she's doing great, she just still needs some confidence building!
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Pupdate: 7/23/2023
Ivy spent the day at the park with me. She worked around a nice little puppy and around another dog. She seemed to love the baby puppy, but she was a little apprehensive around the larger dog.
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Pupdate: 7/24/2023
Ivy and I went to Whittier Narrows Park today for training! Most of her time was spent with her puppy friend, and she seems to be coming out of her shell a little more. When it's nice and cool tonight, I'm going to take Ivy for a quick jog to see if I can get her a little more excited!
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Pupdate: 7/25/2023
Ivy and I went to Whittier Narrows with her puppy friend, and she did an even better job today. A lot of her time was spent working with the leash dragging as well as right next to the playful puppy. She did a really good job of maintaining her Heel position even when her puppy friend would get in her way. Both of them did a great job today at the park, and then we spent the rest of the day indoors to avoid the afternoon heat. She was allowed to play with the pup, which she did for a little while, but then she wanted to relax and take a well deserved nap.
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Pupdate: 7/26/2023
Ivy went to Almansor Park today! Walking and performing commands is becoming easier for Ivy next to the younger dog, but I was particularly impressed with Ivy around the other animals, like the geese, ducks and squirrels. She didn't seem to mind being near them, and they didn't seem to add to her distractions very much. There was one time she focused a little too much on a squirrel, but we continued walking by it and she stayed with me. Again, we left the park once it started getting too hot, and we will go back out tonight when it's nice and cool!
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Pupdate: 7/27/2023
Ivy and Chloe went to the Santa Monica Pier together today! Both girls did a great job around the crowds and noises. They even got some greeting manners caught on camera. Ivy did well at waiting patiently for her turn to get attention, and only stood up once before she was supposed to.
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Pupdate: 7/28/2023
Ivy went back to the pier today! She's continuing to get tons of exposure to crowds of people, loud music, and other great distractions. She stuck close to me and did a wonderful job with her commands. Several strangers wanted to stop and pet her and her greeting manners continued to improve. Working around the other dog is also becoming more natural for her, even with all the other distractions.
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Pupdate: 7/29/2023
Ivy and I spent the cool parts of the day at the park! In the afternoon, we stayed home and worked on her household manners. Today we focused on her door manners! For this, I want Ivy to understand that just because I open a door, doesn't mean she's allowed to run through it. I'd like her to sit patiently at the door and wait for me to give her the all clear to move in or out. She's been working hard on this, and had trouble waiting for quite a while, but now she seems to be getting the hang of it!
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Pupdate: 7/30/2023
Ivy and I went to Home Depot today! Last time we went there, Ivy was a bit nervous around all the strange noises. This time, however, she didn't seem to mind nearly as much. The shoppers and their carts didn't bother her, nor did the beeping forklifts. The lumber section is especially noisy, but Ivy did just as well back there! A great improvement!
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Pupdate: 7/31/2023
Ivy went to Belvedere Park today for training! We mostly focused on her Under command. Ivy got the hang of it pretty quickly! She seems to feel safe and secure underneath benches and other objects, so her willingness to learn the command doesn't surprise me. At the end of the above video, you can even see that she wanted to return to the Under position, even before I asked. I'm glad she likes it, although I'd like to work on getting her more responsive when I ask her for something else.
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Pupdate: 8/1/2023
Ivy and her friend Chloe went to Belvedere Park today! Ivy did a great job holding her spot on the place cot while I was working with Chloe. The main command Ivy worked on today was her Send Away To Place command. She ended up doing very well, although it took a lot of practice. Towards the beginning, Ivy wanted to stick right next to me and didn't want to walk to the place object without me. With some coaxing and repetition, she started doing the Send Away To Place command reliably!
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Pupdate: 8/2/2023
Ivy went to Almansor Park today for training! Again, we spent a lot of time working on her Send Away To Place command, since that is the one she struggles with the most. As you can see in the above video, she's starting to do very well with, although she still gets "stuck" to my leg every once in a while!
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Pupdate: 8/3/2023
Ivy went to the Santa Monica Pier today for training! She was off leash for most of her training, and she did a great job with all of her commands. The work she's done on her Send Away To Place command seems to have paid off, because she was able to perform the command around a large number of people with very little issue. She also seemed fairly comfortable staying at my heel off leash through large crowds. She did a great job today!
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Pupdate: 8/4/2023
Ivy went to Brea mall and did an excellent job, as has become the norm for her. She saw a trainer that she particularly likes, and continually wanted to greet her. Other than her, Ivy did an amazing job of staying engaged with me and walking with me even through particularly distracting environments.
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Pupdate: 8/5/2023
Ivy and I went to the park this morning, but most of her time today was spent with her new friend, Sasha! When first introduced, Ivy was a bit nervous. Once they got playing, however, Ivy was fully engaged and a nice playful pup! I think, as long as she has the proper introductions to her new environments and playmates, she's a very well behaved pup!
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