Meet Oakley! She is a 1 year old Pitbull mix and she has joined us for our 3 Week Board & Train program to improve certain behaviors and learning a better understanding when socializing. Oakely comes to us with issues such as jumping, pulling on leash, and lack of control when being asked for her obedience. Oakley is very sweet but she is very young so everything she does stems from her puppy personality. Over the next several weeks I'm going to help Oakley learn a better structure when practicing her obedience in different location and environments. Check out her progress with me as her trainer!
Pupdate 10/8/2023
Today I met Oakley who was very energetic after meeting her. She has a typical puppy personality from everything I've noticed about her so far. She was sweet to me but just jumping over excitement. Once we were ready we headed back to a park near my house to start building our relationship with each other.
Once we arrived at the park near my house I let Oakley out to potty but she was adamant about pulling and going in her own direction. I had her burn some energy out by running in circles around me which she did for a bit. I asked her for some of her commands such as sit and down and she was able to do them but got up right away from being overly excited. I continued to let Oakley roam around on a long leash giving her the ability to desensitize herself and be herself. I started to walk towards the pavement rather than grass to try to keep her more engaged with me. Once we were on the pavement I started to practice Oakley's heel obedience command with leash pressure. Each time she passed me I would walk in the complete opposite direction from her to have her follow me rather than me following her. This was very consistent until she started to check up with me more and slow down. Once she seemed more aware of me and what I was asking I took her home to settle in.
Oakley did well meeting my family members from a distance without being so overly excited. She met my personal dog through his crate and both remained calm while Oakley started to smell my room. After a quick tour of the house I tried to ask Oakley to go into her crate but she didn't want to. It took me about 5 minutes to get Oakley into her crate and once she walked in I asked her to come out right away for her reward which was being petted. The second time asking her to go in she took 30 seconds and went in with ease. Oakley had some moments of crying in the crate but stopped and eventually went to sleep. So far she seems to be ok with me but has a bad habit of pulling so we are gonna focus on improving that and every other threshold Oakley has. Continue to follow up on Oakley's daily progress!
Pupdate 10/9/2023
Last night I introduced the e-collar to Oakley and she's been responding to the e-collar very well. Once I woke up early in the morning I took her for a walk and before going onto grass she went potty near the side of my house. As we made our way around the neighborhood she tried to pull but each time she did I used the e-collar and asked her to heel at the same time. This was very effective but as we passed grass she had every intention to just put her head down and go onto the grass. Even for things like this Oakley needs to be held accountable for little things like this. By our halfway point in our walk Oakley was doing very well keeping a consistent pace.
I took Oakley to Belvedere park in Los Angeles to meet up with some of the other trainers with their dogs. When we first arrived Oakley was very energetic to be here so I gave her some time to roam around and be herself. Once one of my associates arrived with her dog Oakley reacts very quickly just from sight. I started to educate her on her off obedience command or leave it as some people use that as well. Each time she would growl or cry looking at Figgy the doodle I would practice various obedience commands to see which helped her settle. I noticed that the off and place worked well together so I put her in a practice which was gonna help settle herself looking at a dog.
In the video above we are focusing on place but being creative with various movements to allow Oakley to look at Figgy, but as well as keeping herself engaged with me. I would heel Oakley back and forth giving her enough time to look at Figgy and once I asked for her heel I wanted Oakley to willingly come to me without my assistance. She did fairly well with this and as we went back to our place pad Oakley wanted to get off at times. These moments are the best to redirect her and have her follow through with place to build her confidence. Another moment to notice is Oakley goes into a down when I ask for a sit, even though she's doing a command it's not something I asked for so this has to be redirected in general. Once she gets back into her sit I wait for a short moment before breaking her. I did this intentionally next to Figgy to see who Oakley would go to but she came to me. Oakley did well and showed calmness after spending a lot of time here today but we need to focus more on her impulses as the days go by!
Pupdate 10/10/2023
Last night Oakley had an accident in her crate going poop. It was easily cleanable nor did Oakley make a mess of herself. After cleaning I took Oakley for a walk to see if she still needed to go potty which she somewhat did.
Once I woke I took my dog for his walk before returning home to play with Oakley. I let Oakley spend some time in the backyard getting some energy out before we started to train. While playing I noticed she enjoyed biting one of my tug of war toys so I spent about 15 minutes letting her bite it. Once playtime was over we went for another walk around the neighborhood for an extra potty break seeing how Oakley's walking is. I was surprised that Oakley was a lot closer to me in the beginning rather than trying to intentionally lead. We made our way back home to work on door manners. Since her first day over we have already been practicing this so in the video above is her progress so far understanding when the door opens she doesn't have to get up. There are moments she gets up from the pad but when I actually leave her sight she's keeping her position. Each time I'm able to make my way into the backyard to close the door I break her for her reward. Oakley is doing well when having to wait but when I start to create distance she gets a little impatient which can improve over the next several days.
We continue the rest of the day with more obedience training at home and spending time inside my room to see how she is. Oakley can be independent at times but if I ask her to place on the place pad I have she will end up relaxing and resting on it.
Pupdate 10/11/2023
This morning I was able to take Oakley and Hunter on a walk together. They had a few moments of smelling each other but most of the walk I had them both keep a pace with me rather than them trying to play and greet each other. Asking them for a sit when we came to a street corner came with ease.
I took Oakley to a park in Downey, CA for some exercise and to work on more of her obedience training. When we first arrived she was very excited to be somewhere new so I gave her a break to roam around before starting our walk. In the beginning Oakley wanted to lead but I would stop and restart our walk keeping a very slow pace. Oakley was able to pick this up quickly and would check on me very frequently each time I ask her for a heel or to sit. We started to walk around with ease but something I noticed was each time a person passed by us Oakley wanted to just go up and smell them. I would redirect Oakley with her off obedience command to have her disengage with whatever she sees as value. She does this for grass as well so I keep the off obedience command consistent which will help keeping a better heel intact. We also passed by some geese which didn't have her attention too much but I would ask Oakley for her off obedience command still just to keep her aware of her boundaries with other things. We eventually went to an open area with some benches to practice more of our training. Oakley did well with most of our practices and improved on holding her sit for 45 seconds to 1 minute.
At home we practiced creating boundaries with my parents' kitchen door. Oakley is somewhat aware of going through the door when returning from a trip somewhere but once we are inside my side of the house she has to learn to wait patiently at the edge until being given her break. When we started practicing she had a habit of running through without waiting but with a few redirections with the use of the e-collar she picked up very quickly on what the task was. There are moments when I have Oakley roaming around, I will walk through the door to see her reaction and she starts to slowly stop herself and walk back towards my room. She won't go up to the door entirely so I'll have to motivate her by cheering her on to come as close as she can to the door to be placed into a sit or down.
Pupdate 10/12/2023
This morning I had a different plan for Oakley instead of going for a walk with Hunter. I took Oakley to downtown Fullerton this morning after Hunter's walk. We took our time going down harbor and through many businesses throughout the downtown area. Majority of the walk Oakley did very well without getting distracted from the busy Main Street. There were her usual moments she tried to lead but a simple redirection with the e-collar helped her keep a pace with me. As we made our way to corners to cross the street I would asked Oakley to sit each time which she did.
After some time passed by I took Oakley back towards Hillcrest Park and used a bench to practice place and come to sit. When asking Oakley to place she does this with ease even being a little slow at times. When asking her for her recall, which is come to sit, I first start by asking her to come, involving my right hand being a signal or indicator. Oakley comes towards me and passes me to end up coming around back to my left hand side. If Oakley stops half way or behind me, something I do to help Oakley in this situation is by saying come continuously until she's in the proper position. Once she is I can mark this behavior with a yes or good girl making it memorable and a positive experience. We continue to work on this even after the video ends.
Oakley has been doing well so far in her board & train with learning all of her obedience commands. The one noticeable thing about Oakley is her reaction towards other dogs even though she will go on a walk with Hunter side by side. We will focus on trying to find environments with dogs to help desensitize Oakley with this behavior so she can understand its ok that dogs just pass by in general.
Pupdate 10/13/2023
This morning I took Hunter and Oakley on another walk together which has been going well. They are very comfortable being around each other in the morning getting their gear on to go for their walk. They haven't played yet but continue to smell each other when given the opportunity.
I took the time later in the day to work on improving Oakley's off obedience command. Most things haven't had much attention to her but one of her toy's that she has she enjoys very much. I used it to help educate her on leaving the toy alone when asked. When starting with her toy I was surprised at how quick she picked this up without much use of the e-collar. She made this practice very easy and if she did bite the toy randomly I would redirect her by saying off and she follows through. Something to be aware of is when asking for her off obedience command is to stop and stay still while having a hold of the toy. Once Oakley see's that I'm relaxed and asking for her off obedience command it makes it easier for her to understand. I had played with the toy moving it around her face to get a reaction out of her. If she acts I simply redirect her with off or sit to restart. After the video ends we had one neighbor with their small dog pass by my house and Oakley didn't mind but let a low growl out as they passed. I redirect Oakley with her off obedience command for that specific behavior as it is very inappropriate since they are doing nothing wrong. We will continue to focus on improving this obedience command when around other dogs.
Pupdate 10/14/2023
This morning I took Oakley to Hillcrest Park in Fullerton for some exercise and practice our obedience training. Oakley did very well for most of the walk staying to my side but had a habit of trying to walk onto grass without performing her obedience. Moments like these I made sure to keep an eye on her but she did fine and was keeping a better pace around the park. When asking Oakley to place on random platforms around the park she did this with ease today. We passed by some people with dogs in the morning and Oakley did well each time I asked her for her off obedience command. Her eyes would come back towards me and each time she was giving me proper engagement I could praise her for being a good girl. Once we finished our walk we headed to a dog park to train outside of it.
When training outside of the dog park we didn't see too many dogs but enough where Oakley would still stimulate from seeing them. We focused on leash dragging keeping Oakley engaged with the e-collar working our way to offleash obedience. I practiced many repetitive heels turning left and right which seemed to help Oakley. I had her hold her sit for 1 - 2 minutes before breaking her along the gate but as I did this she thought she could intentionally just go onto the dirt area when hearing break. I had her go back into her sit and practiced this again with some distance. This time when breaking her she came to me with a calmer pace. During the visit today she didn't bark but we are gonna focus on closer engagement seeing if she will try to growl meeting new dogs.
Pupdate 10/15/2023
This morning Hunter and Oakley had their morning walk together which went well. Oakley has picked up the habit of going potty in the morning at the same time as Hunter. After their walk I gave them time to try and socialize but they haven't been playing but would rather roam around the room and be separate. Oakley will lay on the place pad I have and doesn't mind Hunter doing stuff while he's out.
I took Oakley to a park near my house to focus on learning under. We started off by using the benches on the basketball court we were at. I had started off by assisting Oakley with leash pressure leading under the bench. Once Oakley is under the bench I keep her there for a certain amount of time before giving her a break. We continued to practice this, extending the duration of the obedience command. Oakley did well practicing this but we will work with this obedience command at other places as well.
Second part of the video is our practice of food manners. In the beginning of Oakleys training when having her wait for her food she was very consistent about getting up and getting her food right away. As of now I'm able to roam around the kitchen and perform various tasks until giving her break command to eat. We will continue to improve on this since Oakley seems to really overstimulate for her food still but has the patience to wait now!
Pupdate 10/16/2023
This morning I took Oakley to a park in La Habra for more obedience training. it was fairly empty so we had the perfect opportunity to walk already letting the leash drag. While walking around we made frequent turns in the beginning since she's so excited to be out. While adventuring throughout the park keeping these turns consistent helped with her pace of heeling with me. Any time she wanted to be too far out I would use the e-collar and ask for her heel pairing up the two at the same time. As we ended in an open area near some baseball fields we focused on more of the left hand side heel turn rather than the right to maintain better engagement.
Oakley spent some time training with a friend of ours. Oakley wasn't as obedient compared to training with me but once my friend was able to help redirect Oakley as I would Oakley started to follow through as she should when training with anyone.
We are gonna focus on new places to go to and work on our obedience training since Oakley is doing well with her obedience commands but likes to use limits at times. Her poop is runny so I'm gonna provide rice and pumpkin for her diet to see if it helps solidify her poop. Sometimes when playing and being social with Oakley at home she likes to demand bark if she's not being petted. This isn't out of aggression but more of her playful way of getting a human to pet her even though she's consistent about being vocal rather than being loud. She has done this to my little brother and will end up laying down for belly rubs or leg scratches. She does this behavior more inside than outside.
Pupdate 10/17/2023
This morning I took Oakley for a walk by herself around the neighborhood to focus on leash dragging in the beginning of our day. Oakley did fairly well but always in the beginning she tries to walk towards grass without me giving her an obedience command. Each time this happens I will ask for her heel to guide her back to me. After that the majority of our walk went well with her keeping a pace with the leash dragging.
Once we returned home we played in the backyard for a moment before practicing some house manners. We started off with food manners which went really well today with only one time of redirecting Oakley back into a sit. In the video above I was able to perform various things in my kitchen with Oakley patiently waiting. Most days have been a threshold compared to other tasks we have completed but today was a major improvement.
Later on in the day I went to Home Depot to see how Oakley would do being around shoppers and hearing noises from all around the store. While in the garden section Oakley wanted to smell most of the flowers so I would have to tell her off to keep her engaged with me. As we made our way throughout the store Oakley did well keeping a pace but each time we passed people between the aisles she would try to smell people as we passed them. Off was used very consistently each time someone would pass by us and when Oakley was able to withhold herself I would praise her. There more we walked around she started to settle and ignore her impulses on smelling each shopper. When asking her to sit or down she would ignore the first time but the second time asking paired with the e-collar she was able to follow through. Oakley seemed a little nervous in the beginning but the longer we stayed and practiced our obedience she seemed to settle and adjust to everything. Something that was cute to see Oakley do was watch a forklift pass by. She had her ears up entirely but just looked at it as it was going into an aisle being sectioned off.
So far her poop is still runny after giving her rice but I'm going to keep it this way to see how it progresses as the days go by. Since I've been feeding her more she seems to need to potty more as well. Oakley has picked up a habit after playing in my room to lay on the place pad I have set up. She will typically walk up once she's done and take a nap and I've been able to walk throughout the house as she's napping.
Pupdate 10/18/2023
Today I took Oakley to Cerritos Mall in Cerritos CA, to work on better impulse control around a busy environment. Walking around was our main priority in the beginning of the visit. Oakley had an urge to just lead so we were practicing our heel before we could really travel throughout the mall. Once she was able to maintain a better pace we started walking throughout the mall. There were moments when some people passed by Oakley they were really close enough where she could try to smell them. I would redirect her for moments like these and she would follow through back to me.
We took the time in an area to practice all of our obedience commands which Oakley was able to do but when asking for her sit she would always want to do it the second time. I would take a few steps then ask her to sit and repeat the process as people passed by us. The more we did this we were able to work through this threshold and practice more. Oakley was more confident as we used another bench to practice under. Sometimes she will stick part of her head out but with some assistance of the leash I can guide her under entirely. We had many people pass by us and she didn't growl nor bark towards them. When walking into one store to practice placing her down she was nervous and would get up so we had to take some time with this as well until she could have the confidence to wait. We had some people pass by her and baby talked to her which got her to get up. As I grabbed the leash she never jumped on this group of people but was really excited to meet them. I told them she was training and they were apologetic and unaware of what she was doing. We made our way back to the car to head home. Oakley did ok but she needs more improvement being around heavy crowds of people which I will continue to take her too when possible.
Oakley's poop has remained runny so I'm going to try an anti diarrhea liquid to see if it's capable of helping with Oakley's poop.
Pupdate 10/19/2023
This morning I took Oakley to La Mirada Regional Park for some exercise and training. When we first arrived I let Oakley go potty before heading around the park. Once we started walking Oakley was doing well keeping a pace in the beginning. We made our way past many people on their walks. As we started to pass by people walking their dogs Oakley would get overstimulated and try to bark. As she does this I give her an off obedience command and she will guide her eyes back towards me indicating that she's listening. If she was to ignore me I would redirect her with another off paired with the e-collar. We found an area to work on specific commands such as recall, come to hell, and extended sit. Oakley was somewhat adamant about not listening but the more we practiced she would be able to follow through with her obedience. We continued to practice before heading to another location to train.
Our second visit was the Anaheim pet feed which is a dog friendly store I bring dogs to train all the time. Most of the employees are aware of me so they were excited to see Oakley while we visited. While visiting the store Oakley did very well listening but there was one moment we turned into an aisle and a dog was right there with its owner. Immediately this dog barked at Oakley so she started to bark back so I redirected with the off obedience command. Once this happened I had Oakley come to me and placed her into a sit. The owner was apologetic and is aware her dog barks a lot when seeing others. Oakley actually let them pass us but she had a low tone growl once they fully passed us. After that we continued to practice throughout the store without any issues. I'm going to try to take the time to find new dogs to train around Oakley to see if there's a more creative fun way to desensitize her when seeing them.
Pupdate 10/20/2023
Today I took Oakley to the Outlets of Orange to work on her obedience training! We first started off by walking around the entire outlet just so Oakley can familiarize herself with all the stores, cars, and people that would be around us. As we made our way around the outlet we ended up stopping near the movie theatre to practice some of our training. While we were here we practiced on commands such as recall, under, and come to heel. Oakley did well practicing but each time someone passed us she became alert and could sometimes get distracted. We would work through this by practicing more with other obedience commands. We started to make our way into stores and practiced down while I shopped. There were moments Oakley didn't mind people passing by her but eventually she would start to growl so I would have to ask her to off each time she did. While on a walk she doesn't mind anyone at all but when sitting or downing she can be very vocal so we focused on this each time we went into a store.
We made our way into a vans store to have Oakley practice her down again. While inside the store she growled but the longer we stayed she was able to get over it. We even had two people come up to us to say hi and Oakley greeted them with full confidence. Something I've also noticed is sometimes if I'm distant from Oakley and she seems uneasy as if she wants me next to her rather than me being so far away while around people but she was able to follow through today with this practice. We made one more lap around the outlets with no issue but we are gonna focus on these random thresholds Oakley seems to have in a busier environment.
Today I received and anti diarrhea liquid to try an help with Oakley's stool. We will see within the next few days if this will help.
Pupdate 10/21/2023
This morning Hunter and Oakley had their morning walk together which has been going well each time I take them together outside. Oakley will do her obedience commands faster than Hunter sometimes when asking for a sit or down. They haven't had too playtime together since they are used to being separate or just passing by each other while inside the house. She has been better with my mom walking in and out of my room but can be uneasy with my dad at times but we still work through it.
Our focuses today were house manners but purely offleash and no leash attached. Today practices with both food and door manners went well with both exercises being completed in the first attempt. While practicing food manners I'm still keeping an eye at times when I leave the room giving Oakley a quick glimpse before leaving entirely since she was so sneaky before. Oakley's door manners has been going on really well lately. Oakley has been able to let me, my mother, and little brother walk through the door without being overstimulated. With my father she has been uneasy seeing him come close to the front door from a distance and will begin to growl. I will redirect her with off and heel her inside the house to keep her engaged with me as he enters. We will continue to work on her growling issue when it occurs.
Her poop is still runny so far but with a few more days to pass by we can see if the anti diarrhea liquid will take effect. Oakley got to have extra play time with me and my brother with more obedience training followed up.
Pupdate 10/22/2023
This morning Oakley had her morning exercise going for a walk with Hunter in the morning. We practiced some obedience training at home before heading out to a park in Placentia. Oakley's stool seems thicker but still comes out runny. Her overall personality is still energetic and playful and this hasn't affected her training.
Later on I took Oakley to try-city park in Placentia, CA for more exposure and to focus on offleash obedience. When we first arrived Oakley was excited to be somewhere new again and seemed overly excited but once I let her go potty we started to make our way around the park. Oakley did well walking with me and performing her sit obedience command randomly when we let people pass by us. Each time we had a random dog passed us Oakley would get uneasy. There was a specific dog that Oakley was able to let pass by because they walked many times along our path and the more this dog was able to pass by Oakley would settle rather than a random dog she doesn't know for the moment. The longer Oakley can be around certain dogs at a distance she will comply and settle with the right practices and obedience commands when asked.
Something that also worked when passing by dogs is breaking Oakley onto grass to go potty. She ignored most of the dogs that passed by her but one pair of dogs that passed by she stopped and looked at them momentarily but needed the assistance of the e-collar to follow through back to me. We ended up in an area where most people would walk so we practiced our obedience training in the video above. Oakley did well practicing everything we did in the video but when a man stopped by to make conversation with me he gave Oakley too much eye contact which started to make her uneasy and growl. Each time this happened I would say off and she would direct her eyes back towards me and stay quiet. It's noticeable to see when Oakley has to wait in a sit or down she will take these moments to vocalize out of uneasiness depending on what's around us. We will continue to make this our focus trying to find moments to practice around more dogs!
Pupdate 10/23/2023
Last night I had my neighbor come over with her two dogs to work on impulse control with Oakley. Oakley got to meet Destiny and Storm but when training around them Oakley seemed more uneasy around Storm rather than Destiny who is more calmer.
Oakley had pure confidence around Destiny since she never showed any body language that seemed unpredictable or energetic. Storm is a younger pup so her energy is all over the place which Oakley and I had to work through.
Today we went to El Monte, CA to meet up with some of our friends from offleash. When arriving it was fairly cold so we made our way around the park for some exercise. We made our way to some benches to practice send away to place, under, and greeting manners once our friend Sheena arrived. She took the time to say hi to Oakley but Oakley kept trying to break her sit so I would redirect her back into it to practice our greeting manners. Once we took our time with this Oakley was able to let Sheena pet her without breaking position. Most of our other obedience commands went well so we made our way to a playground that has a rock structure to place on. At first Oakley had no idea how to get up but with some variations like running up or being overly excited when saying pace got her to jump all the way up this rock. We also stayed at the playground to condition Oakley getting up the rock since it's elevated.
When training around an associate of mine and his two dogs there was something noticeable with Oakleys reaction today. One of the dogs my coworker had was very calm and friendly and Oakley had no intention to growl or overstimulate herself. Another dog that my coworker brought out seemed more energetic and unpredictable when near him. When Oakley saw this dog and the energy that he gave out Oakley started to stimulate. Even though this is something out of our reach this is a typical situation when another dog seems unpredictable with Oakley.
Her stool has remained the same but the color has changed only. I will take the time to invest into other possible methods to learn that might help Oakley later in the future.
Pupdate 10/24/2023
This morning we had our usual morning routine with Hunter followed up by obedience training. In the video above is our early morning practice of send away to place. Sometimes at a distance Oakley will make her way but just as she's about to place herself she will stop herself short. To help Oakley out with this I'll use the leash paired up with the e-collar for assistance to help keep her in motion when luring her in closer to the pad. When practicing she did very well just using the e-collar alone when at a distance. Around the 2:00 mark, one of my neighbors passes by with two of her dogs who I was aware of when passing. The moment Oakley realized they were passing by I asked for her off obedience command and she didn't growl or break position. The farther they got I ended the practice asking for one more place to down before breaking her.
Later on we made our way to Citadel Outlets in Commerce, CA for more exposure. Oakley had a short tendency to try to lead as usual being in a new environment. I made it our first goal to walk around the outlets to familiarize it with Oakley. By our third time around the Outlet Oakley was consistent with me and was able to perform her obedience command just about anywhere throughout the shopping center. When we took a break I gave Oakley some water and time to rest so we just sat down as people passed by us.
We made our way to an area with shade and a platform to use for more training. In the second part of the video we continue with send away to place and recall. Oakley was somewhat inconsistent with the new distractions all around us during this practice but we continued making the best of our day. Oakley did very well with the amount of people shopping around us not growing at a single person who made their way next to us.
Pupdate 10/25/2023
Today we had our usual walk with Hunter early in the morning. During our walk we happened to pass by a couple walking their dogs in the morning as well. When Oakley saw the dogs with Hunter it was easier to ask for her off obedience since she sees that Hunter is neutral when seeing dogs as well.
We focused on more home training today making send away to place our focus since Oakley can perform all of her other obedience commands. Oakley did better going at a distance with her place pad but once she stops and doesn't want to go on, being consistent with the e-collar has helped redirect Oakley back onto the pad when she decides she doesn't want to be obedient. This is a typical behavior she displays when learning something new or challenging. In the video above around the 2:00 minute mark, Oakley decides she doesn't want to get on but I use only the remote to redirect her back onto the place pad. Now when going outside we will practice on other platforms to help condition this obedience command to be done anywhere.
Oakleys stool has remained the same but I'm going to provide her the same meals since this has given slight improvement. Her offleash obedience has been going well so tomorrow we will adventure to a busier environment to practice more of our training!
Pupdate 10/26/2023
Today I took Oakley to Santa Monica to train at the Santa Monica Pier with some of the other trainers from offleash. When we first arrived I walked Oakley throughout the pier to familiarize herself with the new environment. While walking around we had no issues walking around with the leash dragging or offleash when passing by people. We had one instance where an owner had their dog untrained who was barking at everything passing by it. Once this dog passed by us and barked at Oakley this did get her to react and bark but all the other dogs that passed by today she had no issue with since they were more obedient when passing by us. When practicing all of Oakleys obedience commands she had some issues with her send away to place forgetting where to place herself. After some repetitions we were able to work through this and Oakley was able to do this and continued more of her training throughout the pier.
Oakley's visit went really well but something to note out of our experience today is if there is an disobedient dog around Oakley that cannot control themselves this will get her to react as some dogs would. Most dogs that are calm and civil Oakley has a better understanding to ignore them especially if her off obedience command is asked when seeing dogs while outside.
We followed up with the rest of the day with more training for better conditioning and extra playtime with me since she did very well in this type of environment.
Pupdate 10/27/2023
Today Oakley's focus was house training with her usual training practices or door manners, food manners, load up, and off with toys when playing. When training for each practice Oakley was able to work with everything with ease. Door manners has been going well keeping Oakley at the door while I roam around the front. We have been spending time outside hoping some people will pass by with dogs but it doesn't happen all the time to work with but when we had some encounters asking Oakley for her off obedience command will be a priority to educate her in those moments. When working on food manners she is very excited to eat but once you ask her for obedience she can relax herself now on better terms and has been able to hold her position up to two minutes until being given her break to eat.
In the video above I wanted to try playing with Oakley without the use of the e-collar asking for her off obedience to see if it was even possible to grab the toy from her. I was happy to see Oakley would drop the toy after one or two repetitions of asking off. She used to run away and wanted me to chase her with a tight grip on the toy. After all the training sessions we had playing with a toy has improved. Oakley will also drop the toy for my brother when he's played with her.
The last part of the video is a video clip of some of our training we did yesterday. I couldn't get this to upload so here's part of a video that I was able to add in with Oakley performing her offleash obedience. While Oakley is in her heel she needs to remain as close as she can to me. If she starts to branch out and create distance just a use of the e-collar on a low setting helps guide her back towards me just in case. As we walk by some people I have Oakley perform an extended sit and you can see Oakley just look at her surroundings and take everything in. If there was a moment Oakley seemed too distracted by something around us asking for her off will always keep her attention back on me. After some time passes by I break Oakley for her reward which is praise and a hug.
Pupdate 10/28/2023
Today is Oakleys last day of her board and train so I spent the morning taking her on an early walk just the two of us before heading to a lesson. Once I returned home I spent more time with Oakley going over her house manners and keeping her obedience accordingly.
Later on in the day we went to William peak park in Buena Park to relax and give Oakley the freedom to roam around and enjoy herself. We practiced our obedience at the park as well but Oakley had more time running around and being the silly girl she is when outside. Something we ended up focusing on was keeping her head up while walking on grass. She can drift if not kept in her obedience with her heel command so if she has her head down for too long and drifts away from me I'll ask her to heel which was working once putting the command into practice. After staying for a while at the park we ended our visit and headed back home. I took the time to have Oakley sit or down in the living room with my dad since she had a habit of doing this to him. Spending about 20 minutes Oakley eventually got over her threshold and was able to let my dad roam around her without growling.
Oakleys has finished her training and has improved so much with her basic obedience learning offleash obedience quickly within the first two weeks. Oakley is more aware of being engaged when asked for her obedience commands. When working around other dogs she has improved being able to let dogs pass by her but the occurrence of her reacting would only happen if another dog barks at her or is being disobedient. Any other dog that remains calm and doesn't mind Oakley she can maintain herself and enjoy herself in the moment. Oakley has been able to prove her confidence in high traffic areas such as shopping centers, beach, and park settings. Oakley is ready to go back home to her family!
