Ruby | Poodle X | Altadena, CA | In Training

Meet Ruby! She's an 18-month-old Poodle mix from Altadena, California, and she's here for our Two Week Community Board and Train Program. Ruby is a great little rescue who still has a lot of puppy energy, so while she's super excited to meet new people and dogs, she doesn't always go about it with the best manners. She also needs to learn to hold her commands when given, not to dash out open doors, and that brushes are not her worst enemy! Over the next two weeks we'll teach Ruby how to Wait before darting through open doors and gates, help her curb some of those puppy impulses, get her solid on all her basic commands, and help show her that grooming can be a good thing. Stay tuned for Ruby's two-week transformation!

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11/9/25

We started off Ruby's first day with a visit to Victory Park on the way home just so I could see what she could do. She was of course very happy to be there and incredibly distracted by the other dogs and people hanging out at the park, but she did okay with coming over when I called her and with her Sit. She'll definitely need some work on that Heel and her Down, and also to focus up when there are distractions around, but we'll get her there! At home I put her out in the yard to hang out with my dogs. She had no issues with any of them at all, and seemed happy to be in the company of other four-legged friends. She definitely tries to squeeze out the gate when I go in and out of the yard, so that is going to be our big focus these first few days. Other than that, though, she did great and she gets along with everyone very well! I'm looking forward to having her as my guest for the next two weeks!

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11/10/25

Today was group practice day at the park, so I got to work Ruby around other people and dogs. We did a lot of work on just having her wait before she could go up and greet anybody, people or dogs. She's very social and just wants to say hi to everyone, but she needs to understand that not everyone wants to say hi to her! And then also to sit and wait politely before she could get any attention, and that jumping doesn't get her any. Aside from that, I began to introduce her Heel, which means to walk at my left side until released with no pulling on the leash, and also to sit any time I stop walking. We worked on Place just a little bit as well, and began the process of teaching her Recall. As far as at home goes, she's already starting to take a nice pause before darting through doors or gates, so I think she'll catch onto that one pretty quickly. She's getting along with everybody, and she's a very polite cuddler! There was only a little bit of that puppy cobbing behavior which seemed to spawn from some uncertainty more than anything. She's overall an amazing house guest!

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11/11/25

I took Ruby over to the big Arcadia Park across from the mall today not only for some more distractions, but for a nice little park walk. She was doing pretty good with her Heel and other commands until she noticed the squirrels! The terrier in her came right on out! I wound up spending a majority of the session on her Leave It command and working on staying at her Heel while we walked past them. I don't mind her looking and being interested, but she needs to not yank on the leash towards them and needs to know if she's been given her Heel command, she needs to stay on it until released. At home I did some work introducing her to being brushed. I started with showing her the brush and then giving her a treat just for looking at it, then started briefly and lightly touching her body with it and rewarding her right after. This is just to teach her that the brush is a good thing, and if she lets me use it, she gets rewarded. I've also been working on rubbing and holding her feet, which she's already doing just fine with. I'll try and see if I can fully introduce the nail clippers before she goes home!

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