Meet Roxie! Roxie is a 7-month-old German Shepherd Mix from Los Angeles, CA and she just joined us for our 2 Week Board and Train Program. Roxie is sweet but still a very shy and nervous pup. She spends most of her time playing in the backyard with her many puppy siblings at home. Roxie is very hyperaware of her surroundings and every noise catches her attention. Since Roxie has not had much exposure to the outdoor world, we will be working on a lot of confidence building with her. Stay tuned for her awesome transformation!
Pupdate 8/7/2022
Roxie spent the day settle into her new temporary home. She is very shy, reserved and unsure of her new environment. Every little noise/ movement catches her attention, even dogs barking at a neighbor’s house a couple doors down. When Roxie first saw our other pups, she let out some low growls. We got her weight in at 52.9lbs
Pupdate 8/8/2022
Today Roxie got to meet up with some of the trainers inside Offleash SoCal. We went to El Dorado Park in Long Beach in the morning. As soon as we arrived Roxie growled at the other trainers’ dogs. She did not like them anywhere near or around her. Any time the other pups were behind Roxie she was very concerned with them and was constantly turning around looking at them. She had the opportunity to work with the other trainers as well. Roxie was a little unsure of the trainers at first but warmed up to them after spending some time with them.
Pupdate 8/9/2022
For today’s video we wanted to show an introduction to a proper Heel. For Heel we would like Roxy to walk directly on our left-hand side. Not in front, not behind or too far off to the side. Ideally, we would like her ear to be in line with our left knee. In the video we utilized only leash pressure to help her follow through. When Roxie is Heeling well, we provide her with lots of verbal praise such as “Good girl, good Heel”.
Roxy is slow to come out of the crate everyday. While she loves us humans she likes to stay in and have her own space.
Pupdate 8/10/2022
When we first brough Roxie out to the back with the other pups she was very unsure and did not want to leave our side. Initially, she has no interest in the other pups or even the backyard. There were a few times where the other dogs came up to sniff her and she tried to hide behind us or even push her way into our lap. After spending some time sitting there with her, she slowly started to venture off. First, she only went a couple feet away, then came back. The next time she went a little further and came back again. She repeated this process for a good 30 minutes. The moment Roxie showed some independence and sniffed the other pups we gave her lots of praise. Soon after she initiated play with the littlest, Buster! She wasn’t interested in playing with the others closer to her size.
Also, Roxie isn’t comfortable going potty with the other pups around. Roxie will piddle (let out some pee) when she is nervous, typically called submissive urination. Later, when she was then brought back out to spend time with the pups again Roxie started over her whole process going back and forth with the dogs. She doesn’t use her nose to familiarize herself with others again. So, when little Buster went to greet her, Roxie tried to run in the other direction with her tail tucked.
Pupdate 8/11/2022
Roxie met with other trainers to practice her Place command. Place is when we have Roxie get up onto a specified object. She is to remain there in a sit/down until being released or asked to do something else. When we first arrived, Roxie avoided walking near the other dogs. She would push into me or move away from me. Depending on where the other pups were. After I kept Heeling her around them, she was more comfortable coexisting with the other trainers’ pups. But any time there was another person with a dog (a patron enjoying the park) Roxie would be on high alert, low growl and bark at them.
For Place Roxie understands what we are asking her to do but can be slow moving, unsure or stubborn at times. You can see there was moments where she resists/refuses to go on Place, goes halfway up then pushes off, tries to walk away, bites the leash, and jumps on me. These are all attempts from Roxie to not follow through with the ask. She often tries to lean on me while she is on Place too. The idea is to have Roxie on the Place without us being within reach.
Roxie is not a fan of going in the car to leave the house. She will put her front two paws up, then we will help her up the rest of the way. Although, when we get back to the car to go home, she will happily jump right into the car.
Pupdate 8/12/2022
We took a trip to Home Depot to work her in a new environment with new distractions. She surprisingly did relatively well. Roxie didn’t seem startled by the carts and machines driving around the store. Although she is on high alert the whole time constantly shifting her ears and often looking around to follow a sound. There were no other canines in the store, which seems to be when she is most uncomfortable. Roxie also pushes into us which pups often do to feel ‘safe’. She also likes to lean against us and sit on our feet. These are all signs of some insecurity in canines. We would like Roxie to be more independent.
Pupdate 8/13/2022
Since Roxie has gotten more used to other dogs, we let her outside with our personal pup and the other board and trains. Roxie did very well outside with the others. Roxie played ball, ran around with the other pups, and after getting tired came back inside. We worked on her duration Sit and Place during training today. She did okay for the first couple minutes but after a while she started to break command and overall, just wasn’t listening. We definitely need to address that area.
Later, Roxie went down to Naples, in Long Beach to work on Heel, Sit, Place, and Duration Sit. The overall work was adequate, but Roxie is very anxious and not paying attention to the handler. Roxie does focus on potential “threats” but needs to trust the handler more and follow through with commands.
Pupdate 8/14/2022
In the morning, we let Roxie out in the backyard with the other Board and Train pups. Roxie has continued to warm up to the other pups and is happy to spend time with them! She has grown very comfortable with another Board and Train pup named Jefferson. Jefferson is almost like a security blanket in that sense where she is always with or next to him when she is out of command.
Later in the day, we took her down to The Huntington Beach Pier where there are tons of distractions such as other dogs, people walking and bikes. Roxie worked on her duration Sit, Down, and Heel command. She did okay but she kept breaking command and popped up when distance was created. We can only get about 5 ft away from Roxie before she becomes anxious, wanting to move closer to us. Roxie is very dependent on humans or even her buddy Jefferson. Roxy's decency and insecurity is something that just needs continuous work long-term.
Pupdate 8/15/2022
To start the day, we let Roxie outside to socialize. It is incredible how she went from being very nervous and unsure of the other Board and Trains to being very comfortable and playing with them. When we took her out to work on her Come to Sit command, she had this problem where she comes around the back and then just stops or doesn’t fully continue to come around to the left leg side. But other than that, her Come to Sit command is coming along. Roxie was also trying to sit on us or lean against us. This is where it is super important to stay consistent with her, even with all the small things. Roxie definitely knows what we are asking of her but trying to see what she can and can’t get away with.
After that we took her over to the dog park to work on her being around new dogs. We just walked her on the outside of the dog park which gave us that reassurance that a dog wasn’t going to run up close to her and startle her. The little dogs were the ones catching her attention more causing her to react. These pups ran up to the fence and had more animated reactions.
Pupdate 8/16/2022
Roxie has gotten much better with jumping into the car when we are leaving the house! Before she would not want to go in to leave somewhere and only jump in to go back home. When we got there, we worked on Heel, Place, and Come to Sit. Her Heel command has come along very nicely in that we have reduced the number of times she bumps into us. She still does it but it is much better. Her Place command is also going well. Roxie still moves very slow and breaks command once in a while but has shown improvement with each passing day. Her Come to Sit has also improved a lot. Roxie occasionally does get stuck behind us, but nothing that can’t be fixed; it just needs more work.
Pupdate 8/17/2022
Whenever we start Roxie’s Heel command (taking her out for a walk) she starts off pushing into and bumping into you. After a couple of corrections, she was able to heel properly. We also have been working on her sitting right as we stop walking. This is important to use whenever you cross the street. We use it so she knows that she can’t just rush out in the middle of the street when she wants. When it is safe to cross, we cue Heel and continue walking.
Later in the day, we took her over the Lowes and practiced Heel, Duration Sit, Duration Down, and Place with light distractions. She does often crane her head around to make sure there aren’t any “threats” around. Her Duration Sit and down were great! The only time she broke command is when we said something that probably sounded like the Break command. Roxie’s Place command was also very good. She demonstrated her Place on things like soil, potting mix and manure. Even close to the end, we were feeling confident in her Heel ability. So, we tucked the leash behind her collar and let her walk off leash! She did very well and didn’t have any issues aside from craning her head. Keep in mind this was in an enclosed environment with minimal distractions and zero canines.
Pupdate 8/18/2022
Roxie and her best friend Jefferson love to wrestle and it’s nice to see that’s she’s has created bonds with some of the other pups. We took her to a local park to meet with other OffLeash trainers. She worked on her Heel, Place, Come to Sit, and her Duration Down and Sit off leash! Roxie would get distracted by other dogs there and would veer off a bit. After some reminders she came back to the Heel position. Other than that, she did great, and we are very happy by her progress.
The meetups with other trainers and dogs are a very controlled environment. There has not been any consistency as to what dogs she does/doesn’t like. It is the same with people too.
Pupdate 8/19/2022
Roxie enjoys all of her daily walks and her free time with her best friends Jefferson and Oso. We periodically take Roxie off leash in the neighborhood, and she does great. We only take her off leash when we feel 100% comfortable and especially when it is a more controlled environment! Our neighborhood is not busy by any means so we know Roxie can thrive in this environment. Whether she is on leash or off leash you always want to be aware of your surroundings! If you noticed a distraction coming near make sure you have Roxie’s attention. If you notice she turns her head or her ears perk up, get her attention back on you. Roxie is not fond of all dogs. There are some she is okay walking past and other where she will react towards them. So, consistency is going to play a huge role in her long-term progression.
Pupdate 8/20/2022
We worked on Roxie’s house manners. These include crate manners, door manners and food manners. For crate manners we would like Roxie to go in/out of the crate on command. She sometimes takes her time coming out of the crate which isn’t a bad thing! As long as she doesn’t push his way out of the crate. Door manners we want Roxie to sit/down and wait before going in/out of any doorway. Even if it is left open. Food manners work similar to door manners where Roxie must sit/down and wait to be released to get her food. The same rule applies for treats too!
Roxie made an amazing transformation during her time with us. She became much more confident in herself, but this will be ongoing work. Roxie just needs consistency, guidance and structure from us humans to continue thriving!
