Mochi | English Creme Golden Retriever | La Habra, CA | In-Training
- cristianoffleash
- Jan 13, 2023
- 8 min read
Updated: Mar 13, 2024
Meet Mochi, she is a 2 year old Golden Retriever from La Habra, CA who is here for our Two Week Board and Train Program. Mochi is here with us because she is a energetic pup who gets overly excited and jumps on people she likes, zooms around in the house and has injured a family member in the past, and has little to no basic obedience. Over the next two weeks, we will work on improving her basic obedience, greeting manners and proper leash manners! Stay tuned for our progress!
Pupdate 1/13/2023
Today I met Mochi and we began our first day of training together. Mochi has been through training but I will continue the rest of her training process, so we worked on all of her obedience commands. At first she wasn't listening to me since it was the first day of getting to know her but once I introduced myself with the e-collar she started to do each command with ease. Once we worked on it, this is where she started to take her time and get somewhat distracted. I redirected only a couple of times to get her into a down, but after some consistency she was going into a down with ease. We also started leash dragging which she did very well with. Only at times would she drift off to go to the grass but was always redirected back into a heel. Mochi had this scab on her face when I first got her, I noticed this while I was petting her face, I applied spray and creme just in case to prevent any infections. Once we got home she settled into the crate and had no issues barking or whining. Mochi didn't eat her food right away, will be leaving in her crate and monitored to see if she eats.
Pupdate 1/14/2023
Mochi and I went for a walk in the morning working on her heel. Today was raining so we worked on some house training. She listens pretty well most of the time we are around the door but I have noticed she does get excited and leans towards the door as if she wants to go out. Once we kept working she started to listen really well and picked up her door manners fast. She didn't seem to have the need to run out and was only redirected once as we passed the door together. Later on we played together and I was teaching her to let go of a ball once she has it in her mouth. She got to lay next to my bed and actually fell asleep once I noticed she stopped playing with the ball I gave her. She ended up eating most of her food last night and this morning she only ate half, as I waited for her to finish she refused to eat the rest of her food and ignored it. Mochi didn't eat in the evening so her bowl will be left in her crate again until she eats.
Pupdate 1/15/2023
Today wasn't raining in the morning so I took Mochi for a walk, and shortly after we practiced some obedience training. Once I brought out a toy she had so much drive to play and go for the ball. At first she didn't want to give me the ball and would try to run away so I put the e-collar on her and was able to teach her how to drop the ball when asked. I would try to have the ball drop in various ways to show Mochi she has to always wait for the ball until she's given a break. For a brief moment in the video I ask her for a down and she does it well the first time but after she will consistently break her down and get up right away. This is a perfect moment for training even if we are playing, I redirect her multiple times until she fully commits to not moving. She eventually listens and I'm able to give her the ball. She is doing well so far staying with me and has enjoyed my company as well as my family having her as a guest. She has been eating on a regular schedule now so I will monitor how that goes.
Pupdate 1/16/2023
This morning it was still raining and wet at most parks so I took Mochi to a local Home Depot close to my house. Mochi seemed worried to be in Home Depot when we first arrived but shortly after taking one walk around the store she had no problems with most noises and people coming next to her or behind her. The only time Mochi had trouble was staying in a sit or down for an extended duration of time. We kept working on this since she seemed to be fine with everything else, so we kept trying to complete a duration of one minute until she's given a break. Learning in the beginning with traffic around her took some time but by the end of the visit she was able to complete the task. We will work to extend the duration of both these commands for longer. This morning she didn't eat most of her food so it seems she only wants to eat when she wants but I'll still monitor how she eats daily. The scab on her face is gone since I applied medication to it.
Pupdate 1/17/2023
Last night I took Mochi for a walk to practice leash dragging and she got frightened by a noise she couldn't see, even walking her in front of the house. She assumed the noise came from but couldn't figure out where it came from so she stayed worried for a bit until I removed her away from the house. I haven't seen this behavior with her before since we've passed this house before during the day. Today I started to only work offleash with Mochi. She does really well for most of the obedience commands but at times has this random burst of energy to sprint for her place and recall. She just needs to be redirected each time she likes to play around while we work on obedience commands. At one point when I removed myself from my house she got up from her down looking for me, but she kept her place which is good so I redirected her into a sit regardless how far I was. I took her for a walk, also passing by the house she was afraid of last night and she was doing well offleash.
Pupdate 1/18/2023
Today I took Mochi to my local park in Fullerton to practice offleash walking. Mochi did really well walking with me staying in a heel. We went around the park several times and things that happened on the walk weren't anything serious. Mochi would only keep distance if the pavement looked off to her so she would move around it walking away from me but I would always ask for a heel and she would always come back closer to me. The only situation that she felt uneasy about was when a city worker was replacing the trash can bags. Mochi would get up from her sit but I would redirect her while the city worker would switch bags. It seems the noise of the bad frightened her but she was able to see the bags and work through it made her confidence go up a little. Mochi didn't mind other dogs on walks with their owners but one dog lunged towards Mochi and the moment Mochi's attention was on the dog, I asked her for a off without using the remote and she listened. The last thing we worked around was a fountain in the park. Mochi was timid of the water splashing at first when I asked for a place, but the second time around she already adjusted to the splashing noise. We stayed by the fountain for 15 minutes practicing all obedience commands and by the end Mochi seemed neutral being around the fountain. Mochi's left ear was more red than usual so I checked and noticed her ears were full with earwax so I provided her with an ear flush and cleaned it out. Her right ear is normal but had ear wax as well so I cleaned it out as well. I will monitor to see if her ear looks better.
Pupdate 1/19/2023
Today I focused on working offleash with Mochi around the neighborhood and going to the shopping centers near my house. Mochi tried to smell some grass and trash cans as we passed by them but I would redirect her into a heel anytime she would extend herself away from me. I also took her on a offleash walk with my personal dog and they both heel together without trying to lead. I worked one on one with Mochi and practiced all offleash obedience commands. When I ask for a down she needs me to bend over to help signal her, but today I wanted to condition her to go down when I ask or the use of my hand instead of me using most of my body to identify the command. Later in the day I let Mochi and Hunter play as always, but when they first started to play they were rough on each other since Mochi comes at full force sometimes with dogs. I would separate them and ask both of them for a sit, following up with a break and then they can play. This was repetitive the first couple days when they first met but now are used to each other and will wait in my room until I break them both to come outside in my backyard. Her ear looks fine after cleaning it but I will still monitor to see if anything comes up. Mochi ate in the morning but didn't want to eat her food later in the day. I will try again before she goes to sleep.
Pupdate 1/20/2023
Today I took Mochi to the Santa Monica Pier for some fun and offleash obedience heeling. Mochi did really well staying close to me and being greeted by people who wanted to say hi to her. Mochi would sometimes get up but I would redirect her back into a sit. As much as we walk around the pier we still work on obedience training in a safe area where not too many people are. When we practiced her extended sit she would sometimes get up but was redirected when it happened. Another time I had to focus on an obedience command was down, but this only happened about 3 times so it didn't take her long to fix her mistakes compared to her extended sit. Something that caught my eye was when someone passed Mochi on a bike while I was with my coworker. Mochi let the person on the bike pass her, staying in a down that I asked for. I was really happy with Mochi not moving and gave her the break command to give her a lot of love and attention. Mochi got more quality play time with Hunter, still having to stop them at times for being so rough, but when the redirection happens in playtime they do start to settle and play less rough
Pupdate 1/21/2023
Today I took Mochi for one last walk in Hillcrest park in Fullerton to practice more offleash obedience. I took my little brother who walked Mochi with a leash. Nick is very aware of how to train dogs since he's been 8. He has helped me train other dog's and is aware of keeping the dogs structure in place by not letting them do things they shouldn't. He wanted to walk Mochi again so we went around the neighborhood but with a leash and an e-collar. Mochi was a little more energetic for him than most dogs but he was able to redirect him like most of the dogs he's worked with. Mochi should be aware of every type of person regardless if they are little or small, she should be mindful towards others even if it's her first time meeting them. Nick was able to heel Mochi at times but she would always try to branch out and go towards the grass. In the video I guided him on how often Mochi would need redirection if she didn't pay attention and Nick was able to get most of the obedience correct. If he needed to use leash pressure I allowed him but Nick tried to rely only on the remote rather than the leash. Mochi got to play with Hunter more than usual today, but still had to separate them for having so much excitement in them both. Once they settled they would play normal and would fall asleep next to each other by Mochi's crate.
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