Piston | Standard Schnauzer | Port Hueneme, CA | In Training

Meet Piston! He is a 3 year old Standard Schnauzer from Port Hueneme, California here for our Three Week Board and Train program! Piston is a sweet and friendly boy but gets over excited when he is taken into new environments or around large crowds. He also struggles to follow certain commands at times when he is off leash. Over the next three weeks Piston will learn how to behave on leash and off leash, how to properly greet people and other dogs, and how to be the best pup he can be! Stay tuned for Piston's three week transformation!

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Pupdate 02/14/23

Piston and I spent some time bonding and seeing what he knew. He seemed to understand most of his commands but was very excited and wanted to run around the backyard and check out his new environment. He did well getting into a sit and down but struggled holding these positions. He came to me when called but would run off right after. He is a playful and goofy boy who loves to play fetch. Piston did have some bloody stools previously but the one he had with me today was clear which is great news! He did only eat half his meal but it is quite normal there first days as they get adjusted.

_______________________________________________Pupdate 02/15/23

Piston and I headed off to meet up with some other trainers and work out at a park. Today we focused on introducing the remote collar along with his come to sit command. When I ask him to come to me I expect him to come all the way on my left side and automatically pop into a sit. He got into the swing of things quickly but was very excited when he first came out of the car. We then spent some time bonding and playing with the ball. Everyone loves his playful attitude and great looking coat. He has settled in well and is a blast to work with! 

_______________________________________________ Pupdate 02/16/23

Piston and I headed off to a couple local parks to work on his come to sit and place command. Piston does well coming all the way to me but on the grass especially he gets distracted and pulls off to sniff. He picked up on his place command quickly and enjoyed finding new objects and surfaces he could get on. Place is any elevated object or surface within a defined boundary that he needs to hangout on until I release him. We also added in some downs today and ended with a little bit of play. He does show some nervousness when we first arrive to new parks in the form of whining, light shaking, and barking. We will continue exposing and socializing him in new environments to work through this. 

_______________________________________________ Pupdate 02/17/23

Piston and I headed off to a couple new parks to work on his come to sit command and focus on holding his sits and down. As stated in the previous pupdate, Piston has some general nervousness/anxiety when going into new environments. Even after an hour session he still showed some of those tendencies but I was able to see improvement. He tends to pant heavily when asking him to hold a sit or down and a distraction passes by. We will continue working on boosting up his confidence and focusing on teaching him to be more calm & relaxed in these new environments. 

_______________________________________________ Pupdate 02/18/23

Piston and I headed off to a couple new parks to start adding in some distractions. There was a baseball game going on and a couple small family parties behind us. We worked right around the middle as Piston showed some slight anxiety when we first arrived. Today we focused on his heel command, dropping the leash for his come to sit and holding downs for extended periods. For his “heel” command he does well in short spurts but when we get to that longer distances he likes to creep ahead at times but we will continue pushing him through that! He did well with his come to sit and down but does have a tendency to over run his come command more and more as he gets tired. 

_______________________________________________ Pupdate 02/19/23

Piston and I headed off to a couple new parks to focus on his heel command and dragging the leash for his come command. He did much better staying on my left side and not getting ahead but still is a little wide so we will work on tightening him up. He is doing fantastic with his come command with the leash in hand, but when that leash is dragging he gets confused at times so we will continue working on his come command and adding in some new obstacles like a small place board or irrigation box to challenge him. At times, Piston can get distracted if we are in new environments by the smells and people he sees. Usually after a 10 minute warmup he gets into the swing of things. 

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Pupdate 02/20/23

Piston and I headed off to a local park this morning to focus on his heel command which he is improving with daily! We then headed home to work on some in home manners along with his crate manners coming in and out of the car. This is super important for Piston as he likes to come out of the car going 100mph a lot of the time. Practicing that impulse control will set the tone of how we expect Piston to behave before we even get started training.

_______________________________________________ Pupdate 02/21/23

Piston and I headed off to a couple new parks to work on all of his commands dragging the leash. He did much better with his come to sit command today and only needed the leash picked up to tighten up commands a few times. He does well with his “heel” command in small spurts and shorter distances but still likes to creep ahead at times on those longer walks especially in new environments. He did fantastic holding his downs and even better getting onto new place objects! He has made great progress and we will continue pushing and focusing on the couple areas that he still struggles with.

_______________________________________________ Pupdate 02/22/23

Piston and I headed off to a couple new parks today. We first started with dragging the leash and then popped the leash off for our second session of the day. He does well with all of his commands off leash but has a tendency to want to be a little wide when working on his heel command so we will focus on tightening that up over the next few days. There were not too many people out today with the high winds but he did fantastic around the couple of distractions we saw. We then ended with a little bit of fetch. When Piston first came he loved to play fetch but it was his own game with his own rules. Over the past week we have been teaching him that there are rules to the game of fetch and he can’t just choose to hang onto the ball or run away with it. 

_______________________________________________ Pupdate 02/23/23

Piston and I headed off to a local park this morning and then to Hollywood to work around some distractions. Piston did okay holding his sits and downs today but definitely needed some reminders. He was extra wiggly today and wanted to say hello to people that passed by at times when it was not the appropriate time for that. He struggled the most with his heel command and I saw some anxiety in him today around the larger crowds of people and dogs passing by closely. We will focus on building his confidence up and working on those distractions with him! 

_______________________________________________ Pupdate 02/24/23

Piston and I spent some time training at a local park but he got cold quickly in the rain so we headed back home to work on holding place for extended periods and his door manners. Practicing place for extended periods will help Piston have a nice calm spot to hangout on when he has guests come over vs. getting overexcited and jumping on friends coming in. We also worked on his door manners and this is something we have practiced daily. It is vital that Piston understands even though the front door is open and I am moving around out front he can’t bolt out.

_______________________________________________ Pupdate 02/25/23

Piston and I headed off first thing this morning when we had a short break in the rain to a local park to work on all of his commands off leash. As soon as we got un-loaded and started to train the downpour came. He struggled wanting to sit or down (understandably) as the ground was soaked. We then headed off to an open field to work on his come command. He has become a master at this and now we are just proofing and working on repetitions with this command. We then made a trip off to Lowes where he did okay. It was tough to film as my focus was on him but when we first arrived his first 10 minutes I saw a lot of over excitement. He still followed through with all of his commands but needed multiple reminders at times. After those initial 10 minutes he calmed down and got into the swing of things. 

_______________________________________________ Pupdate 02/26/23

Piston and I headed off to a local outlet to work on all of his commands around some new distractions. Piston had a rough start to training today and was very anxious in our new environment. After a good 10-15 minutes he calmed down and did much better holding his positions and remaining in his heel command. I have seen this as a common theme with him and while I am pushing to socialize him in new environments as much as possible, sometimes dogs do need a brief warmup before they are comfortable in new environments. Through time and relationship that anxiety will ease but it will take some time. He has made great progress and gets more comfortable each time we head out somewhere new. 

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Pupdate 02/27/23

Piston and I headed off to a local park to work on all of his commands off leash today. We worked on adding some more distance sending him away to place and even had a group of runners come passing by which was a perfect distraction for him! We then headed off to our local outlet to work on all of his commands in a new environment. He did much better today and it seems as if the switch has flipped and he is following through with all of his commands being asked only one time. With the rain clearing up the next few days we will work on honing in his heel command and teaching him his “under” command. 

_______________________________________________ Pupdate 02/28/23

Piston and I headed off to a local park to work on his under command. This can be used at a bench, table, restaurant etc. We popped the leash on during our first session teaching him this command, just to give a little extra guidance. He picked up on things quickly but did get confused at times whether he was supposed to place on the bench or go under so we will continue working on this. He did much better with his heel command today and needed almost 0 reminders. He had a blast running around off leash today during his breaks and did decide to jump in a little mud puddle but we got him all cleaned up. 

_______________________________________________ Pupdate 03/01/23

Piston and I headed off to meet up with some other trainers and work around some dog distractions. The rain started to come down heavy so we headed off to a new Home Depot to work off leash around some distractions. His first few minutes he was a bit anxious moving around the store in his heel command but he got into the swing of things. He did great holding his sits and downs and has mastered his come to sit command. I have noticed that indoor locations seem to be a bit more of a struggle for Piston compared to an outdoor location. Even at the outdoor mall there is more activity going on then at Home Depot but he shows more anxiousness at Home Depot. We will work on taking him to some more indoor places and working on keeping that focus & attention from him off leash. 

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Pupdate 03/02/23

Piston and I headed off to Santa Monica this morning to work around some new distractions. When we first arrived we saw some over excitement and he struggled staying in a perfect heel. After a 10 minute warm up he got into the swing of things and did well. We had multiple dogs pass by barking, people and kids running by and Piston did not break any of his commands. Today we focused on holding downs and sits around distractions as well as proofing that under command. He did fantastic and is ready to find some more distractions to really push him through that over excitement in new environments. 

_______________________________________________ Pupdate 03/03/23

Piston and I headed off Home Depot & Lowes today to work on all of his commands. He did much better today remaining in his heel position and paid to little to no mind to all the distractions. He did flawless holding his sits and downs but I have noticed on the slippery floors his feet tend to slide out so he needs a reminder or two to get back into a sit. We also worked on finding some new elevated place objects to work on boosting his confidence up. Once he got a rest in, we headed off to a local park to work on all of his commands off leash and played some fetch to end the day. Piston seemed much calmer overall today and has become more comfortable going into new environments. 

_______________________________________________ Pupdate 03/04/23

Piston and I headed off to a couple local parks today to work on all of his commands off leash. He has gotten better daily going into new environments and very rarely needs a warmup when we are going to new places. I still see some slight nervousness when we first show up but within 5 minutes he is working like a champ! We then headed home to work on his food manners. This is very important for Piston to understand that he can not just go barging after the bowl ready to eat and that he needs to sit calmly until he is released. Piston also had a loose stool this morning and afternoon so I added a little bit of pumpkin into his dinner. 

_______________________________________________ Pupdate 03/05/23

Piston and I headed off to a couple different indoor locations to work on all of his commands. In the video below, the e collar I had on him actually died so that is Piston moving around Home Depot all on his own. Today we focused on tightening up his come to sit command as he has gotten a little wide at times, along with adding some more duration to his sit and down command. We also worked on getting him onto some new place objects as well as his under command. His stools were all normal today and I think yesterday must have just been an off day. 

_______________________________________________ Pupdate 03/06/23

Piston and I headed off to meet up with some other trainers and work off leash around some dog distractions. When we first arrived he was a bit excited but after a few minutes he got into the swing of things. When Piston gets excited he has a tendency to break his sit and down command but never leaves where he is. For example if he is in a sit and wants to go say hello to someone he will start standing but won’t move. He does get back into position quickly with a reminder but I have noticed the pattern. We also focused on calling him through distractions as well as working on place for extended periods. I have also noticed that he does a head shake even when I am not using the remote collar or have a collar on him. It can be normal as the dog can start to predict what is going to come through repetitions. Over time this will start to phase out on it it's own.

_______________________________________________ Pupdate 03/07/23

Piston and I headed off to a local outlet today to work on all of his commands off leash. He did fantastic and was a favorite everywhere we went! Today we focused on his come to sit command from further distances as well as holding his place, down and sit command for extended periods. He did get a little excited when a group of kids came sprinting by and he broke position to join the chase but with a tap on the remote he got back into position quickly. He has overall become much calmer in new environments and I only see some slight anxiety when we arrive for the first 2-3 minutes until he gets into the complete swing of things. 

_______________________________________________ Pupdate 03/08/23

Piston and I headed off to a couple local parks to work on all of his commands off leash. Today we worked on mastering his under command off leash as well as holding his sits and downs for extended periods. He did fantastic today with his heel command and needed little to no reminders throughout the whole day. He is looking forward to showing off all his new skills tomorrow!