Murphy | Golden Retriever | Rancho Palos Verdes, CA | In-Training
- Scott Hansen
- Jun 29
- 28 min read
Updated: Jul 18
Meet Murphy! Murphy is a six-month-old Golden Retriever here for our Old School Three-Week Board and Train Program. Murphy is a nice young pup; however, he does display several unwanted behaviors. Murphy has poor leash manners and has unreliable obedience. Murphy can perform a command or two with proper motivation; however, he lacks structure and performs tasks inconsistently. Over the next twenty-one days, Murphy is going to learn to be an obedient pup through consistent, clear communication and balanced training at home, as well as by discovering new people and places. Murphy will learn to perform all these things off-leash in a positive, balanced training environment. Through structure and consistency, Murphy will demonstrate how great a pup he can be! Stay tuned for Murphy’s three-week transformation!
Pupdate 06/29/26
Today, Mr. Murphy joined me for his Old School Three-Week Board and Train Program.
I can’t say you didn’t warn me. Mr. Murphy threw up before we were out of your neighborhood. We still had forty-five minutes to get back to his temporary residence. I heard another throw-up around fifteen minutes later. Then it smelled like poop. Turns out he did both. I usually stop at a local park to find out what he knows before going home, but due to the smells, I went straight home first. This was the correct choice, as you can see from the pictures.
Straight to the bath and decontamination of the crate and my car. Not the ideal start to his visit with me, but understandable. I gave Mr. Murphy a quick bath. Cleaned out his crate. Cleaned out my vehicle. Cleaned myself as he decided to shake his poop paws and fur all over me.
Once everything was all cleaned up, we headed to my local park. I decided to walk there since I had just cleaned him up and he was back to normal. His walks are inconsistent. He did stop and sniff several places where dogs typically mark. He was stubborn at times and wouldn’t leave the spots. I had to drag him off of them. My mini-trainer joined me for the walk. Mr. Murphy was okay with other dogs on the walk.
Upon arriving at the park, I went over what commands Mr. Murphy knew. He did surprisingly well with the “come”. His “sit”, “down”, and “heel” were not too great. 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 home, I let Mr. Murphy smell Ms. Toji through the front gate. Ms. Toji was excited to see Mr. Murphy. Mr. Murphy showed some skepticism. Mr. Murphy had no problems coming to the house. I let him explore each room and meet everyone. Throughout the introductions, Mr. Murphy showed no adverse reactions. He was excited to meet everyone. I took Mr. Murphy outside to meet Ms. Toji. Mr. Murphy was a little awkward during the introductions, but after a few minutes, he was ok with Ms. Toji. They aren’t best friends yet, but they should get along just fine.
I expect to see him work well with the structure and positive reinforcement. We will be using the gentle leader and treats to entice him to perform the tasks. This should help make it clear that those behaviors are unacceptable while rewarding good, wanted behavior. With clear, persistent communication and expectations, he will learn to be a well-mannered pup!
I gave him dinner and observed how much he ate. He devoured all of it! 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. Please review the video a few times before Mr. Murphy's turnover. We'll practice together to make sure you are comfortable with the system before using it with Mr. Murphy. I will introduce the gentle leader for tomorrow’s training.
Murphy | Golden Retriever | Pupdate 06/30/26
Today, Mr. Murphy and I started his training. We recovered from a rather hectic start yesterday. Mr. Murphy is getting along well with Ms. Toji and slept well in his crate. Of course, he has eaten all his food! You guys know him very well.
As you can see in today's video, I practiced quite a few commands with Mr. Murphy. We started with the gentle leader in the slip lead configuration. This simply means that it is a rope leash that can apply pressure around his neck as needed. Mr. Murphy is a playful and fun puppy, so I wanted to really focus on motivating him through gentle pressure and treats. He does lack impulse control with his commands - puppy brain, if you will. I reinforced all of his commands by giving him the commands that he already knows and then varying up the time-to-treat ratio. At first, I was giving him treats every second to reinforce the behavior. Then I'd wait about five seconds. For his "sit" and "down," I made it to about fifteen seconds between treats to reinforce his behavior.
We reviewed the following commands: sit, down, place, come, break, and heel. We started the training with the "sit" since he knows this one. At the completion of the command, I gave him the "Break!" command, which allows him to get up and do whatever he wants. I lured him to me with the remainder of the treats I had in my hand. The down required slight pressure on his back to guide him all the way down, but there was no resistance from him. Once again, when this was complete, I gave him the "Break!" command and let him come to me for more treats. I worked on the "place" by putting treats on the place cot and using gentle pressure to guide him on. We practiced "place," and then I had him perform a "sit" and "down". While practicing the "down", I switched his gentle leader over his muzzle. This helps control him while practicing the "heel". It is a wide rope that distributes pressure gently over the muzzle and his neck. This is a highly effective tool. I kept giving Mr. Murphy treats while putting it on him so that he would have a positive association with it. I introduced the "come" to sit command briefly since he was doing so well.
Once we were done with those commands, I went ahead and took Mr. Murphy for a walk around the block to reinforce his "heel" command. Overall, not too bad. I am not looking for perfection, as he has to learn what my expectations are. He has an idea of what he can or can't do based on his past experiences, and my job as a trainer is to modify his parameters of what he can or can't do. Mr. Murphy responded well to the gentle leader and performed much better than he did yesterday.
Lastly, I introduced his door manners. This is where Mr. Murphy has to sit and wait for me to open the door before I allow him to go through the door. He picked up on this one pretty easily after we had just finished our backyard session. I also introduced having him sit and wait for his food. He is learning a lot and responding quite well to all of it!
Murphy | Golden Retriever | Pupdate 07/01/26
Today, Mr. Murphy and I had another backyard session. I wanted to get him comfortable with the commands before we head out to the public areas. We will take very short trips starting tomorrow. It may not matter, but it will hopefully avoid car sickness so that we can get out to these places and focus on training rather than cleaning up everywhere we go. I usually blame country music, but I don't think that's the culprit. We will cross that bridge when we get there each day.
I really focused on Mr. Murphy holding up to twenty seconds or more between giving a treat. This was highly successful! Great job, Mr. Murphy! I was pleased with how well he performed. We reviewed all the commands and also practiced the "heel". Mr. Murphy is making good progress, but we are still reprogramming him, and his puppy brain is trying to get away with what he used to do during the "heel". It will take some consistent, clear communication, and he'll be on board with no issues.
He did throw up in his crate today; maybe he ate a little too fast. He is a food hound. We are doing well with his eating manners and are progressing him toward being patient while eating. However, once he starts eating, he's all in. He might need a slow feeder to help manage some of the digestive issues he has shown me.
Overall, another great day with sweet Mr. Murphy!
Murphy | Golden Retriever | Pupdate 07/02/26
Today, we ventured over to my local Home Depot. The store is less than five minutes away, and Mr. Murphy was already drooling. At least he didn't throw up! We'll keep praying and hoping he gets over it. It might be a medical issue that needs to be addressed later on if he doesn't get better. He jumped out and was fine.
While at Home Depot, we reviewed his sit, down, heel, and introduced under. His "heel" is not as good as I would like. He is still trying to be too far away from me. We'll get a lot of repetitions with this command. He had no issues performing the "under" for a few treats. Our biggest victory today was that he held the "sit", "down," and "under" for over two minutes with very few treats to sustain the command.
Mr. Murphy is working on understanding that there are consequences for his actions. Wanted behavior results in good consequences, and unwanted behavior comes with negative consequences. Those consequences are on a scale. We aren't going to throw a party because he performed a "sit" for a few minutes, but we are happy and give him lots of love and a few treats. Same thing with unwanted behavior: we aren't going to go crazy, but we will use gentle pressure and/or increased stimulation (when we start using the e-collar). We can also simply withhold treats when he does not do things correctly. These all help address unwanted behavior.
We'll introduce the e-collar tomorrow, and try to work on a positive association with the vehicle. We also need to head out to more places, but he was stress-drooling before I even closed the door on the crate when leaving Home Depot. I'm going to attempt to get a positive association so he isn't as stressed, but as stated, he might need medication for long trips to calm him down.
Murphy | Golden Retriever | Pupdate 07/03/26
Today, we took care of a lot of loose ends for Mr. Murphy's training. We introduced the e-collar, the "come-to-sit", and "send-away-to-place". I moved away from the gentle leader and went to the flat collar with a long line to start the off-leash work.
You can see in the video that I started with what he knows. A simple extended sit. While he was in the sit, I put his e-collar on loosely. I then kept giving him treats. I then worked on the extended "sit" while also building my distance from him. He is doing much better at staying and waiting for either a reward or a release.
I then tightened the e-collar to a more snug fit. We worked on more commands. Once I was comfortable that he wasn't paying attention to the e-collar, I used a tennis ball to get him to play. This would distract him while I determined what level of the e-collar he was responsive to. I started at level 0 and worked my way up five levels at a time. At level 15, I observed him stop and scratch at the e-collar. This was the first level that he had a reaction to. I tried 20, but since he moved it from its location, he didn't show any reaction. I adjusted the collar to a more snug fit. With his long hair, it's a little tricky with the tightness, but the more snug, the lower we can keep the levels. After resetting the collar fit, I picked up at 15, and I got another moderate reaction. I worked my way up to see what level was at the upper end of what he could tolerate. I made it to about level 30, and he wasn't overreacting, but that's what got him to stop pawing at the collar and come to me. I stopped the e-collar, took it off him, and gave him more treats. The e-collar is simply a communication tool that replaces the leash. The e-collar helps us communicate with our pup when we don't have a leash. It is meant to be paired with the leash pressure for Mr. Murphy to understand his commands. This is why we want the level to be as low as possible.
We then worked on his "send away to place" and "come to sit". Both of which went really well due to his food motivation. I am using a strategy called shape, prompt, then fade. I am shaping the behavior with the food while prompting him with the word for the command. As time goes on, I will reduce, or fade, out the treats. I was doing this at the end of the video, where I was having him perform a sit, down, sit, down. I was mixing up the treats to make sure he was understanding the command.
Great day today, Mr. Murphy!
I will work on the vehicle issues tomorrow specifically and see how it goes!
Murphy | Golden Retriever | Pupdate 07/04/26
Happy 4th of July! Happy 250th America!
Hope you guys are enjoying your trip!
Today, we started after the vehicle issues! We started the day by having Mr. Murphy stop by my local veterinarian to get him some anti-nausea medication, or rather some motion sickness medication. The vet was less than five minutes from my house, but once again, there was much drool in the car after we arrived. He jumped out and was a happy-go-lucky puppy. I had to leave him there for a few hours, but he didn't have any issues. Fortunately, we were able to acquire the medication we needed. The vet also recommended brushing Mr. Murphy's teeth.
Once I picked Mr. Murphy up, I brought him home and gave him a dose of his medicine. They recommend administering the medicine at least two hours before going on a car ride. I gave him a little snack and let him hang out outside until the medication had kicked in.
I put the e-collar on Mr. Murphy but was not using it since we want a bunch of positive reinforcement for this experience. As you can see, we started by getting Mr. Murphy comfortable going on the vehicle ramp while flat on the ground. I threw treats to him to encourage him. Once he figured out that running on the ramp got him a treat, he was doing great. We moved to my front porch to motivate him to walk up the ramp and then to jump onto my front porch.
Once he was doing well with that, it was time to start having a better association with the vehicle. I carried out the same game we were playing, chasing the food. He figured this out pretty quickly as well. No drooling or any stress. Once he figured out how to go in and out on his own, I started having him lie down in the back of the car for a few moments. Then I would give him a "Break!" command to let him out. We conducted this several times. I then closed the door and opened it quickly to let him out. As that went well, I worked on having him go in the crate. Then I would close the crate and the car door. Then reverse the process and let him out. At the end of the session, I put him in the crate, closed the door, started the car, then turned it off and let him back out. He did whine for a moment when I started the car, but we weren't in there for long at all. Minimal drooling, but there was drooling visible after all these repetitions. This was a good start!
It was a rather warm day today, so I managed his time inside and outside to minimize overheating. He'll be inside when the fireworks start going off; hopefully, he shouldn't have any issues. He is a pretty resilient pup.
Unfortunately, the vet recommends not taking the medication more than two days in a row and then giving a few days off between doses. I'll be managing our trips accordingly to the medication. Tomorrow, I will try to take him on a few drives around the block and then let him out to have a better association. This will be in addition to our regular training and review of his commands. He knows all his commands, but we need to start chaining them together so that he can show his understanding of them.
Murphy | Golden Retriever | Pupdate 07/05/26
Today, Mr. Murphy and I got out of the house! Technically, we left yesterday for the vet but not for training. We headed over to my local park, Mayfair Park in Lakewood, CA. This car drive was about ninety seconds long. We got drool from Mr. Murphy. The good part was that he went into the car willingly on the way there and on the way back. You may be asking, "Scott, why didn't you give him the new medicine for this trip?" Well, we have plans to venture out a little further tomorrow, and since the vet recommended no more than two days in a row, I didn't want to give it to him today and not be able to take him tomorrow. I countered this by making the trip as short as possible while still getting out for some practice in a different setting than my backyard.
Although we are not even at the one-week mark, I was feeling a little behind because we have been stuck at the house. If I have to clean him up every time we go somewhere or, worse, can't do the training because he doesn't feel good, I would have lost a lot of training time. With that being said, I really only feel behind on his "heel". We spent a lot of time working on it with the distraction of my mini-trainer nearby. Mr. Murphy picks up on things quickly! With motivation for performing the task correctly and a gentle nudge of the e-collar when he wasn't. Mr. Murphy was on board. We definitely aren't close to being off-leash due to his distractions with some other novel smells, but we are getting there.
We then worked on his "place", "sit", "down", "heel", "come-to-sit", and "come-to-heel". I did have his e-collar on today while working, but due to holding the leash, treats, and sometimes the remote, I wasn't able to use the e-collar remote as much. Mr. Murphy was receptive to all the commands and is coming along nicely. We also have to work on reinforcing the "under" command, which should help with his "down" coming easier without me having to gently put pressure on his shoulder blades.
I brought home a new board and train today, Ms. Lola. She is friendly with him, and it looks like they will get along well.
Murphy | Golden Retriever | Pupdate 07/06/26
Today, Mr. Murphy and I took the long drive over to Klingerman Park in Rosemead, CA to meet up with our fellow Off Leash trainers and their pups. Ok, so it wasn't exactly the longest drive, maybe thirty minutes. I gave Mr. Murphy his medicine this morning before we were ready to go. The good news is that Mr. Murphy only excessively drooled all over the crate. No throw-up or poop. He was a little gassy when we arrived, but luckily he didn't do anything except drool. Of course, he was all wet, so I cleaned him up before we worked on his commands.
Mr. Murphy is doing well with being treat-motivated. This has been great for the first week of training and building a good relationship with Mr. Murphy. However, if he only works for treats, then that would mean we have to have treats with us at all times. We are transitioning away from giving out so many treats after today. Also, Mr. Murphy can be easily distracted by odors on the ground. Typical puppy brain behavior, but we need him to focus on the tasks at hand.
One of my fellow trainers, Ms. Wendy, took Mr. Murphy around the park as well and reviewed all his commands. He was hesitant to go with her since he knows me and likes me. But being the happy-go-lucky Golden Retriever that he is, he happily went along and was a good student with her as well.
On the way back home, more of the same drooling, except I put a shirt down in the crate to absorb as much as possible, and that seemed to work. He was not as wet, and it wasn't as messy in the crate. I think I'll just bring a towel for the journey to and a second one for the return trip. This should help with the clean up and being able to get to work quickly when we get to the public training areas. I have a local park that I've been wanting to get to since it has everything I need to train him. Now that we have this medicine thing locked in and only have to deal with some drool (hopefully), we can venture to the local spots. Getting him to Santa Monica might be another issue. We'll see how this week goes managing things.
I managed his time inside and outside today due to the heat. He came home from the training and knocked out straight away. The stress of the drive and the mental stimulation from the training are tiring for young Mr. Murphy.
Murphy | Golden Retreiver | Pupdate 07/07/26
Today, I displayed for you Mr. Murphy's door manners and food manners. These are things that we will be constantly working on in the background.
There are two types of door manners. The first method is the most frequently used. That is where Mr. Murphy must sit and wait for us to open the door. The humans always go first; then Mr. Murphy can go with us or after us. He should not be allowed to go through the door before us. The second method involves us putting Mr. Murphy in a "place" and/or sit/down at the door. He must stay there while people go in and out. He can not get up until we allow him to. As you can see, building off his duration in the "place" is paying off in other aspects such as this. I had my mini-trainer act as a distraction, running in and out. Mr. Murphy needed to use his impulse control and stay in his "place". He did a good job of this!
I then displayed for you his food manners. Which he can do for short periods. He was trying to cheat based on my hand movements. This is why I had to keep resetting him initially. He finally understood the assignment and was eyes fixated on me, waiting for the "Break" command. He ignored my mini-trainer and would not break until I gave him the command.
For today's training, we used no treats and instead relied heavily on the e-collar stimulation. We varied between level 15 and 30 due to Mr. Murphy's impulse control. At times, he wants to pull and do what he wants. At times, he breaks when he isn't supposed to, even though I asked several times. He doesn't give an adverse reaction anywhere in these ranges. It's more to get his attention. We have to be more distracting than the distraction. The main distraction is Mr. Murphy's puppy brain saying to do one thing while his mature brain is trying to do what we are asking. They are competing. With the increased stimulation levels, we are able to disrupt puppy brain, and mature brain says, "C'mon Murphy! We can do this!" and then he listens attentively.
We put out a kiddie pool with water in it for the pups to splash around in when they were outside today. Once again, I managed his time inside and outside for the heat.
Murphy | Golden Retriever | Pupdate 07/08/26
Today, Mr. Murphy and I headed over to Liberty Park in Cerritos, CA. I did administer his medicine earlier in the day before taking him to the park. Once again, we only experienced excessive drooling and no other issues. I did put a towel in, but that was not enough. On the way home, I made sure to lay a few layers of paper towels down, and that seemed to have solved the problem.
Overall, Mr. Murphy is coming along at a good pace. As you can see, I conducted almost all of the training with the leash dragging. He is still fighting his puppy brain when it comes to duration. I was trying to do duration and distance, but the distance was causing him to pop up too many times. I decided to stay a little closer and focus on the duration. The distance will come when he understands to stay in place for a longer duration.
The only task that we need to work on more is his "under" command. I think we should be pushing for off-leash by this weekend if we can keep taking trips. I think the towels under him should keep him somewhat cleaner and drier for our trips. I'm happy to be getting him out of the house and out and about.
Murphy | Golden Retriever | Pupdate 07/09/26
Today, I took Mr. Murphy on a brief ride over to my local Petco to pick up some more treats. Mr. Murphy will do just about anything for a piece of food! This makes him extremely trainable. As I mentioned, we also need consequences for unwanted behavior. Mr. Murphy is learning to manage his unwanted behaviors and give us a lot of wanted behaviors. He has learned quite a few new skills in this short time. We did not give any medicine for this short drive. I did put some puppy pads down in the crate, which significantly improved the clean up. I put a towel in the car, and we only needed to wipe his face and his front paws. Although, as you can see in one of the pictures from today, he continued to drool for a few more minutes when we got inside, but after about five minutes of being in the store, he was fine.
Overall, Mr. Murphy performed all his tasks very well. He was investigatory of the various smells in Petco but was easily redirected to his tasks. He held his "sit" and "down" for several minutes. We practiced his "come-to-sit" next to the birds. This could be a distraction for some pups, but Mr. Murphy performed these with no issues. Mr. Murphy got to meet a stranger and practice his greeting manners.
I think the only things we really need to zero in on are more leash-dragging heels; we need to get out to more local parks with distractions to practice more "heel". I also want to practice the "under" and "send-away-to-place". This will lead us to pushing him off leash this weekend as we get closer to him coming home.
To get a clearer understanding of Mr. Murphy's motion sickness issues, I decided to weigh Mr. Murphy before and after our trip. Mr. Murphy lost close to 1% in less than ten minutes on the road. This is why we have been limiting the length and duration of our trips. With that being said, I went ahead and ordered a harness and seat belt clip for Mr. Murphy. I am going to have my wife drive me while I sit in the back and give him snacks and try to keep him occupied while we drive around the block. Although there is a likelihood that the motion sickness is coming from his inner ear not being fully developed, the associated behaviors and conditioned response (excessive drooling) can persist beyond his inner ear's development. This means that he may not actually be sick once his inner ear develops, but since he continues to have this reaction to being in a car, it will become a conditioned physiological response every time he gets in the car. This is what I'm trying to interrupt and figure out a solution so that it does not persist. I'll let you know how it goes! We are trying to help out Mr. Murphy so he can enjoy the world with you on your family adventures!
I am enjoying having Mr. Murphy around and how playful he is. He is having fun hanging out with the other pups.
Murphy | Golden Retriever | Pupdate 07/10/26
Today, we tried to work on Mr. Murphy's car sickness (video one), and that went ok. I used the new harness and his seatbelt clip while giving him treats. I rolled all the windows down, AC on max, and slowly drove around the block. Mr. Murphy did start drooling immediately upon entering the vehicle. I then wiped his mouth off. It took about ten to twenty seconds before he would eat a treat due to the drooling. When we started moving, I just chained him treats while we drove around. He did ok with his drooling. When we got back, I practiced having him jump in and out for treats without drooling. I then put him in a for a thirty-second drive, and he started drooling again. We came back home. I then loaded him into the crate with clean puppy pads, and we headed out.
We then went over to Rynerson Park in Lakewood, CA. This was a five-minute drive away. He did ok with this drive. I think the pee pads absorbed most of the drool. With the pads absorbing the saliva, it's hard to tell how much he is actually drooling. Once we got there, he was fine to jump out and start working on his commands. As you can see, we got to review all of his commands. We did them with the leash dragging and then with no leash! We are getting there to being fully off-leash! Great progress!
Lastly, we headed over to a picnic table to practice his "under" command. He did well with this as well since I used some treats to motivate him to perform the task. I didn't use any leash pressure. This was all voluntary behavior solely based on his motivation for a treat.
I feel much better about where we are after today. I was feeling a little behind due to the motion sickness, but based on the way he performed today at the park, I am much happier with where we are. As I said, Mr. Murphy is smart and eager to please. Once we added in some consequences for unwanted behavior, we have established a clear path forward for increasing wanted behavior.
Murphy | Golden Retriever | Pupdate 07/11/26
Mr. Murphy and I headed over to Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos, CA. I wanted to practice all of his commands in a busier environment. I did administer his medicine to see if that would help. That did not help. He was a drool monster when we got to the mall. As I've stated previously, once we got to work, it resolved itself.
We reviewed every one of his commands today except for one, "send away to place". I needed some treats to throw on the place bench, but alas, I left those behind. We'll be focusing on that task this week. We practiced extended "place", extended "down", extended "sit", "come-to-sit", and "come-to-heel." We also practiced his "heel" throughout the footprint of the mall. There were a few other pups in the mall, and Mr. Murphy ignored all of them.
This was a good training day for Mr. Murphy and me. We are doing a lot better, more consistently.
Murphy | Golden Retriever | Pupdate 07/12/26
Today, Mr. Murphy and I loaded up and headed over to Liberty Park in Cerritos, CA. Kids were playing on the playground, pickleball matches, a few exercisers, and the remnants of a few parties. My main focus was to work on the "send away to place". I placed treats on the bench to get him to go to the bench on his own. However! Mr. Murphy was like, I can just put my head on here and grab the food. He won the battle. I then placed the treats on the far edge of the bench on the raised section so Mr. Murphy had to actually get on top of the bench. Once we both figured out this system, I practiced this several times. I used the food to bring him back to me with the "come-to-sit". We practiced the "come-to-heel" in between as well. I then put food on all three benches to make sure he wasn't overgeneralizing on the first bench. He did it on all three! As you can see, I also had the leash dragging the entire time except for the two seconds I assisted Mr. Murphy up onto the bench when he tricked me by eating the food without jumping up on the bench.
I did not give him any medicine for this ride. I had the pee pads down to absorb any drool. I gave him a bunch of treats to try to keep him distracted, but that only worked for a few moments because he gobbled them up. He went straight to his obedience despite the slight car sickness and short ride. A simple wipe of the drool from his mouth and paws, and we were back to normal operations.
Murphy | Golden Retriever | Pupdate 07/13/26
Mr. Murphy and I headed over to Klingermann Park in Rosemead, CA, to meet up with our fellow off-leash trainers and their pups. I decided to roll the dice and see how Mr. Murphy would perform in the vehicle without his medicine. It really is a physiological response that the medicine could help with; however, even when I have administered the medication, he seems to give the same response. I figured, why keep giving him medicine if the result is the same? He did exactly as I had predicted. He had his usual amount of drool, but the pee pads are absorbing everything. Just a quick wipe of his face and paws, and he's ready to go. I would recommend the same for you: probably a towel or doggy blanket that can absorb everything if you are going to take him somewhere. The pee pads are fine but wasteful. A towel or blanket will do the trick and is reusable.
As for today's training, we were 100% off-leash all day today. I had Ms. Lola out with us as well. I didn't want to leave Mr. Murphy relaxing in the car since he already endured a nice long drive, about twenty minutes, over to the park. I let him explore and do his thing at first. I was able to recall him using only the e-collar and some encouragement. We want to give them a reason to come to us; therefore, we ask them to "come" as nicely as possible. When he deviates, we go up on the e-collar and then use more encouragement. As you can see, we practiced his "place" and "under" command around the other pups. He even performed the "place", "sit", and "down" with Ms. Lola next to him! I also practiced his off-leash "heel", "come-to-heel", and "come-to-sit". We are in the repetitions stage of his training, where from here on out, it's chaining all the commands together back-to-back in diverse environments.
I think this is what you guys were asking for. Mr. Murphy does have puppy brain, so he will get up every once in a while. This lack of impulse control will mellow out with time. Furthermore, the more places you take him and set expectations for him, the more he will understand. Don't be afraid to bring little treats, or you can buy a small bag of kibble to use as his treat. I throw some in a Ziploc bag and use that for a reward when pups like Mr. Murphy will eat just about anything. You can use this when taking him to new places and teaching him what you want. But overall, he can handle going to a new place and being asked to "down" and simply relax there. You will have to reset him a few times. Think of it as a three- or four-year-old excited to check out the world. We wouldn't take our kids to the aquarium and have them sit in a stroller the whole time. We would allow them to take in the environment while putting up boundaries.
Murphy | Golden Retriever | Pupdate 07/14/26
Today was a scorcher! Whew! I kept things at the house today and kept Mr. Murphy inside with the AC for most of the day. My camera even overheated within a few minutes during our training session. I had to come back inside and let it cool off to finish.
My goal today was to reinforce all of his commands fully off-leash. Due to the heat, we kept it pretty short and simple. Luckily, Mr. Murphy has most of his commands dialed in. Have you seen a grown man ride a scooter? Well, today, Mr. Murphy got to witness my skills. I used it as a distraction while he was in the "place" and "down". Also, when he was in the "sit". Once again, I am trying to focus on the skills Mr. Murphy can demonstrate when you take him out and about. Due to the heat, we got in and out. I reset him as needed when I used the distractions such as the scooter, basketball, and soccer ball. He was able to be reset and understood the expectation.
I gave him a nice puppy ice cream afterwards to reward him and to help him cool down.
Murphy | Golden Retriever | Pupdate 07/15/26
Today, Mr. Murphy and I headed over to my local Home Depot. It was another scorcher today, and I wanted to stick somewhere cool and indoors. Mr. Murphy performed well with all his commands. We couldn't be fully off-leash in Home Depot out of respect for all the customers and the store, but Mr. Murphy still performed all his commands with a nice loose leash. The only thing that startled him was the loud noise of the saw near the lumber area. We did find some fans of Mr. Murphy while we were there. Other than that, it was a great day for Mr. Murphy!
Tomorrow, look to see him perform his door manners, food manners, and car manners.
Murphy | Golden Retriever | Pupdate 07/16/26
Today, we reviewed Mr. Murphy's manners around the house.
We reviewed his food manners. This is a simple exercise of him performing a "sit." We place his food down and have him wait. We then say "Break!" and let him have his food.
We also reviewed his door manners. It still needed some work with him being a little excited to follow me outside. I had to reset him a few times but then he was onboard. You can expect to see this from him occasionally as he learns to regulate his impulse control and puppy behavior. He wasn't going anywhere but he didn't follow his directions properly. A simple reset helped him get back on board.
We also reviewed his car manners. Even though he gets car sick, starts drooling before getting in the car, he is still willing to jump in the car for the chance at a snack. This is about as good as we're going to get with him.
Murphy | Golden Retriever | Pupdate 07/17/26
Today, Mr. Murphy and I headed over to Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos, CA to perform a comprehensive review of all his commands fully off-leash in a busy mall environment. Mr. Murphy nailed everything. We've had our hurdles to overcome with the puppy instincts and the car sickness, but we've come a long way from where we started. I think you guys are going to be really happy with Mr. Murphy and the future with him. As long as you're willing to address his drooling when you go somewhere, he should be able to handle just about any environment. Let him know what your expectations are, and he's eager to please for a chest rub or treat.
Mr. Murphy had no issues with a stranger saying "hi" and letting them say hi. They thought he was a Great Pyrenees, but Mr. Murphy is only half the size of one!
As a reminder, when it comes to having your pup off-leash, ensure to follow all rules, regulations, signs, ordinances, and laws. Even then, not everyone is comfortable around dogs, and it's wise to just leash up in those situations to avoid any issues.
Good job today, Mr. Murphy!
Murphy | Golden Retreiver | Pupdate 07/18/26
Today, Mr. Murphy and I headed over to Heartwell Park in Long Beach, CA. I went there because it is dog-friendly and I wanted to see how Mr. Murphy would perform at a busier park. Mr. Murphy showed no adversity. He actually tried to wander off a few times, but some well-timed stimulations and recalling him worked. I set up next to a football practice near a baseball field with a game in progress. Then, a horde of Pokémon Go! players came by. There were a lot of people! Mr. Murphy decided to go hunt for Pokémon with a few of them, but I was able to recall him and put him on the cot. He was doing so well that someone stopped to ask about the dog training.
I tried having him wait while I worked with Ms. Lola and vice versa. Mr. Murphy did get up a few times when I called Ms. Lola, but he was able to be reset. I tried to walk in a "heel" with both of them, but that didn't work. I wanted to push Mr. Murphy and see what he could or couldn't do. It's fun and challenging for the pups to mix it up. Overall, Mr. Murphy just requires consistency and a willingness to move up on the e-collar as needed to redirect him.
Attached are the pictures of the e-collar I have been using with Mr. Murphy.
As a reminder, here are the obedience commands that he has learned while with me:
Sit/Extended Sit: Press the black "S" button + say "Sit".
Down/Extended Down: Press the black "S" button + say "Down".
Place/Extended Place: Press the black "S" button + say "Place".
Come-To-Sit: Press the black "S" button + say "Come" + use your hands to guide him into place and say "sit" when they are on your left side.
Heel: Press the black "S" button + say "Heel".
Food Manners/Refusal: The pup must patiently wait in either a "sit" or "down" while you prepare the food and then say "break," allowing the pup to access the food.
Car Manners: Press the black "S" button + say "Load up!"
Greeting Manners: Have the pup "sit," then allow the new person to say hi
Door Manners: Place the pup in a "sit", open the door, and then allow the pup to go through with you, or say "ok" and let the pup inside
"Off" + black button "S" to stop the pup from performing unwanted behavior. Always press the black "S" when using this command.
"Break!" - no stimulation, and the pup can freely sniff or go potty.
We will be reviewing how to perform all this tomorrow during the turnover! We can't wait to show you how much he has learned and how great a pup he will be in the future! We will also review send away to "place", come to "heel," and "under."
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