This is Loki, a 8 month old Mini Australian Shepherd from Menifee, CA here for our three week Board and Train program! Loki is a very smart and sweet pup who loves to play ball with his parents. Loki is here because he pulls on the leash and needs to increase his confidence. His parents travel so he needs to be a great listener! Over the next three weeks, keep checking his PUPdates for his PAWsome transformation!
PUPDATE 4/24/2022
Today mostly consisted of getting used to everything new for Loki. He was great on the car ride back to my house so that is great news! After he settled down, we went for a walk and he was pulling on the leash a lot so we will be working on that more. He was not too fond of the crate in the house for a nap. He peed and did not poop yet but he ate all his food which is a good sign. Can't wait to train with him more tomorrow!
PUPDATE 4/25/2022
Loki worked on our first lesson of Come to Sit and overall he did well for the first time. He seems to be doing well and responded to the e collar. Using the leash helps guide him to come to me and sit on my left side. He is doing better in the house crate and has been peeing and pooping fine. I do see some stubbornness when he does not want to do something like going in the car. Keeping a positive tone helps to encourage him to go in the car. He did not eat too much today but I am not concerned. I will keep you updated on his food intake.
PUPDATE 4/26/2022
Loki had a very productive day. We went on a walk to a small outlet to work on all his commands. He practiced a duration sit as we waited for all the stop lights and only got out of commands once. There were a couple times where he was unsure about the different place objects so I made sure we practiced on many objects I could find. He was great with a duration down once he figured out what I was asking him to do. There were some fire trucks that passed by and he was very interested in them. I noticed with his down command that he sometimes crawls closer to me. He is not eating too much but his energy is normal.
PUPDATE 4/27/2022
I took Loki to the park to work on the Place command. He still gets a little hesitant going on any objects. He is a fast learner though and every time he goes on the place object, he sits which is great. He is eating a little more as I heard him crunching on kibble late at night last night. I will keep leaving food in his bowl throughout the night. Overall, good day for Loki!
PUPDATE 4/28/2022
I took Loki to a different park to work in a different environment. I met up with another trainer and her training dog to practice socialization. Loki had a good time with the other pup although I noticed Loki was nervous when the other pup would walk behind us. He did well with the other distractions around so that was good to see. He is getting much better with going on different place objects. He struggled a lot with getting into my car as he would try to back away. Today was the first day he jumped into my car all on his own without any resistance! He Heels well when there are little distractions around. His duration commands are improving as well. He is still eating throughout the night. He is peeing, pooping, drinking water normally.
PUPDATE 4/29/2022
Loki had an exciting day today at the local mall. It was the first time he was training out in a public space and overall he did very well. He did get a little nervous when kids ran by him. He continues to improve on going to different place objects. I am very happy with how well he heels with me although sometimes he walks a little ahead of me. Loki struggles with recall so to help with this, I practice having him off leash in my house with the front door closed and use the e collar and a lot of praise when he does come to me.
PUPDATE 4/30/2022
I took Loki to a new park as we worked on all his commands. I briefly practiced off leash training in the local tennis courts because he sometimes has the tendency to run the opposite direction when I call him. Then when I felt more confident, we practiced recall with the leash dragging while we did all the commands and he did great. His recall while the leash is dragging needs more practice because he still hesitates to come to me. His Come to Sit is sometimes difficult for him because he does not sit on my left side most of the time. There was a birthday party at the park and he was not bothered by the loud noises so that was great to see. He had some soft stool this afternoon but I am not concerned.
PUPDATE 5/1/2022
Since Loki has been working really hard the past week, I decided to go to the park to film Heel and Down. I wanted to show you the progress he has made in such a short amount of time. He has really improved each day and I am very proud of him. Like I mentioned in his Heel video, it is important to allow him to make mistakes so he knows what we are asking him to do. He is a smart boy and learns quickly so follow this mentality throughout his training. Later, I introduced him to my mom, dad, sister, and nephew and he was a hit! He was not overly excited meeting them so that is great news. He also interacted with my dog and the other training dog a little more today and he seems to get along with them well. His stool is better. He ate all his dinner last night.
PUPDATE 5/2/2022
I think this was his favorite place object of the day!
I was able to walk about 30 feet away from him taking this picture!
Today I took Loki to a new outdoor mall and overall he did great! He has improved on his Come to Sit command. I practiced Heeling with the leash dragging behind him and he was doing well at it. The only command that was not great was going into the Down command because he was hesitating each time we practiced. Loki was Heeling well and listening to me when there were distractions around like cars driving by but he was a little nervous when people walked around him. He went on all the different place objects with ease so that was great to see. He ate his dinner throughout the night last night and he had a few kibbles tonight for dinner.
PUPDATE 5/3/2022
I worked with Loki at the Simi Valley mall where there were little distractions. I did not want to over-stimulate him with a huge crowd until I feel he is confident enough. As you can see in the video, we passed by a couple people. When a distraction like this is nearby, I make sure to praise him a lot and have the e collar ready just in case he veers away from my left leg. After the distraction walks away, I praise him again because he did well. He does anticipate when I release him from the command and you can see it in the video. Later, I let him play with the other training dog and they got along well and tire each other out! He is eating food throughout the night.
PUPDATE 5/4/2022
I took Loki to the Citadel Outlets to work on his distraction training and overall he did well. I’m glad he feels more confident in his training so we can go to more fun places like this! All of his commands were pretty solid today so I was very happy with that. We worked on making sure he didn’t anticipate my actions and he only got out of command once. There were some people passing by saying how cute and well behaved he was! We briefly started to work on one of his advanced commands called Send Away to Place. He had some loose stool this afternoon but I’ll keep monitoring it. He didn’t eat much throughout the night.
PUPDATE 5/5/2022
Since Loki has been working so hard since he started training, we had a relaxing day and I took him to the park to play with the other training dog, Sam. They had a blast together! I felt confident in Loki's off leash ability and came back to me every time I called him. He was off leash the entire time we were at the park. He was running in circles around me, the tree, and the benches! It was good to see him having fun but also listening when needed. He was so happy when I sat down with him, they were fighting over who gets to sit on my lap! His stool was normal today and he ate his food throughout the night
PUPDATE 5/6/2022
I took Loki to an outdoor mall in Northridge and overall he did great. He was off leash the entire time and I felt confident in him even when he strayed away a little from my left leg. He was doing really well until a dog started barking and Loki got hyper and was barking back. He seemed excited to be off leash and walking around! He ate all his food last night!
PUPDATE 5/7/2022
Per your request, I worked on Loki's issue with the vacuum. I kept the sound in the video so you can mirror it when he goes back home to you. As I mentioned in the video, it could benefit you at home to have him on a place object like a dog bed while you vacuum. This way he has a designated spot as you vacuum. I started off using the vacuum away from him and once he was doing better at it, I got closer to him to see if it would trigger him. I go back and forth between "OFF" and "Place" because if he gets off the dog bed, I am using the word "Place". If he starts barking at the vacuum, then it is the word "OFF". It did not take him long to figure out what the correct behavior was. He ate all his dinner throughout the night last night.
PUPDATE 5/8/2022
Today I took Loki to an outdoor shopping center to practice all his commands. He was completely off leash the entire time! He enjoyed running off leash in the grass and listened to me when I told him to come. The only difficulty he had was placing on the rock. He was nervous so I helped him by sitting on it first and encouraging him to jump on it. He stayed in a Down command as the little kids were playing on the playground. I was impressed when some dogs walked by and he did not pay attention to them. Later, I took him and the other training dog, Sam to the park to play around again for working hard today. He did very well! He only ate some of his food last night.
PUPDATE 5/9/2022
I took Loki to the Northridge mall. He was very timid and nervous there. We walked around for a while so he felt better. I am not sure why he felt overwhelmed. It might have been the slippery floor. We will keep working on it. Because he felt nervous today, going on different place objects was difficult for him. I am happy with his Come to Sit, Heel, and Down.
PUPDATE 5/10/2022
Loki had a good day today at the local hardware store. The slippery floor was similar to the floor from yesterday when he had difficulty. He was not nervous or timid so that was good to see. He stayed in all his commands and he worked on the Under command. He is great at it! A couple of workers there were very impressed by his training and we practiced greeting manners with them. He sat very well as they pet him and he enjoyed all the attention! He is eating some of his food but he is acting normally.
PUPDATE 5/11/2022
I worked on Loki's home manners that included crate manners, door manners, and food manners. Overall, he did very well with crate manners and food manners but had difficulty with door manners. Loki would try to follow me if I was not in sight of him. This is a very typical behavior for his breed. After a couple reps, he figured out he needed to stay in a down command while I walked in and out of the house. He is a pro at going into the car now! He did well with his food manners too even though he eats in the middle of the night. He ate all his dinner last night. Eating/drinking/peeing/pooping normally.
PUPDATE 5/12/2022
I worked on all Loki's commands to show you all the progress he has made! In this video, he demonstrates every command I have taught him in one recording. I was very proud of him as this is very difficult for most pups to achieve and it only took him two tries. The first attempt did not work because he got out of the Down command because he anticipated what I was going to do when I walked closer to him. He does great with his Under command. Keeping in fun with lots of breaks and a positive tone really helps him achieve what I am asking him to do. He left some food in his bowl throughout the night last night. He is peeing and pooping normally.
PUPDATE 5/13/2022
Loki had a good day today at an outdoor shopping center. He was off leash the entire time and did all his commands. Sometimes he would get confused with the Under command and the Place command if it was a bench. Later, we worked on greeting manners with some people that wanted to pet him and he was good except he was so excited he began to wiggle! He did not jump on them though! He ate all his food last night.
PUPDATE 5/14/2022
I started the day with Loki going on a walk in the morning before it was too hot. Overall, he did great with listening to me and following all commands. Since he has been working so hard the last 3 weeks, I had all my pups together for socialization. Loki had a great time! There were some times where he would not want to participate so he would come stick by me. I had a female Posmky over today named Misha and they seemed to really like each other. He loved chasing the ball but if the other pups ran after it, he would let them have it! Great doggie manners! He was very curious about everyone. Later, I gave him a bath so he smells great going home! He was not a fan of the entire process but we made it work! Can't wait to show you everything he has learned!
Comments