Lola | Border Collie | Woodland Hills, CA | In-Training
Updated: Jul 25
Meet Lola! Lola is a six-year-old Border Collie here for our Three-Week Reactive Board-and-Train Program. Lola is an affectionate pup; however, she does display several unwanted behaviors. Lola has poor leash manners and unreliable obedience. Lola likes to bark and nip at guests when they come over! Lola can perform a command or two with proper motivation; however, she lacks structure and performs tasks inconsistently. Over the next twenty-one days, Lola is going to learn to be an obedient pup through consistent, clear communication and balanced training at home and by discovering new people and places. Lola will learn to perform all these things on leash in a positive, balanced training environment. Through structure and consistency, Lola will demonstrate how great a pup she can be! Stay tuned for Lola’s three-week transformation!
Lola | Border Collie | Pupdate 07/05/26
Today, Ms. Lola joined me for her Three-Week Reactive Board and Train Program. On the way home, we stopped at a local park to see what commands Ms. Lola could perform. She performed a sit and down. That was it. She kept trying to sniff the ground and was interested in the people. There were no dogs around. She peed several times while we were there. I think you know all that, and that's why she's here. After I tested her skills, we had a mini photoshoot for her profile picture for her blog. I don't know if you know this, but as soon as dogs see a phone or camera in front of their faces, you become invisible to them, and they must ignore you at all costs. Once we got what we needed, we loaded up and headed to Ms. Lola's temporary residence for the next three weeks. Overall, Ms. Lola had no issues with the car ride.
Once we got home, I let Ms. Lola smell Ms. Toji and Mr. Murphy through the front gate. Ms. Toji and Mr. Murphy were excited to meet Ms. Lola. Ms. Lola showed happy interest in the pups. Ms. Lola had no problems coming to the house. I let her explore each room and meet everyone. Throughout the introductions, Ms. Lola showed no adverse reactions. She was excited to meet everyone. My mini trainer loves her already. I took Ms. Lola outside to meet Ms. Toji and Mr. Murphy. Ms. Lola let the pups check her out while she also marked the patch of fake grass. She even went poop during the introduction. I think Ms. Lola, Ms. Toji, and Mr. Murphy will be fine hanging out with each other.
We then went on a long walk around the block so that she could get used to the sights, sounds, and scents of her temporary new neighborhood. She had very few issues with walking around the block. She was super interested in all the usual dog spots around the neighborhood. She wanted to smell and tried to mark whatever she could. She pooped again and peed several more times. Pretty sure she’s empty after that walk. She ignored all the other dogs in the houses that barked at us as we went around. I did manage her walk a little more than usual after the pooping since she had just done it in my backyard and I suspected she was just marking things at that point.
I expect to see her work well with the structure and positive reinforcement. We will be using the gentle leader with her, and this should help make it clear that those
behaviors are unacceptable. I don’t think she will need it for more than a day or two, but it will help in managing some of her unwanted behaviors. With clear, persistent communication and expectations, she will learn to be a well-mannered pup!
I gave her dinner and observed how much she ate. I keep track of her weight and will ensure she maintains it while she is with me.
I've attached the e-collar familiarization video. Please review the video a few times before Ms. Lola's turnover. We'll practice together to make sure you are comfortable with the system before using it with Ms. Lola. I will introduce the gentle collar and possibly the e-collar for tomorrow’s training. I’ll have Ms. Toji and Mr. Murphy assist me when introducing the e-collar.
Lola | Border Collie | Pupdate 07/06/26
Today, Ms. Lola and I loaded up and headed over to Klingermann Park in Rosemead, CA to meet up with our fellow Off Leash trainers and their pups. Ms. Lola had no issues overnight, ate all her food, and is getting along well with the other pups. She does like to find her little comfort spot and knock out. She slept fine in her crate. She is clever
and knows to paw at the doors or look in the window to get someone to let her in.
As you can see in the video, I brought Ms. Lola close to several dogs today. We worked on her reactivity towards other pups. She displayed nothing. I introduced the "sit", "down", "place", "heel", and "come-to-sit" with her today. She showed no adversity to the commands. Since she did so well, I actually only focused on having her "place" and perform an extended "down" around the other pups. She did get up and bark at one of the other trainers when she was coming back from putting her pup away, but I quickly reset Ms. Lola, and there were no more issues.
I tried to start with the gentle leader around her muzzle. Most dogs are not fans of the gentle leader at first. They learn to perform the task at hand, and there is no pressure. Ms. Lola, however, figured out that if she gets her dew claws into the rope and pushes hard, it will move. This set off a chain reaction of her trying to take it off vehemently. I decided to switch from the gentle leader to a slip lead for training today. Ms. Lola was a lot more relaxed and able to train once she wasn't fighting the gentle leader. She did amazing just hanging out there with the other pups around. This is a good sign of Ms. Lola's ability to learn and progress. I expect a lot of good things from Ms. Lola. I expect some resistance when it comes to doing things she does not want to do; however, she does not like too much pressure, so she is willing to complete the tasks quickly to avoid it.
Good start today, Ms. Lola!
Lola | Border Collie | Pupdate 07/07/26
Today, I introduced Ms. Lola to the e-collar. I had my mini-trainer assist me. I started with the e-collar loosely on her neck. We played and interacted with her for a little. Then I got the e-collar on nice and snug. I started at level zero and worked my way up. Ms. Lola gave the first indication at level five. I worked up to level ten and had a more significant physiological response. At level fifteen, I had a significant response. I went back down to level eight and ended around level ten for Ms. Lola. These are nice and low numbers considering the remote goes up to 100.
We then worked on her "sit", "place", "extended down" and threw in a couple of "come-to-sit" commands. We also worked on her "heel". As a more mature dog, she is responsive to pressure, as I suspected, and is responding well to commands. We will need to practice them out at public places to see how well she performs them around her triggers, but we are off to a great start!
I managed her time inside and outside due to the heat again. We put out a kiddie pool for the pups to splash around in, but they weren't too keen on it.
Great day of training for Ms. Lola!
Lola | Border Collie | Pupdate 07/08/26
Today, I conducted our last backyard session for a while. Pardon the mess; the vines destroyed a part of our fence, and it's being redone. Ms. Lola is good at her commands. Her duration leaves something to be desired, but we are only on Day 3! I have lofty hopes for Ms. Lola at this pace. I hope to take her to places where lots of distractions are around and push her to the limit.
She's eating all of her food and getting along well with the other pups. I am working on her manners to come back in the house, as she likes to jump, bark, and paw at the door to be let in. That is all demands on her schedule. We need to reshape this so that she understands that when she is calm and well-behaved, we will let her in.
Great day of training today!
Lola | Border Collie | Pupdate 07/09/26
Today, I took Ms. Lola to Petco to go look for some of her triggers. What better place to find other pups than at Petco! Of course, a few other pups were shopping, going to the vet, or getting groomed. Ms. Lola paid them no mind. We checked out the toys, fish, birds, and treats. I picked up some puppy ice cream since it's been so hot. I figured a nice refreshing frozen treat was in order, especially after behaving so well at the store. We practiced her extended "sit", "down", "heel," and "come-to-sit" while around all the diverse animals and smells.
Ms. Lola is still working on her "heel". She seems to want to pull to my right side. This may be where she's used to walking, or she's not sure where to go yet. I'll keep reinforcing the "heel" everywhere we go. The cashier was very happy to meet Ms. Lola, and Ms. Lola let her pet. Ms. Lola was well-behaved and displayed no issues while at the pet store.
I plan on giving you at least one pupdate of her barking at people coming in the house. She does continue to display this behavior, even if it is someone she has seen several times, such as my daughter or wife. She will bark, recognize them, then stop. I will show you this behavior when I do the pupdate on her door manners. I will also show how to address it. I also plan on taking her to more places with pups. She has only shown any other form of "leave me alone" when she's in her crate eating, and another pup gets too close. Other than that, I have seen little leash pulling or reactivity towards other pups.
We are making great progress, Ms. Lola! Keep it up!
Lola | Border Collie | Pupdate 07/10/26
Today, I took Ms. Lola over to Rynerson Park in Lakewood, CA. This is a dog-friendly park, and I was hoping to catch some other pups out and about. Unfortunately, it was not very busy today. The only thing that I got to see from Ms. Lola was her barking at strangers as they passed by the car while she was in the vehicle. Once she was out of the vehicle, we had no issues.
As you can see, we practiced every command: "sit", "down", "heel", "place", and "come-to-sit". She's doing well with all her commands. The "come-to-sit" is a work in progress. We will work on this as time goes on. We are not even one week in, and she is coming along quite nicely. The come-to-sit is tough for most dogs and will take a little more work. I used treats to incentivize her to the proper position, but she was being clever and going to my hand instead of going all the way around. I used some leash pressure to get her into the proper position.
We are going to continue to go to more and more public places and work on her skills in a variety of environments.
Lola | Border Collie | Pupdate 07/11/26
Ms. Lola and I headed over to Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos, CA. I wanted to work on her reactivity and find some possible triggers. Unfortunately, Ms. Lola is only worried about me when we go out. There were several other pups in the mall; however, Ms. Lola had no issues with any of them. We even walked by the Lazy Dog restaurant with a few pups on the patio, and she ignored them all. I am very pleased with how well she is doing.
When we were inside the mall, she held her extended "place", extended "down", and extended "sit" with very few issues. We also traversed the entire mall practicing her "heel". She is getting much better with this command as well. We even got to meet some new people, and Ms. Lola handled this well. I overheard several comments about "that's a nice dog", "that's a well-behaved dog," and, of course, several comments about how cute Ms. Lola is.
With two weeks ahead of us, we are going to see what Ms. Lola can do!
Lola | Border Collie | Pupdate 07/12/26
Today, Ms. Lola and I headed over to Liberty Park in Cerritos, CA. Kids were playing on the playground, pickleball matches, a few exercisers, the remnants of a few parties, and no puppies again. Ms. Lola doesn't mind the distractions anyway. She's doing so well with staying focused on her skills. She was able to perform her extended "sit", "place," and "down" without me holding the leash. Not only was her duration on point, but her distance from me did not affect her ability to maintain the command.
Although she is here for her reactivity, I am careful to monitor her for any signs of seeing any other animals or triggers. Also, with her responsiveness to the e-collar, even just the vibrate feature, I can redirect Ms. Lola with ease.
Good job today, Ms. Lola!
Lola | Border Collie | Pupdate 07/13/26
Today, Ms. Lola and I headed over to Klingermann Park in Rosemead, CA to meet up with our fellow Off Leash trainers and their pups—another great opportunity to expose Ms. Lola to potential triggers.
I brought out Mr. Murphy at the same time to demonstrate how well these two are getting along and how well Ms. Lola is behaving around the other pups. Not only did she perform a "place", "sit," and "down" on the same cot as Mr. Murphy, but she ignored several other pups. Although I wasn't holding the leash, I relied on Ms. Lola's e-collar and her obedience to maintain her position. Ms. Lola is doing fantastic with her commands.
Lola | Border Collie | Pupdate 07/14/26
Today was a scorcher! Whew! I kept things at the house today and kept Ms. Lola inside with the AC for most of the day.
Due to the heat, we had to keep our training short and to the point. Ms. Lola is doing great with her commands. Have you seen a grown man ride a scooter? Well, today, Ms. Lola got to witness my skills. I used it as a distraction while she was in the "place" and "down". Also, when she was in the "sit". I have been trying to pull out her triggers or to get a reaction out of her. I have not seen much from her. She has been quite well behaved beyond the occasional barking when someone surprises her. Once I disrupt this behavior with an "off" + stimulation, she goes right back to lying down and relaxing.
I gave her a nice puppy ice cream afterwards to reward her and to help her cool down.
Lola | Border Collie | Pupdate 07/15/26
Today, Ms. Lola and I headed over to my local Home Depot. It was another scorcher today, and I wanted to stick somewhere cool and indoors. Ms. Lola performed well with all her commands. She let me take some really cute pictures of her. Nothing seemed to bother her. We did find some fans of Ms. Lola while we were there. Today was a good day of training for Ms. Lola! Tomorrow, look to see her perform her door manners, food manners, and car manners.
Lola | Border Collie | Pupdate 07/16/26
Today, Ms. Lola and I worked on her manners around the house. We worked on her door manners, food manners and car manners. I display for you the two types of door manners. The first one involves having Ms. Lola sit at each door before letting her go through the door. We let her go through the door after us or with us but never before us. We tell her ok and then let her out. The second method involves putting her in a "place" and then "down". This is best for when people come over or your bringing things in and out of the house. I even had her practice without holding the leash.
Next, I showed you how the food manners work. We have Ms. Lola wait in a "sit" and then we give her the food. We say "Break!" and then she can get her food.
Lastly, I show you how the car manners work. We have her perform a "sit" then say "Load Up!" and have her jump in.
Lola | Border Collie | Pupdate 07/17/26
Today, Ms. Lola and I headed over to Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos, CA. Ms. Lola has been doing well with all her commands. She can try to get slightly ahead of me in the "heel," but a small reminder, either via the e-collar or a little bump on the collar, and she's right back in place. She's mostly checking in with me while in the "heel." For our last week, I'll keep looking for triggers for her, but when I take her to the usual places, she either has no reaction because she's focused on me or the stimulus isn't high enough to distract her.
Good job today, Ms. Lola!
Lola | Border Collie | Pupdate 07/18/26
Today, Ms. Lola and I headed over to Heartwell Park in Long Beach, CA. I went there to look for more things that Ms. Lola might be reactive to. Once again, Ms. Lola showed no adversity while at the park. I set up next to a football practice near a baseball field with a game in progress. Then, a horde of Pokémon Go! players came by. There were a lot of people! Ms. Lola just hung out in her "place" and "down" while they paraded by. She even did so well that someone stopped to ask about the dog training.
I had Mr. Murphy out while training Ms. Lola to try to advance her. Would she hold her commands while I trained Mr. Murphy, and vice versa? The answer - sometimes. Mr. Murphy goes home tomorrow, and they have gotten along so well that I figured I would push Ms. Lola while I still had him around. I tried to have both of them "heel" at the same time, but that didn't work out too well. It was a fun day for the pups, and Ms. Lola loves when I grab the e-collar and leash. She is excited to head out of the house and check out the world.
I brought home another board and train today, Ms. Nixie, a nine-month-old Doberman-Pinscher. They will be hanging out together over the next week. When I introduced all the pups, Ms. Nixie paid the other pups no mind, and Ms. Lola was only interested in getting attention from me.
Lola | Border Collie | Pupdate 07/19/26
Today, Ms. Lola and I had a fun day of training. I wanted to test her skills with some off leash work. The leash is a way of communicating with your pup. Sometimes, the dog will rely on the leash to communicate. This is fine, but Ms. Lola is doing so well that I wanted to challenge her and measure her mastery of the commands without leash input. She did well! I'd say that, given her reactivity to certain stimuli, we'll keep her on a leash everywhere we go, but it was good to see her continue to grow and master her obedience tasks.
Lola | Border Collie | Pupdate 07/20/26
Today, Ms. Lola and I headed over to Klingermann Park in Rosemead, CA, to do our last meetup with our fellow Off Leash trainers and their pups. Once again, we had another productive day of training with Ms. Lola. She behaves so well around the other pups. She is excited every time we leave and go outside. Ms. Nixie, my newest board and train, is fascinated by Ms. Lola, but Ms. Lola is not having any of it! She doesn't really need friends. She enjoys her human interaction, sleeping in nooks and crannies, and going out and exploring the world. She is a nice, well-rounded pup.
Lola | Border Collie | Pupdate 07/21/26
Today, Ms. Lola and I headed over to Rynerson Park in Lakewood, CA for some more review! Rynerson Park has a dog park attached to the park, and zero dogs were walking around! This park has been unusually quiet this summer. Maybe it's been the heat? Maybe the time of day that I go? I am not sure, but I have been to this park hundreds of times, and there is usually a baseball game, soccer practice, a birthday party, dogs walking, and people traversing the park path, but it has been the opposite every time I take Ms. Lola there. I didn't let this deter our training for today!
I worked on more of her leash-dragging skills. Once again, this is to show Ms. Lola's mastery of the commands without direct input from me. I also used more of the low-level e-collar stimulation to communicate with her. She was about 50% accurate without me holding the leash. That's fine. Just understand that she will rely on you for decisions, especially in stressful or high-stimulus environments. She's always so fun to train with and eager to please!
Good job, Ms. Lola!
Lola | Border Collie | Pupdate 07/22/26
Today, Ms. Lola and I headed over to Liberty Park in Cerritos, CA, to work on her commands and continue to challenge her with leash-dragging techniques when the opportunity arises. Kids were playing on the playground, one or two pups were at the park, and even a remote control car was being raced around the playground. Ms. Lola paid them no mind. She was doing so well ignoring all the various distractions. She wanted to go say hi to the parents who were hanging out on the benches when I wasn't holding the leash, but she wasn't trying to run off.
I also showed you how "place" means to go up onto something. Then please let Ms. Lola know to say "sit" or "down" if you want her to stay up there. She instinctively performs a "down" because that's safe for her. But I asked her to "sit" instead of "down" at the end. This way she is thinking and waiting for us to tell her what to do. I also worked on her "come-to-sit." She still requires the leash pressure to make sure she winds up in the correct position, but it doesn't require much.
Lola | Border Collie | Pupdate 07/23/26
Today Ms. Lola and I reviewed all of her manners around the house. This includes both types of door manners, her food manners, and car manners. Ms. Lola is so eager to please and just stares at me with the most cutest puppy eyes ever! She's adorable! She is also smart and does a great job of all of her commands. I had her redo the door manners where she must "place" and "down" one time because she sat up when I came in the door. The expectation is that she stays in the "place" and "down" until we tell her to "Break!" or give her something else to do. Other than that, she did amazing!
Lola | Border Collie | Pupdate 07/24/26
Ms. Lola and I headed over to Heartwell Park in Long Beach, CA. I continue to try to challenge Ms. Lola. Her biggest issues are that she's super adorable and she takes advantage of that. This means that when I ask her to do something with the leash dragging, an extended "sit", or any task without input from me on the leash, she will take advantage. She will lay down after 90 seconds or so in the "sit"; she will not go all the way around in "come-to-sit"; she'll roll over onto her belly, and she'll lag in the "heel." These are all signs of her saying that she wants to do what she wants and gives the bare minimum effort to accomplish her goal of being petted. We can't fall for her cute tricks! We have to be consistent with our expectations and our message to Ms. Lola. When we ask her to perform a task that we know she can do, we have to follow through and make sure she does it. She will do it because she wants to make us happy. She feels more comfortable performing her tasks with the leash attached. That's perfectly fine.
Lola | Border Collie | Pupdate 07/25/26
Today, Ms. Lola and I headed over to Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos, CA. We reviewed all of her commands in a high distraction environment. Ms. Lola has been a pleasure to work with.
We were able to review all of her commands in a very busy mall. We even got to have Ms. Lola say hi to a few new people. She didn't mind at all; in fact, she loved it. We walked the entire mall, and there were quite a few pups in the mall. She paid them no mind at all and kept on walking right beside me. I ordered a coffee, and while waiting for it to be ready, we waited outside; Ms. Lola just sat at my feet, not bothered by all the people going by. She did so great!
I brought a new board and train home today, Mr. Cash. Ms. Lola did give her usual growl when she doesn't like another pup in her space. She did this with Mr. Murphy, Ms. Nixie, and now Mr. Cash. As a mature pup, Ms. Lola knows what she likes and doesn't like. We should respect her when it comes to this and when she lets us know. I manage the other pups and keep them away from her when she shows this behavior. She gave them the warning to leave her alone, and we should take that seriously. She isn't going to do anything to them, but it's our job to manage the other pups once she has told them her expectation. Mr. Murphy and Ms. Nixie are puppies that needed her to set those boundaries.
Remember to be consistent with Ms. Lola, and she will continue to be the great pup that she is!
Attached below are the pictures of Ms. Lola's e-collar unit I have been using with her.
As a reminder, here are the obedience commands that she has learned while with me:
Sit/Extended Sit: Press the black "S" button + say "Sit".
Down/Extended Down: Press the black "S" button + say "Down".
Place/Extended Place: Press the black "S" button + say "Place".
Come-To-Sit: Press the black "S" button + say "Come" + use your hands to guide him into place and say "sit" when they are on your left side.
Heel: Press the black "S" button + say "Heel".
Food Manners/Refusal: The pup must patiently wait in either a "sit" or "down" while you prepare the food and then say "break," allowing the pup to access the food.
Car Manners: Press the black "S" button + say "Load up!"
Greeting Manners: Have the pup "sit" then allow for the new person to say hi
Door Manners: Place the pup in a "sit", open the door, and then allow the pup to go through with you, or say "ok" and let the pup inside
"Off" + black button "S" to stop the pup from performing unwanted behavior. Always press the black "S" when using this command.
"Break!" - no stimulation, and the pup can freely sniff or go potty.
We will be reviewing how to perform all this tomorrow during the turnover! We can't wait to show you how much she has learned and how great a pup she will be in the future!
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