Lily | Bernese Mountain Dog | Burbank, CA | In Training
- Tanner Strong
- Jan 18
- 8 min read
Updated: Feb 1
Meet Lily! She's a fifteen month old Bernese Mountain Dog from Burbank, California, here for our Two Week Community Board and Train Program! Lily is incredibly sweet and playful, however, she is also very strong and loves pulling all over the place on her leash. She has trouble with her basic obedience commands, and often gets distracted by all the sights and smells around her! Over the next fourteen days, we will work with Lily on her obedience skills, help with her impulse control, work on her manners in and out of the house, and help her become the best pup she can possibly be! Stay tuned for Lily's two week transformation!
Pupdate: 1/18/2026
After picking up Lily, we spent a few minutes at the park getting to know each other. She is very sweet and friendly, but definitely strong—she has a lot of power behind her and can pull hard when excited. We spent some time letting her explore the park and began asking for a few basic commands. Lily started responding to Sit about half the time, which is a great starting point, though she’s not quite able to hold the position for long yet.
Once we arrived home, I walked Lily around the house and allowed her time to sniff and explore so she could start feeling comfortable in the new environment. Inside, she’s been fairly well behaved. However, when it’s time to head out for a walk, she becomes extremely excited and eager to go!
Overall, Lily has been pleasant to have with me so far. With continued structure and training, I believe she has great potential and will do well moving forward.
Pupdate: 1/19/2026
Today we focused on Lily’s Come To Sit command! This is her recall command and an extremely important skill for both safety and good manners. The goal is for Lily not only to come when called, but to move all the way into position at my left side and sit politely next to me.
This takes a lot of coordination and impulse control, especially for a strong, enthusiastic girl like Lily, but she’s off to a solid start. She’s beginning to understand the idea of coming all the way in rather than stopping short, and each repetition helps build clarity and consistency.
Be sure to check out the video above where I explain more about what we’re working toward and why this command is such a big deal. Great progress today, Lily!
Pupdate: 1/20/2026
Lily and I went out both this morning and later in the day, getting in a nice balance of work and time together. The biggest and most exciting difference showed up first thing this morning while we were getting ready to leave. Instead of pulling me around and rushing out the door, Lily was much more mindful and chose to stay with me rather than moving as fast as she could.
That awareness is a huge step forward and exactly what we want to see. This kind of mindfulness will be the foundation for shaping a formal Heel command, where I’ll be asking her to walk directly next to me with intention and control. Throughout the day, Lily continued making lots of good choices and showed steady progress. Overall, a really productive day and a great sign of things to come!
Pupdate: 1/21/2026
Today, Lily and I focused heavily on her Place command. For this exercise, the goal is for her to hop onto a designated object (like a place cot) and remain there until she’s either released or given another command.
She did a nice job getting comfortable with the place cot and was willing to get on it, which is a great first step. At first, she struggled quite a bit with staying on the cot and wanted to pop off quickly. We slowed things down and shifted our focus to building duration. By rewarding her for remaining on the cot and gradually increasing the amount of time she was asked to stay, she started to understand the assignment. Slowly but surely, Lily began making better choices and was able to remain on the cot for a period of time until I called her to me.
The Place command is especially useful at home. I often use it while cooking, eating dinner, or anytime I’m busy and the dogs need a clear job that encourages calm, structured behavior. Lily made some really nice improvements today, and this foundation will continue to pay off as we keep building her ability to settle and hold commands with confidence.
Pupdate: 1/22/2026
With the rain coming and going today, especially this morning, we took the opportunity to slow things down and focus on manners. One of Lily’s biggest challenges is how excited she gets when it’s time to leave, which often leads to rushing the door. Today, we intentionally worked on her door manners, asking her to wait calmly before going out.
The goal of this exercise is to help Lily become comfortable with the door itself, its movement, the sounds it makes, and the idea that the door opening doesn’t automatically mean she can bolt through. By taking our time and breaking it into small, manageable steps, Lily started to show much better self-control. She waited more consistently, stayed more engaged, and was clearly trying her best to make good choices.
This kind of impulse control is incredibly important and will carry over into many other areas of her training. Lily made solid progress today, and I’m really proud of the effort she put in!
Pupdate: 1/23/2026
Today we checked out a new park, which was a fun and exciting experience for Lily! She is a very smart girl and has picked up all of her basic commands nicely. Her biggest challenge right now is managing her excitement—she tends to push boundaries when she’s feeling amped up, especially in stimulating environments.
This park had lots of other dogs running around, so it was definitely a tougher setting for her. Lily tested those boundaries quite a bit today, but we stayed consistent with our expectations and made sure she followed through on her commands while maintaining good manners. With patience, repetition, and consistency, she was able to settle in and ended the session doing well.
Overall, a challenging but productive day, and Lily showed that even when things are exciti
ng, she can work through it and succeed!
Pupdate: 1/24/2026
Back at the park today, Lily had a really solid session! We continued focusing on calm, polite follow-through on her commands, and she did a nice job settling into that mindset as we worked.
One of the biggest wins was how well she handled the environment — she kept herself from getting overly excited around other dogs and people in the park, which is a big step forward for her. That kind of self-control is exactly what we want to see as she continues to mature in her training.
Overall, it was a good day for Lily, and she should be proud of the progress she made!
Pupdate: 1/25/2026
Lily had another fun day and made some really nice progress! Her toughest moments are still at the beginning, when her excitement is at its highest, but once we got moving, she settled in well. I was able to drop her leash and start working her commands with the leash dragging, which helps give a clearer picture of how she may perform off-leash while still keeping a safety line available if needed. She definitely still has a long way to go, but she put in a good effort today and made meaningful progress overall.
Pupdate: 1/26/2026
Today we continued working on leash-dragging exercises, and Lily had a nice day overall! After a good warm-up, she started settling in and making better choices. She does tend to be extra excited, especially first thing in the morning, but she did a good job getting herself into work mode and starting the day on the right foot.
Once we were moving, her obedience with the leash dragging was quite reliable, and she showed that she understands what’s being asked of her even with a bit more freedom. That’s great progress and a good sign for building consistency and self-control.
Overall, Lily had a solid, productive day, and she’s continuing to make strides as her excitement turns into more focused, thoughtful behavior.
Pupdate: 1/27/2026
Today Lily and I continued our training while turning up the difficulty with some serious distractions. We worked near the ponds, which put us right in the middle of pigeons, geese, and ducks—excellent temptation for an excitable pup like Lily!
As expected, she needed a solid warm-up period to process everything going on around her. After spending some time working through that initial excitement, Lily did a great job settling in. She began making better choices, ignoring the birds more consistently and shifting her focus back to me.
Overall, this was a productive session that showed real progress in her ability to work through high-level distractions and stay engaged. Great job today, Lily!
Pupdate: 1/28/2026
Lily had a slower, more relaxed day today with a big focus on calmness. We worked on maintaining a relaxed mindset in the morning and carried that over into our neighborhood walks throughout the day. She did a nice job settling into a calmer rhythm and staying more composed while out and about.
Between walks, we spent time working on her indoor manners and continued practicing her Place command. She’s really starting to do well with this—showing better understanding, improved follow-through, and more ability to remain settled once she’s on place. Overall, it was a productive and relaxing day that helped reinforce calm behavior and good manners. Great job today, Lily!
Pupdate: 1/29/2026
Lily had a fun and productive day today at Lake Balboa! She really enjoyed the outing and did a nice job balancing both work and play. We were able to get a good amount of training in while still letting her have fun exploring the environment.
Lily especially liked being near the water, though the birds definitely caught her attention and added an extra layer of distraction. Even so, she did well working through it and staying engaged with me. Overall, it was a great day for Lily—lots of enrichment, learning, and fun all in one!
Pupdate: 1/30/2026
We headed back to the park today for some training, but for her video I wanted to highlight more of Lily’s daily home manners. Along with continuing to improve her door manners—which are coming along nicely—we’ve also been working on her food manners and car manners.
For food manners, the goal is for Lily to wait politely when food is placed on the floor instead of trying to gobble it up right away. This kind of impulse control helps make mealtimes smooth and stress-free, and it also reduces the risk of her eating something she shouldn’t if food is accidentally dropped while cooking. She’s been doing well with this.
For car manners, Lily is learning to wait calmly when the car door opens, then hop up when asked and walk directly into her crate. These skills help make everyday routines safer and more manageable. We practice all of these a little each day, and Lily continues to do a great job with them.
Pupdate: 1/31/2026
We did some off-leash work at the park today, with plenty of distractions going on around us. Lily handled it really well and showed a lot of progress! Even with everything happening nearby, she was much better at tuning out the environment and choosing to focus on me instead. Her engagement and responsiveness off leash were a big highlight today, and it was great to see her confidence and maturity coming through.
Great job today, Lily — keep it up!
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