Meet Neo! He's a thirty five month old Miniature Schnauzer from Glendale, California here for our Two-Week Board and Train Program! He's a sweetheart once you get to know him, however he loves to bark and growl at people and other dogs. He has issues following his basic commands, and pulls all over the place on his leash. He also tries to jump on guests and furniture. Over the next fourteen days, we're going to work on Neo's basic obedience skills, practice his manners in and out of the house, teach him how to properly greet people and other dogs, and show him how to be the best pup he can possibly be! Stay tuned for Neo's two week transformation!
Pupdate: 6/4/2024
After picking up Neo, we hung out at the park for a few minutes to get to know each other! He's very sweet and was friendly to me immediately. He is definitely a huge leash puller, and sometimes wanted to pull back and not walk forward with me. He growled at a passing bicycle.
Once we got home, I let Neo sniff around my house to start getting him comfortable. So far, he's been very pleasant and has not barked at anyone!
I'm also posting a picture and video going over the E collar we will be using with Neo! Today, I put it on him for a few minutes to get him used to it, but we will start using it tomorrow!
Pupdate: 6/5/2024
Neo and I went to Almansor Park today for his first full day of training! He seems to be responding well to his E collar, and he did a great job working on his Heel and Come To Sit commands! For Come To Sit, I want Neo to come to my right side, walk around my legs and sit at my left side with his ears in line with my leg. From here, I want to start walking and ask Neo to Heel with me. For Heel, I want Neo to walk politely at my left side, without pulling forward, veering off to the side, or pulling backward. He is starting to do really well with his Come To Sit command! He's doing a good job with his Heel as well, although he starts pulling whenever he gets distracted.
Pupdate: 6/6/2024
Neo and I went to the park this morning for training! He's doing a great job with his heel! He's starting to not pull nearly as much as he has.
It was pretty warm today in the afternoon, so we took that time to work in and around my home. While walking by a neighbor's dog, he got distracted and almost started pulling and barking, but using his Off command as well as his E collar, he stayed next to me and we continued moving without issue. This Off command is our basic, "Do not do" command, which we can use any time Neo give us an unwanted behavior such as barking, growling, jumping and more!
Pupdate: 6/7/2024
Neo and I went to Garfield Park today for training! He took a few minutes to get warmed up, but he quickly started doing a great job with the commands we've been working on. We also started working on his Place command! For Place, I want Neo to hop onto an object such as a bench or a cot and remain there until I either release him from command or ask him to do something else. He's done a great job with this command at home, but he was a little nervous performing it outside at first.
Place is a great command to work on confidence building, and it is also extremely valuable inside your home! Having a place object somewhere in your house can be useful to give Neo a spot to stay while you're cooking, cleaning, or even when you're expecting guests and don't want him running up to them!
Pupdate: 6/8/2024
Neo and I went to the park for training today! The only times I've seen him growl or bark at something or someone, have been when they approach quickly, so we tried to stick close to paths where Neo is exposed to joggers, bikers, and other quick moving distractions. For the most part, he did a great job ignoring distractions and paying attention to me, although there were a few times when he got a little bit startled.
It wasn't as hot around here today, but we still spent a lot of the afternoon inside before going out again later in the evening!
Pupdate: 6/9/2024
Neo and I went to Home Depot today for training! He was a little nervous at first, but he ended up doing a great job!
We started working on his commands with his leash dragging. Allowing the leash to drag gives me some idea of how she might perform off leash while still having access to the leash should I need it. There were plenty of times that I needed to pick up the leash to help guide him to the correct positions, but he made a lot of progress! His main issue was hesitating to walk forward with me if there was something ahead of us. When we were in the more open areas with fewer objects and walls, he did a much better job.
I also switched his E collar to a smaller "micro" collar, because the normal sized one was a little bit big and heavy on his neck. This one operates the exact same way as the other one, it's just smaller.
Pupdate: 6/10/2024
Neo and I went back to Home Depot today for training! We continued working on his commands with his leash dragging, and he also got a lot of time walking around with another dog! He was slightly put off by the other dog walking right next to him, and he seemed more interested in her than performing his commands at first, but he quickly adapted. He ended up doing well and I believe it even helped with his habit of creating too much distance between him and me while heeling.
After the store, we went home and Neo got to relax and work on some indoor manners for a bit before going to the park in the evening!
Pupdate: 6/11/2024
Neo and I went to Santa Anita Mall today for training! This was a pretty busy place for him, but he did a great job all day! We met plenty of people who wanted to say hi and pet him, and he did well while meeting everyone.
We mostly worked with his leash dragging, and he did a really good job, although he needed some help hopping on benches that were a little high. He can definitely do it himself, and did so a few times, but he just needs a little more confidence building to be able to do it consistently. He was also a little nervous when asked to lay down, but he eventually did well with that too!
Pupdate: 6/12/2024
Neo and I went to Almansor Park today for training! It was hot all day so we went back and forth between the park and home to take plenty of breaks throughout the day.
Neo was allowed off leash for several minutes at a time throughout the day, and he did quite well each time. He was well behaved, although he still needs a bit of work following through with each command every time, as well as holding his positions for longer periods of time. While on leash, he performed everything very well, he just needs a little more work on transitioning off leash.
Pupdate: 6/13/2024
Neo and I went to the Santa Monica Promenade today for training! This was tough for him but he made it through! He was pretty nervous for some of the time and wanted to explore and sniff all the plants, but once he got going, he did a really good job!
He said hi to a few people to practice his greeting manners. It seems like he's much more likely to get up and try to cuddle the women that pet him rather than the men. For the girl in the above video, he got up from his sit position a couple times before staying seated to receive his attention. He still did a great job for such a high level area!
Pupdate: 6/14/2024
Neo and I went to Almansor Park several times throughout the day today! Neo has been doing an amazing job improving his manners on and off leash, but he still needs work on staying focused when he wants to smell the grass and other plants. We mostly worked on his engagement today by heeling, placing, and playing around to make it as fun as possible for him. Ideally, I'd like him to prefer me to any smell or distraction and a great way to that is to show him that practicing his commands can be fun!
For his pictures today, I'm showing some cute pictures of him from yesterday in Santa Monica!
It was hot today so we spread out our work and took breaks inside during the hottest parts of the day.
Pupdate: 6/15/2024
Neo and I went to Home Depot today to get some extra work in without being in the sun for too long! He was off leash for about half the time and performed wonderfully. For his video today, I wanted to show one of the manners we've been working on.
For his food manners and food refusal, I want Neo to resist the urge to eat food placed in front of him. Building this impulse control can be a great safety measure to prevent him from eating something dropped accidentally! He's been really good at waiting for his own food, so to increase the difficulty a bit, I've started putting some tasty human food in front of him to really test his impulse control. He's been getting really good at this too!
Pupdate: 6/16/2024
Neo and I spent the day at home and at the park today! He spent a lot of time around my dog and did a really good job staying focused on his manners and commands despite the large distraction nearby. While walking around the neighborhood, one of my neighbors was biking, so I asked them to ride by several times as a distraction for Neo. He's previously growled and barked at bikes, so getting some extra exposure always helps. He did well to walk by without getting too alarmed by the bike, and stayed focused on heeling next to me.
Once the sun started going down, we went to the park for more activity! There were several gatherings celebrating father's day (happy father's day by the way!) So there were plenty of distractions to work around!
6/17/2024
Neo and I went to Almansor Park in the morning and evening for his last full day of training! His video today shows his door manners and his crate manners. For his door manners, I want Neo to wait patiently when the door opens without trying to rush through before me. I want him to only go through once I'm ready. This can be a great safety measure so that he doesn't try to bolt out or sneak away if someone accidentally leaves the door open! It also helps with his overall impulse control!
For crate manners, I simply want Neo to walk into his crate when asked. We can practice this command in the same way we practice his Place command. Neo hasn't had much trouble with this, since he loves his crate and feels nice and secure inside it.
Neo is a sweetheart and he's been a pleasure to have! I will miss him when he goes home tomorrow!
Comments