Meet Penny a 9 month old American Bully. She is with us for our 3-Week Board and Train Program. Penny loves people, other dogs and playing. She is here to work on listening to all her commands, her recall (Come) and greeting manners (not jumping on house guest.) We will work to make all her good qualities great and her trouble areas a thing of the past. Keep and eye on her 21 Day transformation! ________________________________________
Pupdate 11/14/2021
Today was Penny’s introduction day. Not much training was implemented today just to get her comfortable with me and her new surroundings. She is a adjusting very well and has been super friendly with everyone she got to meet today including my cat and puppy. She was a little anxious in the couple of car rides today but with each one she seemed to get better. Plus non of the drives were to the vet so it helped. She is a sweet pup and I look forward to teaching her some new things to go back a little better than when she left. Keep an eye on her day to to progress on her blog!
Pupdate 11/15/2021
Today I got a nice first session in of training with Penny down at Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley. She did have some anxiety in the car but it seems to lessen with each ride. So she should be pretty set by the time she goes back home. She had a little difficulty with her Down and Place command. However I got her to do them both eventually with a little help. She is understanding the Come command really well. Also she is catching on to Door manners very quickly. It was a great first day of training! I look forward to unlocking more of her potential.
Pupdate 11/16/2021
Today Penny and I hit Downtown Long Beach. We stayed away from crowded areas to avoid overwhelming her. I have noticed she doesn’t like certain people and dogs. So we are working on ignoring them rather than barking at them. Outside of that Penny is a sponge and soaking up things really quickly. Her Down and Place command improved tremendously from one day to the next. Her Come and Heel command are also coming along nicely. She is getting more freedom around my home and has even got to meet my cat Gimli face to face. I look forward to how much further I will be able to take her with our training program.
Pupdate 11/17/2021
Today Penny and I went and did our training session over at El Dorado Park by the Duck Pond. She gets slightly insecure in new areas but after a while she is able to regain focus. So I will continue to do confidence building exercises with her throughout our training program. The biggest take away from today was that Penny is now getting excited for car rides! Her anxiety in the car has dropped dramatically. She is fun to work with once we build that confidence more her training will really take off. It was solid training session today!
Pupdate 11/18/2021
Today Penny and I hit the Citadel Outlets. This was her first venture in to a public area with this many people. She did get a little overwhelmed with all the commotion so the first part of our session was just spent sitting and people watching to allow her anxiety to mellow out. After letting her acclimate she calmed down some and was able to start working through her commands. She is getting exposure in a manner that is safe and comfortable for her, while at the same time challenging her past her uncertainty. She got a handful of compliments today especially on her Duration Sit and Down. It was a very successful day of training!
Pupdate 11/19/2021
Penny got to get some good training done in front of the Long Beach Convention Center. She got to work along side a golden retriever and got to see a dog or two pass by. She did growl a little but I let her know there was no need to be reactive. She is really starting to understand the “Off” command (stop doing what you shouldn’t be doing.) The more she has gotten to go to new places the better her confidence has become. Although, we are still working to build up her confidence when there is sudden movement or noise which can startle her. She is starting to love car rides. There was zero panting or anxiety today! Penny also got to go with me to Blue Collar Working Dog in Echo Park. She is doing great with her commands. We have one more day in Week 1, keep an eye out on how she improves in Week 2.
Pupdate 11/20/2021
Today Penny and I went to the Outlets at Orange. We went closer to opening time to avoid huge crowds. She is definitely starting to get accustomed to people passing by. I will increase the amount of people she’s around little by little. Penny has done really well in Week One, things are beginning to click for her. I love her spunk and enthusiasm. Watch as she blossoms in Week Two.
Pupdate 11/21/2021
Today was Sunday Funday for Penny and I. There was more fun and play than a typical day. She got to have a good play session in with my new puppy Ace. Little by little she has gotten more desensitized to him so I gave her a little more freedom to play with him. We still practiced some commands on our walks and she is coming along nicely. Tomorrow we get back to the grind to take Penny to the next level!
Pupdate 11/22/2021
Today Penny and I went to Recreation Park in Long Beach. This park has a dog park (which I don’t recommend,) sometimes has more dogs off leash running around outside it than inside. So it was a great place for Penny to practice Extended Sit’s, Down’s and Place’s. She did really well. We stayed just far enough from the action to allow her to succeed and not become overly anxious. It was a solid overall training session today. This week we will focus on cementing what she already knows and slowly increasing the distractions.
Pupdate 11/23/2021
Penny and I hit the 2nd & PCH Shopping Center. She started off anxious, so I just practiced some Sit, Down and Place commands in the higher traffic(people) areas. It’s a little harder for her to keep her focus when she is highly anxious. Once I moved to an area with little traffic she was able to focus much better. I let her drag the leash some more so that we can move to off leash as soon as possible. I want to solidify her recall (Come) and Heel so that I can get her to move towards being off leash reliable. Overall it was a great training session. We know what we need to work on in the days to come
Pupdate 11/24/2021
Penny and I went down to The Pike Outlets today. Her anxiety around crowds has definitely improved but it is still can be an issue for her. With enough time she will get use to it much like the car rides she’s gotten over. We worked a lot on the Come, Heel, and Under commands today. She is doing good so I will continue to expose her to as much as possible with the last week and a half.
Pupdate 11/25/2021
Happy Thanksgiving. I am Thankful for the opportunity to be working with Penny and taking her to the next level. Today we went down to the beach and get some training in. I let her drag the leash along throughout almost her entire training session. As you’ll see in the video she broke her Sit (stay) but only when a dog was passing by and barking and lunging at her. I stepped on the leash as precaution but she did phenomenal other than breaking her Sit. She has improved leaps and bounds and we still have more than a week to get her dialed in. She gets suspicious of some people and still once in a while will let off a little growl or bark.
Pupdate 11/26/2021
It was an extremely great training day for Penny. We have gotten one step closer to our goal of being off leash completely. In low level distraction environments she is has most of her commands down well. There is some fine tuning that we will do over the course of her last week. She still has a distrust of some people and become anxious in environments with a lot of people around. Overall she has improved tremendously, but we still have a little ways to go.
Pupdate 11/27/2021
Today Penny and I trained at Andronovich Recreation Center in San Pedro. I got her to Place on some different objects than she is use to. She did really well with them and her Extended Place is coming along really nicely! On grass she loves to smell around which leads to her not paying attention, but once she gets a few reps in she is able to dial it back in and regain focus. She has improved tremendously in 2 weeks and we will continue to push the envelope in Week 3!
Caught her yawning :)
Pupdate 11/28/2021
Today was a Sunday Funday for Penny. Still got some training in but definitely let her romp around a lot today and she loved it. She got to run around my parents backyard with my puppy Ace (off leash) and she did great. It was a nice light day for her in preparation for a solid week of training and fine tuning before she goes home next weekend!
Pupdate 11/29/2021
It was a solid training session for Penny today! The park I went to wasn’t as busy as it usually is, but it made for solid reps in her commands. She still got to see some dog and human distractions from a distance. A training environment like to today will be key when she gets back home and begins training with the family. Build up success with few distractions and as she gets better add more distractions to her training. She is a fun bully to work with!
Pupdate 11/30/2021
Penny and I hit the Westfield Shopping Center at Valencia. It was a really solid session for her. Foot traffic was fairly low, which allowed for successful repetitions in a shopping center! She is doing really well and I look forward to how much more I can get out of her with the rest of this week. She got a little weirded out by this man reading a newspaper but eventually she got over it 😉
Pupdate 12/1/2021
Penny and I went back to the Pike Outlets today. She did so much better than she did last week. It was night and day difference. We still went at a time with few people to make sure not to overwhelm her. She still manages to get a little frightened with sudden and loud noises, but that can be overcome with consistent training over time. I am super happy with how much she has progress from week to week. We are on the home stretch and will do all we can to improve is much as possible.
Pupdate 12/2/2021
Penny and I went back to 2nd & PCH to get our training in. It’s amazing to see the improvements she’s made since just last week. Things are clicking for her more everyday and it’s awesome to see her progress. She can still be a little funny with people although it’s gotten a great deal better. We are coming down to the wire and I know she will be as happy to see her family as they will be to see her!
Pupdate 12/3/2021
Today Penny and I went back to 2nd & PCH to really polish up her commands in a outdoor shopping center. She did really well! Part of her nature is just being a little suspicious of strangers, so some of the people we came across made her a little nervous but others she didn’t mind at all. She is a sweet pup and with the proper introduction to strangers, you can create a routine for her. All dogs thrive on routines and Penny is no different. She’s been fun to work with. One more day of training before she goes back home just in time for Christmas!!!
Pupdate 12/4/2021
It’s was Penny last day of training and she did really well! She will be ready for a positive and structured life when she goes back home with all her new commands. You’ll still need proper introductions to new people. Don’t be afraid to use the crate from time to time during the day. It’s a great way to let her relax and just be a dog without getting into things. She has been a pleasure to work with! Its bittersweet that she will be leaving my home but I know she is all the better for it.
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