Meet Sasha! She's a three year old Husky Mix from Long Beach, California here for our Two-Week Board and Train Program! She's a sweetheart who loves her family, but she is very shy and nervous when meeting new people. She will sometimes bark at people entering her home, although she's very nice once you get to know her! She sometimes becomes overly playful with other dogs, and other times shies away from them. Sasha has trouble following through with some of her basic commands, especially her recall. She tends to pull on her leash while walking, and gets distracted very easily! Over the next fourteen days, we'll work on Sasha's manners in and out of the house, help her with her obedience skills on and off leash, help build up her confidence, and show her how to become the best pup she can possibly be! Stay tuned for Sasha's two week transformation!
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Pupdate: 7/30/2023
After picking up Sasha, we went over to Almansor Park to get to know each other! Sasha was a little nervous when I first met her, but by the time we got to the park, she seemed to start taking to me. In the above video, I'm asking Sasha for various basic commands, to see what she'll offer me right off the bat. She seems more or less comfortable approaching me when I ask her to Come, although she usually walks right by me after. She would sometimes Sit when I asked, although I'd like her to be a lot more responsive! For Heel, she seemed interested in following me sometimes, if I pat my leg and call her. She didn't seem to respond to Down or Place at all. This is a great starting point for Sasha, and I'm excited to begin her training! After the park, we went home where I let her sniff around my house. She seems to be settling in very well so far! She hasn't eaten her dinner yet, but I'll leave it for her to see if she'll eat some with more time.
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Pupdate: 7/31/2023
Sasha went to Belvedere Park for her first full day of training! She did a great job and even got to see her future brother, Koa! They didn't fully interact yet, but they did a good job simply existing in the same space together. For Sasha's commands, we started working on her Heel and Come To Sit commands. For Heel, I'd like Sasha to walk at my left side with her ears at my knee. She's picking this up very quickly. She is even already starting to engage with me when I turn around and move in different directions. For Come To Sit, I want Sasha to come to my right side, walk around my legs, and sit at my left side with her ears at my knee. She seems to be getting the motion of this one, although she will sometimes still want to stop short of walk by me. Sasha did not eat her breakfast, and she has only taken a few bites of her dinner so far. If she doesn't eat soon, I am going to add water to her kibble, and maybe some peanut butter to see if that makes it more enticing.
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Pupdate: 8/1/2023
Sasha went to Belvedere Park today for training! She was very well behaved. We continued to work on her Heel and Come To Sit commands, and we added the Place command. For Place, I want Sasha to hop onto a raised object, such as a bench. This is very useful for boosting confidence, so Sasha will be spending a lot of time on it! Sasha ate about half of her breakfast, but hasn't touched her dinner yet.
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Pupdate: 8/2/2023
Sasha went to Almansor Park today for training! She's still progressing well. In the above video, we go through the commands she's been working on, including Come To Sit, Heel, Place and Down. She's becoming more responsive each day, and I'm particularly proud of how quickly she's starting to like the Place command! Great job, Sasha!
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Pupdate: 8/3/2023
Sasha went to the Santa Monica Pier today! She was a little nervous around some of the larger crowds, and she had a hard time performing some of the commands. She was generally well behaved, but she definitely wanted to shy away from most people and noises. I think she needs a little more confidence building before we go back to the pier. Great job nonetheless, Sasha!
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Pupdate: 8/4/2023
Sasha had a great day at the park. She performs each of her commands in low distraction settings with almost zero leash tension. This tells me it was, in fact, too early for her to go with me to Santa Monica Pier. From here on out, her training will be about slowly exposing her to these elements, since she has shown her adeptness at performing her commands with fewer distractions.
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Pupdate: 8/5/2023
Sasha went to the park with me today. Her biggest issue as far as commands are concerned is her Come To Sit. She still loves to do a front sit, which isn't horrible, but I'd like her to follow through with the task I'm asking of her. She made friends with my other dogs today as well! She was a little standoffish for the first few minutes, but she quickly began wagging her tail and engaging with the other pups!
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Pupdate: 8/6/2023
Sasha and I went to the park to start working on her commands with the leash dragging. Allowing the leash to drag gives me some idea of how she might perform off leash while still having access to the leash should I need it. Her Heel command is almost perfect, even with the leash dragging. She still sometimes has trouble with her Come To Sit, although she always ends up following through!
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Pupdate: 8/7/2023
Sasha went to Home Depot today! There were a few noises she didn't seem to like, such as the loud forklifts, but she actually performed very well! A location like this is a great stepping stone to get her prepared for our next outing to Santa Monica! For her Come To Sit command, she did a much better job than she did yesterday. She seems to be improving each day with that command!
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Pupdate: 8/8/2023
Sasha and I went to Home Depot again to further expose her to the distractions there! She's starting to become more responsive to the Come To Sit command, and she did an even better job around all the noise. In the above video, you can see how much easier she coming to me, even though she still needs to work on getting to the exact right position!
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Pupdate: 8/9/2023
Sasha went to Almansor Park today for training! She was off leash for most of the time, and she did a great job. She was the most responsive right when we started, and then as she got tired she started to become slightly more stubborn. After a break and a nap, we went back out and she started responding very well again!
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Pupdate: 8/10/2023
Sasha was off leash again at the park, and she did a great job! Her general behavior was wonderful and she was on point with each of her commands. She's been doing much better with her recall, and she demonstrates that in today's video! We also go through her Heel, Place and Down commands just for good measure. Great job working off leash today, Sasha!
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Pupdate: 8/11/2023
Sasha went to Garfield Park today for training! Once again, she was off leash the whole time without any issues. She performed each of her commands off leash, and even around some strangers' dogs. At the end of her session she was also willing to get a little bit playful. Usually Sasha just wants to take a nap by the end of a training session, so it was nice to see her engage in a more playful manner outside of my home.
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Pupdate: 8/12/2023
Sasha went to the Santa Monica Pier today! She did much better than last time. She was even able to go off leash for some of the time! There were major distractions, but Sasha did a great job of staying at my side. She was able to perform each of her commands with very little effort! Sasha is going home tomorrow, and I'm going to miss her! The improvements she has made have been amazing, especially her recall!
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