Marina | Central Asian Shepherd | Los Angeles, CA

meganoffleashsocal
Sep 15, 2024
31 min read

Updated: Sep 29, 2024

Meet Marina, a seven-month-old Central Asian Shepherd from Los Angeles, California who is here with us for our Two Week Board and Train Program. This big pup has some knowledge of a few basic commands, but she is easily distracted by her surroundings and struggles to listen when asked to do something. Marina has some bad habits, such as using her strength and size to pull heavily on the leash, jumping on people, and playfully nipping when she is overly excited. Although she is generally a very sweet pup, she tends to display reactive behaviors towards other dogs, such as barking, growling, and lunging. She often gets into mischief at home as well, and likes to bark excessively and chew on walls or furniture. Over the next fourteen days, we will be working to improve Marina's obedience and manners, as well as improve her reactivity issues to set her on the right track to becoming a well-behaved pup both on and off leash! Stay tuned for her transformation!

Pupdate 9/15/2024

Today Marina and I spent the day bonding and getting to know each other after she was dropped off with me. While walking around the park after her pick up, she seemed a bit overwhelmed by all the distractions around. Her attention span was definitely on the lower end, and she struggled to pay attention to me for more than a fleeting moment, which is to be expected for her young age! Generally she was much more focused on everything around us, and was very easily distracted by smells, people, dogs, and anything else she found interesting. While around her brother, Roman, she seemed to feed off his energy, and whenever he reacted to something she would begin reacting by barking and lunging too. However once Roman and his trainer parted ways from us, she seemed to settle down in this regard, and didn't display any further reactive behavior while at the park.

While at the park, I tested her current knowledge of commands to see if he's had any prior training, and what areas may need some extra focus on going forward. I asked her basic commands such as Come, Heel, Sit, Down, and Place, but she was more focused on her surroundings rather than anything I was asking of her. She would sometimes Come over to me when called with lots of excitement and encouragement, though she would rarely come all the way to me, and mostly ignored the recall cue and her name. When asked to Heel, she didn't seem to recognize the command at all and was almost always walking around or trying to pull wherever she pleased rather than staying next to me. She was able to Sit a few times when asked, though it was very inconsistent if she followed through or not. If she did happen to Sit, she would often quickly break the position. She wasn't able to perform Down on command, though she did lay down on her own a few times when she wanted to relax. I asked her to Place on some low, easy to reach objects, but she didn't seem to understand what was being asked of her and seemed to lack the confidence to attempt even small jumps. She didn't seem to have any understanding of leash pressure either, and was often trying to pull against the leash in an attempt to get where she wanted to go. Switching to a slip lead did help to manage her pulling and begin teaching her the concept of leash pressure.

After our time at the park, it was time to head home and get her settled into my home. She was unable to jump into my car on her own, but with some guidance, she was able to get her front paws up and from there was comfortable receiving a boost to help her the rest of the way up. She wasn't quite sure what to make of the kennel, but she was able to go inside with some guidance, and settled in for the ride home. Anytime Marina is to ride in a car with me, she will be secured in a kennel for her utmost safety. She will also be in a kennel at home during nighttime or any other time she is unsupervised. When we got home, she explored around the new environment and quickly found a comfy spot to settle down and relax. After some time had passed, we went out for a walk around my neighborhood to let her become familiar with the area where we will be taking walks daily going forward. When exiting the house to start our walk, Marina kept trying to shove her way out the door as soon as it was opened, so we will also be working to improve her Door Manners to make sure she can respect the boundary a doorway creates as this will help keep her safe. After our walk she enjoyed some dinner, which she was pretty excited for. She tried to jump on me and the counters a few times, and generally seemed quite impatient for it. During her program we will be working on her Food Manners as well, as this is a great way to improve her patience and obedience. She wasn't the biggest fan of entering the kennel tonight when it was time for bed, but she was able to be guided inside without too much trouble. She has been pretty calm in the kennel for the most part, but every now and then she will growl and bark when the other pup staying with me gets too close to her kennel. Covering her kennel with a blanket seems to be helping to keep her relaxed. Overall she seems to be settling in nicely, and we are so excited to begin this training journey together!

Pupdate 9/16/2024

Today Marina and I visited a park, where we met up with some other OffLeash SoCal trainers and their pups! This was a great opportunity to train in close proximity to other dogs and people in a controlled environment. Her brother Roman was also in attendance today, so we spent some time having them work near each other as well. When we first arrived we kept some distance from the other dogs to allow her to adjust to the new situation and monitor her for any signs of oncoming reactivity, however she was more interested in sniffing around the grass than looking at the dogs. When it was clear she was comfortable with the dogs being in the distance, we moved in closer and she continued to show no signs of reactivity! It may have helped that most of the dogs were focused on their own work and not paying much attention to her, though even once we were in close proximity to the other dogs she didn't seem all that interested in them. She did not display any reactive behaviors such as barking, lunging, or fixation at any point today. Her brother didn't display any reactive behaviors either, which seemed to help her stay calm as well. During our session, we focused on improving her understanding of leash pressure and e-collar stimulation, as well as introducing the Come to Sit command. Pressure is a fundamental tool used in teaching basic obedience commands. The idea is that whenever pressure is applied, be it from a leash or an e-collar, it is paired with a command. The pressure then remains present until Marina follows the pressure and the command being given. The moment she follows through, the pressure immediately turns off and a reward is given. Yesterday, whenever the leash was used to apply pressure, she would often firmly resist it, try to pull in the opposite direction, and make no attempt to turn the pressure off, so it was clear she didn't quite understand the concept of leash pressure just yet. We spent a good amount of time focusing on teaching her what leash pressure means, and how to turn off the pressure once it's applied. She learned that trying to resist it was not successful or rewarding, and that simply following the directional pressure and paying attention to what I was asking of her was very simple and rewarding! After a while of practicing with this, she did much better and began showing a better understanding of leash pressure. In order to properly introduce the e-collar, it's very helpful for Marina to first have a solid understanding of leash pressure, as this is the most simple form of pressure due to the clear directional guidance it provides. Once she understood the leash pressure, we began adding in a new form of pressure from the e-collar. By pairing these two forms of pressure simultaneously, she will come to understand that each pressure has the same meaning. With time and practice, this will allow the leash and e-collar to be used interchangeably, and eventually allow the opportunity to begin training with the e-collar only, without the need for a leash! Be sure to check out today's video for an in-depth e-collar tutorial!

Come to Sit is an important command to begin practicing early on in Marina's training journey, as it will be our main form of recall. Having a solid recall is important for any pup's obedience training, though this will be especially crucial for her to master if she is to be allowed off-leash. The goal for Come to Sit is for Marina to come directly to me when called, and circle around to perform a Sit on my left side. The Come to Sit command when performed in its entirety ensures that she not only comes when called, but also requires her to sit beside her handler and not leave that spot unless released or given a new command. By having her sit on the left side facing forward, we are setting her up for success to begin walking in a Heel as she is already in the desired position for it. We introduced Come to Sit today by combining the verbal command with leash and e-collar pressure to grab her attention and guide her towards me. Once she followed the guidance and approached me, the leash was used to then guide her around to my left side, where she was then asked to perform a Sit. As we practiced more, she began to rely a bit less on the leash pressure to grab her attention and guide her, which is a good sign of progress! She would tend to sit slightly out of the desired position once she got to me, though for her first day, she did a great job overall! With each successful repetition, I made sure to reward her with lots of praise and affection, to build up a positive association with the command and coming to me when called.

Pupdate 9/17/2024

Today Marina and I visited a local park, where we focused on two commands, Off and Heel. We also continued practicing with the Come to Sit, and working to improve her duration for Sit. The park wasn't overly busy today, but there were still some common distractions around, such as people, children, occasional dogs, and small animals such as birds and squirrels. Overall Marina was quite distracted despite the relatively calm environment, especially by the smells in the grass, squirrels, and children running around, however she didn't display any reactive behaviors towards anything today which was good to see.

Marina is often easily distracted and struggles to maintain focus, as she tends to fixate and become very interested in her surroundings even when being asked to perform commands. Moments like this are a great opportunity to implement the Off command. The goal for the Off command is for Marina to stop whatever she is doing, and focus on her handler. This is a very versatile command, similar to "no" or "leave it", and can be used in various situations, such as to interrupt fixation on distractions, barking, jumping on people, eating or sniffing things she's not supposed to, or any other behaviors that are undesirable or inappropriate at that time. The Off command when paired with leash and e-collar pressures allows us to interrupt the behavior and get her to refocus so that she is in a better mindset to listen for upcoming instructions. Once the Off command is given, it's beneficial to immediately follow it with another command such as Sit, Come, Heel, etc. Once she stops whatever behavior she was doing, asking her to set her focus on an alternative, more desirable task or behavior will help keep her attention away from what initially distracted her or caused the undesirable behavior. Marina has shown good progress in understanding the Off command so far, and with each repetition, she seemed to be quicker to respond and refocus when prompted. However, more work will need to be done in various situations before she is fully reliable with the command.

Heel is another important concept for Marina to begin developing early on in her training, as her strong pulling while on the leash can pose dangers to her handler, herself, or others in the area if it is allowed to continue. The goal for the Heel command is for Marina to be able to follow directly alongside her handler on their left side at their heels, and maintain that position while walking unless released or given a new command. This precise positioning takes a lot of practice to master, but it will effectively eliminate pulling on the leash or veering off in different directions, and allow her handler to take the lead on walks instead of her trying to pull them around wherever she pleases. To introduce this command, I kept the leash short but loose, and ensured she stayed on my left side in roughly the Heel position as we walked. If she began to veer off, pull ahead, fall behind, or otherwise create tension on the leash, leash and e-collar pressure were applied, and the verbal command Heel was given until she returned to the desired position. During Heel, her sole focus should be following her handler's lead, and as such she needs to remain neutral to and ignore her environment, which means no sniffing, staring at distractions, or otherwise becoming distracted. When she did become distracted, the Off command was used and followed up with a reminder of Heel. When walking in the correct Heel position, the leash was loose, no pressure was applied, and lots of praise and rewards were given to create value in this position. As she gets better with this command, she will have an easier time staying in the Heel position without as much guidance needed, and will need to be given reminders less frequently. Overall she did a good job today and seemed to catch on pretty quickly, though more work will need to be done before she can Heel reliably, especially around distractions. One notable mistake she seemed to make often was falling behind, so she would frequently need some extra excitement and encouragement to get her to match my pace and keep up with me as we walked.

Pupdate 9/18/2024

*Graphic image warning below: Feces and blood -

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Today Marina wasn't feeling too well, and had an upset stomach all day. We decided to take the day off from training and focus on keeping her comfortable and helping her to feel better. We went for a few short walks, but Marina seemed to be feeling pretty uncomfortable and low energy so we spent most of the day at home so she could get plenty of rest. She's had frequent accidents in her kennel and indoors, and she doesn't seem to be able to control when she goes. Each bowel movement has been almost completely liquid, and there has been some blood in it as well. Thankfully, she was a very good girl for her baths, and allowed me to gently clean her up each time she soiled herself. It's unclear what caused this, but to help her feel better we replaced her meals today with plain white rice and pumpkin, which will hopefully work to settle her stomach. We also made sure she drank plenty of fluids to keep her hydrated. We'll continue to monitor her closely.

Pupdate 9/19/2024

Today Marina and I visited a local park, where we met up with her brother, Roman, and his trainer Andy! This was another great opportunity to have Marina practice her obedience in close proximity to Roman, as well as be handled by another person apart from myself. Her stomach does seem to be feeling a bit better today and she is no longer having diarrhea, though she still seemed to be feeling a bit off overall so we made sure to take it easy on her today to help keep her on the road to recovery. While working with Roman and Andy, we focused on Heel and working to improve her focus and basic obedience while around her brother, as well as getting her accustomed to being handled by someone apart from myself. She has had some time to become comfortable with me and build some trust during her stay with me, though when being handled by Andy we did notice a bit more hesitation and testing of boundaries. It took some time, but she did eventually seem to warm up to him and began following his instructions a bit more reliably. She also was a bit on edge around her brother, and was often distracted by his presence, though over time she did settle down. Overall they both did a good job! Apart from our session with Roman, we also focused on improving her Place and Down commands today. The goal for the Down command is for Marina to lay down completely when asked, and remain in that position until released or given a new command. To begin working on this command, we used leash pressure, physical guidance, and occasional food lures to guide Marina into the Down position while the verbal command was given. After some practice, she quickly seemed to catch on to the concept, so we began adding in the e-collar stimulation as reinforcement and gradually using fewer food lures. We kept the duration for this command pretty short at first with lots of breaks and praise, as this helps make the training fun and rewarding. As we continue to practice this we will continue increasing the duration gradually so she can learn to remain in this position for extended periods of time. We will also continue adding in more distractions so she can be reliable with the command in any situation or environment. While in quiet areas with minimal distractions she has shown great reliability and understanding with this command and happily enters it when asked, though when in busier areas or when she is feeling a bit nervous, she tends to be more hesitant and often needs some physical guidance to help her into position. This has gotten much better with time, though she still has lots of work to do until she is reliable with Down without assistance, regardless of the situation. The goal for the Place command is for Marina to jump or climb onto a designated object, such as a bench, a bed, or another object with defined borders, and hold a stationary command while remaining on the Place object until released or given a new command. This has been a challenging command for Marina overall, as she tends to become anxious and hesitant when asked to jump or climb onto an unfamiliar object, even if it is low and easy to reach. Marina tends to be a bit clumsy and underconfident, so today we focused on improving her confidence and slowly working our way up to more challenging objects. At home, we practiced with a familiar object, a dog cot, that she is comfortable with. While she was initially very hesitant about this object when first introduced to it, she has since learned that it is a safe and comfortable place to sit or lie down on. While at the park today, we worked with more challenging objects such as benches, which required a bit more skill to get onto than the dog cot. She needed a bit of help and some extra encouragement during the first few repetitions, though she did eventually become more confident and was able to climb onto the object without any physical guidance. She sometimes needed a bit of help performing the Sit or Down while on the object, though her willingness to climb up was a great step in the right direction and a good sign of progress!

Pupdate 9/20/2024

Today Marina and I visited a local shopping strip, where we practiced each of her commands around distractions. She seemed to be feeling much better today, and seemed to be eager to get back into the swing of training! At the shopping strip, we encountered many different distractions, including other dogs, people, food, music, bicycles, skateboards, and noisy traffic from the busy street nearby. Marina seemed a bit unsure of some of the distractions, but she was able to maintain a good amount of focus overall and she made a lot of good progress toward achieving a neutral mindset around different distractions. Some distractions seemed to spook her a bit at first, such as the loud sounds from buses or sirens from emergency vehicles, but after experiencing these distractions a couple of times she seemed to become less worried about it. She also got a bit spooked by a dog in a stroller who barked at her as they passed by. She didn't display any reactive behavior such as barking or lunging, though it did seem to catch her off guard and cause her to jump in the air and try to move away from the stroller dog. Thankfully she quickly regained her composure and realized it was not a threat, and was able to regain her focus on training immediately after. Marina also was not so sure of what to think when skateboarders zoomed past us on the sidewalk. The first time this happened she got spooked and tried to run away from it, though the next time she seemed more curious and playful, and actually tried to play bow towards it as they passed by. Every time after that, she didn't seem interested in this distraction and hardly offered a glance in its direction before carrying on with her training, which is exactly the neutral behavior we want to see from her!

Marina did very well with her Heel overall today, and as we walked along the shopping strip and across crosswalks, she did an excellent job staying close by and in the proper positioning. We were able to pass by many different distractions without her losing too much focus. When adjustments to her positioning did need to be made, she was often able to correct herself with minimal leash pressure, which is a great sign of her understanding the command and the e-collar. Towards the end of our session she did begin to tire out a bit and slow her pace causing her to occasionally fall behind slightly if I moved too quickly, though giving her some time to rest before continuing did seem to help her Heel consistently and match my pace again. She did well with her Come to Sit command also, and seemed to understand to always come right to me when called. She often needed some help to find the correct positioning once she got to me, but with just a bit of leash guidance she was able to follow through. Marina ended up doing a great job with her Place command today, and showed improved confidence about climbing onto different objects and making small jumps, which was great to see! She did have a bit of stubbornness about performing Sit or Down today however, both on place objects and on the ground. She seems to understand these commands as she has been able to perform them reliably in quieter environments, though she seemed a bit distracted and nervous overall at this location, causing her to be less willing to enter these positions when asked. With a bit of guidance, she was able to follow through, but the goal is for her to perform them without physical assistance so we spent some extra time focusing on improving her reliability with these commands today.

Pupdate 9/21/2024

Today Marina and I visited an outdoor mall, where we practiced all of her commands around distractions. The mall wasn't overly busy, but did provide a good amount of distractions, including people, birds, other dogs, children running around, food, and music. There is also a busy street nearby, which adds to the distraction levels via loud noises such as car honks, engines, and sirens. Overall Marina was a bit timid when we first arrived and was a bit unfocused, though she did seem to adapt to the new environment fairly quickly and began to settle down the longer we spent training. We made sure to give her lots of reassurance and praise when she did a good job, which seemed to help motivate her to maintain her focus on me rather than fixate on her surroundings. She did seem to tire out pretty quickly while training, so we also gave her lots of breaks to rest and relax throughout our visit. Training is a great way to provide Marina with both mental stimulation and physical exercise, though as a puppy her limits for this are quite low so it's always important to keep this in mind to not overwork her!

Marina did well with her Heel overall, and while she occasionally fell behind or began to stray away from me slightly, she hardly ever needed any leash guidance and was almost always able to correct herself without physical assistance from the leash. She was able to pass by most distractions without falling out of position, with her most common mistake being trying to sniff things on the floor, especially if we were walking past restaurants. The Off command was effective in getting her to stop sniffing, staring, or other undesirable behaviors, and refocus on her training. Her Come to Sit was solid overall, and she always came to me when called. She would sometimes come over a bit slow if she was feeling tired, though she would almost always begin making her way to me the first time she was asked, and did not need any leash pressure to guide her to me. She was also able to perform the maneuver around to my left side for a Sit with very minimal to no leash pressure, which was great to see! She's beginning to pay more attention to my hand signals for this command which is a good step towards her being able to perform it without any physical help.

Marina's stationary commands were each good today overall, and she was able to perform Sit, Down, and Place with minimal issues. She was sometimes a bit hesitant about Place, especially when working with challenging objects where some balance was required, though after introducing her to an object and practicing with it a few times, she would become familiar with it and began showing more confidence about getting up onto it. She did much better with her Sit today, and rarely needed phsyical guidance to help her into position. There were a small handful of times where she needed a light tap on her rear to help her, though this only happened if she was feeling very nervous or on edge about something, in which case the small amount of physical guidance would help her settle into position. She also did great with her Down overall, and was almost always able to enter this position on command. Whenever she seemed to be struggling a bit, a very small amount of leash pressure was enough to help her understand what was being asked of her. Once in a stationary position, she generally did a great job of remaining in the position asked of her. When she was calm and focused with minimal distractions, she was content to stay in her positions for well over two minutes. She was able to ignore most distractions, though there were a few times when she would break position if someone walked too close to her or if they talked to her while passing by. Providing her with regular verbal reminders and praise as she held positions seemed to help her stay focused on the task at hand, and if she did break position she was always quick to go right back into it once asked.

Pupdate 9/22/2024

Today Marina and I visited another outdoor mall, where we continued practicing all of her commands around distractions. This location was significantly busier than where we visited yesterday, and there were many distractions around such as many groups of people, lots of other dogs, children playing, food, and music. Marina did seem a bit overwhelmed by it all when we first arrived, though she did very quickly settle into a more relaxed and focused mindset. She did get tired pretty quickly, so we made sure to take plenty of active training breaks to allow her to lay down, rest, and passively work towards the goal of neutral behavior in distracting environments.

During today's training, we focused on having Marina perform each of her commands with as minimal leash pressure as possible. By reserving the use of leash pressure for only when she truly needs it, we can allow her to problem solve and use her knowledge of commands to perform the behavior asked of her, without her relying on being physically guided through it. Having her be able to perform commands without any use of the leash is an important step she will need to master before we can begin working off leash. We have been gradually preparing her for this transition in recent days by using minimal leash pressure when possible, though today we put extra emphasis on the goal of using no leash pressure at all. She was able to Heel pretty well even without any leash pressure, though there were a few rare instances when she would need a brief moment of leash guidance to help her find the position again if she began to fall out of the Heel. She did very well with her Come to Sit, and did not need any leash guidance for this command. She was also able to Sit, Down, and Place all without any leash pressure which was great to see!

While at the mall, Marina got tons of compliments about her great obedience skills, and there were many people who asked to say hello to and pet her, which provided some good opportunities for Greeting Manners. The goal for Greeting Manners is for Marina to be able to meet or greet people calmly and politely, whether in public or at home. This is something we have been working on whenever the opportunity arises, whether it be at home with me or my guests, or out in public with new people. To help Marina learn the desired manners, we first have her perform and hold Sit or Down directly beside us, as this gives her a task to focus on and discourages her from breaking the position. When having a new person greet Marina, it's important to inform them of her training and the expectations set for her, that way they can help reinforce the training appropriately. All praise, attention, and affection should be reserved strictly for when she is stationary, calm, and following instructions. If she is rewarded when behaving poorly, then the training will be inconsistent and be detrimental to her progress. Staying consistent with these manners is key to her success. Marina is generally a friendly pup, though due to her breed she is naturally prone to being a bit skeptical of strangers at times. When Marina is feeling unsure of someone, giving her time to sniff and observe them from a distance as her handler chats with the person helps to reassure her that they are not a threat, and allows her to become familiar with them. If Marina is not ready to be approached or pet by someone, it's always important to advocate for her space and give her the time she needs until she feels ready. It's also wise to be selective with who is allowed to greet her and be willing to decline greetings with that person if needed, especially if it's simply a random passerby who wanted to say hello. Watching her body language is very important to understand how she is feeling in any given moment. If she appears stiff, fixated, or tense, allowing someone to get in her personal space isn't a good idea and could pose a safety risk if she were to react negatively. Instead, we want to see loose, relaxed, and happy body language that indicates her willingness to greet. Today, she did a good job of staying calm even while many different people approached her and gave her attention and affection! Some people she was a bit unsure about at first, but after a few seconds of chatting with them from a small distance she became neutral to them and warmed up to them easily.

Pupdate 9/23/2024

Marina and I visited a park today, where we continued working on all of her commands around distractions. We also met up with Roman and continued working on their commands around each other. We practiced both having them work with one handler, as well as with separate handlers side by side to help set them up for success in either scenario.

The park had numerous other dogs, people, squirrels, and other kinds of distractions, but both Marina and Roman did a great job of staying focused. Even while working together, neither of them displayed any reactive behavior towards anything and overall were very calm. They needed some warm up time before they could understand how to Heel properly when having one handler walk both of them, though they seemed to quickly adjust and adapt to the expectations set. Sometimes they would distract each other slightly, though they were able to refocus when prompted and follow through with each command asked of them. Marina did slightly better when working with me as her handler, and Roman did slightly better when working with Andy as his handler, though this is to be expected as they have grown familiar with us individually. With practice, both pups were able to train effectively regardless of who was handling them.

During our session, we also continued to focus on practicing commands with minimal to no leash pressure. Since the park was free of any major hazards or risks such as busy streets, we were also able to test out her skills further by dropping the leash on the ground and letting it drag along as we trained. This is a great way to simulate how she might behave while off leash, while still having it handy should it be needed for any reason. While working without Roman, she did a fantastic job with her commands even with the leash dragging, and didn't seem to notice or mind the leash not being in hand, and there was no point when the leash needed to be picked up to guide her. She performed all of her commands as usual and did not try to leave my side or wander too far from me, even with some mild to moderate distractions around such as passing people, dogs, and squirrels. When working directly with Roman, she did tend to become more prone to wandering off slightly or needing some leash guidance. For example, if Roman made a mistake by veering off to sniff something while Heeling together, Marina would sometimes follow him and need to be reminded to stay by her handler and return to position. Sometimes the leash was needed to guide her momentarily, but we were able to drop it again shortly after. Overall they did a great job and we will continue working on leash dragging more to further prepare her for off leash training.

Pupdate 9/24/2024

Today Marina and I visited a local park, where we practiced all of her commands around distractions. The park had a variety of distractions, including people, children, dogs, and small animals. Marina was pretty calm throughout our visit here, and while some distractions did interest her at times, she was able to disengage and refocus when prompted. She seemed pretty confident and relaxed during training today, and didn't get spooked by anything, including dogs barking, cars honking, or a children's toy car zooming past.

When we first arrived, we continued our usual practice of each command without any leash pressure, and she did an excellent job! She quickly adapted to the environment and warmed up to training, and at no point did I need to use leash pressure to guide her, so we went ahead and proceeded to leash dragging exercises. Marina sometimes would step on the leash when it was on the ground, which caused her to stop or slow down, as she thought I was guiding her with it, so we opted to instead drape the leash over her back to prevent it from getting caught under her feet while walking. While practicing leash dragging, I never needed to grab hold of the leash to guide her or keep her near me which was great to see! She would sometimes make small mistakes with her commands, though she was always able to correct herself and follow through with instructions properly without any need for the leash.

About halfway through our visit, Marina became pretty tired so we spent much of the later portion of our visit focusing on stationary positions and encouraging calm behavior and neutrality around distractions. We spent lots of time near busy areas of the park, such as by the playgrounds, by the fields with dogs running around, and near busy pathways. She was content to lay down beside me as we calmly observed our surroundings, and she never made any intention to break her position or get up to interact with anything around us, even when faced with major distractions such as running children, barking dogs, people walking up to us, and birds landing just feet from where we were. She ignored most distractions completely and would sometimes calmly watch distractions as they moved around us, though she never seemed to fixate on anything and she regularly chose to check in with me on her own accord.

Pupdate 9/25/2024

Today Marina and I visited the Santa Monica Promenade, where we practiced all of her commands around distractions. This location had plentiful distractions around, including crowds of people, other dogs, food, music, and birds. Marina seemed slightly overwhelmed when we first arrived, but after just a few minutes she quickly settled down and had no trouble staying focused on her commands.

During the beginning of our session and whenever working near busy streets, we kept the leash on and continued working on her commands with no leash pressure involved. She did great with this, and had no troubles with any of her commands. Once it was clear she was focused and warmed up to training in this environment, we moved onto to practicing commands with the leash dragging, and since she continued to do fantastic, we continued the rest of the session completely off leash. She did great off leash, and didn't seem to notice or mind the lack of the leash, as she was able to stay focused and perform all of her commands with the same reliability as usual! We didn't run into any major issues with any of her commands while off leash, and she also got lots of compliments on her amazing obedience skills! Minor mistakes were made on occasion, such as sitting slightly crooked for Come to Sit or falling behind slightly during Heel, though she had no trouble correcting herself and following through with commands correctly once reminded.

For the majority of our session we worked off leash, though we did still keep a leash on whenever working near or traveling alongside the busy street areas, as fast-moving cars pose a potential risk that isn't necessary to be taken, especially since Marina is so new to working off leash. In the recent past, she has been prone to getting spooked by loud sounds and showing some willingness to flee for brief moments before recovering, so for her safety it's best to keep her on leash when in risky areas such as near busy streets. Thankfully she was very calm today and didn't seem to get spooked by anything, which was great to see!

Pupdate 9/26/2024

Today Marina and I took another trip over to the Santa Monica Promenade, where we continued practicing each of her commands around distractions. We practiced with a mix of on and off leash training depending on the area and situation we were in. While near busy streets we kept her on leash for her safety as usual, and while in the outdoor mall area we kept it on to respect and comply with the leash regulations enforced by mall security.

Marina did well with each of her commands overall, and started the session off strong by showing great skill with her off leash obedience. She was able to Heel, Come to Sit, and perform all her stationary commands with plenty of distractions around while off leash. However around halfway through our session she got spooked by a rude bicyclist who zoomed up to her and skidded to a stop just a few feet in front of her. This had caused her to get up from her stationary position she was in, and she ended up trying to move away from the situation to flee. Thankfully she didn't go very far or at a fast pace, but she was persistent about walking away and wasn't keen on coming back my direction when called so I had to physically grab her to stop her from proceeding away. After this point, she seemed on edge and was displaying some signs of anxiety and nervousness around distractions, so we put her leash back on and took a break from training to find a quieter place to let her relax for a while.

After the break she seemed more calm and willing to perform commands, though she seemed tired out both physically and mentally so she was sometimes a bit slower to respond to her commands. We took the rest of the visit easy, and focused more on stationary commands and environmental neutrality practice. She did well with this, and seemed content to relax in her positions while calmly observing our surroundings.

Pupdate 9/27/2024

Today Marina and I visited an outdoor mall, where we continued to practice each of her commands both on and off leash. The mall wasn't overly busy, but had plenty of distractions to work around including groups of people, other dogs, food, and loud music. Roman and his trainer also joined us for some of our visit, which provided some more great opportunities for both pups to work alongside one another. Marina had a great start to our training session at the mall, and was able to perform all of her commands off leash with solid consistency. She showed great understanding of instructions and willingness to follow commands, and kept a calm and focused demeanor even around increased distractions. As time went on however, she began feeling a bit tired out both mentally and physically, which led to some issues with her performance and as a result, her ability to be off leash. Distractions that usually don't bother her also seemed to become overwhelming for her, and she struggled to stay calm or maintain focus on commands towards the end of the session.

One notable issue was her struggle to hold an Extended Sit, as once she began to feel tired, she was unable to hold her Sit for longer than about thirty seconds. When asked to Sit, she would often default to a Down instead and would need to be asked to sit back up into the position asked of her. Another issue that was more serious, was her showing a tendency to try to flee the situation when she was feeling overwhelmed or when asked to do something she wasn't interested in doing. The first couple of times this happened she had broken a command and stepped away a few feet, but then came back when recalled. However, there was an incident when she ignored recall and continued to move away from me, leading to me having to get over to her and grab her to prevent her from continuing to flee. This was a clear indication that being off leash wasn't going to be a wise choice in her current state, so we finished up the rest of the session while on leash for her safety and to prevent any more escape attempts.

Pupdate 9/28/2024

Today Marina and I visited a park, where we had a great last day together! We practiced her commands, and she had lots of fun exploring and relaxing at the park with me. Marina is not only excelling with her skills and manners while out in public, but she has also made huge transformations in her behavior inside the home as well! House manners are something we have been working on little by little each day since day one. Even seemingly mundane day-to-day tasks can provide excellent opportunities for training! These manners include areas such as Food Manners, Door Manners, and Car Manners.

The goal for Food Manners is for Marina to be able to hold a stationary command while her food is prepared and set in front of her. She is then asked to remain in that position until she is released before she can get up and eat her food. Marina tends to be pretty excited about her food, and in the early stages of her training she was prone to jumping on me, on counters, and rushing to the food bowl the moment it was set down even if it meant pushing me out of the way to get to it. As she progressed in her overall obedience, patience, and impulse control, she quickly replaced her bad habits and learned to be polite and patient even when faced with very tempting distractions such as food directly in front of her!

Another area of manners we have been working on is Marina's Door Manners. The goal of Door Manners is for Marina to hold a stationary position while near a door and remain there until released or given a new command, such as Come or Heel. She is asked to hold the position at the location asked of her, and not break the command even if the door is left open, if someone is knocking on it, or if people walk in or out of it. This practice teaches important boundaries, and prevents impolite and possibly dangerous behaviors she once displayed, such as trying to escape through open doors, jumping on people who enter, and shoving past people when walking through doorways. With daily practice, Marina has made great progress with her manners related to doors, and understands to follow instructions even with the added distractions the door may create.

Having good Car manners makes transporting Marina easy, safe, and as hassle-free as possible. The goal for Car Manners is for Marina to be confident and able to jump into the car when prompted without needing any physical assistance. Once in the car, the goal is for her to willingly enter the kennel when asked, without needing to be physically guided or lured inside. In the early stages of training, Marina lacked the confidence and skill to jump into my car. Since she is a big puppy and is only going to be getting bigger as she ages, it's important for her to have the skills needed to enter a car or kennel without needing to be physically assisted. With lots of practice over the course of her program, she is now able to effortlessly hop up into the car! She also enters right into the kennel when prompted, and has no issues settling in and relaxing once inside.

Marina has made such an amazing transformation in these past two weeks, and the differences in her are truly night and day! She came to us with very limited knowledge of obedience commands, and her tendency to become overexcited, distracted, and overstimulated by everything around her caused her to struggle to maintain focus in any capacity. Her explosive reactivity and tendency to leash pull before coming to us also caused many issues for her owners as her large size made it increasingly difficult to keep her within control. She has since learned to stay calm, focused, and neutral to her surroundings even in busy places. Her confidence, patience, discipline, and overall manners both in public and at home have all improved so much! She's also learned to be neutral towards and even enjoy the company of other dogs, and is no longer prone to displaying any reactive behavior towards them. While she may seem like a whole new pup, she is still the same goofy, loving, and playful pup she always has been, and with her new obedience skills she is even more of a joy to be around and take with on all sorts of adventures! Marina has been such a pleasure to train and share my home with, and I am forever grateful to have had the opportunity to help this good girl become the best version of herself! The sky is the limit for Marina, and I know she has a very bright future ahead in her continued training journey with her family!