Meet Khushi! She is a 1 year old Golden Retriever coming from Sherman Oaks, CA who has joined us for our 2 Week Board & Train program. Khushi comes to us to fix her habits of barking, obsessively barking towards others dogs, possessive with food, and jumping on people. Khushi is genuinely good with people and dogs but on leash this is where she becomes a handful. With me as her trainer I'm going to improve on her behaviors and to come to a better understanding when socializing. Check in to see her daily progress!
Pupdate 4/1/2024
Today I met Khushi and she seemed intimidated to greet me at first but after quickly smelling me she was fine and made her way into my car to head back home. I brought Khushi home and gave her time to burn some energy off in my backyard before heading inside and meeting my personal dog Hunter. When Khushi and Hunter saw each other their first greeting was through a crate while Hunter was inside. Hunter is genuinely happy to see most females and puppies come over so he was very invested as much as Khushi was. After a few minutes of hanging around the crate they seemed to want to greet so I let them and they immediately became friends and started to play. They had play time for twenty minutes before heading out to a park and doing minor training.
I took Khushi to a park near my house and let her explore around and have her moments of zoomies while on leash. When asking her to heel it wasn't possible since she was so distracted with everything around her but when asking for other obedience commands she seems to know them but has moments of breaking her sit or down. I've noticed she has a consistent habit of going down, even when being petted which we need to fix. After practicing her obedience and engaging with her she seemed more aware of my engagement with her and we headed back home where she laid down most of the time before going to sleep. Later on in the day we followed up with her training and introduced her to the e-collar which went well. Continue to check out her daily progress as we practice more with each day that passes by.
Pupdate 4/2/2024
Today I took Khushi to Lowes in La Habra, CA to meet up with one of our friends from offleash and practice our obedience training with our dogs. To my surprise Khushi never barked nor reacted towards Amanda's dogs Nala and Remy. We were able to work around them and complete our training with sit, down, and heel. Khushi was able to fix her heel and stay more to my side rather than trying to lead. When asking for her sit she's able to get into it but for her down she's adamant about not following through and would rather ignore it. I use leash pressure and bring my body down itself for her to see that I'm going to her level to see if this helps with assistance. After a couple of seconds of struggle she gets into her down obedience command and lets me walk around her without getting up. To make a moment like this memorable for her since she's not used to doing this in public I ask for her break which is a release command to be done with obedience and to be followed up with a reward which is a treat or physical praise coming from me. We are going to visit more places to help with the consistency and confidence build for Khushi.
Pupdate 4/3/2024
Today I took Khushi to Anaheim pet & feed supply in Anaheim CA, to work on her obedience training and impulse control. When we first arrived and walked into the store Khushi seemed uneasy hearing and seeing everything around her but she quickly adjusted within the first 5 minutes as we practiced obedience through the store. As we made our way past people we were eventually stopped by an employee who was excited to see Khushi and wanted to greet her. I gave her the opportunity to say hi but Khushi jumped so redirecting her back into a sit we were able to make progress while her guest was greeting her. Khushi remained in her sit and once her guest was done petting her I said "break" to help distinguish the behavior I want which was followed up with praise. We continued to practice place, sit, and down in the aisles to close the area around us and help keep Khushi in a structure when asked for her obedience. She did really well and we had many guests passing by her saying how well behaved she was but when people give her baby talk this instigates her to overstimulate. We are going to work on and figure out how to keep Khushi more calm in moments like these.
Pupdate 4/4/2024
Today I took Khushi to Santa Monica, CA to hang out around the pier and to meet up with more of our friends from Offleash. When we first arrived Khushi was uneasy and became alert hearing all the noises and sounds when walking towards the pier. Shortly after fifteen minutes of being here Khushi seemed to settle herself so we found an area to practice our obedience training seen in the video above.
In the video we are practicing our obedience but in a very exposed area with all types of distractions. Khushi did well with her basic obedience besides her down obedience command which she kept breaking to get up and would rather not do it. I take my time using the e-collar with leash pressure for assistance to help guide her back into the down. Once she has the confidence to stay she waits for almost two minutes before being given her break. We stayed for a good amount of time before heading to the shopping center where we had many guests greet Khushi today. I let Khushi greet people with obedience and at times with no obedience and she showed no sign of jumping since people were consistent about petting her slowly and calmly.
Pupdate 4/5/2024
Today we focused on house training but before starting our training today, Hunter and Khushi went on an early walk together which was followed up with playtime. Khushi and Hunter have been drinking out of the same water bowl and while having them out Khushi seems very aware of being respectful with my room but she does have a habit of grabbing stuff from the ground like socks and shoes. Each time Khushi has done this I've been implementing her off obedience command which can be used to have her drop things from her mouth as well.
In the video above we are practicing door manners which took time for her to get used to. Few mistakes are made but eventually Khushi comes to an understanding and always follows through to me even with the door open. Khushi is asked to go onto the place pad and is followed up with the sit or down obedience commands. When I leave the house I go as far as the front of the street then make my way back inside to break her for praise. We will continue to condition her door manners without the place pad.
Pupdate 4/6/2024
Today I took Khushi to Heritage park in Cerritos CA, to have some fun and practice our obedience training. There are ducks and geese that roam around the park so I wanted to see her reaction seeing these types of animals. When we first arrived Khushi had a good demeanor about arriving and wasn't overly excited so we were able to have a consistent heel from the beginning of our visit. As we walked around the park we walked up towards the playground and I had Khushi follow me up the small jungle gym. We also found a platform to condition her place obedience command which went well. When walking near the ducks and geese Khushi did seem to get excited seeing them so we took our time walking near them at a distance trying to get as close as we could. Even being at a distance Khushi seemed to overstimulate still so we are gonna take time to come to more parks with ducks and geese that roam around to help with her excitement about them. Khushi seems to know all her obedience commands well so we are working towards leash dragging then offleash obedience. By the end of our visit I gave Khushi much time to run around in an open grass field and let her be herself, even running with her on the grass.
Pupdate 4/7/2024
Today I took Khushi to Hillcrest Park in Downtown Fullerton for exercise and more obedience training. When we first arrived I took Khushi to a big open grass area to go potty before going around the park. We passed by many people which went well so throughout the park we had no issues walking around and ended up near a baseball field to practice our obedience.
In the video above we are practicing place, recall, and leash dragging. Khushi is picking up her recall very well and seems to navigate herself around me in a better manner. She can get very excited when practicing so at times she leans into me or pushes her paw onto my shoes which I avoid. When asking her to come to me I always stick out my leash towards the right side of my body to keep Khushi on this side of me before coming around. Once she's next to me in her heel position I follow up with her sit before continuing our practices. After we used the small open area to practice leash dragging which has been going well. I'm going to provide Khushi with a lighter leash to drag so her back paws don't get caught onto the leash when walking. Before leaving the park we had one family pass us and one of their children wanted to say hi to Khushi so I allowed them before asking Khushi to sit. When Khushi was in her sit I told the children to stay quiet and pet her slowly to not overstimulate Khushi for this moment. Once they were done I gave Khushi her break and rewarded her with much praise.
Pupdate 4/8/2024
Today I took Khushi to a park in Pasadena, CA to work on her offleash obedience training with the Offleash team. When we first arrived we waited a few minutes before everyone else arrived. Khushi showed no overexcitement from seeing the other dogs at a distance. But there were two new dogs that Khushi got to see today and once she realized that she was momentarily invested. Asking for her Off obedience disengages her and brings her attention back towards me.
In the video above I have Khushi heel with me and a Chocolate Labrador named Oso who is very friendly. We walk together in the same way I have Hunter walk with Khushi and she did very well not knowing Oso. Second part of the video is our practice of impulse control and recall. We continue to improve on this since Khushi seems to have moments where her excitement is just going off for no reason so I keep asking for her recall to keep her engaged with me. Sheena and Oso pass around us a few times and Khushi did well not wanting to impulsively go say hi to her new friend. The last video clip I talk about and go over on how to properly talk to our pets daily rather than talking to them in a way that would give our pets miscommunication.
Pupdate 4/9/2024
Today Hunter and Khushi went on a walk early in the morning. Khushi does very well staying in the middle between Hunter and myself. When arriving back home they had their usual routine of playtime and Khushi and I followed up with obedience training in the front and back of the house. After some training it was time to eat and practice some food manners again.
In the video above is my usual routine of bringing Khushi over to my parents living room to make her wait for her meal. Before she was very impulsive to go to her food and rarely resource guarded her food after the first day of her staying over. After having her eat near Hunter at times and testing her to see if she would resource guarding she seems to do very well now when it comes to her food, even having Hunter around. I take my time working with Khushi even if she gets up while waiting to help condition her to stay and wait longer. After one redirection she lets me walk throughout the house until given her break. She gets nervous about going to the bowl directly after many practices but comes to a point where she eventually goes for her food. I touch her all around and in the face and she remains calm and neutral for me.
Pupdate 4/10/2024
Today I took Khushi to the Block of Orange in Orange, CA to meet up with some friends with Offleash for a moment before it got hot. Khushi and I arrived early so we made our way around the shopping center with ease. I found an open area in front of Saddle Ranch to take Khushi's leash off and practice some offleash training.
In the video above I'm practicing our obedience in a random order or more of a freestyle of mixing things up to see how engaged Khushi is when talking to her. Compared to most dogs I've worked with, Khushi seems more attentive when having her in a training mode, even if it's for the most basic of commands. When having people pass by her I ask for her off obedience command just in general. As long as she hears her obedience command she will disengage herself from her surroundings. In case of a situation where someone calls to Khushi I would recommend asking for Khushi for her obedience since she's still into training and a young pup who just started her training journey. It's common when outside and socializing people might want to see or call to a calm and collective golden retriever so keeping Khushi in her obedience throughout every encounter will make her act in a proper manner.
Once Tanner and Amanda arrived we took another walk around the block where Khushi seemed interested in smelling the other dogs. I keep her distant because her impulse to say hi to other dogs is still going on but she is very mellow about it now only breaching out using her nose only sometimes rather than breaking her obedience. Few moments of redirection helped adjust her and she remained calm and confident around them the rest of the visit. We walked to certain areas to practice place while taking pictures. Khushi seems to know all of her obedience offleash so I will spend some time trying new things out being creative with Khushi to see what she can learn.
Pupdate 4/11/2024
Today I took Khushi and Hunter out for a walk early in the morning which was followed up with some play time. I took the time to follow up with some training before giving Khushi a break and time to eat. Feeding Khushi went well and I tried to see if there was anything that I could do to instigate her supposed resource guarding but she has been doing well when asking for her obedience and making her wait for her food.
Later on we went to Huntington Beach, CA to meet up with friends again and to enjoy our visit at the beach. Khushi did well until we got to the main street to cross over towards the pier. She was uneasy momentarily seeing all the cars pass by quick and some were loud due to modification so it seemed more of the unusual noises rather than a car itself making her uneasy. Once the light changed and cars stopped moving she was perfectly fine to cross over. I kept her on leash in the beginning and she did well the longer we stayed. Once we made our way around the beach I took the time to walk back towards the front of the pier to practice our offleash obedience. We had one guest say hi to Khushi and she did well with this interaction. By the end of our visit Khushi couldn't hold her sitting from being tired so I would ask for her down instead of sit anytime we needed to stop or practice obedience in general.
Pupdate 4/12/2024
Today we headed back to Santa Monica Pier to practice our offleash obedience training. Our training today went well, as seen in the video above. Khushi was effortlessly training with ease today but something to note is that Khushi can be distracted by someone's attention if they baby talk to her. I always ask for her off obedience command to have her attention disengage herself from a stranger.
In the video above we are practicing all of our obedience commands such as heel, down, recall, place, and sit. During these moments of having her hold her obedience she typically looks around herself checking the surroundings but maintains her obedience. We had a few guests greet her which went well. Later on we made our way to the shopping area above the pier and stayed here momentarily before leaving. I had Khushi spend some time around an aussie-doodle puppy who Khushi was excited to be around, almost breaking her obedience. The puppy does what typical puppies do and is very playful so each moment she tried to play with Khushi I would keep engaging myself with Khushi to keep her calm. Eventually Khushi settled and we were able to enjoy the rest of our visit walking as a group.
Pupdate 4/13/2024
Today Hunter and Khushi went on their usual walk together early in the morning which was followed up with play time. We followed up with training around the house conditioning her offleash obedience. Khushi does well following me in and out of the house but when stepping into a room I make sure to always ask her to sit if she is allowed to enter a family member's room. In the front of the house I conditioned Khushi's new obedience command which is come to heel. If Khushi is distant from me or even in a sit, down, or place, I can call her into her heel and continue walking from that point.
In the video above is Hunter and Khushi's second playtime after a nap. They can typically play for about ten to twenty minutes before putting them both back into training. When Hunter and Khushi met they both were interested in a genuine way without both of them overstimulating themselves. They always play the same way every day and often lay next to each once they are tired out. If Khushi was to be too possessive with Hunter he would correct her himself and they continue to play as if nothing happened.
Khushi's Two week Board & Train is coming to an end and it has been a fun experience taking out Khushi for her daily adventures. Khushi was able to progress daily and showed her true capabilities when being asked for her obedience. We spent everyday going somewhere, if not training at home was enough for Khushi as well! Khushi is ready to go back home to her family!
