Monty | Cavapoo | Santa Monica, CA | In Training
- Alex Kruse
- Oct 4
- 9 min read
Updated: Oct 17
Meet Monty! He's a 2-year-old Cavapoo from Santa Monica, California, and he's here for our Two Week Urban Board and Train Program. Monty is a happy, adventurous little guy who knows all his foundational commands, but needs a little help with holding positions and with distractions. He also has a tendency to pull on his leash while walking, barks at other dogs, and has a bad habit of begging for food. Over the next two weeks we'll teach Monty how to stay in position until released, how to quiet down when asked, how to walk properly at the Heel, and show him some better manners. Stay tuned for Monty's two-week transformation!
10/4/25
I took Monty to a local park to see what he could do for me, and while it was clear right away that he can Sit and Down without too many issues, everything else definitely needs some work while he's out amongst distractions! He was interested in a boy playing with a soccer ball and wouldn't listen to much of anything I asked when the child got too close, but was able to focus up a little more when there weren't too many things happening right beside us. He clearly does know his Come command, but he picks and chooses when to listen, and I noticed he pulls ahead on the leash instead of giving any sort of Heel, so we'll work a lot on that command. At home he met my dogs one at a time, and while he was a little bit shy at first, he settled in with them pretty quickly. There's a little bit of anxiety with being in a new house with new people and smells, but I feel like he'll adjust just fine within the next day. He seems pretty content as long as there's a person nearby to keep him company. I look forward to getting to work with him over the next two weeks!
10/5/25
Since Monty already knows most of his basics, we dove right into working on getting him to hold his commands until released, and focused a lot on his Heel. He needs to understand the concept of leash pressure and how to walk properly on a loose leash without any pulling. I started off using a lot of treats to keep him in position, then faded the treats down and used the collar just a few times to remind him he couldn't dart off in any direction he wanted. He caught onto that pretty quickly, and we'll work on getting him out into more distracting areas as he gets more solid with understanding what the expectation is when being walked. We ended out the session by putting him on the long line and letting him run and play in the park for a bit. He came home happy and tired and ready for a nap!
10/6/25
We had our weekly group practice today, which meant Monty got some exposure around a small crowd and other dogs while we were working. He was a little nervous about it at first so I was a bit-treat heavy today, but he was able to do most of his commands with only a little hesitation. He's still sorting out what leash pressure means and where he needs to be positioned for his Heel, and sometimes he plants himself in place during his Recall, so we'll be refining that more as we go. His Down was a lot better today so we worked on teaching him Place, which is to lay down in a specific spot (on a bed, in today's case) and stay there. He wasn't too certain about that at first either, but with a little bit of guidance he was able to get comfortable and hold the position for several seconds. At home he's doing great. He's gotten much more confident with the other dogs and has a good time out in the yard. He's very good at sitting and waiting at the doors and for his food; and without all the nerves, his commands go a lot more smoothly too. He's still learning to trust me, so I'm hoping once he gets a little more acquainted with me, he'll be more relaxed when we go out into public settings as well.
10/7/25
I had a very good day with Monty today! We went over to Old Town Monrovia during the lunch hour where we had to walk through a few small crowds and in between outdoor tables surrounding the sidewalks. He stayed at his Heel without much prompting from me nearly the entire time, didn't bother people who were eating, and didn't try to sniff at any of the tables. We started and ended at the Library Park where we also practiced our extended Sit and Down, and worked a lot on his Recall. He was far more confident and relaxed today overall, only needing a few verbal corrections here and there. I'm proud of him today!
10/8/25
I introduced Monty to the mall today when it wasn’t too crowded so I didn’t overwhelm him on his first visit. It’s a little scary for most dogs their first time, and though he was nervous, he did really well! He stuck to his Heel for the most part and was able to do all his other commands with only a little guidance. His only mess-up was getting totally distracted by the booth with all the noisy, moving toys, and I can’t blame him! But of course we can’t have him darting over to the fun things without permission, so I took some time having him hold a Sit near the booth, and I would reward him whenever he disengaged from the toys. His focus should be on his person, especially when he’s working! He caught on pretty quickly and I rewarded him with a little park playtime before we headed home.
10/9/25
Monty and I went out for a little adventure day along the Royal Oaks Trail. I had him on the long line so I could go back and forth giving him some freedom to run around and sniff things, then having him fall back into his Heel. It was good practice in making sure he's learning how to respond properly to leash pressure, and gauging his instincts to check in with his person. He did fantastic with all that, along with his Recall, Place, Sit and Down here and there along the way. The only hiccup was that we learned he's very interested in horse droppings! Nothing a quick "Off!" didn't fix, but if you're ever near a horse trail, it's something to keep a firm eye on!
10/10/25
I took Monty to Century City Mall today to practice with a couple of the other trainers. Just like with my mall the other day, he was just a little anxious at first. You can see him looking back at my camera man a few times, he wasn't sure why we were being stalked lol. But he did really well despite the bit of nerves, and he relaxed a lot more as we spent time there and he was allowed to get some pets and treats from people. This was the first time I finally got to see him begging from food from other people! Which I realize sounds like a bad thing, but it means he's getting comfortable enough to let me see his real self a little bit more. That'll be helpful working with him through the next week as I can correct some of those behavior issues more easily, and work with that confidence to get him to more cleanly fall into those commands. We're making progress!
10/11/25
We went out to Rotary Park in Monrovia which is a fully fenced park. I wanted to let him run free for a little bit, but sadly they were setting up for a birthday party and had some parts of the fence open to bring supplies in, so we had to settle for running around on the long line. He still had lots of fun, and we worked on his Recall a lot while he was distracted bounding around. We also worked on his greeting manners, having him sit and hold it while people came up to pet him. He's still doing a little tugging on the leash here and there, but his Heel has gotten a lot better over the past week, and his Down was really clean and fast today. Sometimes he can be a little stubborn with that one, so it was great seeing him going straight into it without any extra coaxing. We'll see this week if he can hold it on the train!
10/12/25
Monty and I got our workout today! I took him walking along the wash in my neighborhood where I knew there would be low distractions. I wanted to work on his Heel using as little leash pressure as possible, so I clipped the leash to a carabiner on my belt and kept pretty much hands free the whole time. He was able to hold his position for most of the walk using almost all just verbal cues and only a couple times using the tone on the collar. He also gave me a nice Sit every time I stopped moving, and was able to go into his Down every time only being told once. I didn't use any treats through the entire walk until we were back at the house, then I gave him a couple just for being a good boy. Pulling on the leash or crossing behind has been one of his biggest issues, so I'm feeling confident with today's practice that he fully understands the Heel now!
10/13/25
We had another mall session today, which Monty seems to be enjoying more and more each time we go. He's become a lot more relaxed, and he's understanding the assignment when I pose him for pictures lol. He's still a little hesitant when I ask him to jump up on things for his Place, but he's gotten a lot better at it, and he can hold that for much longer when we're just at home. I've been working him more on his tendency to beg for food using my housemates as guinea pigs lol. I put him in a Place on his cot and he'll typically stay there with only some verbal corrections from me if he tries to move off it, and of course using the collar as a reminder if he fails to listen to my verbal cues.
10/14/25
Monty had such a great day today! We had our big train adventure, and he did amazing! He was a little bit nervous about laying down when he first got on, then settled in for a couple stops until a group of people got on and were talking loud right behind him. He sat up, I put him back into his down, and then he stayed there for the rest of the trip. We went from Sierra Madre Villa Station to Union Station, which is about a 40 minute ride, and he stayed down until I released him at Union. We walked all through the station once we got there, weaving around people with suitcases and just trying to get him into spaces that resembled an airport as much as possible. Once again, there was a little bit of anxiety when we first got in, but he relaxed pretty quickly and everything else was smooth sailing. On the way back he went right down for me and passed out for the entire trip. He really impressed me today!
10/15/25
I took Monty to the Santa Fe Dam today where he had a great time exploring and running around in the grass. We worked quite a bit on his Heel and Recall on the long line today, as well as his Place. He's doing great with all those things, except when we got near the geese. He's apparently scared of them lol. I did a little redirection work with him just on the sit to get him to calm down, and then did some more Heel work back and forth near the geese until he was comfortable again. The rest of the day was a breeze!
10/16/25
One more big mall trip for Monty today! I drilled him on all his commands in different areas of the mall, some busier than others, to make sure he really understood he had to follow through on everything despite the distractions and noise. He had a few moments of being anxious here and there, but overall he did really well today, and he showed really good manners when anyone wanted to pet him. After that I took him to a park that's all fenced in so he play a little bit. They had just cut the grass before we got there so naturally he decided to roll all around in it and get it all over him! He got a good brushing once we got home and he immediately went to bed for a nice nap.
10/17/25
For our last day we decided to have a fun little outing/photo shoot at the pumpkin patch! There were lots of distractions between the kids running around, the bounce houses, and the petting zoo, but Monty was able to perform all his commands really well despite that. He was a little be anxious about some of the things he's never seen before, but just like with the geese the other day, we just redirected with some sits and treat rewards until he realized all of this was no big deal, especially when a nearby booth was handing out free pup cups! Monty certainly threw me some challenges over the last two weeks. He's very smart and knows his stuff, but a lot of what we worked on was getting him to perform his commands on my say-so and not simply whenever he decided on doing it himself, and doing it without needing treats. We've also gone a long way in curbing some of his own anxiety, and it's been a joy watching him slowly grow into a more confident dog. As long as his training stays practiced and consistent, I think he's going to be a fantastic, well-behaved little dog! Thank you so much for letting me be a part of his learning journey!
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