Meet Mac! He's a seventeen month old German Shepherd/Husky Mix from Los Angeles California, here for our One-Week Board and Train Program! Mac is very playful and loving, however he jumps on everyone, including his owners, barks at new people and animals, and pulls relentlessly on his leash. He's been know to try to squirm out of his collar and try to run away, including trying to chase coyotes if he sees them. He also needs a lot of work on his basic commands. Over the next seven days, we'll work on Mac's manners in and out of the house, teach him his basic commands, teach him personal boundaries and how to respect them, and start his journey to become the best pup he can possibly be! Stay tuned for Mac's one week transformation!
____________________________________
Pupdate: 8/13/2023
After picking up Mac, we stayed at the park for a while to get to know each other! Mac barked at me and wanted to lunge to jump on me at first, and he was a little standoffish for the first several minutes. Once we started walking around, he seemed to gain much more trust in me and started to take to me quickly after that. I asked him for some of his basic commands, most of which he ignored, although he gave me a Sit a few times! Once we got home, I let Mac sniff around my house to get settled in. He seems to be adjusting fairly well so far, although he has only eaten a few bites of his dinner. I'll leave his food with him for longer, and maybe add some water to his food if he refuses to eat. So far so good with Mac!
____________________________________
Pupdate: 8/14/2023
Mac and I spent our day training at the park! I introduced him to his E collar and his prong collar. He seems to be responding quite well to these tools. We spent our time working on his Heel command and his Come To Sit command. For Heel, I want Mac to walk nicely at my left side with his ears at my knee. For Come To Sit, I want Mac to come to my right side, walk around my legs and sit at my left side. He has a lot of work to do on his exact positioning, but he's doing a good job at getting the motions down. In the first twenty seconds or so of the above video, you can see a small dog try to pull toward Mac at which point Mac wanted to pull toward them. He didn't bark, but wanted to play and pull. Between the E collar and prong collar, I was able to keep him close to me until the dog was gone. Once that dog was gone, Mac began focusing much more on me and starting doing a better job with his commands. Several people also walked by us, but Mac was much more willing to maintain his focus around the people than he was with the dog. Generally, Mac had a good first full day!
____________________________________
Pupdate: 8/15/2023
Mac and I went to Whittier Narrows Park today for training! He was around several other trainers and dogs. He tried to nip me when we first got to the park, when I was getting him out of his crate. He hasn't done this before, but I believe he realized I would start asking him to perform commands when we got out, so he wanted to stay in his comfy kennel. Once we started working, he took several minutes to get comfortable in the new area and especially around all the other dogs. Once we did a few reps of his Come To Sit command and did some good heeling, he started to behave much better. We started working on his Place command as well! For Place, I want Mac to hop onto an object and remain there until I release him or ask him to perform a new command. Mac loves the place cot we used, and I would highly recommend getting one for him. He caught on to the command extremely quickly and relaxed on the cot with ease. Usually my goal is for a dog to remain on the place object for about two minutes around distractions, and Mac easily surpassed that with the place cot. Other objects might be more difficult for Mac, but this is a great starting point for this command.
____________________________________
Pupdate: 8/16/2023
Mac and I spent more time with the other trainers and their dogs today! He had one issue today, when he growled at another dog when that dog got onto his place cot when Mac wanted to get on. Mac isn't used to sharing, so it's important we show him the other dog is allowed to sit on the cot and Mac's growling was unacceptable. After that, Mac did a good job with everything today, and even got some time working with a new trainer! Getting other trainers working with him can be a good way to tell how much Mac is learning. He was able to heel politely for her, although he was constantly looking at me, whining, and wanting to go back to me. Throughout today's video, Mac does a good job of working with me and the other trainer around lots of dogs and distractions!
____________________________________
Pupdate: 8/17/2023
Mac had a good day with the other dogs! We removed his prong collar and focused on using his e collar with as little leash tension as possible. He did a very good job with all of his commands and he worked extremely hard today! His only issue came around when I had another trainer hold him and then I walked far away and then hid out of eye sight. As I moved away, he was completely locked on me and cried as I left. Once I was hidden from his view, he stopped and calmed down, but then started again when I came back into view and approached. He seems to be growing attached to me. The good part was he only followed me with his eyes, and he stayed on his place cot while I was walking!
____________________________________
Pupdate: 8/18/2023
Mac went to the mall today! He was able to Heel with me around the mall with plenty of strangers all around us. He was able to hold his Sit, Place and Down commands even with people passing us and standing around him. His time spent around many trainers and dogs seems to have paid off, because he was able to ignore the people, and walk by without pulling or trying to jump on everyone. He still needs plenty of guidance from my verbal commands, his E collar, and my hand gestures, but he was able to go the whole day without me needing to pull on his leash.
____________________________________
Pupdate: 8/19/2023
Mac and I spent the day at Almansor Park, and at home working on his household manners! In today's video I wanted to show said manners. For his food manners, I want Mac to wait patiently when I place food in front of him. Building this impulse control can make his meals easier, but also reduce the chances of him eating something I drop accidentally that he shouldn't eat! For door manners, I want Mac to sit nicely while I open the door without trying to rush through before me. It shouldn't matter if I enter or exit, he should wait for my cue to walk through that threshold! For car manners, I simply want Mac to hop into my car and walk directly into his kennel when asked. Mac is a big boy, and I don't want to have to lift him up every time we go for a ride! Mac is going home tomorrow, and I can't tell you how happy I am with the progress he's made. He went from lunging and barking at me, to being able to heel reliably through a crowded mall. He's been full of spunk, but also knows how to relax and behave himself! He's been a pleasure to work with and I'll miss him for sure.
Comments