This is Obi! A 5 month old German Shepherd Mix from Norwalk, CA here for our famous two week Board and Train program! Obi is a very sweet, lovely, and fun pup but is easily distracted and pulls on the leash. Over the next two weeks, Obi will learn basic and fundamental commands throughout his time here so he can be the best Obi he can be! Stay tuned for his PAWsome transformation!
PUPDATE 5/15/2022
Obi spent most of the day getting the hang of everything new here at my house. He was fantastic on the car ride home and in the crate at home as well. I took a walk with him around my neighborhood to get him acclimated and he was very interested in all the new sights and smells. He loved smelling everything in site! He ate all his food tonight which is a great sign that he feels relaxed here! Can't wait to start training tomorrow!
PUPDATE 5/16/2022
Obi had a very productive first day of training. I started with working on his Come to Sit and overall he did great! He really picked up the command quickly. As seen in the video, there were a couple times he did not come all the way around me. It is important to note how I accomplished guiding him in the right spot. When he stopped before coming around, I used the e collar, said "Come" and guided the leash around me. There was another time that he came around me but laid down. In this situation, I stepped forward allowing him to reposition himself so it would be easier for him, then I told him to sit. He is a great pup in the crate, eats all his food, and goes potty well. I did notice he would stop abruptly when a distraction like a person walked by so we will be focusing on that since he is doing great with other things.
PUPDATE 5/17/2022
I took Obi to the Simi Valley mall to see how distracted he is in public spaces. I noticed that the commands and following directions are easy for him and he learns quickly. For example, he had a hard time going on different place objects (like the benches) but with a little encouragement and a positive tone, he jumped on and I gave him a lot of praise. After that first object at the mall, he had no problem going to different place objects throughout the mall and even jumped into the car crate after training! I also noticed that he seemed very unsure and nervous/anxious when we were walking around the mall. He kept looking behind us when someone was walking 20 feet behind us, he was unsure about the gold cart there was moving around, and he would huff when people walked by. It helped praising him while people walked by when he was not focused on them.
PUPDATE 5/18/2022
We worked on the Place command today and introduced more distractions. He had some troubles in the beginning when something very exciting was going on (like the exciting rock) but he quickly understood that I will keep guiding him back to the place cot every time he gets off of it. Later, I took him on a walk around my neighborhood and there were people getting mail and he was barking at them. He is heeling better each day but sometimes I still need to give him reminders to not walk ahead of me. Today was the first day he was not wiggling on the scale and I checked a couple times for accuracy.
PUPDATE 5/19/2022
Obi had some difficulty today at a local shopping center. He seemed very nervous and tense. He was not a fan of being close to the water fountain. I think he did not like the sound of it. When he got spooked by something behind him, he would try to pull on the leash. I do not feel comfortable having him completely off leash yet due to his unpredictability. He was very scared of a shopping cart rolling by about 10 feet away from him. He would not sit as it got closer and he would try to hide behind me. His commands are great though.
PUPDATE 5/20/2022
It was a very big day for Obi as we went to Ventura Harbor to work on increasing the distraction level. Overall, he did well. In the video, you see the moment where he gets nervous. There was no stim applied, no loud noises, or distractions behind us. I am not sure why he immediately became nervous and did irrational movements like trying to jump in that median. But we made great strides in practicing being more off leash with him dragging the leash today for awhile. We will continue to work on increasing the distraction work so that smaller distractions do not affect him as much. He is eating/drinking/peeing/pooping normally.
PUPDATE 5/21/2022
I took Obi to an outdoor mall when there were a lot of people. Since it was a weekend during the day, it was a great time to practice increasing his distraction training. There were a couple times during our training that he would get out of command and instead of coming to me, he would try to walk away. He looked very overwhelmed there and uncomfortable like he just wanted to leave. After spending 30 or so minutes there, we left. Later, I took him to an enclosed park to work with his off leash abilities. After talking to another trainer and working with him a little more today, he needs to trust me more. I am going to start building a stronger and trusting bond with him to help with this. He knows all the commands quite well but he lets his nerves get the best of him when there are more distractions around him. We also noticed that as soon as he STARTS doing the correct thing (i.e. coming when called), I praise him with a high pitch tone to encourage and let him know that is the correct thing to do.
PUPDATE 5/22/2022
Obi had a very eventful day today at the Northridge mall. There were a lot of people at the mall since it was a Sunday afternoon. In the first video clip, I worked with him with his treats and he was very focused on it which was great but if the treat was gone, I lost his attention and his nervousness. After using treats, the next video clip was without treats to see how he did and he was still nervous. We will continue to work on more distraction training to increase his confidence.
PUPDATE 5/23/2022
I went to an enclosed park today to work on Obi's off leash abilities. After working with him more and more, I noticed important things about Obi and his behavior. He is sensitive to the e collar and responds to a very low stimulation. Increasing the e collar because he is not listening, only makes him want to be frantic. As I said previously, keeping tones high pitch and positive is very important to him. I am still working on his recall as he sometimes does not want to come to me. All his other commands seem to be consistent. After his training, we took a long break at the park so he gets used to being calm. He is eating/drinking/peeing/pooping normally.
PUPDATE 5/24/2022
Obi had a very productive day today. He was mostly off leash while practicing all his commands. He did still have a tendency to walk away but keeping a positive tone helped bring him back. He went on all the place objects well. The two things about Obi and his training I have noticed is that he gets more and more comfortable with training when he goes the same route and does the same thing. When he gets more comfortable, he stops being so nervous. The other thing I noticed with him is that he will only listen to one or two people. So practice training together will result in him listening to both of you equally.
PUPDATE 5/25/2022
I took Obi to Petco to continue to work on public places. Overall, he did well! He stayed in his duration commands while I walked away to look at some items nearby. At first when I placed him on the dog bed, he was unsure what to do. He quickly realized it was a very comfy dog bed and started to get comfortable on it. Later we went to a park to practice Obi being more off leash. He would sometimes go on the place objects and sometimes not. When I tried to work on his Come to Sit from Place, he would get confused and come around the opposite direction. To help with these two issues, I made my voice very high pitch to get him excited to jump on the place object. Then, I used treats for him to follow my hand around me for Come to Sit. I think using the e collar to reinforce training and using treats to guide are the best methods for him and his training.
PUPDATE 5/26/2022
I worked on Obi's home manners today and overall he did well. It did not take him too many tries to understand he needed to stay in a down command while I was walking in and out of the doorway. He has come a long way in his crate manners loading into the car and now he loves jumping in! His food manners only took one try because he knew he had to wait for his food because you taught him that previously. Great day!
PUPDATE 5/27/2022
I wanted to finish my tutorial videos for you so you have them for reference. His Heel and Down commands were the last two commands and the videos today are how I started out working with him on it. Another trainer, Reine, gave me some great tips on how to have Obi work for me and it was great! You will see Reine at the drop off on Sunday as well as Sheena. The moments where he drifts off in the Heel video are important for you to note. In the video, I mentioned how I let him make the mistake of not following me, I pressed the e collar button, said "Heel", then he came into Heel formation. With his Down command, I slowly added more distractions. First, it was sticks, then an acorn, then I tried moving quickly. You can see in the video he thought about getting up when I moved quickly because he wanted to go wherever I was going because it was exciting. Later, I gave him a bath so he smells nice when you see him Sunday! He was not too frantic in the bath and he loved having the towel in his mouth! He is eating/drinking/peeing/pooping normally.
PUPDATE 5/28/2022
Here is a sneak peek of some of Obi's final video! I took him to an outdoor mall and overall he did well! It took a couple of tries to get all his commands in one video. His main struggle was Come to Sit and going on the place object. It seemed like he was unmotivated to go on the place object. Using my high pitch tone and saying "Place" really helped encourage him to do it. Sometimes on his Come to Sit he would come to me and go around to the right side of my leg instead of my left side. I am not sure why he would do that when every time we practice, he comes around to my left side. Then, sometimes he would come around properly, but was tired half way through and laid down! He did work hard so soon after we took a nice break! Sheena and Reine can't wait to show you tomorrow everything he has learned the past couple of weeks!
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