Jo | Pit Bull Mix | Rancho Palos Verdes, CA | In-Training
- Adrienne Lascari
- Apr 7, 2024
- 8 min read
Updated: Apr 13, 2024
Meet Jo, a Pit Bull Mix from Rancho Palos Verdes, and she has joined OffLeash for our One Week Board and Train Program. Jo has had some experience with training before, so she understands most of her basic commands, but she has a hard time following through and holding those commands. Jo is friendly with people, but she will jump to greet when meeting new friends. At times, Jo can be protective when it comes to her owner and housemate. Her protectiveness causes her to bark at other people and dogs on walks. Over the next week, Jo and I will be working on her basic obedience and manners. Stay tuned to see her transformation!
Pupdate 4/7/2024
Jo was a little unsure when settling into my home today. She started off exploring the yard and familiarizing herself with the new surroundings. She even got to meet new people which she seemed excited about. Jo was a bit uncomfortable when it came to meeting my pups. She started to growl, so we gave her space to explore the yard some more on her own. When Jo becomes more comfortable we will work on introducing her to the other pups. I wanted to see what commands Jo knows, so we did a quick training session, going through each command. Jo seems to know all commands, but she has trouble following through right away. She also breaks command quite quickly and becomes easily distracted. Overall she has a good foundation that we can build on! We did not use the e-collar today so Jo was able to adjust to my home. I have added a detailed video about the e-collar. We will be using a Dogtra model which is a different remote from the one in the video, but the concepts are the same.
Pupdate 4/8/2024
Today Jo and I met up with all the pups in training at Centra Park. Since Jo understands all her commands, today I wanted to work on her holding them longer. She tends to become easily distracted and her biggest struggle is when she sees a squirrel. Jo seems to be independent and very stubborn. She would rather wonder on her own and not follow commands. To work on these habits, it is important to hold Jo accountable to following through with each command until we allow her to break. This helps build that relationship with your pup that has structure and respect. Showing our pups that we are in charge will not only help having them hold their commands, but also prevent unwanted behavior such as reactivity.
Today we used the e-collar when working on Jo’s commands. We slowly reintroduced the stimulation to her since she is already familiar with the collar. After some practice, she was fixing her mistakes when a correction was given.
Jo and I focused a lot on her heel. She tends to pull on the leash and lead the walk. We want to prevent her from leading and instead have her follow us during the walk. This is another way to show we are in charge and prevents unwanted reactivity. If Jo is the head of the walk, it is more likely she will try to be protective and won’t be paying attention to where we are walking. When we worked on heel, I would make sharp left turns into Jo which causes her to bump into me. I would also give a correction with the e-collar when she made mistakes. After some practice, lots of turns, and rewarding Jo for fixing her mistakes, she began to pull on the leash less. She stayed by my side and made nice tight turns with me. She still would try to lead the walk, but I continued to turn into her which caused her to pay attention more to where I was going.
We were all able to work around Pax. Jo did not pay too much attention to Pax. Throughout training, Jo did great working near all the dogs, but there was one time where Pax reacted to another dog which caused Jo to growl. It seems she feeds off of Pax’s energy, but on her own she pay no attention to other dogs. When she tried to growl and bark, I gave her a correction while saying off which caused her to stop.
Overall Jo had a great day of training. She is a smart girl, but she can be stubborn with following through with commands. All she needs is to be held accountable and she will be able to work past her stubbornness.
4/9/2024
Today Jo and I headed to Lowe’s to work around low distractions so clean up her commands. There were people walking around us and employees moving around large objects. Jo was still a bit distracted by her surroundings but she did great working through her commands. I held Her accountable to following through with every command I gave her. Today we focused on the come to sit command. I am working on her coming to my left side which puts her in a position to be able to go into a heel right away. Jo seems to know the come command, but I am unsure how the positioning was taught to her before, so we are building off her understanding of the command and adding in more structure. As you can see in the video we did lots of repetition. I positioned myself near the wood and gave enough space for Jo to fit between. Jo tends to make a lot of space between her and I, so being close to a wall helps her be in the correct position. Jo did a lot better with her heel today. I was able to have a loose grip on the leash as she followed by my side. There was one time where she broke command to say hello so someone. She tried to jumping to greet, so I gave her a correction which made her stop jumping.
Last night when I fed Jo, she growled at her when I tried removing her collar while she was eating. Today I started to feed Jo her meals out of my hand instead of giving her a bowl. This is going to help work on her resource guarding. This will help her understand that the food comes from me and not the bowl.
Pupdate 4/10/2024
Today Jo and I trained at the Whittwood Mall. We practiced more on cleaning up Jo’s commands and holding her accountable to following through. She is showing lots of improvement on all her commands. She holds her sit and down until I break her and heeling is getting a lot better. She will still try to veer off when distracted, but with a correction, she goes back into the correct position. We headed into a store where Jo did great staying by my side and waiting patiently when I asked her to sit.
We are still working on Jo’s resource guarding. Today I fed her out of the bowl but I held the bowl the entire time she ate. She has started to resource guard the crate. She will bark and growl at the other dogs once she goes inside and she growls at me when I get close. To work on this, I make her sit and wait to go in and out of the crate instead of her running in and out when she wants. When she starts to growl I implement a correction, which causes her to stop right away. It is a work in progress each day and it will take some time before Jo fully trusts me.
Pupdate 4/11/2024
Today, Jo and I trained at Huntington Beach. She had high energy and was a bit anxious when first arriving. She was distracted by her surroundings and wanted to greet everyone. I heeled her around to help tire her down and also bring down her energy. After that, she did great and started to follow through with commands easily. Our relationship is starting to build and she is trusting in me more. By working her through her stubbornness and holding her accountable to following through each and every time, Jo is showing lots of improvement. Jo is used to getting away with a lot of things, so as long as we continue to hold her accountable we can gain more respect and trust from her. When our pups respect us, their obedience and manners will progress! Joe did a great job not reacting to any dogs or people. She even sat And held her commands while other dogs tried coming up to her. It seems Jo likes to feed off of Pax’s energy when he is reacting. It has been great working with her on her own to expose her to different distractions to see how she would react.
Pupdate 4/12/2024
Today Jo and I worked at Century City Mall. We met up with Pax to work on their obedience together. The mall was very busy with lots of different types of distractions. There were dogs, loud music and many shoppers. Jo did a great job following through with all her commands. At times, she still pushes her boundaries with me trying to lead the heel. Even after a correction is given, she still wants to be in front. To work on this, I just did lots of sharp left turns into Jo, causing her to bump into me. After a while, She didn’t want to bump into me anymore, so she started to be in the correct position. I want to prevent Jo from leading the walk so she does not try to be protective, reactive, or in charge of the heel.
When working with Pax, Jo did a great job being around him! When Pax tried to react to other dogs, Jo stayed composed, although I made sure not to let Jo become fixated on any dog. For Jo and Pax’s behavior it is important to always stay proactive on them. This means to watch their body language and catch them before they become fixated. It is easier to prevent them from being fixated than trying to bring their energy down after they react. When I noticed Jo staring too long or her ears going up, I would say off, give a correct, and make sure she brings her attention back on me. If she still becomes fixated, I continue to say off while giving corrections and heel her away from the area. I was proud of Jo not reacting or feeding off Pax’s energy! Debbie and I heeled the two around the mall and worked on their commands which they did great doing around each other!
Jo was a bit uncomfortable when Pax came to sniff her, but she was excited to sniff Pax. It may have been the busy surroundings and it was too much going on for her, so we did not allow them to play. Instead we continued to work with them near each other.
Pupdate 4/13/2024
Today Jo and I met up with Pax again for more training. They were less anxious in a quieter environment. They both were excited to see each other and even wanted to play! After some fun we got to work. I was able to walk Pax and Jo together and they did great not pulling on the leash! They needed a minute to adjust to walking next to each other but overall they did a great job! They can’t wait to come home and show you everything they have learned!
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