Lola | Border Collie | Woodland Hills, CA | In-Training
- Scott Hansen
- 4 days ago
- 7 min read
Updated: 3 hours ago
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!
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