Meet Penny! Penny is a 4 month old German Shepherd/Husky mix from Hawthorne, CA who has joined us for our 2 Week Board & Train. Penny comes to us with issues such as nipping, leash pulling, and overstimulating when seeing people at first glance. Most of these things are typical puppy behavior that has to be monitored and worked through with obedience. Penny is a sweet girl that's still growing up and has much learning to do so with me as her trainer I'm going to improve on Penny's overall manners and help her understand how to socialize properly. Check out her daily progress with me as her trainer!
Pupdate 4/16/2024
Today I met Penny and she was energetic until we made our way back home. Before heading home I gave her plenty of time to run around and have her zoomies which were directed towards me at times. Once she runs up towards me she always jumps and nips until she is distracted by something else. I took her near a baseball field and kept Penny on the pavement using the grass as a barrier to help her walk better. If Penny was to walk on the grass I would use leash pressure to bring her back. I tried using a slip leash but she would tolerate the leash and even choke herself. Switching to a prong collar seemed to help out and Penny's awareness and responses seemed more adamant now. When turning and heeling together she would only take these moments to try to pull but when walking straight I would let go of the leash tension and she was at my side. I kept this consistent and she was picking up the pace but was still distracted by her surroundings. Once we finish I ask for her to sit and then break her. Break is her released word to stop training and get praised by me or paid with a treat.
Once we made our way home I put her into her crate to see how she would react and she whined for about 10 minutes before falling asleep. After waking up she met my personal dog Hunter who took some time to get used to her since she's overly playful. They played most of the day which was followed up with more training. Stay updated for her daily posts and activities Penny gets to do during her board & train.
Pupdate 4/17/2024
Today I took Penny out to Cerritos Mall for some exposure and to see her natural behavior in a public setting. When walking into the mall each store, smell, and person passing by us was enough to have Penny break her obedience. After some time practicing heeling back and forth throughout the mall Penny was able to heel better since everything around her excites her. We picked an open area to practice our sit, down, and recall to condition the quality of these obedience commands and desensitize from the distractions. Once we finished practicing for a moment Penny was really remaining in her heel and staying next to me. We met up with one of our friends for a short moment and when meeting the rottweiler in the second picture above Penny showed no interest or reacted towards him. I conditioned her to sit and down throughout other areas of the mall.
There was only one moment a child ran nearby Penny which made her want to approach her but in a lunging manner. Penny seems bothered by most but children seem to overstimulate her. When returning home Penny had an accident going potty but I've been noticing with a young puppy like Penny she's frequently going potty about every 2 - 3 hours. She has stopped crying in her crate but when waking up she tries to be verbal for a short moment. This will stop as long as I avoid nurturing the behavior while inside the crate and making sure she waits inside as well when being released.
Pupdate 4/18/2024
Today Penny and Hunter went on a walk together in the morning. Penny tries to lead at times but stopping and resetting our heel with Hunter helped Penny get an idea of what we were doing every time we had to start over in our walk. Once we returned home I gave the dogs playtime before starting Penny's training. We started off in the front of the house working on place and recall which went well.
In the video above we are focusing on door manners in the backyard. I start the practice off with a place pad to help give any dog the idea that they have to remain where they are before being released. Penny does well letting me go up to a certain point before she's concerned about where I'm going. When she starts to get up and removes herself from the place pad I start the practice over. There are moments when coming back she decides to get up even though I'm returning and not leaving so these need to be redirected as well. Our last practice seen in the video she gets up but I was able to use my voice alone and have her remain on her place pad. Once I close the door entirely I say break and she comes to me for her praise.
We continued to practice our obedience throughout the day with more door manners practice inside the house. Penny does well roaming around the house at times but since she periodically pees often I give her time to rest in her crate so when she wakes up I can take her outside immediately. She pees when being excited so I'm going to remain calm and quiet for moment's that are noticeable when she might instigate herself to pee.
Pupdate 4/19/2024
Today I took Penny to Citadel Outlets in Commerce, CA for exposure and to hang out with some of our friends from offleash with their dogs. When we first arrived Penny was doing very well staying next to me with few moments of redirection. We walked around the outlet so Penny can familiarize herself with the environment. Each time someone walked near us Penny showed her interest to try and go up and smell them but I started implementing her off obedience command to disengage her from things that distract her. Shortly after, Penny was doing really well when practicing around the other dogs from offleash.
In the video above is our first try performing an extended down with all distractions around us. We practiced the down obedience so much that it seems Penny didn't seem to bothered being in a down with everything going on around us. Amanda walks around us with one of her dogs and Penny was unbothered during this moment and had her attention one me. She remains in her down before giving her a break and petting her for doing a good job. We took the time to walk around the Outlet again and remained near an event where loud music was playing and teens performing for the event. She remained calm, quiet, and confident until she started to get sleepy. Penny started submitting into a down by the end of the visit so it was time to go home. Penny did really well for being in a new environment and not reacting compared to the previous days.
Pupdate 4/20/2024
Penny did well not peeing inside her crate this morning. I had Penny come outside her crate and was able to go potty outside. This morning Hunter and Penny went for their usual walk together in the morning. Later on we made our way to a park in Cerritos for some exposure to a new environment and more training. We made our way around the park which Penny did well with until we saw some ducks and geese that roamed around the park. We took some time hanging out around them until Penny could settle herself and be unfazed with their presence around us. We made our way near the playground to see if children or seeing children run will still overstimulate Penny. To my surprise, asking Penny for her off obedience when seeing kids seemed to work and we passed a few children that ran in our direction. There were many people walking around with dogs and most barked at Penny while she showed no reaction. We took our time focusing on Penny's recall since everything else seems to be doing well in her training. We spent the remainder of the day on house manners with more quality time spent with Hunter.
Pupdate 4/21/2024
This morning Penny and Hunter had their usual routine of a walk and playtime early in the morning.
After a few hours once Penny was up from her nap I took her around the neighborhood for a walk by ourselves before practicing obedience training in the front of the house. Todays focus was more house manners with our recall. In the video above we are focusing on recall which she can get distracted with when practicing but indoor she can do fairly well without distractions. I lure Penny around me by asking for the word come and if she follows through I help guide her around me with the assistance of the leash. I try to close the distance when she's coming around me since she lets her surroundings distract her. We followed up with the remainder of the day conditioning other commands such as place and down. She's doing well with her obedience but she does have a habit of letting her surroundings get her attention so I'm trying to find a more motivating way to have her be consistent with what she does. We also practiced greeting manners with my family members and she does well but has a habit of pawing a person so we are working on diminishing that habit.
Pupdate 4/22/2024
Today I took Penny to Anaheim Pet & Feed Supply for some training. This is a pet friendly store so we are able to train here freely. We walked around the store many times and this was the first visit where the smells around us distracted Penny heavily. I had to implement the off obedience command very often when something caught her attention. We had one guest greet Penny which Penny did ok with but still needed guidance since she likes to paw at people. Penny didn't jump or play bite but pawing at someone is something we want to diminish and keep her in a sit which is more structured. When training in the small aisles I focused on recall and down since these are the only commands we need to clean up. With Penny's call she was performing it better compared to going into a down. With Penny's down she still needs my assistance to fully place herself down. We are going to spend the rest of this week focusing only on the commands Penny's is being slow with.
Pupdate 4/23/2024
Today's adventure we went to the Block of Orange in Orange, CA for more training in public settings and better conditioning of Penny's obedience commands. When we first arrived Penny seemed happy as always being in a new environment. We walked around the area first to familiarize every shop, noise, and people we pass by. I took the time to enter a few retail stores for exposure inside stores and Penny wanted to smell things around her so asking for her off obedience command each time she has interest in something she doesn't need to touch helped disengage her.
In the video above is an open area I picked to train Penny and focus on her recall and down with duration. Penny is doing her obedience commands with ease with little assistance of the leash pressure now. For her down I have to bring myself down when applying pressure since this helps identify the obedience command I'm asking for. With everything we saw today Penny did well not acting on her impulses to go towards other things and could hold her obedience for more consistent moments.
Pupdate 4/24/2024
Today I took Penny to a park in El Monte, CA to train around the Offleash team and work on more impulse control. Penny did really well not letting other dogs become so much of a distraction today as long as the off obedience command is asked when she sees them. I took Penny to an open area to focus more on our recall and when performing this obedience command she seems to be lazy or not as motivated compared to her other obedience commands. At her age this is normal but we are focusing everyday on making this easier for Penny so she doesn't need leash assistance.
In the second part of the video I have a microphone on going over proper greeting manners and how to micro manage each step and what to look out for when needing to redirect. After the video ends we spent time around each trainer focusing on off, sit, down, and place.
Penny spent the rest of the day focusing more training at home with most of her time spent with Hunter in my room and backyard. No accidents today from coming out of her crate and has managed to walk outside immediately once I open the door for her to go.
Pupdate 4/25/2024
Today I took Penny to Citadel Outlets to practice her overall obedience. Penny did really well today with walking with me, her obedience commands, and not reacting to most children walking or running around us. We first walked around the outlet for some exercise and Penny was able to be consistent throughout the walkthrough. We made our way to meet with a few of our friends and spend some time training around each other before training by ourselves.
In the video above we are training openly in the outlet. Penny is seen performing her heel, down, and recall before ending the practice with her break. When practicing on obedience being able to have Penny perform can make the day if not everyday better especially while at a young age. Everyday practice is showing even if there are mistakes to be made.
Later in the day I noticed Penny being more mouthy and trying to bite everything as much as she could. I'm assuming she's teething more than normal so in these moments I have a tug toy or ball ready for her. She does tire out from teething and will end up taking a nap.
Pupdate 4/26/2024
Today I took Penny to Huntington Beach for training and exposure. I wanted to try the slip leash today to see if Penny can apply herself more without the use of a prong collar. Penny was doing well for most areas of Huntington but when being on the walkway Penny was very distracted from the new smells coming to her. The distractions around her weren't an issue compared to the beach smell which had her puppy brain everywhere besides me. It took many practices but we made progress walking through the walkway and other areas where Penny was distracted. Penny could perform her sit or down but as soon as something caught her attention she would try and investigate what the smell was.
When switching back to the prong we practiced our obedience again walking in areas where Penny was distracted and she seemed to manage a lot better. This was noticeable right away and where Penny had issues training her prong made training easier. We spent the rest of the visit back on the slip leash closer to the main street practicing all of our obedience commands.
Pupdate 4/27/2024
Today's focus was boundaries inside the house while having people come over. On a normal day I practice this with Hunter and Penny before letting them walk through the kitchen to the backyard to play. When we are alone Penny does well with no distractions letting me open cabinets, drawers, or drop things unintentionally without being a bother to her. Today we were having a family party so as soon as people came inside the house it was time to have her ready for this type of situation.
In the video above I have multiple family members come in and even see Penny in the hallway. They baby talk to her and she doesn't even react to this. I open a few cabinets and for a split second Penny gets up into a sit, even for this I redirect her back into her down obedience command because that is what I previously asked before. After that she lets me continue doing whatever I want with all the noise and music going on inside the house before giving her a break. Once I walk in the hallway with her I say break and she follows through to me instead of investigating the kitchen and everyone inside the house.
Throughout the day I took Penny out to meet some of my younger relatives for greeting manners. She does well staying still at times but she has a habit of pawing people while being petted so I continued to guide her into not doing that habit.
Pupdate 4/28/2024
Today's video is of Hunter and Penny playing together. Penny is very ambitious and possessive when it comes to playing but Hunter is very well aware enough to not let Penny push him and even correct her when needing to. In the video above is their behavior and play style. On the first day they met they had a genuine interest in each other and have been friends since the beginning of Penny's training. If there are moments Penny and Hunter's play starts to get loud and if the sound of the bodies bumping into together starts to get louder as well this is the moment for the owner/trainer to step in and just have them stop momentarily. I will often ask the dogs to both sit or down and give them some time to wait it out before being given a break.
We continued the rest of the day practicing our obedience training of all commands. We also practiced training with Hunter side to side heeling and practicing sit and down in front of the house. We finished our last training session without Hunter practicing food manners and door manners which Penny did well in.
