Meet Nash, a 10-month-old Pomapoo (Pomeranian/Poodle Mix) from Valley Village, CA who has joined us for our 1-Week Board and Train Program. Nash is still a young pup who needs basic obedience. He likes to bark while in the house and at other dogs while outside, he likes to jump up on his owners and nip at their hands and clothes. Nash can also be food aggresive and likes to pick at things on the ground. He will learn basic obedience while with us. Nash is a sweet pup who needs structure and obedience. Stay tuned for his 1-Week transformation!
Pupdate 11/20/2022
Today Nash and I got to know each other. Nash was introduced to my tribe and everyone loves Nash! Nash got to meet Toji our German Shorthaired Pointer. Nash was also introduced to the e-collar. He seems responsive to it and should do well this week!
Nash is intelligent and is willing to listen. He does bark a lot and will need a lot of consistency to address the barking. We will start working on "come", "come to sit" as well as establishing the house rules and boundaries for Nash.
Pupdate 11/21/2022
Today Nash and I went to Bill Barber Memorial Park in Irvine, CA. United States Marine Colonel Bill Barber received a Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in WWII. This was a great experience for Nash. We introduced "come to sit", worked on "sit" , "place" and "heel".
Nash is receptive to the ecollar. It will be important to ensure that it is on properly. I switched out to the longer prongs to get better contact with Nash's skin because the levels were going higher than I would like. With that being said, Nash is stubborn. I know he can leap up onto benches but he refuses to do it when asked. He refused to drink water and eat out of protest. He did do both when in his crate when it was nice and quiet and he was more comfortable.
Nash does bark at other dogs and when different people come into the house. We are working on the "off" and he is understanding more and more. I was able to really work on the barking while at Bill Barber Park. If he barks, he gets a stimulation. Then we walk by the dog over and over again until he performs an obedient heel and ignores the other dogs.
Nash is intelligent and I look forward to his progress. Tomorrow and until you receive him back, we will be constantly reinforcing all the commands.
Pupdate 11/22/2022
Today Nash and I headed over to Rhynerson Park in Lakewood, CA. This is a great park as it offers lots of green grass and open spaces for practicing all his commands. There are plenty of benches and even gym apparatus for Nash to practice his "Place". The best part is that plenty of people and their pups love this park too so there are plenty of distractions that Nash had to work through. Nash is super smart and is catching on well!
As you can see in today's video, Nash is still grasping the full concept of the "come to sit". He understands that he needs to come to me, and then he will make it behind me and sit. We want Nash to make it over to my left side after going around me. We simply move him over or take a step forward or backward to readjust his position. We want him to wind up in the correct position, not us moving him into position.
Next in the video, you can see us working on "heel" and "sit". Nash should "sit" every time I stop, whether it's 1 step or 100 steps, when I stop, he stops. He grasped this concept pretty well and before we left the park he would do the "sit" on his own without stimulation about 75% of the time. I would give him a little upwards pressure if he took too long and that would be enough to get him to "sit".
Next, we worked on "place". We started off low and have worked up to where we were today. Nash can be quite stubborn as I'll cover shortly. However, he can be convinced to do the tasks with enough stimulation. Sometimes Nash faces away from me or the task in rebellion or as we call it "avoidance". He thinks that if he doesn't look at the bench, then there's no way he's going to have to "place". He did really amazing with "place" today and I was so proud of him. By the end of our session, he was going up with one lower stimulation and sitting on his own.
Then we worked on the "down". Nash is one stubborn little guy. However, once we got a good position, Nash was more willing to do the task but he still won't do it without leash pressure. Once again, the more we did it, the more willing he was to do the task.
Last note for today, Nash is very stubborn. I switched out the contact point on the e-collar to the longer contact points to get better contact with his skin. This works well but Nash is still a pup and will push back. When he does this we increase the levels incrementally BUT once he does the task, I lower it back down and I can usually leave it at the lower level once the "battle" is over. He did not bark at a single dog at the park today. He is more concerned with carrying out the task at hand than what is going on around him. He will bark at the house for going to take a break and for other things. He will respond to stimulation and an "off" to stop the unwanted behavior. I am proud of his progress! We will continue on his 1-Week journey!
Pupdate 11/23/2022
Today Nash and I worked on his house manners in preparation for a busy day at the house tomorrow. As part of Nash's training today, he placed on his cot in the down while I ate lunch. Good job Nash! As you can see in today's video, Nash can do the task of sitting patiently. While coming in and out of the house, I rang the doorbell, my home alarm system announces when the "Front Door" is open so this is kind of a cue or sign that someone is coming in or going and usually gets Nash's attention. He sat quietly and patiently in the "down" while going through these exercises. Nash does not like the down very much but he is still willing to do it. I moved around the wet mop without it on and he showed no adversity to the machine. Will test with it on to make sure he is still calm around appliances like the vacuum.
We also went on a walk around my neighborhood while practicing his "heel", "sit" and "come to sit". I even tried to get him to do "down" on the sidewalk. The sidewalk "down" was a little bit of a battle because there was a dog within earshot barking away. He did the task but was resistant. Nash was a little skittish when we went past a bigger dog that could see him and was barking at him. I had him focus on the "heel" and increased the stimulation until the stimulation was more meaningful than the fear of the dog barking. After about three passes, Nash was back to his happy "heel". Also, we worked on his "extended sit". Nash understands "sit" as a standalone command but not as a command in the middle of doing the "heel". We will continue to work on his extended "down" and "place". His "off" is coming along nicely.
A note on the e-collar: Nash can be receptive to lower stimulation when first starting; however, as training carries on, he gets frustrated and starts to resist. He can tolerate higher levels of stimulation but it seems if I go too far up it's more because he doesn't understand or is confused. I usually will use leash pressure to guide him into the command more than the stimulation so that he doesn't associate the commands with higher levels of stimulation. He has shown that he will vocalize resistance at low and high levels when he is confused. When he is being stubborn he will not vocalize even though stimulation is being increased.
Lastly, Nash will eat all his food when he is hungry. He has consumed the meatballs every day and is going to the restroom regularly. Most pups' appetite is thrown off when they switch environments. I think he is doing fine with his diet. He is not displaying any signs of trying to eat food off the floor when he goes out for breaks and believe me, with a three-year-old running around, there are plenty of chances for him to find something.
Pupdate 11/24/2022
Happy Thanksgiving Nash! Today Nash is showing how good of a pup he is while people come and go for Thanksgiving at our humble abode. Nash has grown to be such a good boy and works so hard to do the right things!
Last night we went to Discovery Park and Downey Promenade in Downey, CA. We had a great time watching softball practice and walking by the movie theater and various restaurants. There were plenty of different noises and sounds for Nash to respond to but he was so good at paying attention to the task. Great job Nash! While there we practiced all his commands. Nash has come a long way and is much more compliant when asked to do a task. He can and will do almost every task the first time. His place is amazing. As you can see in the picture, we stopped at Lazy Dog and he went up on that big bench all by himself and placed. We even practiced the "heel" with the leash dragging behind him. He did it for a little bit but then was confused about what to do when he fell behind a little bit. It's ok. He's doing great. As you can also see in the pictures, he is doing all the tasks without me having to hold the leash the entire time. He can do the extended sit and down without me holding the leash.
Today, we went for a practice walk around the neighborhood after reviewing his commands. I had my 7-year-old and 3-year-old walk him in the "heel". He did great! With both of the little ones, he had no problem staying in the "heel" and ignoring any distractions such as dogs barking. He did want to chase after one of the kids when they ran ahead but we worked on that and eventually Nash didn't pay it any mind. My favorite part about today was that Nash was receptive to low-level stimulation throughout.
Also, we will continue to work on his house manners. He will spend Thanksgiving being around the family and being a good boy.
Pupdate 11/25/2022
Nash was amazing during Thanksgiving! Nash didn't bark even once during the guests coming and going. We brought Nash out to meet everyone and he was a well-behaved pup! He loved all the attention and being around everyone. Great job Nash!
Today we worked on his door manners and reviewed all his commands in preparation for his final video to show all the hard work that Nash has put in this week! He still can be a little stubborn. Today he was vocalizing for certain tasks at low numbers but when the stimulation was high enough, he executed the task perfectly! It is important to stay consistent with Nash. His vocalization with the stimulation is not pain related as he does the vocalization at very low numbers. It is only when he wants to do what HE wants. Remember, he is to follow the rules, and when we ask him to do something he must do it before going on to the next thing. Telling him "sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit" and him not doing it is not going to be productive. He gets a command i.e. "sit" and one stimulation at a low level, he doesn't do it, we turn up the stimulation and say the command again. We repeat this process until Nash does the task. With more time, the stimulation will stay low and he will learn that he has to do the task. As long as he has gone potty, has had enough food/water and the collar is not on too tight, he is perfectly capable of doing all the tasks. The higher the stimulation with Nash, the faster and more accurately he does the task. Over time, these numbers will stay down, but since he is still a puppy and used to roaming the house on his terms, he will try to test you and revert back to his own ways. Stay consistent and persistent in your structure and he will continue to be a great, well-behaved pup. Remember, he is still a dog and should be allowed to be one!
Pupdate 11/26/22
Today Nash and I went to the Cerritos Mall in Cerritos, CA to review all his commands amidst a crazy shopping weekend. Nash did amazing! He was unphased by the people, the other dogs, the kids, and the noises! He was very attentive and responsive to all commands. Way to go Nash!
We did practice before we went to the mall today which I think is really helpful for Nash. A quick review of all commands before heading out to public places isn't a bad thing. During the review, Nash was a little resistant to some of the commands but we worked out the kinks and he was ready to go! I gave him a few minutes to relax before heading out to the mall. The review paid off as you can see in the video, Nash was calm and enjoyable to have with me. He required the bare minimum stimulation to keep him on track and never vocalized any frustrations.
Nash is a new pup and we can't wait to show you all he has learned during his 1 Week Board and Train!
