Kodak | Goldendoodle | Los Angeles, CA | In-Training
- Scott Hansen
- Dec 15, 2024
- 21 min read
Updated: Dec 28, 2024
Meet Kodak! He’s a two-year-old Goldendoodle from Los Angeles, California here for our Two-Week-Board and Train Program! Kodak is a handsome young pup. Kodak was rescued by his pup parents this year. Kodak can be nervous and anxious around new people, places and things. Kodak can perform a command or two, however, it is when Kodak wants to and it’s highly inconsistent. Over the next fourteen days, Kodak is going to learn to be a confident, brave pup through consistent, structure, and clear communication through balanced training in areas such as at home, in the car, and in discovering new people and places. Kodak is going to learn how to do all these things on and off leash in a positive and balanced training environment. Kodak will demonstrate how great of a pup he can be! Stay tuned for Kodak’s two-week transformation!
Pupdate 12/15/24
Today Mr. Kodak came home to join my pack. We stopped at the park on the way home to see what he knew and for a quick photoshoot. Mr. Kodak decided to show me how stubborn he could be at the park by plopping down and not moving. It's all good! A lot of changes today for him so we are extra patient and I give him today to relax and get used to the new environment. After the park, Mr. Kodak got to meet the whole family, our family pup Ms. Toji, and my other board and train - Mr. Duke. Mr. Kodak wasn't overly impressed with anyone in particular but more timid. I took him for a walk around my neighborhood with my mini-trainer to acclimate to the sights and sounds. Afterward, I let Ms. Toji and Mr. Kodak hang out for the afternoon. I tried to give him his food, but he wasn't interested in it. I'll leave it in his crate for him to see if he eats some more throughout the night. Tomorrow we will hit the ground running and address his timidness and stubbornness simultaneously.
Pupdate 12/16/24
Today I introduced quite a few things to Mr. Kodak. As you can see in the video today, I introduced the e-collar. We start at the lowest level, 0, and work our way up 5 at a time to see how Mr. Kodak will respond. I observed the e-collar working around 15 and around 20 it was a little too high for Mr. Kodak. So we will stay in the 15 range for now. This level varies on Mr. Kodak and his willingness to perform the tasks. We want it to be as low as possible. The main purpose of the e-collar is to be a communication device to him. He receives a low-level stimulation + the verbal command = him performing the command. However, if he does not perform the command, then we have to press it again and say the command again. We will go up on the e-collar each time until he performs the task. The pup controls the stimulation levels. As soon as he performs the task properly, we fully reset the e-collar back to its low level and carry on.
As a Goldendoodle, Mr. Kodak is going to be stubborn and resistant to a lot of the commands and tasks I ask of him. I tried to start today with only the flat collar and the e-collar stimulation but he was not on board. I used my slip lead which is a rope leash that goes around him to help apply pressure. As soon as Mr. Kodak performs a task, all the pressure is released. Once again, he decides when the pressure is released or not. Today was our first day working together so I am ok with about 50% of where we need to be. I introduced the place, sit, heel, and come-to-sit commands. I am trying to be understanding that he was rescued and has a lot of change in his life but the more structure we can add to his life, the more comfortable he will be in new environments.
Mr. Kodak didn't eat his breakfast but he did eat all of his dinner overnight in the crate. He spent the majority of the day outside playing and exercising with Ms. Toji so I am sure he will have a full appetite tonight. Overall, not a bad start to Day 1. I'll keep adding more and more structure to his life while giving him plenty of time to be a happy pup.
I've included the e-collar video which reviews all the features and components. Please review a few times before Mr. Kodak comes home. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.
Pupdate 12/17/24
Today Mr. Kodak and I hit another backyard session. Although these sessions tend to be distraction-free, today the gardner was doing his thing and there were plenty of loud noises going on throughout the training session. I introduced the final command for Mr. Kodak, "down". I tried to reward him with treats for him performing the "down" but I don't think he trusts me enough for that yet. He was willing to hold the "down" for about 2 minutes which was awesome! He also held the "sit' for about 2 minutes as well! We are making good progress!
I also introduced the pinch collar to try to encourage Mr. Kodak to not be so resistant and defiant. Once again, the pinch collar applies pressure to Mr. Kodak when he plops down and doesn't want to participate or if he's lagging too far behind. Once he performs the task at hand, all pressure is released and he's pressure-free. I think he's starting to figure this out more and more. Now that he knows all his commands, it is just practice, practice, practice.
He loves hanging out with Ms. Toji and I've been letting him hang out in my office with me and my other board and train.
Pupdate 12/18/24
Today Mr. Kodak and I headed over to Rynerson Park in Lakewood, CA to get to work on all his basic obedience commands. Mr. Kodak can be one stubborn pup! That's ok, we will be patient and firm at the same time. Mr. Kodak likes to have tantrums when I ask him to perform a task and he doesn't want to do it. He will plop his butt on the ground, stop moving, try to break off, try to bite the leash, try to bite me, poop, or even put his feet out like a spider to stop himself from going into the crate. However! We are making progress! These outbursts are in between periods of performing well!
As you can see in today's video, his "heel" is coming along nicely. He tried to break off several times to the magical dog pee light post but I kept him on task. When I gave him a break to do his business, he just sat around and looked at me. This is a reminder that as long as Mr. Kodak has been fed, hydrated, allowed potty breaks, and is in good physical condition, then there is a reasonable expectation that Mr. Kodak performs the tasks that we are asking of him. Today he ate all his food, was given plenty of water, and was given about an hour to play with Ms. Toji before we headed out. A tired dog is a dog that performs poorly. Keep that in mind as well. If you play fetch (you said he doesn't like toys), but if you go on a long walk and he's tired, it's best not to come home and then ask him to perform every obedience task or overwhelm him with many people at the house. He might be less likely to perform well. However, a quick potty break and a stress-relieving walk before or during having people over will go a long way in ensuring that he is mentally prepared to be a good pup.
His "down" is not very good! You advised me that he isn't a big fan of this command. I have been using pressure on his back and moving his front paws as he locks them up. I will try to use treats and the most positive way to encourage him to perform the task. Let's see what we can do to figure this out!
Pupdate 12/19/24
Today Mr. Kodak and I focused on his "down" in a little to no stimulus environment in my backyard. I would have to say that Mr. Kodak has to be one of the most stubborn pups I have ever had the pleasure of being around. I worked on his "down" for a few minutes by applying pressure to his back while gently sliding his front feet out and giving low-level stimulation. This works two or three times and then Mr. Kodak starts to anticipate that I am going to ask him to do this. Instead of complying more readily, he locks himself even more. This means that I have to use more pressure to get him to "down". As a result of his resisting so mightily, he has pooped a few times on my dog bed and even on the ground. Another time, he was tired of me asking and tried several times to nip at me or at the leash. I tried using hot dogs to encourage a down and I even tried to give him hot dogs after he was in the "down" and that wasn't enough to convince him to keep performing the "down". I had to give him a half bath due to the poop getting on his tail and hindquarters. I am going to reach out to my fellow trainers who have also trained Goldendoodles and explore as many options as I can.
Lastly, obedience training is based on behavior modification. I know you stated that Mr. Kodak was rescued from an overpopulated Goldendoodle breeder. I wonder if there is any psychological trauma that occurred to him in that environment that makes him resistant to performing the "down". Performing the "down" is a vulnerable position for many dogs. Usually, they can be encouraged to do it with treats, medium leash, and collar pressure. Even after asking a handful of times, a lot of pups start to pick up on the game and trust me enough to perform the "down". Mr. Kodak refuses to perform it willingly at this point. We'll keep working on it each day and I'll let you know how it goes!
Pupdate 12/20/24
We have a lot to go over today! Last night, I headed over to one of our fellow Off-Leash trainer's house to work with Mr. Kodak. I feel like I am a little behind on Mr. Kodak. I felt we had some conflict and that he didn't trust me. We have a pretty reliable system and timeline for our pups at Off Leash. However, with Mr. Kodak being so stubborn and not trusting me yet, things sometimes feel disconnected. I think we decided that the best thing for Mr. Kodak is to just keep assisting him into the "down" as much as possible. He is showing signs of thinking about going into the "down" by moving his feet forward slightly when we get into the "place" and "sit". He thinks about it but still isn't sure. Due to the issues we've been having, we decided that just being extra patient and using our voice is the best we can do. He doesn't like treats, his kibble, toys, or even seems to care too much about being petted. What we usually figure out early on in the process is a good consequence system for the pup. Usually, the pup likes to be pet, loved on, belly rub, treat, or allowed to just go smell around when they are done performing their tasks. The things listed above are positive consequences. Then we have negative consequences which is the command "off" + low-level stimulus. If the pup continues unwanted behavior, then the stimulus of the e-collar goes up. The same thing goes for reinforcing the obedience commands, we use leash pressure to shape the pup's behavior. When the pup adequately performs the task at hand, we release all the pressure + release any stimulation. These are considered negative consequences. In Mr. Kodak's case, he doesn't have a lot of things to pull from to reward him for performing adequately besides a release of pressure and my voice telling him "good boy". Sometimes I'll throw in a head rub or massage his back but he doesn't really care for them. Then when it comes to pressure as a negative consequence, the greater the pressure, the more Mr. Kodak shuts down. So we have very little to motivate him by except a lack of pressure and if we use too much pressure, he isn't too keen on participating. He will poop himself or plop on the ground when overstimulated even by a little bit. He has been working around a level 15 on the e-collar but if we have to go up to as low as 25(reminder that the collar goes up to 100), he starts to resist and push back and it becomes a negative feedback loop. This is no longer productive training either. The best course of action is going to be patient, very clear, and minimize Mr. Kodak's mistakes as early and often as possible.
Based on the feeling of distrust and lack of rapport I've been feeling with Mr. Kodak, I decided to practice today without the e-collar and try to gain his trust by using his kibble. You can see in the first video how nervous and shaking Mr. Kodak was just sitting there. He also pooped himsef a little bit on the car ride over. Some of the shaking could be stress related from the upcoming training or car sickness or both! When we worked on the "down" he was much more calm and relaxed. He still didn't want to eat his kibble even on the cot for the "down". However, he has been much more willing to let me shape his "down". The problem is going to be that if he doesn't start doing it with just a little pressure from me pressing on his back or slight pressure on the collar, then he might not be able to do it. If I keep doing it for him, then he's not learning anything.
Before we headed out for a really long walk around the park, I had to help someone jump their car. Mr. Kodak hung out while I helped out. He actually tried to follow me which shows that he does recognize me and wants to be with me. I really enjoyed that. Once we were done helping this person out, we went for our long walk. During our walk, we went to another bench where we practiced going up and down over the bench, then practiced the "down" again. I still had to move his legs to get to go into the "down" but once he's there, he has no problem relaxing there. Once again, he was watching me while I walked around him which is a good sign that he was focused on me. This tells me that he recognizes me, he is looking to me for what I am going to ask of him next all while relaxing in the "down". I think not using the e-collar and pinch collar was a good idea to regain his trust.
We finished the second half of this extended walk with the leash-dragging the entire time. It wasn't perfect but he didn't try to run off, he didn't try to do his own thing, he just lagged behind a little bit. He would catch up and be in the correct position and I would tell him "GOOD BOY!" and rub his head for affirmation. We continued to vary our pace by going fast and slow. I reinforced that when I stop, he should be sitting. He is good at that one.
Lastly, we practiced come to "sit" throughout all the "down" exercises and in different areas. I tried it one time without holding the leash and that didn't go very well. He just came to me and sat in front of me. I backed up a few steps while telling him 'come" and then got him to the correct position by stepping forward once he went past me.
Tomorrow, I will bring back the e-collar but keep working on the flat collar. All we can do is keep practicing and be as patient as possible with Mr. Kodak. I will be taking him to the mall later this week. It's a little too busy right now with everyone wrapping up their last-minute Christmas shopping.
Pupdate 12/21/2024
Today Mr. Kodak and I headed over to my local Home Depot. Mr. Kodak and I are rebuilding our relationship slowly but surely. We re-introduced the e-collar. I put him on a light 6' leash to simulate being off lead as much as possible. I am being extra patient and extra careful not to overstimulate Mr. Kodak. He can be overstimulated mentally and become resistant to the training and tasks. I did practice come-to-sit about 10' away. Mr. Kodak did not want to break his "down" and come to me but a little patience and encouragement, he made it over and into the proper position. As I stated yesterday, if I keep showing him how to do everything, then he's being stubborn and not showing me that he's learning anything. He must do these tasks without input from me on the leash. He should only need a nice low-level stimulation, around 7-10, and the voice command for him to perform the task. He understands them all, he just chooses not to perform them. If I am too harsh on the negative consequences, he will shut down, poop himself or start to lash out with nipping and biting. We obviously want to avoid those so I am giving him plenty of time and opportunities to show me that he can perform all these tasks. Overall, I would say that we are finally making some good progress. We have some catching up to do, but we're going to be persistent and consistent with what we ask of Mr. Kodak!
Pupdate 12/22/24
Well, well, well....what do we have here? It looks like we have finally achieved a monumental milestone for Mr. Kodak and we got him to perform "Down!" on his own!!!!!!!! I am beyond excited!! You can even see it in the video! Mr. Kodak didn't seem phased by my excitement but I was pumped! It came with a few poop marks along the way but we didn't give up and it paid off. I was only going to work on his house and car manners today. I started with the "load up" and he was making progress with going in and out of the car on his own. I'll take that for now. He did jump into the car himself the other day when we were at Rynerson Park but that's because he didn't want to do the other training not because I asked him to.
Down, down, down! Let's talk about it for a minute. The importance of repetition, patience, and persistence is what got us to the promised land. The importance of building a better bond with the dog is what got us here. My original goal was only to work on his door manners. I was going to put him into a "down" by sliding his feet out and then practicing going in and out of the door without him. However, something said, it's time to focus on this "down". I switched it up and started practicing the "down" over and over and over again. As you can see, I started by sliding his feet out. This was fine at first. Then he started to anticipate a little bit by sliding his feet only a few inches. I mentioned that he was doing this the other day. I applied steady pressure to his back. I wasn't forcing him or anything, just steady pressure on his back. I could feel that all his weight was on one foot. I slid that one out from under him and used the pressure to coax him all the way down. Eventually, I just stayed with the pressure. He wasn't getting upset so I kept going. I could feel him being less and less resistant which is why I kept asking him to repeat the task. You can see in the picture that he did poop the cot a little bit due to him clinching up and resisting. This instinct to push back is called the opposition reflex. All dogs have it. Think about sled dogs or dogs on a harness. The more they pull on the harness, the more they seem to pull their owners. This is an example of the opposition reflex. The back pressure is making the dog want to pull more forward. The same thing is happening with Mr. Kodak, if I put too much pressure, he gives me an opposition reflex. However, with steady pressure, it's a matter of who is going to be more stubborn and relent first. As it turns out, today was my day to outlast Mr. Kodak! I am beyond excited to see how well this transfers in other places. He was willing to capitulate due to the low stimulus environment and his trust in me. In a medium or high-level stimulus environment, he may not be so willing. We will be finding out this week!
Also, today I brought home two new board-and-train pups. A Bernedoodle and a German Shorthair Pointer. Now Mr. Kodak has a bunch of friends to hang out with when we aren't practicing.
Pupdate 12/23/24
Today we picked right back up where we left off! Back to the grind and review all commands with the leash dragging. I wanted to spend one more day in my backyard with Mr. Kodak and reviewing the "down" before going out to the parks and practicing. Just because he did it yesterday three times in a row, didn't necessarily mean that he had a mastery of the task yet. I wanted to make sure he was willing to perform the "down" in a low-stimulus environment. Of course, he did amazing! I worked on my soccer skills (not very good) and practiced my scooter-riding skills while he was in the "sit" and "down". I am super proud of how far he has come and for the next few days. He is more and more receptive towards me which I love even more. Mr. Kodak highly enjoys being outside with Ms. Toji and Ms. Harriet. I watch his happy tail go back and forth as he plays with them outside. Great job today Mr. Kodak!
Pupdate 12/24/24
Today Mr. Kodak and I headed out to Rynerson Park in Lakewood, CA to review all his commands in a public place with a little more distractions. It wasn't wild and crazy as it is Christmas Eve and only a few people were out and about at the park. Mr. Kodak is performing the "down" more consistently which is amazing! He is still so scared of everything that his "break" relies on the leash pressure to release him from his position. I am unsure what I can do to be happier and more friendly and get him to "break" and do his thing. He doesn't care for treats and doesn't want to get in trouble so he is kind of stuck. I am happy to see how far we have come in the past week.
After the video, we did go for a long walk around the park. I switched over to my lightest leash and held it in a position where it simulated being off-leash. Mr. Kodak is doing well with this light collar pressure. He continues to perform his tasks without much input from me other than the e-collar. I am hoping that with the "load up' command being our focus tomorrow, this will transfer over to him hupping (jumping/going up) up on a bench or two to practice "place" and "down" on something other than the cot.
Before we left, I did work on his "load up" which is getting him into and out of the vehicle. Once again, I know and believe Mr. Kodak can do so many amazing things but he just doesn't have the confidence to perform many of them. Jumping in and out of the vehicle is one of those things that he refuses to do without encouragement or leash pressure. I took out my ramp and used that to have him load up and come back out a few times. I like to do everything at least three times to make sure the pup understands. Mr. Kodak did make it up and in a few times on his own before we wrapped up.
Pupdate 12/25/24
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Mr. Kodak's gift to me was a full off-leash session! I will say that it went pretty well! Did he break off and try to go join the other pups a few times? Absolutely. Did he come back and perform the task after he left? Absolutely. This is why we practice in an enclosed, safe, low-distractor environment before heading to public places. I really am proud of how far he has come! The extended sit was a little off at first due to his trepidation with everything but once he locks into place, we are good to go. His "down" is a lot more consistent now.
For the next few days, we'll head to public places, I need him to "down" on a bench or something higher than just the cot, and reinforce "load up". We have a few busy days ahead of us before you get him back!
Pupdate 12/26/24
Today Mr. Kodak and I headed to Liberty Park in Cerritos, CA to work on his commands around medium distractors. This was a warm-up session before heading to Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos, CA. My biggest concern is always whether or not he will be in the mood to perform the commands. The other concern I have usually is whether or not he will be overwhelmed by the tasks. There really shouldn't be a time or place where you need to do all the commands back-to-back as I do for his training. You should be able to practice or have him perform one or two at a time and that should continue his foundation. You do have to be consistent with Mr. Kodak to ensure that he doesn't go back to doing what Mr. Kodak wants. If you are inconsistent then when you ask him to perform certain tasks, he is not going to do them. At the very least, it will be challenging and frustrating to get him to perform those tasks and that will in turn cause conflict. The conflict and frustrations will lead to poor training.
About today's training. Mr. Kodak performed well! He went up on the bench at the park and performed a "down". His come-to-heel looks good also. I loaded up and headed to the mall. Things didn't go so well at the mall. Mr. Kodak was a little overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of all the holiday shoppers. I am at the mall regularly and today was probably the busiest day I have seen all year. It was even more busy today than it was before Christmas. I pointed this out in that it was a bad idea to take Mr. Kodak there when it was that busy for his first trip to the mall. I considered going early in the day but I was worried that if he got overwhelmed after eating his breakfast he would poop in the mall. I decided to wait until later in the day when he had time to hang out in the backyard and get to use the restroom. My plan failed because it was way busier than I thought it was and Mr. Kodak decided to go poop in the middle of the mall. I cleaned it up and we concluded our trip. I'll try returning before it gets too busy the next few days. I think if you plan on taking him places, I would be prepared for him to do this as he has shown several times that when he is overwhelmed or scared he does poop. He seemed fine after this but I didn't want to take the chance.
Pupdate 12/27/24
Today Mr. Kodak and I headed over to Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos, CA. We went completely off-leash in a public place!! You did it Mr. Kodak! Now, it wasn't pretty nor was it a disaster. He did poop before we went into the mall which was helpful. Secondly, he pulled for the door several times for the 45 minutes or so that I was there. I gave him many opportunities to go outside and reset and relax. Lastly, when we went to the crowded areas of the mall, he was stressed out. I honestly expected him to poop again he was so tense. The good news is that he didn't poop and that he overcame his fears. I gave him a lot of extra love and reinforcement today for doing so great! I am proud of what he has accomplished in this time.
Mr. Kodak's e-collar system came in and I installed the 3/4" hypoallergenic contact points for you. I have a 15' practice leash for you as well.
Pupdate 12/28/24
Today was the final day of Mr. Kodak's 2-week adventure with me! Tomorrow you get Mr. Kodak back! It has been quite the journey with Mr. Kodak. Today's pupdate is going to be a little long. I was reviewing the notes from when you dropped off Mr. Kodak. One of the things that you had put down was that he was skittish and that you wanted him to be a little more confident. I think Mr. Kodak can do a lot of amazing things. I think that Mr. Kodak works well with verbal praise and telling him "good boy". I do my best to say "good boy" in a high-pitched voice but as a pup-parent, you two already have higher-pitched voices than me. These are going to be your best tool in encouraging Mr. Kodak to do things he is nervous or timid about. The stimulation on the e-collar should be used but only when Mr. Kodak is being stubborn about not performing a task. Today, I asked him to place on the cot to perform door manners. Multiple times he broke off and didn't want to perform the task. I then had to use the e-collar at a high level to recall him. We can not let him do what he wants when he wants. This is his stubbornness. This is the structure that I have built into him where we will follow through with our requests and ensure that Mr. Kodak performs the task. As I was trying to get him to perform this simple task that I know he knows, he pooped on the floor again. This is and will continue to be a problem. As a trainer, I modify behavior to have the pup perform certain obedience tasks. I use praise, pressure, and clear, concise communication to have the pup perform tasks. It will be your job to continue that foundation. Remember that your training doesn't have to be a marathon of every command all the time but we can not let Mr. Kodak do what he wants when we ask him to do something. Please be consistent.
Next, I would say that Mr. Kodak might always be a timid guy. We don't know what his life experiences are. We don't know if he was properly socialized and how he was treated as a puppy. Some of his behaviors might be built into him from early pup experiences and some of it might be who his parents are. Being extra patient but firm with him will get you the pup that you want. An example of how he has a lot of deep routed psychological concerns is how he doesn't play with toys, wouldn't go after treats and when I gave him the "break" command, no matter how happy or playful I was with him, he would not break his command to come to me for fear of getting in trouble. Even using a little bit of leash pressure he would just come over to me and sit. I see that he likes to play and be outside with the other pups. I know he has it in him. I was unable to pull that playfulness out of him. When I would go outside and play with the other pups, Mr. Kodak would be stand-offish until he warmed up and then would come over. That was the only way I could get him to be social and play was when I used the other pups. I tried treats, petting, toys, and anything else I could do to incentivize Mr. Kodak but his favorite reward is being left alone (at least with me). He likes relaxing on the floor and hanging out when inside and when he's outside he likes having buddies to play with.
Mr. Kodak did learn a lot while he was with me! Below is a list of the commands and expectations you can have for Mr. Kodak:
Sit/Extended Sit
Down/Extended Down
Place/Extended Place
Come-to-sit
Heel
Door Manners - sit and wait at the door to be let through
Car Manners - "Load Up" + low-level stimulation to get him into the vehicle
Food Manners - ignoring food to come to us
Greeting Manners - sitting patiently while strangers say hi and pet us.
All of these he can do on and off-leash. As a reminder, please follow all leash rules, regulations, and ordinances. It was a pleasure to work with Mr. Kodak. Thank you for the opportunity to help him on his journey.
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