Lexi | Labrador Retriever Mix | Long Beach, CA | In-Training
- cristianoffleash
- May 11
- 11 min read
Updated: May 17
Meet Lexi! Lexi is a 1.5-year-old Labrador Mix from Long Beach, CA, and she's joined us for our one-week Board and Train program. This sweet pup already has some basic obedience knowledge, but she tends to get easily distracted and often ignores her owners due to her curiosity and excitement. While Lexi is generally well-behaved, she struggles with a few common issues: pulling on the leash, being overly enthusiastic when greeting people, and nipping at people's forearms when she's overly excited. Despite these challenges, Lexi is young, eager to learn, and full of potential. Our goal this week is to strengthen her obedience, improve her self-control, and teach her better manners—especially on leash. With the right guidance and consistency, Lexi is well on her way to becoming a calm, polite, and well-mannered companion.
Stay tuned as I take her through her one-week training journey!
Pupdate 5/11/2025
Today I had a brief but positive introduction with Lexi and her owners. During our initial interaction, Lexi did attempt to jump on me, which indicated that we would need to spend a good amount of time working on her obedience to help her stay calm and focused. After her owners left, we took a walk around the park to help her burn off some energy. I also began incorporating basic commands during the walk to begin setting expectations and gently tire her out before heading back home.
Once we arrived at my house, we brought our belongings inside and allowed Lexi to freely explore her new environment for the week. When she entered my room, she met my personal dog, Hunter, who is very gentle and affectionate with female dogs and puppies. Although Hunter remained in his crate during their introduction, they sniffed each other calmly with no signs of barking, lunging, or reactivity, which was a great first step.
We then spent some more time in the backyard so Lexi could continue to explore and relax before settling down for a rest. When it came time to place her in her crate, she did bark briefly when I stepped out of her sight. However, her vocalizing quickly decreased in volume and intensity, and she eventually settled down and fell asleep.
A few hours later, Lexi was ready for our first focused training session, which we conducted in front of the house. I introduced her to the e-collar, and while she was initially unsure, she began to tolerate the sensation and respond to redirection. As the session progressed, we started seeing improvement in her responsiveness. At times, she tried to bite at the leash to avoid following commands, but I redirected that behavior using a toy to shift her focus and keep the training positive and productive.
Overall, Lexi is adjusting well, showing great potential, and seems to be enjoying herself. She’s behaving nicely with no major issues so far. I’ll continue to keep you updated on her progress throughout the week!
Pupdate 5/12/2025
This morning’s session began with a walk that included my personal dog, Hunter. Lexi was initially curious about him—sniffing and attempting to lick him during the walk. After a few gentle redirections, she began to focus more consistently on the walk. That said, she was still occasionally distracted, particularly by people coming out of their homes or birds on the ground. As we continued along our usual route, Lexi gradually became more desensitized to these distractions and maintained a steady, focused pace until we returned home. Back at the house, I allowed both dogs some supervised playtime. After about ten minutes, Hunter chose to lie down and rest. During this time, Lexi began to exhibit some demanding behaviors, prompting me to intervene. I asked her to lie down and settle, reinforcing calm behavior during quiet periods.
In the video above, our focus was on door manners and impulse control. We practiced helping Lexi understand that the opening of a door does not automatically mean she is allowed to walk through it. I used the side gate for this exercise, as the area is currently blocked off and safe for training. Since we had practiced in this area the day before, Lexi was already somewhat familiar with the expectations. On the first attempt, I walked from the side gate to the front of the house and back while Lexi remained on her designated place mat. When I returned, I gave her the release cue “break,” followed by praise. This reinforces that calm behavior and waiting patiently lead to a reward. During our second repetition, Lexi got up and attempted to follow me. I redirected her using a prompt from her e-collar, and she returned to the mat. When I moved out of her line of sight in the next round, she again broke position, but this time I was able to redirect her from a distance using only the e-collar. No leash guidance was needed. These moments are crucial for building off-leash reliability and reinforcing consistent obedience. By the final attempt, Lexi successfully held her position while I walked to the front of the house and back. I then closed the gate and released her with “break” to reward her for completing the exercise successfully.
Later, we went to Anaheim Pet & Feed to work on Lexi’s obedience in a high-distraction
environment. Upon arrival, she was eager to rush inside, so we first worked on entering the store calmly. Once inside, we began practicing her core obedience commands—heel, sit, and down. Lexi managed these well overall but showed a tendency to get distracted by people walking past and struggled a bit with her recall.
I made it a priority to redirect her attention and keep her engaged, especially while her energy level was high. After some consistent work and corrections, she began showing improvement and was less reactive to passersby. During the session, some guests asked to say hello to Lexi. We made sure the interaction followed proper greeting protocol: they first offered her a treat, then gave gentle pets under her chin or on her belly. Lexi remained composed throughout and didn’t pull or jump. Each time she handled a situation well, I gave her a release cue and rewarded her, reinforcing her positive behavior.
Overall, our trip to the store was productive and enjoyable. The only recurring issue was Lexi’s occasional impulse to get up from her commands, but she responded well to redirection and made steady progress throughout the session.
Pupdate 5/13/2025
This morning, we began our day with a walk around the neighborhood, accompanied by my personal dog, Hunter. Lexi showed noticeable improvement in maintaining a consistent walking pace and was less distracted by Hunter’s presence. Both dogs went potty during the walk, and upon returning home, they enjoyed some supervised playtime in the backyard before having breakfast.
As shown in the video above, once the dogs were settled and ready, I started Lexi's training session, focusing on her “place” and “recall” commands. Initially, she responded well to both commands. However, she quickly shifted into a playful mindset, treating the training as a game. With continued repetition, Lexi began to settle and perform with more consistency, especially with her recall. When asked to go to her “place” from a distance, she typically approaches the mat but sometimes stops just short of getting on. To help her follow through completely, I used gentle leash guidance in combination with her e-collar for correction and direction. We practiced “place” and “recall” back-to-back to reinforce the commands and improve her understanding through conditioning. Although Lexi is doing well with her “sit” and “down” commands, I’m prioritizing the skills that still need improvement. Throughout the day, we continued focusing on “place,” as it still requires occasional assistance, while her recall has become more reliable with nearly every attempt.
Later in the day, when my brother returned from school, I had him assist with Lexi’s training to help her become more comfortable and well-behaved around teenagers. I asked him to jog slowly with Lexi, and at one point, she attempted to jump on him. I used the e-collar to correct this behavior and help redirect her energy. We repeated the exercise several times so she could learn that being around or running with a teenager doesn’t automatically mean it’s time to play or engage in play biting.
To wrap up the day, I reinforced Lexi’s “place” and “recall” commands with a final session for additional conditioning.
Pupdate 5/14/2025
This morning began with our usual routine: an early walk followed by some playtime with Hunter. One small behavior I've been working on with Lexi is her tendency to jump on my bed while playing in my room. To address this, I’ve been consistently using her e-collar to redirect her any time she attempts to jump on the bed during play. Interestingly, she usually doesn’t show interest in jumping when calmly roaming around. However, when she gets the zoomies, she sometimes takes those high-energy moments as an opportunity to misbehave.
Later in the day, we went to Home Depot in Anaheim, CA to continue building her obedience skills in a more stimulating environment. As we approached the garden section, Lexi began pulling out of excitement, so I had to closely manage her heel positioning before we fully entered the store. Once inside, I made a point to pause every few steps to ask her for a "sit" or "down" command. This kept her engaged and focused on me, rather than the distractions around us. As we moved deeper into the store, Lexi became more desensitized to the busy environment and maintained a consistent heel. We passed by forklifts and walked through crowded aisles, and I was impressed by her ability to keep her head forward without being distracted by the people nearby.
In the lumber section, we focused on recall training to improve her responsiveness. Initially, Lexi was playful and inconsistent with the command, requiring several repetitions and redirections. However, with persistence and clear corrections, she began responding more reliably. Once she became consistent with her recall, she was able to perform the command without needing leash guidance, which allowed us to continue walking through the store with greater confidence.
To finish the session, we found an empty aisle to practice her extended down-stay while I created distance between us. She did very well, remaining in position even as I walked to either end of the aisle. Each time I gave her the release command, she promptly came to me, eager for praise.
Pupdate 5/15/2025
Today, we took a trip to the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, CA to work on Lexi’s obedience skills, even though we’ve only been together for a short time. In the video above, you can see Lexi demonstrating great progress with her obedience training.
We began with recall exercises and walked down the pier. At one point, I had Lexi jump up onto a bench-style platform where people typically sit. She held her position well despite the distractions. From there, we continued heeling along the pier, passing numerous pedestrians. Eventually, I found an open space where I asked her to lie down. Though she seemed slightly hesitant at first, she stayed composed and held her down position until I released her with a "break" command, followed by praise for her excellent behavior throughout the session.
After the formal training session, I was chatting with some colleagues when people began approaching to say hello to our dogs. Lexi handled these interactions well. When she was in a sit, she managed to stay calm and avoided jumping. Even during times when she wasn’t in a sit, she remained composed—allowing people to pet her while periodically looking to me for reassurance. After a series of calm greetings, I asked my coworker Priscilla to be more animated and vocal while greeting Lexi, to test her response to higher energy. This was the only instance where Lexi attempted to jump, indicating that more excitable greetings can trigger her jumping behavior. It became clear that Lexi does best when greeted in a calm, controlled manner.
We practiced this scenario multiple times, gradually helping Lexi remain neutral even when someone approached her in an overly friendly way. With repetition and redirection, she was eventually able to accept enthusiastic greetings from Priscilla without jumping. Overall, it was a great training day. We had a lot of fun and I was proud to see how well Lexi handled such a busy and stimulating environment. Her obedience is definitely progressing!
Pupdate 5/16/2025
Today we took a trip to the Citadel Outlets to give Lexi more exposure to a public setting and to reinforce her obedience training in a real-world environment.
Upon arrival, we entered an elevator to reach the ground floor. As the elevator descended, Lexi appeared a bit confused by the movement but remained calm and unbothered. Once the doors opened, we exited together and began walking through the outlet. As we explored the area, Lexi showed interest in the new environment, so we focused on reinforcing her heel command. She adjusted quickly and responded well to corrections when needed. Throughout the visit, we practiced various obedience commands in different parts of the outlet. Most of them went smoothly, though Lexi was slightly hesitant with her “down” command, taking a bit more time to respond. We worked on that specifically to help her become more consistent.
While walking through crowds, Lexi showed great focus. She wasn’t overly distracted by people passing by or by scents on the ground, which was encouraging. At one point, we found an open space where I worked on her recall. We practiced this for about five minutes, maintaining good consistency before taking a short break. By this time, Lexi was displaying strong confidence and responsiveness to her commands. However, we did have one moment of distraction: a woman passing by noticed Lexi and warmly praised her, calling her a “baby.” This immediately caught Lexi’s attention. I attempted to redirect her focus back to me to prevent any impulsive behavior, but she did get up—though she did not make physical contact with the woman. I promptly guided her back into a down position, and we continued our training. The woman kindly apologized for the interruption.
These kinds of moments are common in public settings, as many people are naturally drawn to dogs. I always take the opportunity to explain Lexi’s training to others, which helps them understand how best to interact—or not interact—during her sessions. These interactions can actually serve as valuable training opportunities in themselves, teaching Lexi how to maintain focus despite distractions.
One of our final stops during the outing was the food court. We chose this area to expose Lexi to a busier environment with steady foot traffic and a variety of smells, helping her practice self-control and focus despite distractions. She did an excellent job staying attentive to me and was not overly distracted by the surrounding activity or aromas. At one point, a passerby asked to say hello to Lexi, and I allowed it. She responded appropriately, remaining calm and neutral during the interaction. Overall, it was a positive and enjoyable experience. We were able to review her commands and navigate the space smoothly, reinforcing a more structured approach to being out in public.
Pupdate 5/17/2025
This morning, we began our day with a walk around the neighborhood, followed by some indoor playtime once we returned home. Due to ongoing renovations at the house, we opted to stay inside instead of using the backyard. Despite the change in routine, Lexi adjusted well. She wasn’t overly excitable and eventually settled down next to Hunter, contentedly chewing on a toy.
Later in the day, we headed to a nearby park to work on Lexi’s training. I allowed her leash to drag on the ground to assess her off-leash reliability. Some dogs take this as an opportunity to act out, but Lexi remained focused and calm. She stayed engaged with me, consistently looking for direction and responding well to commands throughout the session. When practicing the “down” command, she occasionally tried to lick my hand—either as a distraction or a form of resistance—but I remained neutral and redirected her with the e-collar to reinforce the behavior. She followed through beautifully. I then walked around her for a bit before releasing her to praise and reward. After the video, we continued walking on the grass, reinforcing her focus so she wouldn’t default to sniffing or putting her head down.
Today marks Lexi’s final day in her board-and-train program, and it’s been such a rewarding experience watching her growth in both behavior and obedience over the past week. When she first arrived, she was full of energy, but it quickly became evident that she’s capable of much more than just being a playful pup. While she still has her signature spirited personality, she’s now equipped with the skills and awareness to channel that energy in a more thoughtful, controlled way. It’s been an absolute pleasure having Lexi in my home and being part of her training journey. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to help her become the best version of herself. The sky is truly the limit for this amazing girl, and I’m confident she has a bright future ahead as she continues her training and grows into adulthood with her loving family!
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