JoJo | Doberman Pinscher | Venice, CA | In-Training
- Scott Hansen
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 6 hours ago
Meet JoJo! JoJo is a two-year-old Doberman Pinscher here for our Three-Week Reactive Board and Train Program. She is a loving pup that has a few unwanted behaviors. JoJo pulls hard on the leash; she is reactive to other dogs while on walks and reactive in the car when she sees another dog. Her obedience is unreliable and inconsistent. JoJo can perform a command or two with proper motivation; however, she lacks structure and performs tasks inconsistently. JoJo did come with her own e-collar; however, we need to properly condition her to the e-collar. Over the next twenty-one days, JoJo is going to learn to be an obedient pup through consistent, clear communication and balanced training at home and by discovering new people and places. JoJo will learn to perform all these things on leash through a positive and balanced training environment. Through structure and consistency, JoJo will demonstrate how great a pup she can be! Stay tuned for JoJo’s three-week transformation!
JoJo | Doberman Pinscher | Pupdate 08/16/26
Today, Ms. JoJo joined me for her Three-Week Reactive Board and Train Program. On the way home, we stopped at a local park to see what commands Ms. JoJo could perform. A tiny dog went walking by as I was setting up for our test session. Ms. JoJo was still in the car crate and did not react at all. Once I took her out, she performed about as well as you would think, which is not very well. She was running all over the place and checking everything out. She was hyper-aware of all the activity going on at the park. I think you know all that, and that's why she's here. After I tested her skills, we had a mini photoshoot for her profile picture for her blog. I don't know if you know this, but as soon as dogs see a phone or camera in front of their face, you are now invisible to them, and they must ignore you at all costs. Once we got what we needed, we loaded up and headed to Ms. JoJo's temporary residence for the next three weeks. Ms. JoJo did whine quite a bit on the ride home.
Once we got home, I let Ms. JoJo smell Ms. Toji through the front gate. Ms. JoJo exhibited barking and jumping at the gate. Ms. JoJo sniffed her through the fence. I observed reactivity in this initial meeting. Ms. JoJo had no problems getting into the house. I let her explore each room and meet everyone. Throughout the introductions, Mrs. JoJo showed a happy, excited interest in everything in the new environment. She was excited to meet everyone. I had Mr. Ares in his crate so that Ms. JoJo could meet him separately from Ms. Toji. Understanding that Ms. JoJo has displayed reactivity towards pups that she does not know, I didn’t want her to be overwhelmed by meeting two pups at the same time. When Ms. JoJo smelled Mr. Ares through the crate, they both started barking at each other. I gave Ms. JoJo a “No!” and let her know that we are not doing that. That kind of behavior stops immediately. She backed off and calmed down. Then, I let Ms. JoJo smell Ms. Toji through my screen door to the dog run area. Here, I did not observe any adversity. I slightly opened the door to let Ms. Toji and Ms. JoJo sniff each other. They were calm, and this was a much better experience. I took Mr. JoJo outside to meet Ms. Toji. This meeting went well. Then, I put Ms. Toji away. I tethered Ms. JoJo to one of my posts and ensured Mr. Ares had his e-collar on as well as being on a leash. If there were any adverse reactions by either one, I could pull Mr. Ares away safely. Once again, Ms. JoJo tried to instigate with Mr. Ares. I gave her a “No!” and pulled Mr. Ares away. I put Mr. Ares in a sit and then grabbed Ms. JoJo’s leash and put her in a “sit” also. Now they calmly smelled each other and were much more respectful. Ms. JoJo hung out with Ms. Toji for a while tonight, and they seem to get along fine. I’ll allow Mr. Ares, Ms. JoJo, and Ms. Toji an opportunity to hang out together tomorrow. I will supervise this initial meeting and ensure that they are ok.
We then went on a long walk around the block so that she could get used to the sights, sounds, and scents of her temporary new neighborhood. She didn’t pull too hard when she was at the end of the leash. She never lagged behind me. She ignored all the other dogs in the houses that barked at us as we went around; however, she did fixate on a few pups that were in the front lawn barking at her and another set of pups who were across the street. We crossed paths with another pup on the same side of the street, and Ms. JoJo did start lunging and barking.
I put her into her assigned crate for her stay with me. She needed a little motivation. Once we have her introduced to the e-collar, we will use that to motivate her to enter the crate.
I expect to see her work well with the structure and positive reinforcement. I expect her to respond well to treats if she isn’t overwhelmed by the structure and e-collar. With clear, persistent communication and expectations, she will learn to be a well-mannered pup!
I gave her dinner and observed how much she ate. I keep track of her weight and will ensure that she maintains her weight while she is with me.
I've attached the e-collar familiarization video. Please review the video a few times before Ms. JoJo's turnover. We'll practice together to make sure you are comfortable with the system before using it with Ms. JoJo. I will work on finding a good level for Ms. JoJo tomorrow. The e-collar you sent with her died on the way home, so I tossed it on the charger for the night. I will see how she reacts to training with the e-collar and pinch collar.
JoJo | Doberman Pinscher | Pupdate 08/17/26
Today, Ms. JoJo and I headed over to Rosie the Riveter Park in Long Beach, CA. I used this training to troubleshoot some of Ms. JoJo's issues. Before we headed over there, I charged her e-collar overnight, and I installed the hypoallergenic titanium contact points. I also changed the settings from momentary to continuous. I also unlocked the number from 24 to see if we could work at a lower level.
When we got to the park, I was using the e-collar quite a bit. I started with her on the prong collar and the e-collar. This seemed to get us off to a good start. Ms. JoJo did a good job with all the commands. I was impressed with her skill level. There was only one other pup at the park when we started, and she didn't pay it too much attention. She did see it and tried to fixate on it, but either the e-collar or prong collar was able to redirect her. She was responsive to levels as low as 15 or even the vibrate feature. I did have to go up to level 25 a few times. I even switched over to just the flat collar at one point to see if she could perform the tasks with the e-collar and flat collar. I did notice I was going up on the e-collar, and she was not being responsive. I checked the unit, and it was not paired. I re-paired the unit and went back to using the unit.
I then walked by Mr. Mike, the Off Leash SoCal Owner, and his vehicle. He had brought his two pups with him, Mr. Oso and Ms. Ruby. Ms. JoJo did fixate and try to go after them. I used the e-collar and went up to try to redirect her. I was going up and up, and there was no response from Ms. JoJo. I checked the unit again, and it wasn't paired. This probably means that the unit is defective since I charged it all night and it shut off within a few minutes. I will switch out for a new one.
I tried to do some training with all the pups. On the way over to where we conducted our training, Ms. JoJo did try to nip at Ms. Ruby. This is not good. I think this is kind of Ms. JoJo's personality because she acted tough yesterday during the initial introductions, but then was able to be redirected and calm around the pups.
We need to clean up her obedience to be more consistent with just the flat collar. By using a newer e-collar, we should be able to manage her fixations with other pups as well. I think managing her initial interactions with other pups is going to be very important with Ms. JoJo. This will apply in all settings.
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