Lucky | Australian Labradoodle | Costa Mesa, CA | In-Training
- Scott Hansen
- Nov 23, 2025
- 16 min read
Updated: Dec 7, 2025
Meet Lucky! Lucky is a four-month-old Australian Labradoodle here for our Community Two-Week Board and Train Program. Lucky is a sweet pup; however, he does display several unwanted behaviors. Lucky is full of puppy energy. Lucky has poor leash manners and will not recall. Lucky can perform a command or two with the proper motivation; however, he lacks structure and performs tasks inconsistently. Lucky will jump and nip at younger humans. Over the next fourteen days, Lucky will learn to be an obedient pup through consistent, clear communication and balanced training at home, as well as by exploring new places and people. Lucky will learn to perform all these things on leash through a positive and balanced training environment. Through structure and consistency, Lucky will demonstrate how great a pup he can be! Stay tuned for Lucky’s two-week transformation!
Lucky | Australian Labradoodle | Pupdate 11/23/25
Today, Mr. Lucky joined me for his community two-week board and train program. On the way home, we stopped at a local park to see what commands Mr. Lucky could perform. He did not do very well! But I think you know that, and that's why he's here. After I tested his skills, we had a mini photoshoot for his profile picture for his blog. I don't know if you know this, but as soon as dogs see a phone or camera in front of their face, you are now invisible to them, and they must ignore you at all costs. Once we got what we needed, we loaded up and headed to Mr. Lucky's temporary residence for the next two weeks.
Once we got home, I let Mr. Lucky smell Ms. Toji through the front gate. Ms. Toji was excited to see Mr. Lucky. Mr. Lucky had his tail wagging and was curious to meet her. Mr. Lucky had no issues coming to the house. I let him explore each room and meet everyone. Throughout the introductions, Mr. Lucky showed no adverse reactions. My whole family likes him already. I took Mr. Lucky outside to meet Ms. Toji and Mr. Steven. My mini-trainer came along to supervise the introductions of all the pups.
We then went on a long walk around the block so that he could get used to the sights, sounds, and scents of his temporary new neighborhood. He tried to pull me around the block, but would stop and fixate on a few trees and fire hydrants. He did stop, freeze, and focus on any dog that barked at him on the walk. We walked/ran around the block thanks to my mini-trainer leading the way. His disobedience should be easily corrected with the prong collar and e-collar.
I gave him dinner and will observe how much he eats. I keep track of his weight and will ensure that he maintains his weight while he is with me.
I've attached the e-collar familiarization video. Please review the video a few times before Mr. Lucky's turnover. We'll practice together to make sure you are comfortable with the system before using it with Mr. Lucky. I will introduce the e-collar for tomorrow’s training.
Lucky | Australian Labradoodle | Pupdate 11/24/25
Today, I introduced the e-collar to Mr. Lucky. As you can see in the video, I had Ms. Toji help me out. When I introduced my new board and train, Mr. Garth, to Ms. Toji and Mr. Lucky, I observed that Mr. Lucky was being playful and trying to keep up with the big kids. Mr. Lucky started chasing after the ball with Mr. Garth and Ms. Toji. I figured it would be a good idea to have Ms. Toji with me while I introduced the e-collar formally to Mr. Lucky. I like to have fun with the pups while introducing the e-collar, and having Ms. Toji around made that a lot easier. I started by playing with the pups. After a few minutes of playing and a little struggle by Mr. Lucky, I was able to position Mr. Lucky so that I could loosely put the e-collar on. Once it was on, I let him go back to playing with Ms. Toji and me. After a few more minutes, I placed the e-collar on much more firmly. I then start at level 0 and work my way up from there until I get a noticeable physical reaction from Mr. Lucky. The biggest issue is Mr. Lucky's hair getting in the way. You had mentioned that he was ok around Level 20 with the e-collar that you have. I was at Level 20, and he was not having an adverse reaction or significant response. We want to walk right up to that point and then back it down from there. I noticed that I was about 30-35, so I fixed the collar to make sure it was fitting properly and that none of Mr. Lucky's hair was between the contact points and his skin. We wound up around 25-30 for now. I think if he stops being so resistant, I should be able to bring that number down. Keep in mind that the e-collar remote and device go from 0-100. 25-30 are still good numbers. We will see how responsive Mr. Lucky is over the next few days.
Mr. Lucky did eat all of his dinner eventually, but didn't eat his breakfast. I researched the bag of food that you sent with him, and it states that based on his weight, he could be from 1 3/4 cups to 2 1/8 cups a day. I'll serve him 1 cup per meal, if he eats it all, twice a day.
Lucky | Australian Labradoodle | Pupdate 11/25/25
Today was go time for Mr. Lucky! He is quite the rambunctious four-month-old pup. He is vocal, runs away for everything, nippy, and thinks he is in charge. Strike one, two, and three, you're out of luck, Mr. Lucky, because you are here for training! These are all highly unwanted behaviors yet perfectly in line with his age. Raising a puppy is stressful and demanding, but if you stay consistent and persistent in what you ask of your pup, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I will equip Mr. Lucky with that foundation, and you will carry it forward.
I feel that Mr. Lucky would be a great candidate for the prong collar; however, my mini-prong collar was a little too small. Thanks to Amazon, my extra links will be here tomorrow. The next best thing is the slip lead. This works similarly in that any time Mr. Lucky pulls on the leash, it applies consistent pressure around his neck. When he doesn't pull or is behaving properly, there is 0 pressure on the leash or his neck.
Mr. Lucky helped me train Mr. Garth. I had brought Mr. Lucky and Ms. Toji over to help me introduce the e-collar to Mr. Lucky. Mr. Lucky likes to chase the ball and bark at the other dogs. He wants them to know that he's there. They ignore him.
Using the slip lead, I introduced the "heel", "sit", "place", and "down". Mr. Lucky was able to hold the "sit" and the "down" for one minute. I taught him "Break!" after one minute. He can get up and do whatever he wants with a "Break!" until we give him another command. Despite how rambunctious and elusive Mr. Lucky can be, once I got him on the slip lead and managed the pressure, he did quite well.
He's eating his food (when no one is looking) and using the potty regularly.
Good start to your training, Mr. Lucky!
Lucky | Australian Labradoodle | Pupdate 11/26/25
I headed over to Liberty Park in Cerritos, CA, with Mr. Lucky today. Mr. Lucky is coming along. Before we started recording, I had walked around the park for several minutes with Mr. Lucky. He still thinks he is in charge with his puppy energy. The important thing is to be consistent, persistent, and clear with our expectations of Mr. Lucky. Sometimes he throws himself on the ground and refuses to move. That is not ok. I am asking him to do basic tasks. He can do all of them with encouragement. However, I use the pressure of the slip lead to discourage him from disobeying in those moments. When he carries out the commands, then the pressure is released, and I tell him "good boy," and we can see his little tail wagging from being happy that he did the correct thing. This is the critical component of balanced training. He has now been introduced to all the commands. We will be practicing and practicing over and over again.
Side note - he is quite the vocal pup. Some of this is related to him being at home with you guys all day, but also him trying to let the other pups know what he likes and doesn't like. With you at home, he is comfortable and can see you. Here is a lot more structured and regimented program. I say this so that if he continues some of that behavior at your house, you can use the e-collar and give him the "Off" command with a low-level stimulation to disrupt the behavior.
Lucky | Australian Labradoodle | Pupdate 11/27/25
Happy Thanksgiving!
Today, Mr. Lucky and I headed back to Liberty Park in Cerritos, CA. I wanted to take him to Rynerson Park in Lakewood, CA; however, it was closed due to the holiday. Mr. Lucky continues to make progress. We continue to be consistent and persistent with what he wants from Mr. Lucky. He is doing better and better each day. We will see how far we can push him when I get my links for his mini prong collar tomorrow. I'd like to switch him over to the long line and start working on getting more distance from him, like I did today. I think he is starting to understand what I am asking of him. He still has puppy brain and can be a little inconsistent. I tried to recall him from really far away since I know this is something you would like. He didn't quite understand the task, and since I was too far away, I had no way to apply leash pressure to encourage him to recall. The good news is that he didn't go anywhere, but he demonstrated that he is still a little confused on some of the tasks with little or no leash pressure.
Lucky | Australian Labradoodle | Pupdate 11/28/25
Today, we focused on Mr. Lucky's manners around the house. I demonstrate for you the two types of door manners. The first one, and the most commonly used one, will be to put Mr. Lucky into a "sit" prior to opening a door for him to go through. He must "sit" and wait patiently for us to go through. Once we say "ok" or "heel", he can follow us through the door.
The second method involves putting Mr. Lucky into a "place" and/or "down" near the door and he has to stay there while you go in and out with groceries, let guests into your house, or if you need to check the mail.
Side note: this does not mean your dog will not run out of an open door. The door manners are highly structured and involve our interaction.
The next thing that we reviewed was the "Load up!" command. This is his command for jumping into the vehicle. Once again, everything is structured. Mr. Lucky cannot enter the vehicle until we say "Load Up!". I was worried that he was little, so I introduced my ramp to him first on the ground to make sure he was comfortable with the texture under his feet. Then I used my front porch due to its low height and low angle on the ramp to make sure he was good. Then we used the ramp to "Load Up!" into the vehicle. Once he was good with that, I put the ramp all the way on the ground, and he went right up on his own! Then, in a total surprise, after I had stopped filming that part, he jumped all the way into the vehicle on his own! I had to record that for you! Now I don't have to pick him up to place him in the vehicle.
What helped greatly today was that I finally got the missing links for my mini-prong collar. This was a game-changer, and as you can see by today's video, look how well he did! Now we are a little behind in his progress towards being off-leash, and we are likely going to have to ask a lot more of Mr. Lucky. This doesn't mean he's going to be doing training until the wheels fall off, but rather, we are going to ask a lot more of him.
Lucky | Australian Labradoodle | Pupdate 11/29/25
Mr. Lucky and I headed over to Rynerson Park in Lakewood, CA, to continue to push him closer and closer to being off-leash. I am still using the prong collar for now. Today, I used the prong collar with the e-collar to start to transition away from relying on the prong collar. As you can see, I let the leash drag for almost the entire leash session today. This means that I didn't have to give him a lot of input with the pressure of the prong collar. This is a good step in the right direction. I'll probably use it for one more day since I didn't get to use it earlier this week, and then we will switch entirely to e-collar and flat collar only. I was really happy with how well he did today!
Good job today, Mr. Lucky!
Lucky | Aus Labradoodle | Pupdate 11/30/25
Today, Mr. Lucky and I headed over to the local Home Depot to review all the commands around distractions. We used the prong collar once again and tried to see how well he would do with little input from me. We were in the Christmas Tree area when a family saw him posing for his pictures and had to say hi to Mr. Lucky. He loved all the attention.
Good job today, Mr. Lucky!
Lucky | Australian Labradoodle | Pupdate 12/01/25
Mr. Lucky and I headed over to Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos, CA, to work on all his commands in a medium distraction environment. I have two focuses for Mr. Lucky at this moment. The first is to clean up his "heel". I want his "heel" to be a lot cleaner. We walked through the entire mall practicing his "heel". As you can see, we did stop and practice his "sit", "place", and "down." We also practiced his recall a few times, and it's getting much better. He responds well to a lot of high-pitched voices and encouragement.
My game plan for tomorrow is to practice everything off-leash in the backyard. I would like to see his recall when he is excited or trying to run away like he usually does. This is pure four-month-old puppy behavior. Without having his e-collar or leash attached, Mr. Lucky can do whatever he wants. This can be frustrating to track him down as he runs away from you like some sort of game. I'll also see if I can get him to chase after a ball and bring it back to me.
Lucky | Australian Labradoodle | Pupdate 12/02/25
Today I worked with Mr. Lucky in my backyard as a precursor to going off-leash. Today was another balance of being encouraging yet firm with Mr. Lucky. He still wants to do what Mr. Lucky wants, and we need to be firm but fair with him. He knows all the commands, but it is a matter of getting him to follow through.
In the beginning, I tried to work with him and fetch. He retrieved the first ball. When he brought it back, I pressed the black "S" and said "out". He immediately gave up the ball; however, he didn't want to chase another ball after that. It was likely due to my timing of pressing the "S". The number was between 10-15. He likely paired the stimulation with the ball being in his mouth and wasn't brave enough to try it again despite my encouragement afterwards. He is probably thinking, "When that ball is in my mouth, I get stimulated, so I shouldn't put it back in my mouth." This is not a bad conclusion; however, it's not exactly what we were looking for. I tried playing with him to engage with the ball again, but he wasn't having it. We moved on.
I let the leash drag for all of our training today to see how well he would perform. Overall, it's right where I would expect. Did he follow the commands properly throughout? Nope. Did he try to back out of performing the task? Yup. Was I patient and applying balance to the training to get him to follow through? Sure was. This is very common when you give the pup the chance to make a choice. He can choose to follow through or do his own thing. The difference is that there are consequences for not following through. Unwanted behavior has a negative consequence, and wanted behavior has a positive consequence. Those consequences are a slow, gradual buildup of the e-collar stimulation. I am raising the level, 5 at a time, until he performs the task I am asking him to. As soon as he got up to move to the place, I stopped the stimulation and allowed him to complete the task appropriately. As you can see, he knows all the commands and performs them without guidance from me on the leash. We will continue to practice and ask Mr. Lucky to be more focused each day going forward.
Lucky | Aus Labradoodle | Pupdate 12/3/25
Today, we finally went off-leash! Great job, Mr. Lucky! Mr. Lucky has come a long way since getting here. We let him be a puppy and do his own thing for most of the day; however, now he knows better to minimize that unwanted behavior. When it's time to listen and mitigate the unwanted behaviors, he understands.
As far as the nipping and jumping go, we have to not give him anything in those moments. We can give him an "off" with low-level stimulation if we catch him jumping or going for the nipping; however, as most puppies and dogs do, he will do it when we are not prepared with the e-collar remote in our hand. No big deal! If he goes to nip, we stop giving him attention and walk away. When he goes to jump, we ignore him and walk away. It is much more powerful to him if we have the e-collar remote to stimulate him and walk away or redirect him to something else; however, denying him the attention he wants in those situations has power as well. We have to stay consistent and persistent in those moments. This is important as he grows up and matures, he will learn that those unwanted behaviors do not get him what he desires, but rather, being a calm, good boy will earn the pets and loving that he wants.
As you can see, Mr. Lucky performed his extended place and extended down without any leash pressure from me. He also did pretty well with his come-to-sit command. His extended sit was disrupted when he decided to lie down in the middle of it. Is this the end of the world for your lifestyle? Probably not. He's not going anywhere. However, I did not ask him to "down", and what I had asked him to perform was a "sit". I did not give him any other command. This is why we reset him. When he does a "down" when we say "sit", Mr. Lucky is doing what Mr. Lucky wants. That is no longer the name of the game around here. Now, if I were standing there talking to someone in excess of three or four minutes, and he's like, "Guy, I'm over sitting here while you yap away, I'm going to just lie down," I could understand that, but he didn't even make it to two minutes before he gave up. We have to be reasonable with our expectations, but also ensure we hold Mr. Lucky accountable for what we ask him to perform. Do not ask him to perform something that you are unwilling to follow through with. Remember - when Mr. Lucky is off leash, he has free will to not perform the task or wander off, or do whatever he wants, but as you can see in today's video, he chose to perform the tasks with low-level stimulations. Great choices, and great work!
Good job, Mr. Lucky! Now we will take him off-leash outdoors in environments with more distractions and see how he performs now that we know he can perform his commands in an environment with no distractions.
Lucky | Australian Labradoodle | Pupdate 12/04/25
Today, Mr. Lucky and I headed to Liberty Park in Cerritos, CA. I gave him a chance to show what he could do completely off-leash. He did really well! I was very proud of young Mr. Lucky and how well he performed. We even went to the park and hung out while my mini-trainer burned off some of that infinite six-year-old energy she has. He tried to break off and leave my side at one point, but I calmly recalled him while slowly increasing the e-collar remote. We made it up to about 25, and that was enough to finally get his attention and get him to come back to my side. I went back to about 13 when he returned to me. Level 13 is where we had been working throughout the video and our time at the park. I put him in a "down" while I watched my daughter run around the playground like a Roblox game. Mr. Lucky just lay there and waited until I gave him something else to do.
Lucky | Australian Labradoodle | Pupdate 12/5/25
Today, we reviewed Mr. Lucky's house manners fully off-leash. What great progress Mr. Lucky has made over the past two weeks! He is doing so well with all his commands. He has great puppy energy, and that makes him resilient and excited to play and perform the commands to make me happy. We have been getting along nicely.
As you can see in the videos today, we have been able to get Mr. Lucky to eat twice a day. We have him politely sit before putting his food down. Once he sits, we can put the food down and say "Break!" and let him eat the food. If he gets up to get after the food prior to us releasing him, we will pick the food up and reset him in a sit.
We also practiced his door manners. You can see that on the first try, he followed me out the door. This was because I failed to press the black "S"- stimulation button, and Mr. Lucky felt like he could get up and do what he wanted. Once again, we fully reset the whole training and put him back in the "place" and then "down" but using the "S" stimulation button. This time, Mr. Lucky did not get up! This is a good reminder to use the "S" stimulation button for every command that you ask of Mr. Lucky when you get him back. He needs to understand that the same rules and structure that I have implemented are now carrying over into your household.
He nailed his car manners! We have him perform a "sit" and then give him the command "Load Up!". We use a lot of encouragement and praise. He may be little, but he can do big things!
Great job today, Mr. Lucky!
Lucky | Aus Labradoodle | Pupdate 12/6/25
Mr. Lucky and I headed to Liberty Park in Cerritos, CA, to do one more comprehensive review of all of his commands. He nailed it!
We didn't get to review his greeting manners, but as a reminder, it's the same as when he performs food, door, and car manners. We want him to perform a nice "sit" and then let someone say hi. We don't want him rolling over on his belly. If he rolls over on his belly, we reset and have him sit. Mr. Lucky is submissive and rolls over as a submissive act. When he is performing his obedience tasks, we don't want that. He can do that when we let him, or we aren't asking anything of him. When we give him the "sit" command, he needs to stay there until we give him something else to do or release him.
I had thought we were a little behind at the beginning of this week, and yet here we are doing everything off-leash without any issues! I'm really proud of Mr. Lucky!
Attached to this pupdate are the pictures of the e-collar that I have been using with Mr.Lucky and that you will be receiving at the turnover tomorrow.
As a reminder, here are the obedience commands that he 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 into place.
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 review how to perform all of these tomorrow during the turnover! We can't wait to show you how much he has learned and how great a pup he will be in the future!
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