Prince | American Bulldog | Studio City, CA | In Training
- Alex Kruse
- Mar 1
- 19 min read
Updated: Mar 21
Meet Prince! He's a 9-month-old American Bulldog from Studio City, California, and he's here for our Three Week Reactive Board and Train Program. Prince is a big, happy guy who wants to be friends with everybody, but he's a little overzealous about it with the jumping and yanking on his leash. He's in the middle of his teenage months, so there's some pushback at home when it comes to following his commands and being destructive; and he also gets nippy for attention and when he's corrected. Over the next three weeks we'll work on manners around the house and when he's greeting people, make sure he knows his commands and that he has to follow through on all of them without a fight, and set up a solid foundation for him in general to counter that stubborn streak. Stay tuned for Prince's three-week transformation!
3/1/26
Prince and I spent some time in the park after picking him up just so I could get to know a little more about how he responds to commands. He was very busy and excited, and did quite a bit of jumping when I was asking him for his Recall, but he was willing to give me a few of the commands! He eventually gave me a decent Sit, and I was surprised he also did a Down for me despite the distractions, but he definitely needs some work. He seems to be pretty responsive though, so I think with just a little reshaping and refining how we go about teaching him, he'll get all the basics down in no time! When we got to the house he wasn't anxious at all, but after only introducing him to one dog, I determined he's not going to be a great candidate just yet for pack play. He got into a little spat with my Border Collie within about five minutes. I was right there and immediately split them up so everyone's fine! But I'll definitely have to let him settle in a bit more before I feel confident enough to try it again. He's still got plenty of running space though, so it's not an issue, and he's behaving himself just fine otherwise. He's very sweet and I look forward to seeing him improve with all his manners over the next three weeks!
3/2/26
Prince had a great day out with the gang at our weekly group practice. He was able to get some good exposure to other dogs while I was working him on his commands, and while there were a couple moments where he was giving dogs the 'hard stare' briefly, there weren't any incidents of lunging. I had him on his prong and of course the e-collar, so his leash walking was actually decent for his first time out. He was more distracted with trying to sniff around in the grass than yanking me around, which is much easier to deal with! We stuck with simple things today, mostly just reinforcing his Sit, Down and the beginning phases of walking on a Heel. We did just a little bit of Recall as well just on the short leash, and dipped into the Place command briefly. At home we began working on his door manners (where he has to wait until being released before going through doors or gates), his manners as far as getting into and out of the car, and reinforcing his Wait before he gets his food. He slept through most of the night just fine, but did have some barking moments here and there when he was hearing people or critters outside. He's still a little grumbly with the other dogs at the house, which I'll continue to monitor so I can try him again with pack play if he settles. It seems he's a bit particular with the types of dogs he likes. He's got a short fuse when it comes to dogs who are dominant or challenging him, and he definitely wants to chase around the tiny hyper dog in a not-playful way. So energy levels are a key factor with him when it comes to who he may or may not get along with. While I can't force him to want to hang out with any particular dog enough to make him want to play with them, it's still good to know what to look out for in any given setting. If there's a reactive dog anywhere up the street, that's a good time to give both dogs some space and steer clear of each other!
3/3/26
Prince and I had a great day at another park today. We continued doing quite a bit of work on his Heel, and he was sticking close to my side without corrections nicely by the time we finished with the session. I also worked on his Place command up on the picnic table. He was a little uncertain about getting up there at first, but he caught on quick and after a few tries it was no problem. There were a bunch of kids screaming in the playground today, which made for a great distraction while we were working on his extended Sit and Down. He was curious, but he didn't break position or try to go over to where they were. He's doing well at home, but I'm still not quite comfortable with trying him out with the group again. We tried having him greet through the fencing and he immediately lunged towards the other dog, which I know barrier reactivity doesn't mean he'd still be reactive once the fence is gone, but it's not something I'm willing to test. We'll be working on correcting that behavior while he's here though, so it makes for a good training opportunity! He's also still doing a little bit of jumping up on people, but he's gotten better about it already, and he hasn't nipped at anyone at all for any reason. So we're off to a great start there!
3/4/26
I challenged Prince today to do his Heel without the leash being attached to his prong collar. We started off using it per normal to let him acclimate to the park, and aside from every bird, shadow, piece of fluff or reflection from my watch that distracted him, he did great lol. He's been doing pretty well when he's focused up, but I notice he gets distracted very easily, and not by dogs or people! We've really been working that Leave It command over the last few days! Aside from that, I was able to switch him from the short lead to the long line today, still attached to the flat collar and not the prong, and he was mostly responsive to just verbal corrections even on that. The only command he had some issues with was the Place, but mostly just because he wasn't too sure about getting up on that bench. Once he realized he didn't need to be nervous about it, he did just fine! It was a good session all around, and he crashed like a marathon runner as soon as we got home!
3/5/26
Prince surprised me today. I took him into Home Depot just to see how he would do to a different sort of environment with distractions he probably hasn't come across before. Turns out he was so much more focused in there than he normally is outside! Without leaves and birds and shadows, he was able to perform all his commands pretty cleanly, even with the forklifts and carts and beeps and everything. His ears were perked up for the most part (as perked as he can make them), but I barely even had to give him any verbal corrections even. He was great! I did keep him on his prong for this one just because I wasn't sure how he would react, but next time we come back I have hesitations about just keeping him on the flat collar. He did amazing!
3/6/26
Today I took Prince over to Library Park in Monrovia. It's a pretty big park that usually has a decent amount of people wandering through it, so this was our next step up in his distractions. This was also the first time I had him strictly on the flat collar. His prong collar was in my pouch in case I needed it, but I never had to pull it out. There was one dog we came across almost as soon as we got out of the car, and it lunged first, so I wasn't fully prepared to set him up for a calm encounter. He didn't pull too bad, though, and sat right down as soon as I corrected him with no further issues of going after the passing dog. We then wandered the rest of the park, stopping by the playground to see how well he could do with kids running around. That was no problem at all, nor were any of the other people we passed by. At the end of the video you can see a squirrel in the bark in front of us. I super challenged him with that one! But he sat nice for me without any issues at all despite his interest. And again, all on the flat leash and with no treats! I also finally found him a playmate for at home. I just needed to get him with another bully breed and he's been happy as a clam with that. They 'match each other's freak' I guess lol! They chased each other in circles for quite awhile this morning before they finally wore each other out! It was a great for him in general!
3/7/26
I took Prince out to the dog park today to test him around other dogs (only from outside the fence, we didn't go in!). And was immediately disappointed with how few dogs there actually were on a Saturday morning! I tried to get as much interaction as possible to see how he'd do, and from what I was able to test, he had zero issues. I did have him on the prong collar again just in case, but I'm pretty confident I could've done this without it. He was interested, but only in a curious way and not in any way that showed reactivity. He was able to do all his commands without any issues, and he had a fun time playing in the field across the parking lot when we were through. It was so windy today, which meant all the leaves and grass and things blowing around were great fun for him!
3/8/26
Today Prince and I went on a nice walk along the Royal Oaks Trail on just his flat collar. We finally passed dogs in a natural setting! I did play it a little safe and moved us off the main path when we saw approaching dogs, but while he was attentive, he stayed nice and calm for me as each dog passed by. That was using no treats and only a verbal 'Leave It' if it looked like he was getting too locked in. Everything else was a piece of cake! He did his Place wherever I asked him to, held his Sit command and his Down, came when I called him, and stuck at his Heel the entire walk. At home he's gotten much more calm too. He hasn't tried to jump on anyone in a couple days, there hasn't been any nipping at all while he's been here, and he listens quickly when corrected. He plays very well with Willow still, and listens to her cues when she wants him to stop. Overall he's doing really well!
3/9/26
For today's session I worked Prince strictly on the 15' line. This gave him a lot more freedom to work with than he's generally had before, so I made sure we were at a park where I could get some distance from other dogs and people. They were in the background around us, but he barely paid any attention to any of them. He got more distracted by a butterfly that flew by! He was a little less clean with his positioning at the end of his Recall on the line, but he followed through on every command just fine. He did do a couple small jumps at me in his excitement at getting to have some space to run around the grass, but it only took verbal corrections for him to alter course and greet me properly. I keep being extra cautious with him on moving him forward through these steps, but he's proving I don't have to be. He's really coming along very nicely with all his training!
3/10/26
I took Prince into the Santa Anita Mall today! He's been doing so well out and about, I thought I'd try him in an unfamiliar space with more foot traffic. There weren't other dogs today there today, but that was probably a good thing because this was probably the most anxious I've seen him. It wasn't too bad, just more panting than usual and his ears were pinned back a little more, and he started to loosen up as we walked around more. It was just a lot of new smells, sights, and sounds that echo in the halls that he isn't used to. Despite that, he still did really well with performing his commands. I only needed to use verbal commands for everything, and he never looked at anyone in any sort of way that I would've been concerned with. We even walked by the booth with all the walking, squeaking toys and he barely even looked at them! He was a perfect gentleman for his first trip into the mall. Next time we'll try it when it's a little busier and see how he does!
3/11/26
Prince and I tackled a slower time at Live Oak Park today, but even with that we had some moments where I thought he might act out. He proved me absolutely wrong, and I am so glad for that, because I wasn't prepared for the two young children to crowd in behind him while they were captivated by my drone. You can see where I was about to step away from him to do an Extended Down, but quickly stepped back in when I saw the kids. Prince, though? Couldn't care less that they were there. I moved him off when the kids gave me enough space to do so comfortably, and we just kept on going on our way with zero issues. And then, of course, it was when the camera was off that we ran into all the things that I thought might trigger him. I was sitting at a picnic table with him on the long line while I was downloading my footage. A jogger doing laps zipped right past him (why he decided to crowd in close when we were away from the jogging path is anyone's guess!), but he only turned his head to watch. Another guy walking a dog went behind us, and I didn't even see them until I tracked Prince's eyes casually watching, interested but relaxed. And then a park worker pulled out a lawn mower and started it up only a few feet away from us. Again, Prince only showed casual interest. The only thing that made him hop up and try to tug towards were a couple little song birds who flew down on the ground nearby lol. Go figure, the only thing that triggered him today were tiny birds! A quick 'Leave It' settled him back down, and that was the end of it. I'll definitely take that over him trying to go after people and dogs any day!
3/12/26
Now you can't see it on camera, but there is a little reflection of light shining on the ground right in front of Prince. This is important to note because while he's been really great at all his commands, the only thing that seems to get him to break anymore is his prey drive over small, fast moving things. Most frequently, that's the reflection off my watch as I move around. So today I used it on purpose, keeping that light just ahead of him and making sure he still stayed in his Heel, Sit and Down despite what the 'light bug' was doing. You can see where he starts picking up speed here and there, then falls back. That's me giving him a verbal correction to remind him he hasn't been released from his Heel yet. He slowed himself down every time without me needing to do more than that, which was far better than I thought he was going to do with that temptation right in front of his face. It is something I'll have to continue to work at, and you'll have to keep it up when he goes home as well. Anything small and fast (lizards, birds, bugs, light beams) is the most likely thing that's going to cause him to break command. That also means we're not going to encourage him to chase things like that, so if he does any laser-light play at home at all, I would stop doing that as a play game at least for now while we're trying to ease back that trigger towards tiny, speedy things.
3/13/26
I have to start off by saying there was so much going on today I had a really hard time cutting my video down to length! We headed back to Live Oak Park earlier in the morning where we would be sure to catch more people out and about. There were walkers, joggers, basketball players, wallball, pickleball, kids running, and of course other dogs. All of it made for a good test for Prince's impulse control, but he passed with flying colors! I had him clipped to my belt so I could work his Heel without my hands being on the leash as much as possible just to see if he could maintain it without me tugging on it. I only grabbed it here and there if we were near other dogs, when a guy wanted to chat with us for a bit, and when I saw Prince begin to perk up at something. Namely that was a squirrel (the bit in the video where I have him in a sit just staring at seemingly a wall is us working on staying still while said squirrel was sitting on top of it), and when he caught sight of the ball with the wallball players. So of course I had him sit and watch that for a bit until he got bored as well. He was really patient with all of it and did all his commands with only some slight hesitation here and there. He responded to verbal cues and hand signals only, I didn't have to correct him with the e-collar at all, and he didn't try to lunge at anything or anyone, not even to jump up to say hello! It was a great day for him!
3/14/26
We were going to head back to the mall today, but it was so packed there was no parking even way out in the sticks! So we diverted to PetSmart instead with the hopes that I could work him around dogs in tight spaces. He was fine with that, but it was all the smells I had an issue contesting with today! He was so curious about absolutely everything that he was almost frantic in his sniffing! It took a couple reminders to get him to focus up and settle down, which he pouted about for a few minutes, but then he learned if he was calm he would be able to move around the store as he wanted. We worked on his Leave It a lot, making sure he wasn't going to grab toys or snacks off aisles, and he most definitely got a cookie for all the incredibly hard work of remembering impulse control. I will admit, I did not take him past the birds and rodents today. That felt like it might be too much of a challenge considering how amped up he already was, but we'll definitely test him on it next time!
3/15/26
Geese. I took him where I knew there'd be geese, and 100% as expected, he struggled lol. We went over to Santa Fe Dam where it's normal for the place to be super active on the weekends. Lots of parties were happening, a motorized bike nearly ran us over, we passed a huge kite, were nearly face to face with another dog as we passed by each other, and so much more. He didn't care about any one of the myriads of distractions until we got to the geese. He was locked in. He was still able to give me his Sit and Down, but he had a hard time holding those commands, and his Heel got shaky when we were walking away from them. I did have to be a little heavier on those e-collar corrections than I've been for everything else, but we were still working on just his flat collar and long line, so he still responded pretty well considering. He never tugged so hard where I couldn't easily control the movement, but it is something he's going to need further work on even after going home. Birds are hard for him! He did absolutely fantastic with everything else, though, so given where we started to where we are now, I'll take the little bit of bird reactivity over all the other things!
3/16/26
Today I took Prince back to the Santa Anita Mall to wander up through the outdoor promenade. There's a fountain there with turtles and big koi fish that I was sure he'd be interested in given his track record, but he actually stayed very nonchalant while he was checking them out today. Turtles and fish were swimming right next to him, but they didn't set him off like some of the other critters in motion have. It's a good thing! He wasn't interested too much in the other dogs or people cruising around the shops. He did act humorously uncertain when we passed by a couple lion statues. I don't know what he thought they were, but he wouldn't go near them until I walked over and touched one to show him it was just a thing lol. Then he came and sniffed it and pretended like he wasn't scared at all, no way, not him. Outside of that, only the usual culprits made him act out some - my watch reflection and a butterfly. For the most part though, I'm certain he can go just about anywhere and (mostly) act like a gentleman.
3/17/26
We did some work again inside the mall to beat the heat today, and came across many other people and their sheltering in the AC as well. I ran him through all his commands in clean succession, and he breezed through those no problem. He did, for the first real time since I've had him, react towards another dog early in the session. It was under one of the food court tables and came charging out at him (which was insane because that dog could've been an easy snack for Prince!), so we had tiny, fast, loud, and mean coming at him all at once. He wasn't too bad about his reaction, considering, just tugging towards it and forgetting he was supposed to be on his Heel. We were still on the flat collar and long line, but I was able to maintain control without too much of a struggle, so he did remember to hold back quite a bit from where we started weeks ago. And then I beeped him once on the collar and that was enough of a reminder for him to let it go. We moved off on our way and he was completely fine after that. It was a solid reminder that while he's been really great with people and dog encounters lately, the potential is still in there to react under certain circumstances, but at least he's not the one starting it now!
3/18/26
Today I was granted one of those once in a blue moon training opportunities, and I was so happy I actually caught it on camera! We were working on Prince's house manners, which he's excelling at. Those include sitting and waiting before he gets into the car, we already know he can wait for his food, but I dumped cheese and treats in the bowl for the video so it would be even more tempting for him, and then sitting and waiting before darting out the door. He's already great at all three of these, but while we were doing the door test, you can see in the background the Amazon van pull up. I kept looking back to see if he was for us, and sure enough, he was making deliveries for my roommates today! That Amazon man came right up to the door, dropped his packages and took his pictures while Prince was sitting nicely not even two feet away. Prince was an absolute angel for that. He was watching, he was interested, but there were no signs that he might try to lunge or bark. He definitely earned that cheese after that!
3/19/26
We did the more formal home manners yesterday, so today I thought I'd show off the general living things. First is basically showing him not getting on the couch lol. He did want to early on when we were working on it, but he's learned by now that couch space is not his space and it's better to stay on the floor. Then I know counter surfing was a thing, so I busted out a couple pieces of yummy cheese and moved them all around in different temping places right in front of him. He knows what his Leave It command means now too, so as you can see, he's showing very little interest in the cheese at all. He knows it's not his so he shouldn't even bother to go for it (but don't worry, when we went off screen after, I gave him some so he wasn't working for nothing!). Then his Drop It command was another one I know was important since he's swallowed things he shouldn't have in the past. I worked with one of his bullysticks and a few toys he's been interested in during his stay to show that he'll let me take things from him without issues now, even when he knows he may not get them back. The toys, for instance, he doesn't get to play with if there's no supervision, and of course I had to put his bullystick in the little holder thing before I gave it back to him for longer chew time. The last thing I showed was him not jumping up even when I was trying to get him to. He still does the occasional little bunny hop here and there when he's excited, but it's low instead of trying to jump directly on people, and it only takes a little verbal reminder for him to settle down again. He's been doing really good for me - all he needed was a little bit of structure and he's been great!
3/20/26
I took Prince out to Rotary Park today, which is a park that's fully fenced in, to say how he would do with me dropping the leash entirely while we worked. He had the long line on so I could snag him if he tried to take off on me, but he really did pretty good with everything overall. The dogs are usually aware of the weight of the leash still on their collar, but they're smart. They can see when they aren't actually attached to anything anymore, and either they try to take advantage of that the first time, or it throws them. Prince was the latter. He was a little more hesitant than normal on his positioning for the Heel, and got a little lost going into his Place, but otherwise he was able to do everything just fine. Granted it was very low distraction, but there were squirrels and birds, and he didn't try to take off on me to chase either of those. He was a really sweet, well-behaved boy in general for me today.
3/21/26
It's our last pupdate in your three week program! Prince and I headed back out to the park to have a day where he mostly just got to run and be a crazy boy like he likes to be. I didn't let him go nuts with chasing squirrels or birds or anything, but as long as he wasn't pulling on the long line, I let him hang out and watch as much as he wanted. He was also bouncing around in the grass chasing shadows (no surprise there lol) and having a general good time while still following through on commands when I asked. He didn't try to go after any other dogs or people at all. We just enjoyed our last day together having fun!
Prince has been an absolute joy to have at the house. He's goofy, loving, playful, and generally eager to please. He's young still, so he's still got a lot of energy, but I firmly believe when he's a little older that he'll be the perfect blend of obedient but still playful. While he's been generally great with dogs and people, I would still watch him for any signs that he's not enjoying the situation he's in. He did finally start to warm up to my border collie over the last few days, but the fact that it took so long for that to happen tells me he's not a dog who can just be thrown in with others at any random point. He may need some time to decide if they're the right fit for him or not. And then with people I would mostly just make sure that he's comfortable before letting anyone pet him. If they begin to approach and he stiffens up or he looks at them with any distrust, I would ask them not to pet him. Give him some time to adjust to new people in his presence before letting them touch, let him decide if he wants that level of affection, and then I think he'll do just fine. He's really been great and I want to thank you for letting me be a part of her learning journey!
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