Meet Leo! He's an eighteen month old Great Pyrenees from Temple City, California here for our Two-Week Board and Train Program! He's extremely friendly, however he often takes his love overboard by jumping on people and pulling on his leash to say hi to strangers! Leo needs a lot of work on his basic obedience skills, as he doesn't follow through with any of his commands if he doesn't want to. He also has some issues with his household manners. He'll try to steal food from the counter, and try to dart out the door any time it's open. Over the next fourteen days, we will work on Leo's reliability with his commands, teach him proper manners in and out of the house, help with Leo's boundaries with friends and strangers alike, and show him how to be the best pup he can possibly be! Stay tuned for Leo's two week transformation!
Pupdate: 8/26/2024
After picking up Leo, we stayed at the park for a few minutes to get to know each other! Immediately upon greeting me, he wanted to jump up and pull towards me. He's very friendly, but he just needs to greet people appropriately! He's pretty strong, and he tried to pull me around quite a bit. He didn't bark at anyone around the park, but he got extra excited when he spotted the geese near the pond! This is when he pull the hardest and even started sort of hopping on his hind legs trying to get to the birds! After these interactions, he quickly got tired and I began asking him for a few basic commands. He didn't really give me any commands, except for a Sit one time. Even with this he didn't want to hold it for more than a couple seconds.
Once we got home, I let Leo sniff around my house to start getting settled in. All his energy came back and he wanted to do nothing but play and jump on me! I think it's safe to say he likes me, and seems to be getting comfortable here!
In addition to his first video today, I'm adding a video tutorial and picture of his E collar! This will come in handy to make his transition back home a little more smooth after his training.
Pupdate: 8/27/2024
Leo and I went to La Bonita park today for his first full day of training! As we approached the park, Leo took note of the other trainers and their dogs, but he didn't bark at anyone. He pulled on his leash, but not toward anyone in particular, which is a step in the right direction!
We worked on his Heel command, and his Come To Sit command today. For Come To Sit, I want Leo to come to my right side when called, walk around my legs and sit at my left side with his ears at my knee. When he completes this command, and ends up in the proper position, it makes it very easy to start walking and go right into our Heel command! For Heel, I want Leo to maintain that position with his ears at my leg while we walk. He's doing well at getting the motions down, although there were still plenty of times when Leo dug his heels in and didn't want to come to me. When he does this, it's important to make sure Leo follows through with the command asked of him. Overall, today was a great start for Leo's training! He is already starting to get the hang of some commands and manners!
Pupdate: 8/28/2024
Leo and I went to Garfield Park today for training! There were still a couple times where Leo plopped down and didn't want to move, but far fewer than yesterday. Most of the time, however, he was happy to come to me when asked, and completed his full Come To Sit command with almost no leash tension. His Heel is coming along similarly well, but he did need frequent reminders to not walk ahead of me. Other than those few things, these two commands are going really well so far!
We started working on his Place command today. For Place, I want Leo to hop onto a raised object, such as a bench, and remain there until I either release him from command or ask him to perform a different command. This command is great for confidence building, but is also a very useful command for Leo to master inside the home. I use Place any time I need to clean, cook, or have guests over! For Leo, who loves jumping on people, this will be a great way to work towards his greeting manners. Showing him how to properly greet a stranger will be much more smooth if he is really good with his Place command so we have that to lean on as the new folks approach him!
Pupdate: 8/29/2024
Leo and I went to Home Depot today for training! He was mostly well behaved, and nailed all of his commands, except for Down. When asked to hold his Sit position, he did an amazing job, except for a couple times when people walked really close. He would often wag his tail when people walked close to us, but for a couple particularly friendly looking folks, he wagged, then stood all the way up, breaking his command. He sat immediately when I reminded him, however! When we first arrived, the store was much busier than I anticipated. I wasn't sure if Leo was ready for the intense distractions and noise we were walking into. Much to my surprise, he not only seemed mostly unbothered, but he was actually really polite with a little guidance from me. He didn't seem nervous at all today, but we do need to spend much more time on his impulse control around plenty of friendly strangers!
Pupdate: 8/30/2024
Leo and I went back to Home Depot today for training! Today wasn't quite as busy as yesterday, so Leo didn't have much trouble getting comfortable. His holding his Sit, even when someone walked by was tough for him yesterday, but he did really well with that today! His Down command was his main issue today. He still doesn't love his Down command in general, as he is a very proud dog and doesn't like me asking him to remain in such a vulnerable position. Furthermore, he always wanted to sit back up when someone came by, I believe in order to maximize his cuteness and the probability that someone would give him attention or ask to pet him! We'll continue working on his Down command, as it is currently the command he needs the most work on. Other than that, he did a good job today!
Pupdate: 8/31/2024
Leo and I went to Almansor Park today for training! We started working on his commands with the leash dragging. Allowing the leash to drag gives me some idea of how he might perform off leash while still having access to the leash should I need it. At the beginning of our day, Leo was getting super distracted when he figured out the leash wasn't in my hand. He constantly wanted to veer off and sniff around. When he does this, I would either step on the leash or pick it back up to help him back to the proper positions. After a lot of repetition and consistency, he started to realize that he needed to continue performing and behaving in the same ways, even if the leash isn't in my hand. He ended up doing pretty well by the end of the day!
We focused a lot on his Down command today. He's getting much better about holding it when asked. He had the most trouble with it when the geese were in sight. He got up several times before holding it adequately, but his response to the geese was infinitely better than when I first met him at this park!
Pupdate: 9/1/2024
Leo and I went to Santa Anita Mall today for training! It was extremely crowded. Leo remained his chipper self, although the increase in distractions did have him breaking his Down position again a few times. I think he really liked it here, because he got tons of attention from people calling him pretty. A few people were allowed to pet him as long as he remained seated. He did an excellent job holding his Sit when people petted him, and did not make a move to jump on anyone. I did see the remnants of his jumping habit once when he lifted his paw to someone, but he put it back down immediately when I used the Off command, and spent the rest of that interaction just sitting enjoying the love!
Pupdate: 9/2/2024
Leo and I went to Whittier Narrows Park today for training! We met with several other trainers and their dogs, and worked in close proximity to each other. When we first started, Leo immediately noticed the other Great Pyrenees. This dog interested Leo the most, so we spent the most time practicing around him. The other dogs didn't seem to get Leo's attention, and he almost completely ignored them. After some warm up time, Leo started doing really well walking around without paying attention to his doppelganger, and even did a good job holding a Sit as he walked around Leo! We practiced greeting manners with a couple different people as well. With one of them, he stood up, but sat back down when reminded and didn't show signs of jumping. Overall, Leo had a good day in close proximity to these other dogs. He had the toughest time with the other Great Pyrenees, but with some guidance, he pretty quickly began behaving himself!
Pupdate: 9/3/2024
Leo and I went to Santa Anita Mall today for training! We went with another dog to work on their commands together! Leo has been doing well with his commands by himself, so this was a good way to challenge him a little more! He did well with each command, even when right next to the other dog, however, he had more difficulty holding his positions, especially if I was showing the other dog affection. Leo loves attention, and even though he never tried to jump on me, he did feel the urge to try to work his way between us to try to claim any praise I gave. Seeing this, we will definitely be working in tandem with my other dog more, so that Leo can start to understand he still needs to hold his commands before receiving his praise.
Pupdate: 9/4/2024
Leo and I went back to Santa Anita Mall today for training! Early in the day, he still seemed a bit frustrated sharing the attention, so we spent longer and longer periods of time having him hold his Sit and Down positions. Over the course of the day, he got much better about holding them, even when I was petting another dog. That being said, if a stranger was petting the other dog, he would immediately get up, so he definitely needs a lot more work on this. Luckily, at these kinds of places, we can get plenty of volunteers to help with his manners! He did better than yesterday, he just needs a bit more impulse control!
Pupdate: 9/5/2024
Leo and I went to Almansor Park this morning for training! He was allowed off leash for about half the time we were there. After a brief warm up, I decided he was doing well and took his leash off. I'm still taking it slow, so I took his leash off for about five to ten minutes to practice his commands, then put it back on while we rested, then continued that cycle several times. He did well on and off leash. His biggest mistake today was one time while walking by a particularly smelly bush, he veered a couple feet from me to try to sniff it. When he did this, I continued walking, clicked his remote with a light stimulation, and reminded him to Heel. He did so quickly. While I would like him not to make mistakes like this, it does give me more confidence having him off leash, knowing that he's willing to correct himself and fall back into position if a mistake should occur.
That being said, we stayed clear of the geese today while he was off leash. That will be another challenge for tomorrow. I am optimistic, though, as today a duck walked about thirty feet in front of us while Leo was Down on his place cot, and he perked his ears up, stared at it for a couple seconds, but then looked back to me when I gave the Off command.
Pupdate: 9/6/2024
Leo and I went to the park this morning to continue his work. He was allowed off leash for several minutes at a time, and his commands went well. We got a little closer to the geese, and Leo did a good job, although the geese weren't quite as active as usual, due to the rising temperature. We didn't spend as long out there this morning, and retreated inside pretty quickly because it starting getting hot. Back at home, we continued working on commands around the house. It's going to stay hot this evening, so we likely won't go back out, but we'll continue working on his households manners!
Pupdate: 9/7/2024
Leo and I went to Santa Anita Mall today! This was his toughest day so far, but he did a pretty good job. He was off leash for about half the time we were there. One challenge was walking past the squeaky stuffed animal toys on one of the kiosks. He didn't go after them, but he tried to push me towards them while we walked. This was him trying to stay in his proper position while still getting what he wanted. After walking all the way past the kiosks a few times, he started to understand his tactic wouldn't work on me. Other than that, his heeling was pretty good, as long as I kept his attention on me as much as possible. He struggled to hold his Sit position a few times, but this time it wasn't his fault, as he was sliding on the smooth tile. When we switched to having him hold his Sit on a bench instead of the floor, he did much better. His recall was good, even around all the people! We also got some more practice with his greeting manners. There was someone who petted him and he lifted his paw, but with the others he sat very politely!
Overall, he had a few mistakes today, but he ended up doing quite well, especially considering it was his first time off leash in a more populated area.
Pupdate: 9/8/2024
Leo and I went to the park early this morning to try to avoid the heat. There were barely any people there, but that worked for us, since he had more difficulty with the critters. There were plenty of geese, ducks, squirrels and pigeons out. He did well around the all of these animals, and didn't really make any mistakes before we left to avoid the heat.
For his video today, I wanted to show one of the manners we've been working on. For Leo's food manners, I want to be able to set his food in front of him and have him wait patiently before digging in. He's been a very consistent eater, and he loves his food, so he found it hard to resist at first. We practice this for short amounts of time every time he eats, and he's getting pretty good! Impulse control in this context can make dinner time a little more smooth, but it also can be a great safety measure to prevent Leo from eating something dropped accidentally that could be harmful.
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