Meet Oreo! An energetic and sweet one year old Corgi from Bellflower, Ca who has joined us for our two week board and train program. Over these next two weeks Oreo and I will be working on teaching her how to Heel properly, introduce her to some proper socialization in new environments, and build confidence. Stay tuned for her two week transformation!
Pupdate 9/18/2022
Oreo and I had a lot of fun together today, playing together and hanging out in the backyard. I got her all settled in and she began to warm up to me. We then went on a walk together to get some energy out. Training will officially begin tomorrow!
Pupdate 9/19/2022
Oreo and I began our day by introducing her to the Heel command while out together on a walk. Heel is the action of Oreo walking by my left hand side, checking in with me frequently, turning when I turn and sitting when I stop walking. Oreo is not allowed to sniff around or be distracted until released with the cue Break. Break is how Oreo knows she is free to do as she pleases.
I utilized a Herm Sprenger prong collar and the E collar to teach Oreo how to follow the directional changes of the leash pressure. Initially Oreo was very resistant to leash pressure. The second she felt me pull the leash her opposition reflex kicked in and she stayed grounded to the floor. I took a step back and guided her with very small increments of leash pressure. The second I pulled and she made the smallest step towards me I marked it with a Yes and rewarded her. After a few repetitions she was able to make more steps until she felt comfortable enough to come around behind me and Sit on my left hand side ready to Heel. We then Heeled together around my backyard before we Heeled outside around the neighborhood. Anytime Oreo pulled one direction, I turned the opposite direction and Cued Heel. If she turned with me I marked it with a yes and rewarded. If she kept pulling, I popped the leash in the direction I wanted her to go and cued Heel. I Cue Heel whenever we move forward from a stationary position or before I turn to give her a heads up we are changing direction. Oreo occasionally resists the leash pressure but has greatly improved and is learning there is a reward for following directions!
Pupdate 9/20/2022
Oreo and I took a trip to the local park today! I let Oreo explore her new surroundings for about 5 minutes to help her acclimate to her new environment. Once she got it out of her system we began to Heel around the park together. I made frequent turns with Oreo to keep her engaged. At first she did not want any treats which showed me she was quite overstimulated. We then played the name game which is the action of calling Oreo’s name and rewarding her when she looked my way. She began to voluntarily look at me which I marked with a Yes and rewarded as well, especially around the birds which caught her attention.
Oreo and I kept walking around until she was comfortable enough to begin to check in with me and take treats.
Her Come to Sit is becoming more consistent as she isn’t resisting leash pressure nearly as much as she used to. When she is in a sit position she is expected to stay there until released with the Cue Break. Oreo holds her Extended Sit for about 30 seconds consistently, yet struggles to hold it when I begin to add distance away from us. This demonstrates to me that Oreo struggles with separation anxiety and also a lack of confidence. I began to take baby steps away from her. Every time I stepped away from her, I walked right back to her and rewarded her for holding her Sit. I only added another step once she was consistent with the first step. By the end of the session Oreo was able to hold her Sit while I was 4 ft away from her. We will keep building distance between us to build confidence.
Pupdate 9/21/2022
Oreo and I ventured out to the park today where we had the opportunity to train around other trainers and their pups. Our primary focus today was to build duration for her Extended Sit command with some distance between us as Oreo has been struggling with being apart from me and holding her Sit. I reward Oreo in increments of 15 seconds as she holds her Sit. At first she released herself every time I rewarded her. When she would get up without the cue Break I popped the leash upwards and stimulated her with the E collar reminding her to sit. After a few repetions of this Oreo began to hold her Sit for a longer period of time. She was able to reach a minute today which is a great improvement for her since prior to this she was holding it for about 20 seconds at the most. Her Come to Sit is consistent, hardly needing any leash pressure. We have been working on her crate and door manners since she likes to bulldoze her way out of the crate and at doorways. I close the door on her whenever she tries to go out first, cuing her to Sit. The goal is to be able to get Oreo to do this without any instructions from me which is possible as long as there is consistency. We will work on some new commands tomorrow!
Pupdate 9/22/2022
Oreo and I spent the day working on all of her commands with a 15ft leash today at the local park. We introduced her to the Down command which she was able to perform with a little leash pressure to help her towards the floor. It took some time but as soon as she offered the Down I marked it with a Yes and rewarded her. We will keep working on it to build fluency with the command.
After Heeling together around the park, passing by all kinds of birds at the bird sanctuary, and packs of squirrels (which caught Oreo’s attention at first) we were able to walk towards the pond where there were little logs. These logs were small enough for Oreo to climb onto and perform Place. Place is the action of sending Oreo to the nearest surface. She is expected to stay on top it until released with the cue Break. After some help from me to get her on to it she worked up the courage to jump onto the log all on her own! We will keep building duration with her Place and Down. Good work Oreo!
Pupdate 9/23/2022
Oreo and I went on a trip to Fashion Island today where she had the opportunity to work with other trainers. She transitioned from the prong collar to a flat collar to help her become more accustomed to an e collar. At times Oreo resists the stimulation of the e collar and vocalizes. We are working her through this by only guiding her with the leash when necessary and working her at a level she responds to before resisting. The numbers/levels may fluctuate according to her environment. Once we got home we worked on her Place command and Come to Sit. Oreo is learning to come to my left hand side without any leash pressure. It may take her a few tries at first but once I begin to mark her good behaviors with a Yes she begins to build momentum and consistency.
I help guide Oreo to Place and then Down by applying leash pressure downwards. The pressure is released once she follows it. We are building consistency with the Down since at times she is still resisting the leash pressure Downwards. It is important to follow through with it every time to help build fluency over time.
Pupdate 9/24/2022
Oreo and I worked on building fluency with all of her commands at the local park today. We have been practicing at this park to build impulse control around plenty of distractions, especially squirrels! Oreo has done great with following commands on a 15 ft leash. The commands we really emphasized our work on today was Down and Come to Sit. Oreo takes a few seconds to perform down initially but then seems to thrive off praise after following through with commands. Towards the end of the session she was able to perform Down more consistently with just hand signals and stimulation from the e collar. Oreo’s Come to Sit has improved. At times she needs guidance from the leash when there is a lot going on around her. Her Heel has been consistent as well. She knows to only sniff around when I release her with the cue Break.
Pupdate 9/25/2022
Oreo and I worked on building fluency with her commands while walking around the neighborhood together with the leash dragging. At times Oreo likes to get ahead of me during her Heel. I prevent that by making frequent turns with her which helps her stay engaged and by my side. She is a lot more fluent with her Come to Sit, not needing much guidance from the leash anymore. She needs guidance from the leash with her Down command at times but is becoming quicker with performing it on Cue. Oreo struggles with having a lot of distance between us during her Extended Sit or Down. We are working on this by gradually getting her more used to creating distance between the two of us.
Pupdate 9/26/2022
Oreo and I ventured out to a park in Whittier today. We practiced on proofing all of her commands around distractions. We began by working her at a distance from the distractions then gradually came closer to it until we were working right next to the trainers and their pups. Oreo performed all of her commands with the leash dragging. She was able to perform her Extended Sit and Down from a distance of 10 ft away from me. We are working on her becoming more consistent as we add more distance. At times Oreo does test the Down command, waiting before offering the behavior. We are working on this by practicing repetitions of puppy push ups together in new environments.
Pupdate 9/27/2022
Oreo and I had an eventful beach day today! We worked on her Heel which she has been great at! Only struggling to stay near me when something frightens her. At times she can be quite nervous around large and noisy objects. I took note of this and began to focus our work near noisy environments to desensitize her. We found a shady spot to practice Extended Down and Place on a towel. Oreo has shown tremendous improvement with her Down today, performing it much more fluently which has been the goal these past few days. She held her Down until a large truck passed by her with loud noises and worked through it until it turned around and came closer to her. I rewarded her when she held her Down then released her as I noticed her body language was uneasy. We will keep working near big distractions to gain confidence!
Pupdate 9/28/2022
Oreo and I ventured out to the Citadel Outlets today where we had the opportunity to work around loud noises and objects. There were big machines being driven around by construction workers making loud noises which frightened Oreo. She tried to hide behind me but I helped her work through it Cuing Heel while walking next to the machine as it moved. I rewarded her every so often for coming closer and closer to the object. Oreo was still very alert over the machine but developed enough confidence to continue walking by it. She did great with her Down command, offering the behavior the first time I cued it. We have been able to create a distance of 10 ft between us reliably while she holds her Sit or Down. Great progress Oreo!
Pupdate 9/29/2022
Oreo and I went on a trip to the beach today to work on all of her commands Off leash. This was a lot for Oreo to soak in. She becomes nervous when near large noisy objects, so bicycles and skateboards were difficult for her to work near. We worked at a distance that she felt more comfortable with and put her back in a Down every time she released herself. Towards the end of the session she held her commands for a longer period of time. We will keep exposing her to new objects as desensitization and constant exposure to new environments will help build her confidence each day.
Pupdate 9/30/2022
Oreo and I went to The Citadel Outlets today where we filmed for her final video. I brought her own elevated dog cot to practice Place on top of. At first Oreo was skeptical of the new cot and did not want to Place on top of it. I laid it flat on the floor without the stands up to warm her up to just walking over it. With slight leash pressure and a lot of encouragement, I rewarded her every time she walked over it. She began to feel confident enough to hold a Down on top of the cot. As she showed consistency, I then kicked up the stands and stimulated Oreo as I cued Place without any leash pressure. Oreo then was consistent enough to hold her Place for a record of 3 minutes today. Excellent work Oreo!
Pupdate 10/1/2022
Oreo and I started our day by Heeling together around the neighborhood. Her Heel has improved, as she checks in with me more frequently and turns with me when I turn. We have been emphasizing our work on preventing her jumping. As soon as she sees me sit or kneel, she would initially jump on me out of excitement. We have made it a routine for Oreo to Sit as soon as I come down to her level. We worked on her Extended Sit and Down, which she has remained consistent with holding for a minimum of two minutes. Oreo has learned boundaries, not bulldozing her way through the doorway anymore. She has learned that when she sits and wait patiently, the door will open. If she gets up, the door closes on her. The door is an important threshold to remain consistent with so Oreo won’t have a habit of being the first one out.
After Heeling together around the neighborhood and working on her Manners, we played with the other pups in the backyard. Playtime is a great outlet for Oreo to release energy. Oreo is a loving pup who just needs structure and consistency to be the best pup possible! Thank you for trusting me with your pup and we absolutely can’t wait to show you what she has learned!
