This is Maple, a one year old Border Collie from La Puente, CA. She is here for our Two Week Board and Train. Maple is sweet, smart, and loves to play with toys. However, she doesn't respond to her name, she destroys items in the house, tries herding the owners, and runs out the front door. Over the next two weeks, Maple will learn basic and fundamental commands that will make her the best version of herself so stay tuned for her PAWsome transformation!
Today was mainly getting Maple used to everything new. She was unsure of getting into the crate but once I placed a tennis ball in there she seemed interested. She was good on the car ride. I can tell she is very unsure and has low confidence so I expect we will be working on that. She is a sweet girl and let me pet her a couple times. She ate her food and had some water. No poop yet. Can't wait to start training tomorrow!
PUPDATE 12/27/2021
Today was the first day Maple had the e collar on and overall she did good. Since it is a learning process, there were times that she did not want to listen. She barked at a couple dogs that were passing by at the park today so using OFF with the e collar was helpful. When paired with the collar, she does listen to her name. I can already tell Maple is stubborn but sensitive so having a balanced training is important for her to succeed. She is stubborn when she does not want to do a command, but sensitive when she is nervous and timid. Maple did not eat that much today but I think it is due to the new environment. She pooped last night around 10pm. Maple going into the crate was better today but still needs some attention.
PUPDATE 12/28/2021
The other training dog named Bo!
Maple had a very productive day today. We worked on all her commands which include Come to Sit, Place, Heel, and Down. Overall, she did very well. I used a tennis ball as her reward and she seemed to like it more than praise. We are working on her dropping the ball or refusing the ball when a command is given. Her Come to Sit is improving. She is understanding Place although she does tend to get off of it often. She is not eating that much food but I am not concerned.
PUPDATE 12/29/2021
Maple worked mainly on Heel and Place at the local park. Overall, she did okay today. She still needs to understand that "Place" means to stay on the object until I release her or give her another command. She is doing better with Come to Sit and Heel. She still sometimes wants to pull on the leash when we take a walk but it is improving. Maple is still interested in other dogs walking by or unfamiliar objects around and barks. She got up in the car crate much more smoothly today so that was a big accomplishment for her. She is still picky about her food but I am keeping note of her weight.
PUPDATE 12/30/202
I took Maple to the hardware store today to work on her commands in more of a public setting. I noticed she gets very nervous when people are behind her. We will be working on building her confidence. She had a hard time with the Down command today. Putting her on different place objects went well and I was able to put her on many objects. Maple was pulling me a little on the leash today but using the e collar reminds her to pay attention. She still gets distracted and very focused on people going by as we walk. She has been having diarrhea last night and throughout the day today so I gave her rice and she seems to like that.
PUPDATE 12/31/2021
Maple had a good day today at the new park. We mostly worked on Heel and Down. She is not pulling on the leash, however, she tends to be very distracted by people or dogs walking by. As you can see in the video, she had troubles with the Down command. We worked on keeping her in the command even when I walked away. We are working on that still. Her stool is much better today. She is eating/drinking/peeing/pooping normally.
PUPDATE 1/1/2022
Today was the first day we worked in a more public setting than a park. I took her to a local outdoor mall to practice all her commands. Overall, she did really well. I am happy with the progress she has been making. Her Heel was good the majority of the time. She did drift away from my left leg every couple seconds or so but using the e collar helps. She was doing great on all the different place objects I put her on. She even wanted to Place on the table! We have to work on distraction work because it still needs improvement. Today we walked by a barking dog and she did not react as much as she used to which is great progress.
PUPDATE 1/2/2022
I took Maple to another outdoor mall to work on all her commands in a more distracting environment. Overall, she did okay. The video is a good representation of her progress because she overall does well but there are just a couple things we need to work on. For example, it is difficult for her to do a Come to Sit without having the leash guide her to the correct spot. She also gets spooked by people walking by so that is why I stepped on the leash as the kids were running by. I also wanted you to see how distracted she gets when there is a dog present. It is difficult for her to remain focused when there is a new dog nearby so that is why we walked further to another area. It is also difficult for her to remain in a down command while people are walking by. But I think our first day dragging the leash went well.
PUPDATE 1/3/2022
Maple had a good day today. I went to the local park and even took her off leash to see how well she did her commands. Overall, she did well. She still gets on edge when people are around. Maple was doing better with Down and went on the different place objects easier.
PUPDATE 2/20/2022
I mainly trained with Maple to see what we need to work on the most since I previously saw her. Overall, she did well with remembering the commands and doing what was asked. As you can tell in the video, her down command needs a lot of attention. I am not sure why she is very unsure about the command. She seems hesitant and looks at me as if she wants to snap so she needs to continue to work on her confidence building. She did not eat all of her dinner tonight but I am leaving it in her crate just in case. She had some water and went pee. No poop yet.
PUPDATE 2/21/2022
Maple had a very productive day today. I met with other OffLeash SoCal training dogs for socialization and to work with her in a new environment. She was doing much better with the down command today so that was great to see. Maple still had a tendency to pull on the leash if I was not paying attention. Later, I took her to Hollywood Blvd to see how well she would do in a very distracting area and overall she did well. She did show signs of nervousness but she held all her commands.
PUPDATE 2/22/2022
Her little ears flapping in the wind!
I took Maple to Santa Barbara to work more on off leash commands and overall she did well. Maple had some moments where she was not sure and that made her nervous. When she is nervous she tends to walk away. Putting her on more place objects allowed her to be more confident in her off leash abilities. She kept doing better with the down command today. She knows all the commands and now it is time to get them sharper because I know she can do it! She ate all her dinner during the night when I added water so I am going to keep doing that.
PUPDATE 2/23/2022
I took Maple to a local outdoor center to work on her off leash commands. I felt more confident in her off leash abilities today because she was really listening to the commands and heeling very well. Maple seemed more enthusiastic to train today so we were working a lot on duration commands. She did a lot better when a high tone of praise was used. Maple is a rockstar at going on every place object I put her on. She still walked a little ahead of me during heel but when I used the e collar she slowed down and looked at me. She ate all her dinner last night and some food this morning. She is peeing and pooping normally.
PUPDATE 2/24/2022
Maple went to The Collection in Oxnard to see how she would do off leash in a more public area. She had some great moments and some things we really need to improve on. She was listening really well when she was heeling and she was great at going on place objects. Her duration needs more work because I think she gets bored and moves. Due to her breed, this seems very fitting because they love to work and be active.
PUPDATE 2/25/2022
Maple worked on in home manners including door manners. Now that she knows more of the rules and commands, she was testing the limits of what is acceptable. For example, I was doing door manners with her and she was wanting to play and she would play bark at me. I kept her in a sit for her door manners because of this reason. Other than that, I can tell she responds better to me because I am trusting her more being off leash etc. She is eating during the night.
PUPDATE 2/26/2022
Maple had a good day in the Santa Monica Shopping Center. I was really proud of how well she listened when dogs were around. She still gets very interested in them but using the off command seemed to help. She was great at going on all the place objects so I tried to find higher and smaller objects because they are more difficult and she did greet. Great work Maple! Her down command needs a little more practice because she always seemed to be on edge and nervous. Overall, good day!
PUPDATE 2/27/2022
Today I took Maple to Seal beach to expose her to a brand new environment. Overall, she did well. Maple still has a nervous tendency to certain sounds and movements. She did much better with her down command today. In the video, there was a moment where she did a come to sit command but she did not completely go around me. So I step back and make her redo it. This action is very important for you to follow through with after training. The concept that if she does not do a command correctly, you must make her redo it. She is still working on her duration commands as this seems to be difficult for her. She ate better today, drinking, peeing, pooping normally.
PUPDATE 2/28/2022
Maple had a very productive day today. I took her to a tennis court to practice off leash commands but also introducing "Drop it" and "Go get it". Because she has a very high drive, I did not want her to run after something without approval. This video is a perfect example of what you can practice at home with her to keep her engaged but also practice thinking before acting. I use the word "Drop it" when she has the ball in her mouth and I pair it with the e collar stim. Once she drops it, I throw the ball but if she runs after the ball without checking in with me first, I use the OFF command. When she checks in with me, then I say "Go get it". In the video, I also noted that I let her figure out where the ball is because this stimulates her mind and makes her think. This concept is very important for working dogs like Maple
PUPDATE 3/1/2022
I took Maple to a local outdoor center to practice off leash commands in a new environment. She did very well staying in a heel command! I noticed she was interested in sniffing people walking by so I used the OFF command and that worked. She was much better with the down command. I trust her a lot more off leash in my neighborhood so we have been going on walks with the tennis ball off leash practicing "Out" and "Go get it". She is eating/drinking/peeing/pooping normally.
PUPDATE 3/2/2022
Maple had a good day today. I took her to a park to see how well she does with all the commands off leash. There were some moments that she got out of command. She got out of the Down command mostly. But other than that, she was Heeling with me very well. Her Come to Sit was sharp when I told her sit right after she came around behind me. She is eating, drinking, peeing, pooping normally.
PUPDATE 3/3/2022
Maple had a great day today at a local outdoor mall. I tried to work on her final video but she needs more attention on her duration down. Every other command is amazing and I’m so proud of how far she has come. She gets spooked as you can see in the video when she is in the down command. She had some disinterest with another dog that passed by. She is eating, drinking, peeing, and pooping normally.
PUPDATE 3/4/2022
Maple had a GREAT day at the Century City mall today. She stayed in command while dogs were walking by her. She did better doing a duration down on place than having her do a down command on the ground. Her heel command was so great today walking through crowds of people.
PUPDATE 3/5/2022
I worked on home manners today with Maple and she did great. I had to tell her OFF a couple times when we were practicing food manners. She is a rockstar going into the car crate as you can see in the video. I feel very confident in her off leash abilities and she comes every time I say "come". I can't wait to show you everything she has learned!