Mookie | Labrador Retriever | Burbank, CA | In-Training
- Scott Hansen
- Oct 26
- 10 min read
Updated: 21 hours ago
Meet Mookie! Mookie is a three-year-old here for our Urban Two-Week Board and Train Program. Mookie is a sweet pup; however, he does display several unwanted behaviors. Mookie is a rambunctious, playful pup. Mookie has poor leash manners and will not recall. Mookie can perform a command or two and has been to prior training; however, he lacks structure and will perform the tasks inconsistently. Mookie will eat and destroy anything that is left unattended in the house. Over the next fourteen days, Mookie is going to learn to be an obedient pup through consistent, clear communication and balanced training at home and by discovering new people and places. Mookie will learn to perform all these things on leash through a positive and balanced training environment. Through structure and consistency, Mookie will demonstrate how great a pup he can be! Stay tuned for Mookie’s two-week transformation!
Mookie | Labrador Retriever | Pupdate 10/26/25
Today, Mr. Mookie joined me for his two-week board and train program. On the way home, we stopped at a local park to see what commands Mr. Mookie could perform. He did not do very well! But I think you know that, and that's why he's here. After I tested his skills, we had a mini photoshoot for his profile picture for his blog. I don't know if you know this, but as soon as dogs see a phone or camera in front of their face, you are now invisible to them, and they must ignore you at all costs. Once we got what we needed, we loaded up and headed to Mr. Mookie's temporary residence for the next two weeks.
Once we got home, I let Mr. Mookie smell Ms. Toji and Ms. Bear through the front gate. Ms. Toji and Ms. Bear were excited to see Mr. Mookie. Mr. Mookie had his tail wagging and was curious to meet them. Mr. Mookie had no issues coming to the house. I let him explore each room and meet everyone. Throughout the introductions, Mr. Mookie showed no adverse reactions. My whole family likes him already. I took Mr. Mookie outside to meet Ms. Toji and Ms. Bear.
We then went on a long walk around the block so that he could get used to the sights, sounds, and scents of his temporary new neighborhood. He didn't pull me around the block, but would stop and fixate on a few trees and fire hydrants. I didn't see too much unwanted behavior on the walk, except for sticking to a specific spot that interested him. That should be easily corrected with the prong collar and e-collar.
I gave him dinner, and he ate it all. I keep track of his weight and will ensure that he maintains his weight while he is with me.
I've attached the e-collar familiarization video. I’ve also added the pictures of his e-collar. I have already added the hypoallergenic titanium contact points. Please review it a few times before Mr. Mookie's turnover. We'll practice together to make sure you are comfortable with the system before using it with Mr. Mookie. I will introduce the e-collar for tomorrow’s training.
Mookie | Labrador Retriever | Pupdate 10/27/25
Today, Mr. Mookie and I headed over to Whittier Narrows in El Monte, CA. This was his first day being accountable for his actions. I only used the prong collar today so that I could gain more control over Mr. Mookie. Mr. Mookie was highly responsive to the e-collar. He picked up on his new commands well, such as "sit", "down", "place," and "heel". I think he just needs some structure in his life.
He has been nothing but Mr. Mookie nonstop. Happy-go-lucky, playing with all of the pup toys I have. He definitely loves his food. He's been playing with Ms. Toji and Ms. Bear without any issues. Mr. Mookie has made himself at home and should do well over the next two weeks.
Good start, Mr. Mookie!
Mookie | Labrador Retriever | Pupdate 10/28/25
Today was a sneaky SoCal scorcher! I let Mr. Mookie and the other pups hang out in the house in the AC for most of the day to stay out of the heat. We had a late afternoon training session in the backyard to introduce the e-collar.
As you can see, I played with Mr. Mookie quite a bit before introducing the e-collar. I played tug-of-war to get him in a nice, positive mood. I then slipped the e-collar on loosely without pressing anything. Then we went back to playing. After a few more moments of playing, I put the e-collar on snugly. Then more play. Once I had Mr. Mookie still playing with me, I introduced the remote stimulation. I start at 0 and then slowly work my way up 5 levels at a time. I noticed a small indication around 10, more significant at 15, and then 20 seemed to be a little too much. I settled on about 13 for Mr. Mookie. This is a great number as the e-collar remote goes up to level 100.
We then practiced "heel", "place", "sit", and "down". Tomorrow, I will introduce "come-to-sit," and we will be off to the races for the remainder of the two weeks. It will be practice, practice, practice!
Good job, Mr. Mookie!
Mookie | Labrador Retriever | Pupdate 10/29/25
Today, Mr. Mookie and I headed to Liberty Park in Cerritos, CA, to work on his commands around medium distractions. There were e-bikes, kids on scooters, people playing pickleball, running on the track, children on the playground, and people walking their furry companions.
I started the training without having paired the e-collar! Whooops! It's ok, Mr. Mookie was still doing a good job, but I was curious why he wasn't leaving the bushes, and I had to go up to level 20. When things are going up that high on the e-collar, it's important to ensure that the device is working properly. In my case, I forgot to pair the remote and collar before putting it on Mr. Mookie. I did put on his nice blue collar, because he is named after a player who wears blue.
Mr. Mookie now knows all his commands that he is going to need for his two-week training while with me. He is making good progress and doing well while he is with me.
Good job today, Mr. Mookie!
Mookie | Labrador Retriever | Pupdate 10/30/25
We had one of our last backyard sessions with Mr. Mookie. The purpose of this session was to see how much Mr. Mookie would behave with my tiny trainer. She is literally half the size of Mr. Mookie. She was excited to assist today after helping with Ms. Bear's training today. If Mr. Mookie can behave properly with a tiny, six-year-old, we can get him to behave for you. There were no distractions in my backyard, such as squirrels and other dogs. We will have to test out my mini-trainer's handling skills at a location with more distractions. It's going to cost me a trip to the playground as a trade, but I bet I can convince her to assist me. Mr. Mookie performed well for her because he is learning all his new skills so quickly. I am proud of the progress he is making.
For reference, I started with having my mini-trainer work Mr. Mookie with the prong collar on while I pressed the e-collar for reinforcement. Once Mr. Mookie was listening and being respectful, I took the prong collar off and had her walk Mr. Mookie with only the flat collar and e-collar. Once again, I managed the e-collar remote while she walked him around. She also tempted him with her scooter riding. Mr. Mookie held his "sit" and "down" without breaking for her. I would say that we are making good progress!
Good job today, Mr. Mookie!
Mookie | Labrador Retriever | Pupdate 10/31/25
Today, Mr. Mookie and I ran over to Home Depot to practice all his commands around medium distractions. He did really well! Mr. Mookie is such a sweet pup, and he just wants to make me happy. He is excited for everything with his happy tail wagging everywhere and every time I see him. I really enjoy hanging out with Mr. Mookie.
Tonight is Halloween, and we will have some guests over, so he will get to practice his impulse control and being polite around some new people this evening.
Good job today, Mr. Mookie!
Mookie | Labrador Retriever | Pupdate 11/1/25
Last night was an eventful Halloween at the house, but Mr. Mookie was a well-behaved and respectful pup. I had my mother-in-law, who loves dogs, hold Mr. Mookie while we had trick-or-treaters coming and going. Mr. Mookie calmly hung out with her and let several of the trick-or-treaters come and say hi to him. Mr. Mookie was calm and well-mannered with all of them. Another fun note is that Mr. Mookie was respectful with my six-year-old mini-trainer. She was walking Mr. Mookie in between the trick-or-treaters, and he let her walk her without trying to run away, pull, or jump.
Today, we reviewed his door manners. I demonstrate the two ways to conduct door manners. The first way is to put Mr. Mookie in a "place" and "down" at the door. You can do this without the cot and just say "down." Although Mr. Mookie's training is focused on still being on-leash, he is doing well when I don't hold the leash. This will assist you when he is trying to be pushy; we can rely on the e-collar to communicate with him so he doesn't try to overpower.
The second way is to have Mr. Mookie perform a "sit" at the door, then you can open the door and let him follow you out. If you are worried about him possibly flying by and knocking you over, then have him walk out with you. We don't want him to run out in front of us and take control. He can only enter the door once we allow him to. This does not mean he will not run out an open door, but rather this is the introduction to teaching him to patiently wait for the door to open.
Good job last night and today, Mr. Mookie!
Mookie | Labrador Retriever | Pupdate 11/2/25
Today, I took Mr. Mookie to El Dorado Park in Long Beach, CA. This park is home to a ton of squirrels. I wanted to get Mr. Mookie around the squirrels and see how he behaved on leash while they were distracting him. Unfortunately, we could only find one squirrel to proof him off the distractions. Mr. Mookie saw the squirrel and was focused on the squirrel, but did not chase or pull on the leash. Baseball and softball games were going on, the skatepark was full, and there was a DJ playing loud music for a football party, but Mr. Mookie paid it no attention and carried on walking by my side without any issues. We searched for a long time on our walk for squirrels with all the trees, but maybe due to the number of people there, the squirrels were biding their time until everyone left.
As you can see in today's video, I worked with him on all his commands prior to going squirrel hunting. I had to put the leash on the ground while filming, and Mr. Mookie was able to perform all of his commands without my guidance on the leash. He's doing great!
Great job today, Mr. Mookie!
Mookie | Labrador Retriever | Pupdate 11/3/25
Today, Mr. Mookie and I headed over to Whitter Narrow in El Monte to continue having him work around minor distractions. We met up with some of our fellow off-leash pups. I had to snap a pic of the chocolate, black and white lab, all together. What a good group of pups! I reviewed all of Mr. Mookie's commands around the other pups, and he performed well. I even let the leash drag often and give him very little input, and he is doing well with only the input from the e-collar. Our numbers are nice and low, between 10-20, as needed.
After reviewing all his commands, I did give him a nice brushing. I'm going to do my best to brush him every day as he is shedding quite a lot. Daily maintenance with brushing will eventually lead to significantly less shedding. I may not be able to make that much of a difference in the week I have left with him. He enjoyed the brushing, and it's a nice break from the training when you get to bond while grooming them.
Good job, Mr. Mookie!
Mookie | Labrador Retriever | Pupdate 11/4/25
Mr. Mookie and I headed back to Liberty Park in Cerritos, CA. We reviewed all of his commands with the leash dragging. I have focused on the leash dragging to ensure that you can take Mr. Mookie on a walk safely with a nice, loose leash, or if you ever have to drop it, that he will remain obedient to you and stay by your side.
Mr. Mookie performed all of his tasks without much issue. He did break his extended "sit" a little early. He is anticipating that I am going to call him and came to me a little early. As long as he is not getting up and running away, I consider it a win. He knows he's not supposed to be running away and is anticipating the next task. He was able to perform everything with the leash dragging and little input from me, other than the occasional e-collar reminder. When we were leaving, he did fixate on another little pup that was running around, but I disrupted it with a low-level stimulation plus a verbal "Off!" and reminded him to "Heel."
I did give him another brushing today while we were there. He very much enjoys that process. I also prefer leaving all the hair at the park instead of all over my house. Mr. Mookie is pretty much ready to go! We're just going to keep reinforcing everything over the next few days!
Mookie | Labrador Retriever | Pupdate 11/5/25
Mr. Mookie and I headed over to Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos, CA, to review all his commands in a medium distractor environment. Mr. Mookie is doing so well with all of his commands! I am happy with his progress, and we can't wait to show you what he can do. Tomorrow we will review his house manners once more. We are just going to solidify all his commands and keep challenging him for the next few days. I'll try to find him another park with more squirrels just to proof him off of those so that he continues to remain calm when you take him on walks.
I feel like I just celebrated Halloween, and all the Christmas decorations are out already! Your Christmas present is a well-trained Mr. Mookie!
Mookie | Labrador Retriever | Pupdate 11/6/25
Today, we had a quick review of Mr. Mookie's door manners, food manners and car manners. All manners were conducted on leash and without any issues. Good job today, Mr. Mookie!
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