Meet Milo! She's a fourteen month old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon from Santa Monica, California here for our Three-Week Board and Train program! She's very sweet and playful, however she does have some issues pulling on the leash, following basic commands, and jumping on new people. She is also afraid of cars and vehicle noises! Over the next three weeks, we'll show her how to behave on and off leash, how to properly greet people, and show her how to be the best pup she can be! Stay tuned for Milo's twenty one day transformation!
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Pupdate: 7/17/2022
After picking up Milo, we went home and bonded for awhile! She took to me right away, so this wasn't difficult at all! I let her sniff around my house and get used to being with me. We then went to a local park! She definitely is a big leash puller so I think that will be the first thing we work on. There are tons of geese and ducks at the park, and she was very intrigued! Good first day! I think she'll do very well. Also, Milo has a little wart on her nose. Milo's parents say her veterinarian thinks it will go away in the next few weeks, so I'll be posting pictures of it every other day to keep up with how it's doing!
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Pupdate: 7/18/2022
Milo went to Pathfinder Community Regional Park today for her first full day of training! We mostly worked on her Heel command! When Milo is Heeling, I'd like her to walk on my left side with her ears in line with my legs. She was quite the puller yesterday, so I'm very happy with how her Heel is coming along! There weren't too many distractions at this park, but I did notice a loud leaf blower that she wasn't too fond of. She didn't try to pull away, but she clearly didn't like being around the noise. Other than that, she didn't seem bothered by anything!
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Pupdate: 7/19/2022
Milo went to Almansor Park today for training! She was very interested in the squirrels, but she managed to stay focused for the most part! We worked on her Come To Sit command. For this command, I want Milo to come to my right side, go around the back of my legs, and sit on my left side with her ears at my knee. She sometimes hesitates to come when asked, but she's getting better every time!
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Pupdate: 7/20/2022
Milo did very well at the local park today! I started showing her the Place command! For this command I simply want Milo to hop up onto a raised object such as a bench and hold her position there. This command can be great for building confidence, and since Milo can be a little hesitant when performing her commands, this will be good for her! There were a couple large mowers around the fields, which Milo didn't like, but she did well anyway. There are a couple points in the above video where you can see Milo hesitate when the mower is closer to us, just off camera, but she still manages to follow through each time!
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Pupdate: 7/21/2022
Milo went to Citadel Outlets today for training! This was the most crowded area she's been so far, but she did a good job! She was a little nervous but she was able to perform her commands and maintained composure the whole time.
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Pupdate: 7/22/2022
Milo went to the Outlets at Orange today for training! She was very nervous, even though we got there before they opened when there were very few people and distractions around. It seems she gets nervous when going to new places, like Orange today, and Citadel Outlets yesterday. That being said, she managed to perform most of her commands fairly reliably. We started working on her Down command today, and she did have quite a bit of trouble with this one. After she got used to it, she started to respond more, and by the end of the day she was performing the Down command fairly well! In the above video, I ask her to Down twice. You can see I still need a small amount of leash pressure to get her moving in the right direction, but she does perform the action and she holds it well!
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Pupdate: 7/23/2022
Milo went to Almansor Park today for training! She did very well and didn't seem nervous at all. This park gets very crowded on Saturday, so there were tons of people, but that didn't seem to bother her. She seems to get very nervous when going to a new place. The only time she got nervous today was when we walked to the edge of the park, closer to a road. Any loud traffic also makes her nervous. Yesterday Milo had some difficulty with her Down command, but today she performed it consistently with almost zero leash tension! She did get distracted by some squirrels at one point, but other than that she did very well!
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Pupdate: 7/24/2022
Milo did a SUPER job at Citadel Outlets today! She wasn't quite as nervous as last time, which does make sense with our theory that she's mostly nervous in new environments. That being said, she was still a little bit on edge for some of the day. She didn't let that stop her, though! As you can see in today's video, she went through several commands without me having to touch her leash at all. The only issues are as follows: When she performs her Come To Sit, she sometimes needs to go around twice before she finds the correct position, and when she performs the Down command, she likes to move right in front of me before laying down. Those are fairly minor mistakes that I think will be easy for her to learn! The only other thing was she tried to walk up to someone and sniff them without being asked, but when I called her back she stopped and came immediately. It seems like Milo will be more than capable of going off leash in a lot of areas, we will just be careful in new areas. I'll probably start her on leash in new areas no matter what because she seems to get nervous under those circumstances.
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Pupdate: 7/25/2022
Milo went to Hacienda Park today for training! She was a little nervous as she seems to be whenever visiting a new location. She did a really great job though! She worked on all of the commands she knows so far, and she did them all with the leash dragging. The leash dragging gives me some idea of how she might perform off leash while still having a line to fall back on. She has progressed enough in the last two days to where I think I'll be comfortable working with her off leash starting tomorrow! That being said, for the time being, I'll only be working her off leash in locations she's somewhat familiar with, such as Almansor Park and Citadel Outlets. I think she still gets too nervous in new places to have her off leash everywhere.
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Pupdate: 7/26/2022
Milo was off leash at Almansor Park today! In today's video you'll see her performing her commands off leash! She makes a few mistakes, but she does so well, I can't blame her!
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Pupdate: 7/27/2022
Milo went to Citadel Outlets today for training. She started with the leash on but eventually I took the leash off and she did a pretty good job! We're working on her Send Away To Place command. This is just like Place, except I want her to perform it while I'm a few feet away. She sometimes is too nervous to leave my side, but she's starting to get it!
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Pupdate: 7/28/2022
Milo was off leash most of the day today! She's been doing better and better each day. Today we worked on the Under command. For this command I want Milo to crawl underneath an object and lay down there. As you can see in today's video, she's getting this fairly quickly!
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Pupdate: 7/29/2022
Milo went to Citadel Outlets today for training! She did well, and we mostly worked on extending her Send Away To Place command! For today's video, Milo worked with another trainer to see if she could go through her commands with someone other than me. She seemed to respond to him very well! In the video, she has trouble a couple times coming all the way around for her Come To Sit command, but other than that, she seems very responsive!
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Pupdate: 7/30/2022
Milo was off leash with me all day today! The only time I had a leash on her was walking to the park itself. There are a couple of sections of road with cars, and she still gets very nervous walking in those parts. For today's video, I wanted to show how to properly play. Normally, I'd initiate play, then stop whenever she jumps on me or puts her mouth on me. However, Milo did such a great job, she didn't jump or play bite a single time while I was filming. This is great, and instead I decided to simply test how quickly she can get back into correct positions after playing. She does a pretty good job with this as well, although she does want to sniff the grass and wander a bit after being asked to come.
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Pupdate: 7/31/2022
Milo and I went to Home Depot today! I thought this would be a good way of getting her around loud, rolling objects without the danger of being close to a road. It worked very well! She seemed to be nervous around the carts and fork lifts, but as we walked by them more and more she started to calm down a bit. She really liked walking around the garden center, sniffing all the flowers!
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Pupdate: 8/1/2022
Milo went to Wilderness Park today for training! Since she hasn't been here before, she was a bit nervous, but managed to perform very well. There was one instance of her wanting to walk back to the car when she didn't want to work, but other than that, she did great! In today's video, Milo is working on her Send Away To Place command! There are a few times she hesitates to go toward the Place object, but over all she is getting better and better.
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Pupdate: 8/2/2022
Milo and I went to Huntington Beach today! She was very nervous nearly the entire time, and for that reason she stayed on leash. There were a few times down by the beach area where she seemed to relax a bit, but being so close to a busy road, I had to keep the leash on. That being said, she did a wonderful job with all of her commands! The only times she really messed up where when we crossed the road from the beach to Main street. She didn't seem to want to heel with me as much when the loud cars were around. We'll be going back to Huntington later this week, and we'll see we can get her used to it!
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Pupdate: 8/3/2022
Milo went to Montebello Mall today for training! She did a great job off leash. She was a little nervous in the new place, but she didn't have any issues Heeling around or performing any of her commands. In today's video, we practiced the Under command! She usually does very well with this command and today was no different!
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Pupdate: 8/4/2022
Milo and I went to Citadel Outlets once more for training! She was a little nervous at first, but she's getting better with that! She was able to perform all of her commands in order without making any mistakes today, as well as holding her positions for a full two minutes each! For her Down, Place and Under commands, I want Milo to be able to hold each position indefinitely, until I ask her to do something else, or release her from command. The specific goal we use to test this is trying to get her to the two minute mark, and she's reached that goal!
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Pupdate: 8/5/2022
Milo had a great time at Fashion Island today! She went off leash from the get go, and did extremely well. She always does a great job with her commands, but usually she's very nervous, especially with new places. Today, she might have been a little more nervous than she is at home playing, but she was by far more relaxed than she has been in the past. While I was working with her, multiple people came up to commend her on her behavior. This makes me very proud. Once she goes home, I think she will still need a lot of time out in public before she's completely happy in new, exciting places. For that reason, we still need to be careful about where and when she's off leash, but today let's me know she's absolutely been improving.
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Pupdate: 8/5/2022
Milo went to Almansor Park for her last full day of training! She did great there as usual! For today's pupdate, I wanted to show some of the manners we've been working on. For food manners, I want Milo to sit and wait when I put food in front of her instead of trying to gobble it up immediately. For door manners, I want her to sit at the door when I open it, without rushing through or trying to get out ahead of me. For car manners, I want Milo to hop up into the car when asked and walk directly into her kennel. For greeting manners, I want her to sit nicely while she's being greeted by a stranger! She's done well with all of these! It's been a pleasure working with her these past few weeks, and I'll definitely miss her when she's gone!
