Kona, a German Shepherd from Northridge, CA went through the Balanced Canine Training SoCal 2 Week Board & Train dog training program. Kona was trained by dog trainer Fentley Houwsen in Sylmar, CA.
Pupdate 09/27/20
Kona is a 5 month old puppy that is here for a 2 week board and train. She is here to learn some manners like how to walk on a leash and listen to the commands her owner tells her. She likes to jump on people, pull on the leash and overall doesn't pay attention to the person on the other end of the leash. She hasn't been socialize very much to the world so new things make her cautious. Over the next 2 weeks we are going to work on helping this young dog learn a better way to enjoy the world.
Pupdate 09/28/20
Kona is doing well. She is learning how to pay attention to her handler and not the things happening around her. We worked on come, heel, sit, down, and place. She wasn't a fan of getting up on an object for place but we worked through it and she improved well and was climbing up herself with little to no talking back. I added a little bit of a puppy wet food to encourage her to eat her meal and she finished her it immediately. Kona's heel is improving and she is paying better attention to where her handler is at. She still will drift off and get distracted by something else but she is doing well so far.
Pupdate 09/29/20
Kona is doing well in her training so far. She is working on heel, place, come and down. Her heel is coming along nicely and she is learning how to pay attention to her handler and the commands being said. She was very vocal in the beginning stages of place and wasn't super confident to jump up on to a place object. We are building up her confidence by having her jump on weird things to generalize the command. She is doing well not lunging or barking at dogs and people we have passed by.
Pupdate 09/30/20
Kona is doing very well today. She worked on her heel, down, place and come while other dogs walked and played around her. She is learning some door manners and that she can't bolt through whether going in or going out. Kona is very smart and is doing good learning a new routine. We are working on getting Kona to hold her commands longer and adding in more distractions.
Pupdate 10/01/20
Kona did very well today. She went to the park and worked around other dogs and got to try heeling through weave poles. She was slow at first but after a few passes kept a nice heel. Kona is still learning how to jump onto objects instead of waiting for help. We worked on loading into the car and jumping up onto park benches to help build her confidence and ability to get on higher things. Kona is developing an appetite and eating just about everything in her bowl immediately. She is doing well waiting to go in and out of her crate she still has times where she tries to rush in but is getting better.
Pupdate 10/02/20
Kona did very well today. She worked on place at a park, jumping up onto picnic tables to help build her confidence. She is still learning how to continuously balance herself but did well getting up. Kona got to sit infront of a store and work on not barking at people. At first she wanted to bark at those she saw walk by but after a couple corrections and redirecting her attention she calmed down and payed attention. Kona held a down while people walked by and made noises her way. She is still working on her left turns as Kona doesn't completely know how to work her puppy back legs so she is struggling a little with moving her behind over but otherwise is doing well.
Pupdate 10/03/20
Kona did very well today. She went to the outside of a dog park and worked on just relaxing while other dogs were playing around her. She let out a few barks but was easily corrected and settled back down. Kona worked on heel, come, sit, down and place. She did very well holding place as different levels of excited dogs interacted around her.
Pupdate 10/04/20
Kona did very well today. She went to a park and worked on place on top of a rock. She still needs encouragement to try and jump up but has gotten better. Kona heeled past people and dogs keeping a good heel. She likes to slow down so we are working on keeping her close at a good fair pace.
Pupdate 10/05/20
Kona did very well today. She worked on dragging the leash around the neighborhood and holding her commands while the handler was farther way. Kona likes to default to a down when she feels that she has been sitting for too long. We have been working on reinforcing that sit and getting her to continuously hold herself up. Kona is still learning how to jump up on things, she gives it a good try but hasn't quite retained the knowledge that she has the ability to jump in things all the time instead of just sometimes.
Pupdate 10/06/20
Kona did very well today at the park. She worked on her off leash heel around others dogs and only broke command once when the dog and handler walked by super close but, she was easily corrected and put back into a sit from a distance. Kona worked on heeling through weave poles off leash and holding a sit and down as another dog worked right by her. She likes to walk really slow so she occasionally lags behind but still follows the handler. She is starting to learn how to catch up and stay there.
Pupdate 10/07/20
Kona did very well today heeling through the neighborhood. We worked on left turns and stopping at curbs. Kona tends to trip over herself with left turns so we are trying to get them better. Kona is eating and drinking everything.
Pupdate 10/08/20
Kona worked on her off leash heel around the neighborhood and did very well. She got distracted a couple times but we worked through the situation again and she did better at not reacting to whatever spooked her. Kona is not very confident in her abilities to jump up onto things, since she is so tall alot of place type objects that are currently safe for her to get on and off of are at her level, so she is able to just climb up instead of jumping onto them. This is still helping her confidence and building her strength she she can learn how to jump up altogether. Kona is doing good waiting at the door before walking out and going in. She got to work on heeling through cones and keeping a good position. She tires out easily so she is still working on keeping her stamina up. Kona is doing well eating and drinking like normal.
Pupdate 10/09/20
Kona did very well today. We went to a new neighborhood and worked on her off leash heel. She did get distracted by a few small objects in passing but did very well containing herself as large trucks passed by. Kona worked on stopping at curbs and waiting for people to pass before continuing on her walk.
Pupdate 10/10/20
Kona did very well today. We went to a park and worked on her off leash heel and place to place. She was alittle unsure about the distance from one place object to the next but after working her a few times she did very good and committed to each command. Kona worked on heeling through cones as people played soccer behind us. She was excited by them playing near by but did good keeping her attention on me. Kona held a nice down as people and kids past by her, doing good to not break command.
