Olive | American Staffordshire Terrier | Marina del Rey | In - Training
- cristianoffleash
- Sep 24, 2023
- 22 min read
Updated: Feb 29, 2024
Meet Olive! She is a 3 year old American Staffordshire Terrier from Marina del Rey, CA. She has joined us for our 2 Week Board and Train Program to work on her obedience training for pulling on the leash, being easily distracted when seeing dogs, and impulse control when holding positions for an extended amount of time. She at times will pull through her prong collar on walks. Olive is very sweet but needs to understand these types of boundaries when needed. Over the next two weeks Olive will learn new commands, work in new environments and around canines to help educate her on being more well mannered. As we build our bond and respect for each other I will help Olive be the best pup she can possibly be! Check out her 2 week progress with me as her trainer!
Pupdate 9/24/2023
Today I got to meet Olive who is very sweet and adjusted to me very quickly once her owner departed. Olive was very energetic and going in circles around me but I started to apply leash pressure to get her attention and eventually I was able to ask her for her sit and down obedience command. She couldn't properly heel with me so I gave her the time to burn out some energy before heading back home.
Once we arrived at my house I first put Olive's belongings away and took her for one more walk around the neighborhood. As we walked around when there were moments Olive would try to lead I would ask her to heel and apply leash pressure. If she couldn't follow through I would walk the complete opposite direction from her to have her follow me. As this became consistent Olive started to have a better pace with me with little moments trying to lead. When we would be at a corner of a street I would ask her to sit which she was able to do. Olive was able to do this for every street corner we crossed. As we made our way back home I let Olive explore the house letting her get adjusted to her new environment. I asked her to sit or down and look around the house before entering my room. Once we were in my room she saw my personal dog Hunter inside his crate. Olive was shy but eventually had the courage to smell him at a distance.
Olive has been doing well inside the crate when needed or being asked to go in. She hasn't cried or barked inside the crate either. As the day went on I introduced her to the E-collar practicing heel and sit to get her started on her obedience training. She responded to the e-collar but had a habit of trying to scratch it off since it's her first time using it with me. As the days go on we are gonna perform a variety of objectives to help educate Olive!
Pupdate 9/25/2023
This morning I took Olive to Wilderness park in Downey, CA to start her obedience training and conditioning. When we first arrived Olive seemed to be in good spirits until she saw some of the other dogs that associates had with them. Something I noticed was that Olive was very distracted by the dobermans she saw today. The other dog breeds Olive was able to work around and disengage herself from but when it came to the dobermans she had so much of her attention on them. I kept her separate from the Dobermans and worked with Priscilla and her goldendoodle.
In the video above is our first time having the dogs around each other and anytime Olive wants to break her obedience I redirect her back into position. I had Olive watch Marti the goldendoodle train with priscilla holding her accountable if she was to break her obedience. This was consistent but the more Olive had to be redirected she was able to understand all she had to do was maintain herself. Marti is placed in front of Olive but Olive wants to come to me so I ask her to go back into a down for each moment she gets up. If Olive was able to break her position and roam around she would never be able to learn and be educated if she maintains this behavior of getting up.
In the second part of the video we are practicing her place obedience command. She did very well holding herself accountable for the small duration of time that I wanted her to hold. While practicing this she had her eyes on one of the dobermans but was able to maintain herself without crying or acting on her impulses to go to the dog. As time went on once Olive started to settle I took her around both dobermans and she started to overstimulate being around them. I would walk her around the dogs in a circle having her engage with me while looking at the dogs. We did this very often until Olive started to settle near them. Eventually she started to give her attention back to her surroundings and me while we spent time around them. Before leaving I had her placed between the dogs and as I made distance I gave her a break to see if she would come directly to me. Olive followed through and came to me instead of going to one of the dobermans.
No accidents in the crate and Olive and Hunter went on a walk together this morning which went well!
Pupdate 9/26/2023
This morning I took Olive and Hunter on a walk again and they have seemed to adjust to each other once they both have their collars on to go walk. While on walks, Olive has been smelling Hunter when she gets the chance and has been able to with him being calm and confident. They haven't played but have roamed around my room and been laying down next to each other with some distance. With more time that passes by I'm gonna give them the chance to play with each other once they both have more interest in each other.
Later on in the day I took the time to work on Olive's door manners which we have been practicing. The first time we practiced this Olive had every intention to just walk inside the house without listening. After a few days of practicing this with a place mat Olive did well at completing her door manners today with no issues or need for redirection. Since this was her third day in this practice she seems to be more aware to place herself and just wait now rather than acting on impulse. We practiced this with more repetitions and followed up with more practices of the other commands.
Olive has been doing well naturally staying at my side inside my house and staying in a down when I'm working on my computer. Each time someone walks into my side of the house she will bark but when she recognizes my family members she stops. In the morning she has only been eating half of her food and even if I hand feed her she won't bother but at night she eats all of her food without issue. I will see if I can motivate her in the mornings to eat all or most of her food.
Pupdate 9/27/2023
Today Hunter and Olive went for a walk in the morning which has been going on well without any issue keeping a pace next to Hunter. I gave them time in the backyard to play and smell each other but they took their time spaced away from each other rather than trying to initiate play. Hunter would try to get Olive to play but Olive would deny his request and wanted to either stay by the living room door entrance or roam around in areas Hunter wasn't in. There were moments they started to chase each other for short moments but would stop with no intention of playing.
I took Olive to La Mirada Regional Park for some exercise and to focus on her obedience training. We walked around the big open field and worked on the grass to see if Olive is easily distracted on grass rather than pavement. She was able to perform her obedience commands but when I would break her on grass she would try to run around me which I prevented her from doing. I took the time to break her from short distances to have her follow through all the way to me. I started to create more distance to challenge her and she did fairly well being overly excited to hear the break word. We made our way around the pond to pass by ducks and geese to see if Olive would react to them but she never did. I had her place on various platforms but the one platform she had trouble getting on is in the third picture above. On the other side was another section of the platform with water which was intimidating to her to see. I took the time to have her place her front paws on it first so I can praise her and work towards trying to have her get up. We practiced this until she was able to jump up with confidence and praised her for being able to work through this. The second time I asked for her place she went up without issue. Throughout the remainder of our visit we had no issue training but Olive started to get tired so we headed back home.
I had the dogs spend more time around each other but they have been distant with each other or Olive will have Hunter go away from her if she feels bothered by him. Olive's eating habits have been different every day, even though she's eating she will have most of her food either in the morning or at night.
Pupdate 9/28/2023
Today's walk in the morning went well with no issue between Hunter and Olive. They took the time to smell each other but didn't have too much intention to play at the moment. They have both been roaming around my room and are able to lay distant from each other when asked for their obedience commands.
I took the time to focus more on boundaries inside the house with the kitchen door that leads to my side of the house. When we returned from a visit somewhere Olive has picked up that she has to go through the entrance door to my door that leads to my room. From that moment on when going back through the other side she has to wait until be given her break to go through. We started off with her down obedience command since she can hold it pretty well without issue. When we first started Olive had moments where she tried to run through the door. As of now Olive is more aware about staying on the other side with the use of the e-collar. In the video above when I start to open the front door to walk outside she gets up but stays at the door. I ask her from outside to go back into a down but she doesn't follow through so I redirect her with the use of the e-collar and she adjusts herself back down. As I finish the practice I walk back into my side of the house to break Olive heading back into my room.
Later on in the day I took Olive to the Anaheim pet & feed store in Anaheim. When we first arrived Olive was excited to be somewhere new so she started to ignore me. I had asked her for her recall to get her into a sit to heel her towards the entrance of the store. I had to restart this practice because she wouldn't let me take one step without her trying to pull. Once she settled we walked together inside the store. As we walked around the store Olive tried to pass me so with the use of the e-collar I would ask her to heel each time she tried to pass me and lead. Olive was able to adjust herself and we were able to walk around the store with ease. There were moments I asked her to sit but she would try to adjust herself looking east or south of me looking around the store. Each time she did this I would heel her in a circle to adjust her in the direction I'm facing.
As we were in some aisles we practiced extended sit and down for a small amount of duration before breaking Olive. She did very well with this and was able to let people pass by her without so much curiosity to smell them or break her position. Before going home we worked on her recall. I use the leash to pull her around me from a distance and once she's back on my left hand side I will ask her to sit. From this position once completed we can continue heeling or any other obedience command to practice that Olive knows. I would break Olive for performing the normal come to sit since this was easy to teach her. We did this with many repetitions and by the end of the visit Olive seemed to understand her recall.
Pupdate 9/29/2023
This morning we had our usual routine of a walk with obedience training after once we returned home. Olive has been performing most of her obedience commands but when we walk together she has some moments of trying to lead.
Around noon I took Olive to Hillcrest park in downtown Fullerton to focus on improving her heel obedience command. When we first arrived Olive was excited to be in a new setting yet again. When trying to start our walk I park by a big staircase to walk Olive up but also see if she can maintain a pace with me along the way. Sure enough Olive wanted to pull and lead in front of me going up the staircase. I took the time to start from the bottom and restart the practice of going up the stairs together. Any time Olive would try to pass me I would ask her to heel but if she didn't follow through I would use the remote to give her a low level stimulation to get her attention back on me. This was working and shortly after we made our way up the big staircase and started our walk around the park.
As we walked around Olive was doing very well maintaining her position on my left hand side and performing a sit or down when asked. We took up an area near the pond to work on recall since everything else has been easy to work with. Olive seems to understand her recall more without much use of the e-collar for redirection. Even if we are just practicing with small amounts of leash pressure Olive has been more consistent about following through with her recall on leash. Now we were at a point where we could work with the leash dragging. We went back to my car to switch to our 15 foot leash to walk down the Main Street in downtown Fullerton. Olive did very well practicing her leash dragging as well without much issue of the cars on the Main Street distracting her. There were some modified cars that were really loud that passed us which seemed to somewhat bother Olive but not too much. We made our way around Fullerton high school and some parts of Downton Fullerton. We took a break and had some water to rest for a brief moment. As we made our way back to the car Olive was getting tired and was starting to fall behind me when walking. I kept a slower pace for her until we made it back to my car.
Later on we focused more on conditioning her recall which was going good. Olive seems very confident with her ability to perform her obedience commands but now I'm going to take her to more popular areas to see how she is around crowds and multiple people!
Pupdate 9/30/2023
Last night Olive was barking from her crate for about 10-15 minutes. Although my neighbors sometimes weld things at night so there could have been a chance she heard them from outside and started barking
This morning Olive had her walk in the morning with Hunter. Olive got to spend most of the morning in my room laying down on the ground or on my place pad. I've noticed she doesn't try to mess around too much and would rather lay on her back most of the time for belly rubs. She's been doing very well keeping her boundaries with my moms kitchen door whenever I walk past it and she has to wait.
Later on I took Olive to the Outlets of Orange since it would be busy to see her reaction being around a lot of people. When we first arrived I gave her a chance to go potty before making our way around the shopping center. Olive was somewhat trying to lead but redirecting her with few stimulations from the e-collar, Olive was able to keep a pace with me. We found an open area in front of some stores to practice our training. She did well with most of our practices and it was time to keep some distance with her. In the video above is our first practice of extended down while people are walking around us. Olive did really well except for a small moment she stood up but I redirected her back down to hold her accountable from that distance. She follows through and we are able to continue as if nothing happened. Once I was finished I gave her a break to praise her for her reward.
As we finished our practice we had a guest sit next to us who was intrigued on how well behaved Olive was. For a brief moment we had a conversation and Olive was able to keep her down throughout the entirety of the conversation before departing. Once this person left I gave Olive more praise just for behaving very well while I was talking to someone. We made our way around the shopping center passing by people with no issue and some people commenting on how cute Olive was as well. Once Olive was tired and started to slow down I took her back home for some rest.
Pupdate 10/1/2023
This morning I took Olive on a walk without Hunter to practice leash dragging until we made our way back home. Olive had moments almost going onto the grass on her impulse but I was able to redirect her each time this happened back into her heel.
Later on when the clouds started to clear up we went to tri-city park in Placentia to work more on Olive's leash dragging to offleash obedience. When we first arrived we made our way first around the lake passing by people on walks, ducks and some dogs. Olive had no issue when passing by all subjects and was even able to follow through with doing a extended down while letting some people pass by with their dogs. We took some time practicing specific obedience commands in different areas of the park to see if anything could be challenging to Olive but she was very confident with everything we did today. The only thing she does that I'm going to focus on improving is when she breaks she loves to run into me at the very end when closing distance to me.
Middle of the day we had another training practice in front of my house of our recall. Olive did this well performing that command without too much issue. There were moments she tried to stop in front of me but was able to reposition herself without much use of the e-collar.
Pupdate 10/2/2023
This morning I took Olive and Hunter for their morning walk. Every morning Olive has been good with staying at a pace. There are moments I have to ask her to heel back to me even though she's between me and Hunter. She will follow through and the majority of the walk is fine but this happens mostly in the beginning since they both have to go potty. When I had breakfast this morning I had Olive with me but I had placed her on a place pad close to the table. While I was eating my mom came home for a brief moment before going back to work and as she entered inside the house Olive remained calm without barking. She's been doing well with this with my mom but with my dad when she sees him she can sometimes bark because she's never around him compared to my mom who's spent some time with Olive.
Today's focus was House manners making sure Olive can maintain a sit each time I'm giving her food or opening a door inside the house. We started off with food manners which has been going well when practicing. Olive has been patient each time we have practiced this so rather than just waiting I show Olive various things that I'm doing to challenge her into getting up. Olive remains calm and waits for her break to be rewarded.
Afterwards we focused on the door manners from inside the house. We haven't spent too much time with this door since we've been working in the backyard with the side gates but in the video above Olive has full awareness of our first practice with extended down for the front door of my house. In the beginning of the video I go into other rooms creating a bunch of noise while keeping an eye on Olive. Even though the door is shut she had most of her attention on the front door waiting for me to open it. As I opened the door and make my way to the front I was happy that Olive didn't try to follow me nor did she try to get up and check up on me. I was able to make my way around the house with no issue and as the video ends I heel Olive with me out the door. As we make our way to the front she kept her composure and didn't get overexcited passing by the door to go outside.
Pupdate 10/3/2023
Today's Adventure we headed out to a park in Whittier, CA to meet up with our friends from offleash to train. Olive has been doing well with most situations she's encountered but seeing other dogs sometimes gets her to act in various ways. The more overly excited another dog can be around Olive she can be very cautious of her surroundings. The calmer a dog is when around Olive she can be fine and won't bother to break her position seeing that they are more relaxed compared to others. When working around most of the dogs we had no issue besides one dog that Olive seemed to have her eyes on only because this dog couldn't contain itself. When walking and training around the other dogs that didn't overstimulate Olive, each practice went well with some use of the e-collar.
In the video above we took the time to work on recall with no leash assistance. When asking Olive to come I identify with my right hand that I want her to come behind me. Once she's behind me I continue to say come until she ends up on my left hand side. From here I can ask for a sit and continue this practice with other commands that can be followed up. Olive has been more consistent with her come to sit, even if she ends up on the wrong side she can still make her way around me when being redirected. At one point during our practice I placed Olive in a down position while being very distant from her. For about 7 - 8 minutes I was with my coworkers distant from Olive but keeping a close eye on her while making conversation. Once I walked back towards her I gave her a break to praise her as her reward.
Pupdate 10/4/2023
Today I took Olive to Cerritos Mall in Cerritos CA, to work on her obedience training! When arriving I had Olive go potty on some grass letting the leash drag. Once she was finished with her business I asked her to heel back to me and she followed through. Once we were inside we walked around for a moment before seeing some of our friends from offleash. Olive was around the same dogs except one that she hadn't seen before. She had some interest in trying to smell this doberman but I kept her distance since the doberman was timid seeing Olive. We practiced a majority of our obedience commands throughout the mall with very little moments of redirecting Olive back into a heel since she would try to create space from me. All of her other obedience commands were easy to work through the longer we stayed. Olive was able to hold her extended down for more than 5 minutes while I had a conversation with someone who was interested in dog training.
In the video above is Olive and I walking and performing some of our offleash obedience inside the mall. I keep Olive at a pace with me and if she tried to branch too far forward in front of me I would ask her to heel. Olive was trying her best to stay as close to me as she could passing by all these new stores and sounds echoing around us. I keep myself walking straight with confidence without looking at Olive so much since this can create confusion. Only if I ask for something when walking I will turn to look at Olive.
We had some guests who said hi to Olive but with my permission and guidance on how to approach her accordingly. Each time Olive was in a sit these guests who said hi would talk to Olive as if she was a baby. This was enough to make Olive get up but she wouldn't jump instead she would lay her body against them asking for belly rubs. When we had an older gentleman say hi to Olive he was very calm and didn't even say anything to her. This kept Olive maintaining her position until the man was done and as he finished I gave her a break to praise and reward her for staying still. It's ideal that Olive is approached in a calm manner to keep her relaxed and neutral to these types of situations. If someone is going to talk to Olive as a child this can create a lot of excitement where she doesn't want to follow through with her obedience.
Pupdate 10/5/2023
This morning Olive and Hunter went on a walk together but I had Olive had her leash drag while Hunter is offleash. Olive did well but there were moments Olive and Hunter would try to smell each other as I asked them to sit when we stop at random moments. This was easy to redirect for the both of them since all I needed to do was just be verbal with them.
I took Olive to Home Depot today to practice on more leash dragging to offleash obedience. When we first arrived I noticed we had no issues walking from the car to inside the store compared to most days where Olive is energetic to be somewhere. We walked around and nothing seemed to upset or bother Olive inside the store. We started to practice our obedience commands throughout the store as people passed us. We passed by an employee working on a forklift and Olive was fine hearing and seeing the forklift move inside one of the aisles. I would place Olive in her down obedience command and pretend to shop, even if people passed by her she didn't seem to care. We had one couple pass by us and were amazed to see how calm Olive was. They informed me they had their own personal American bully who looked like Olive and had the same temperament when outside. As they left I gave Olive a break to praise her and reward her for always being compliant when outside. Even though she has been doing very well in her training I will always continue to reward her since this is something she's looking forward to everyday.
Later on in the day we had more obedience training at home with door manners and food manners. Both practices went well with no issues of error. I've noticed Olive has been more aware of my mother inside my house and won't bark at her for entering my room. My father is always busy and hasn't spent as much as time around Olive compared to my mother so if he enters she will bark. Once she realizes who he is she settle's but since there's not a consistent pattern of seeing my father she can be skeptical. If we are outside training and see's him she's completely ok looking at him. Since Olive has learned everything at this point I'm gonna try to show her some fun new stuff to try to learn before her training ends!
Pupdate 10/6/2023
Today we had our usual walk early in the morning with Hunter. The past days that have gone by they haven't made progress in playing since Olive will stop Hunter from trying to engage with her. I have been able to keep them in the room together and Olive will either lay on my place pad or go into her crate while Hunter lays on his bed. They don't have the most energetic personalities once out the crate but both will get excited to go for a walk and will both listen when seeing their collars.
I took the time to focus on teaching something new to Olive which was the under obedience command. In the video above is our second practice of the under obedience command. Olive hasn't gotten used to staying under an obstacle so we focused more on making it fun once she's able to make her way through. Eventually Olive was able to give me some duration so I break her for her reward. If Olive breaks her position the same rules apply when redirecting her back into an under. Something I do when practicing this is to lure the leash in the direction that's going to help better position herself.
Before going to pick up my brother to school I took Olive to a park near my house to play and enjoy herself offleash. When we arrived we had the park and open grass to ourselves so I let Olive roam around and go potty. She just stayed to my side so I started to run around and be silly to get her motivated to play. She started to run circles around in the grass and chase me so we played. After some time passed by we used a table to practice more of Olive's under obedience command. I couldn't place her from the seats but coming from the side of the table I was able to direct her under and place her. We continued to practice and play until we had to go to my brother's school to pick him up.
Pupdate 10/7/2023
This morning I took Olive on a walk without Hunter to focus on offleash heeling. Olive did very well but in the beginning she wanted to try and pee on grass without waiting for my signal. All I needed to do was recall her and continue walking more before finding an area to let her potty. From this point she's very consistent with walking next to me.
In the evening I went to another park to work on under with a table Olive could place herself under. Olive showed a lot more confidence today practicing her under obedience command without breaking her position. Yesterday Olive had moments where she was consistently getting up or trying to place herself on top of the table. Olive showed a lot more improvement already within the few days of teaching her this.
I guide Olive by luring her with my finger and asking her to under. If she doesn't go down right away I'll follow up by asking her to go down which usually gets Olive to follow through. She should have her entire body under rather than her paws or rear sticking out too far out. This obedience command can be used to place her under a table for shade or if an area that is too crowded while eating you can place her under the table while eating or socializing. Once we finished I gave her a break before heading outside of the dog park.
When walking outside of the dog park we didn't see too many dogs beside 2 who made their way to the edge of the gate to see Olive. Olive seemed more cautious about them so I started to practice our left side heel turns along the gate. Olive was able to settle herself with training and was able to just look at the dogs without overstimulating. They eventually left while we kept working. As some time passed by more people with dogs came and we stayed for a moment before I noticed Olive got excited seeing a dog run for a toy. I asked Olive to follow through with her down obedience command which she did. I kept her for longer to watch the dog play while we were on the other side of the gate. Once I asked for a heel she kept her pace with me and was able to just watch the dog play while we left.
Olive has finished her 2 week board and train and I'm going to miss the opportunity of taking her out to train since each day was very fun to work with her. Olive is capable of learning something new everyday if possible. She can have a lazy personality at home laying down most of the time but she looks forward to being outside and being able to perform her obedience commands for the reward system I showed her. Her reaction towards dogs has improved with the right practices to do when socializing. Even though she didn't play with Hunter she was capable of roaming around my house with him, training at the same time, and going for walks together. Olive is always welcome back if she ever needs help in the future! She's ready to go back home to her family!
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