Ramses | Doberman Pinscher | Downey, CA | In-Training

Meet Ramses! He is an 11-month-old Doberman Pinscher joining our Two-Week Board and Train Program. Ramses seems to take to other humans well but may display some uncertainty at times. He is reactive to other canines and felines, although he does have these siblings at home. Ramses has some basic understanding of commands such as Sit but is far less likely to complete the task without a treat, especially when out in public. Ramses is very codependent to his humans and his canine brother. He often leans against, pushes, and steps on his humans. With his canine brother he follows his every lead, whether it is appropriate or not. Throughout the next two weeks we will be working on solidifying Ramses’ basic obedience without being dependent on treats. As well as working to build his confidence in himself! Stay tuned for his two week journey!

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Pupdate 8/5/2023

Ramses did well on the car ride home and did not whine or fidget inside the crate. However, once it was time to go into the crate at home, he did show a little more resistance than he did getting into the car even though the crate at home is much more spacious.

Ramses was quite hesitant to enter the backyard without Jefe present. He has moments of using his body and his weight against us, by simply plopping himself on the ground. Once he got moving, he was a bit more comfortable, but it was visible that he was still anxious. Working Ramses through leash pressure took quite a bit more time and muscle work as he wanted to just pull through it pretending like it wasn’t there. He was also introduced to “off” as our general “do not do” command. Although he did not need nearly as many reminders as his brother Jefe. We will dive into full training tomorrow when he is picked up by his trainer, Tanner.

Once the boys became fully settled into the home, (and after mini working sessions with leash pressure) they took naps inside their crates. They would occasionally bark/whine when hearing a noise. We quickly noticed that with or without Jefe, Ramses is very hyperalert of his surroundings.

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Pupdate: 8/6/2023

We started off our training by introducing Ramses to the Place command. It is important to stay consistent and ensure an appropriate follow-through with each task. Please listen to the audio for today’s video regarding the Place command!

At first Ramses was hesitant to go onto the place object. After a few tries he was hopping up with no issues!

Tanner then came to pick up Ramses! Here are his notes about the rest of their day:

After picking up Ramses, we went home so we could get to know each other! He was a little standoffish when we first met, but he pretty quickly allowed me to walk him and touch him! When we got to my house, he opened up a lot more, however. He started making himself at home immediately! He has not eaten his dinner yet. I added some warm water to try to make it more appetizing, and I'll leave it with him to see if he eats sometime in the next little while.

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Pupdate: 8/7/2023

Ramses and I went to Almansor Park today for training! He was definitely a little nervous, even though there were hardly any other people there when we went. If someone came into view, even if they were several hundred feet away, Ramses would lock onto them and not want to perform his commands with me. When he does this, I utilize his E collar as well as the Off command to get his attention back toward me. Once he looks at me, I can mark that with a "Yes!" Which he seems to be picking up on! When he wasn't distracted, his Heel was very good, and his Come To Sit seems to be coming along! He had trouble Placing on narrow bleachers, but when asked to Place on easier objects, like wider benches, he did so with fairly little issue. Ramses eventually ate his food last night! He also ate his breakfast relatively quickly, but hasn't touched tonight's dinner yet.

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Pupdate: 8/8/2023

Ramses and I went back to the park to work on his commands some more! Again, he had trouble performing when anyone else was nearby, but he did a little better than yesterday. There are a few times in the above video where you can see Ramses fully follow through with his commands, like the Come To Sit, but then when he spots someone in the distance he wants to stare, even if it means fully turning his body around when we're walking. When he does this, I click on his E Collar, and at the same time use the Off command, then remind him what he should be doing by using the Heel command with another click of his E collar. It seems like each time we go out somewhere, Ramses is becoming more responsive and engaged with me, but he still has a lot of work to do! For the sore on his foot, I've been using Neosporin in the morning and evening, although it looks like it's taking a while to heal. I haven't seen him licking or scratching it though!

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Pupdate: 8/9/2023

Ramses and I went to Whittier Narrows Park today! There were many more distractions than he's had at the other parks, and Ramses definitely noticed. There were times when he did a great job of staying focused, then there were other times where a person or object would grab his attention greatly. For example, we came across a strange looking fire hydrant and Ramses didn't want to walk by it. After a few passes, he got used to it and he was able to ignore it. Other instances include, when people walk up behind us on the trail, he still wants to turn all the way around to check them out. That being said, there were plenty of times today that Ramses' potential shone through and he stayed focused and responsive!

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Pupdate: 8/10/2023

Ramses and I went to the park today along side his brother, Jefe, and his trainer, Sheena! We worked with each brother individually, and then worked on their double heel! Ramses did much better than yesterday, although he still had plenty of moments where his insecurities came out. The most notable being when other dogs passed us. New dogs getting close to us seems to be Ramses' biggest weakness so far. Upon seeing his brother, Ramses immediately wanted to pull toward him. Sheena kept Jefe in a sit while Ramses and I walked toward them and away from them until Ramses was willing to heel politely all the way up to them, at which point we released both of them to say hi! We took them for a walk together, and Ramses wanted to pull over to Sheena and Jefe, for the first several minutes of the walk. He eventually started to heel fairly well with me, and worry less about his brother and Sheena, but that was when the four of us were completely alone. Whenever a someone passed, especially from behind, Ramses would want to immediately break his heel position to stare at them. Just like yesterday with the fire hydrant, this also occurred for inanimate objects. Today it was an overturned barrel that Ramses was unsure of. After individual heeling, we started trying out their double heel! It took quite a few minutes to get them to relax enough to walk right next to each other, but they eventually managed while no other distractions were present. Just like the individual heel, ramses often wanted to pull toward or away from various distractions. The one that got him the most riled up was a pair of dogs that we passed a couple times.

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Pupdate: 8/11/2023

Ramses went to Ranch Cienega Park today for his training session! There were far fewer distractions here than there were the last couple days, and I was really able to see some progress because of that. He took several minutes to get used to the area and sniff around, but he was more engaged with me than he has been recently. He still liked to stop and check out any new area we went, but he found it much easier than his first couple days. At the far end of the park, there is a skatepark which had a couple skaters in it. My guess is this is probably the first time he's seen that particular distraction, and that definitely showed. We spent a long time hovering around the skatepark, and he was locked onto them for several minutes. I tried to direct his attention to me and some of his commands by asking him to place on a few different objects, which he did! He, however, would then turn to face the skatepark. After trying this tons of times, he eventually started to ignore the skaters to some degree, but not entirely. Once we left the skatepark and went back to the secluded fields, he become much more chipper and focused again!

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Pupdate: 8/12/2023

Ramses went to the Santa Monica Promenade today! This was a big adventure for him, and he did fairly well. All of the distractions surrounding him had him a bit weary, and he was constantly trying to look every which way. While we were walking, he did a good job of staying with me, and was able to focus for much of the time. When we stopped to work, however, he became a little overwhelmed with everything going on in the environment.

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Pupdate: 8/13/2023

Ramses and I went to Almansor Park today for training! His commands are still improving each day. There were plenty of distractions around the park, including a basketball game and plenty of geese and ducks. Today was his best day so far when it comes to ignoring distractions, although there were still times he locked on and stared at random people. He did a lot less of his fully turning around, and did a better job of maintaining his Heel position, even when distractions were present behind us. He had trouble holding his positions in a few areas, as he wanted to get close to me instead of maintaining his Sit or Down, so this will be something we will work more on.

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Pupdate: 8/14/2023

Ramses went to the park today, and there were slightly more distractions than usual. He's still doing a better job at heeling without trying to turn all over the place, as demonstrated in today's video! It seems once we stop, however, that's when he wants to look back at everyone behind us. That being said, he's doing well with the Off command. While he is sitting at my side in the video, you can see several times his gaze shoots over to the people walking the trail, and each time, I use the Off command in conjunction with his e collar to bring his attention back to the front. He also did a better job today at allowing me to walk several feet away while he holds his Sit. There were still a few times when he wanted to break in order to get to me, but he's doing much better with that!

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Pupdate: 8/15/2023

Ramses and I went to Whittier Narrows Park today! We were with several other trainers and dogs. While actively working through his commands, Ramses did a good job staying on task even around the others. When he was asked to settle down and relax for a while, however, he continuously wanted to play and carry on. There were moments where Ramses would lay down and behave himself for minutes at a time, but he usually would want to break his positions and try to play with me or the other dogs at the slightest sign of engagement. I believe getting him around all this dogs is going to be great for him, though, and compared to his response to new dogs previously, he did a good job today!

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Pupdate: 8/16/2023

Ramses and I spent more time around the other trainers' dogs today. For today's video, Ramses starts with another trainer, while I walk another dog around him. I then take Ramses' leash and walk him around the other dog. Ramses does a pretty good job heeling with each of us, although he gets distracted when several other dogs and people walk very close to him.

Ramses ended up doing a good job with the other trainer, and I'm glad he was able to mostly behave while in new hands. He still had some trouble sitting still, but not as many issues as yesterday!

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Pupdate: 8/17/2023

Ramses and I met up with Sheena and Jefe today! We worked more on their double heel and got them working through their commands around each other. This training will be extremely important for when they go home together! Ramses is a little more anxious than Jefe, and he wanted to instigate the shenanigans more than Jefe, but he managed to perform his commands and they did pretty well with their double heel! In the above video, Sheena and I walk them in their individual heels, before handing off the brothers for each of us to try double heeling. I felt like Ramses sometimes wanted to pull ahead of Jefe and me, but with the reiteration of the heel command paired with the utilization of his E collar, he fixed his position when asked.

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Pupdate: 8/18/2023

Ramses went to the mall today! He took a few minutes to get used to the new environment, but once he adjusted, he behaved very well. There were strangers walking every which way around us for a lot of the time, and Ramses did a good job of looking around, but not fixating on anyone or trying to turn to face everyone behind us. He was able to hold his Sit, Place and Down commands without breaking, and got some practice with his greeting manners! He even got a few compliments on how well behaved and beautiful he was! All of this being said, Ramses and I spent some time at the park this morning before the mall, so he did have a solid warm up before going out into the higher distraction area.