Met Sip, a 10 month old Pitbull Mix who has joined us for our Two Week Board and Train Program. Sip is quite the busy chap, wanting to run and meet everyone he sees. He's had a rough dog-to-dog history so now he's reactive to dogs in an open environment. When he sees new people he wants to jump up to meet them to make sure they know he's there and ready to play. His sit and down commands are present - IF there's nothing better to do. His recalls can be hit or miss. Sip enjoys helping himself to goodies from the trash, or on the table. And of course furniture can always make for a tasty treat.
We will start with reminding what a sit and down are, and moving into recall. We will be working in various environments to proof these commands, build confidence, and move into place and heel. Stay tuned to watch his journey of transformation.
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Pupdate 11/19/2023
Welcome to Sip’s update page. He was not entertained by riding in the crate on the way to my house. Although he would quiet down from time to time, he continued to sing to me in those bird type whistle whines. Once we got to the house I introduced Sip to my Belgium, Diego. Both boys were very appropriate through the crate. I even moved Diego outside to a five by five fenced in enclosure to allow Diego more movement. Once again both boys were excited to see each other with tails going. I will keep you posted as to how that pans out.
This afternoon was his first walk in the neighborhood. His recalls were non-existent and that’s where we started. When I was able to coax him with the leash to return to me, he would come right at me and then move towards my left. After a couple of times I was able to steer him towards the right so he could come behind me to a sit. And then there’s sit, sometimes I can get it.
By the end of the block, Sip was choosing to stay closer to me. We crossed the street with him by my side, and then he was back to checking the environment. Lots of interesting smells. By the end of the walk he was getting the idea that I wanted him to walk with me, and sometimes sitting when I stopped. Also starting to work on door manners – so that he doesn’t try and come through the screen when coming in. Not bad for a starting point.
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Pupdate 11/20/2023
We started our day bright and early, well, maybe not too bright. Urgent potty wake-up before 5am. Other than that, Sip slept pretty well after all of his whining yesterday, After the early morning wake up, he fell back asleep within two minutes of returning inside.
This morning's breakfast started training. He doesn't respond to his name so that's one of the first steps. I played the name game with him, that's where you have food in both hands and call his name. He'll look at the hands trying to figure out how to get the food, and then he'll look at you. The second he looks at you, he gets praise and food. Right now he's getting his name mixed up with the command sit, so I'm trying to use them together so he can hear the difference. For example, "Sip, sit." and "Sip, good sit."
Our training session was out at a part of a walking path across from the government center in Ventura. We focused on his name, coming when called, and circling into a sit. Sometimes he comes immediately, other times he needs a little coaxing. And of course, the circle to a sit is an in-process exercise.
He received his kong late this morning and was quite happy, actually took a three-hour nap afterwards. Caught me off guard when he started snoring. Sip had his head at an angle and pushed into the kennel side wall. I heard it long enough to realize that wasn't a normal sound from him and checked, only to wake him up from his happy snoring dream. He is also showing how he can be quite the protector around the house. He hears any strange noises outside, he gives a low alert bark. With all those bird whistle whines, I didn't expect such a deep bark.
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Pupdate 11/21/2023
Today Sip spent the morning at Eugene A Obregon Park. There were a lot of people and dog activity. We started into heeling exercises; it took him a little while to realize this wasn't a chance to go visiting all the people. Once we reviewed that a few times, he did really well with heeling. We had some oops, for example grass sniffing. My guess is that he didn't realize he was actually working. At this time, Sip is so close to me when he sits after he's heeling that he's almost trying to be in the same space as I am. This causes a problem because I end up nicking his rear paw. As we improve the 'circle to sit' for recall, I'm expecting this hugging / clinging will resolve as well. He'll have a better understanding as to what is expected of him during these exercises.
While at the park, we were working on long sits, downs, and place. I used the park benches for the place but had a very difficult time to get him to go down. Everytime I said 'down', he seemed to think I wanted him off the bench. It was also difficult to get him to go on a down on the ground, but I did have some success. I will be practicing downs during meal times.
Overall the dog reactivity was better today. There was an off leash husky that was making the rounds, the energy of the husky seemed to be excited and wanting to go visit everyone. Overall Sip took that in stride. Later in the morning there was another husky that was pulling on the leash and trying to come visit Sip. He was much more anxious about this dog.
There were other dogs that I noticed Sip starting to stare at, and even go in that direction. I quickly redirected Sip in the opposite direction to avoid any escalation. There was a Doodle Mix with lots of puppy energy that was working. Sip did take a step or two in that direction before getting redirected. One other dog that was in close proximity was a female pitbull mix. At first Sip was anxious and not only chose to keep me in between them, he also positioned himself so he was looking away from her. While I was talking to the handler, Sip grew more confident as the female completely ignored him. Eventually he was laying down facing the female and even snoozed a little.
One of the pictures above is an area at the end of the tail that I noticed Sunday evening. Sometimes it's a little difficult to get Sip to be still to take these kind of pictures. I believe it's a healing scab. I will keep a close eye and monitor for any changes.
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Pupdate 11/22/2023
Sip's day was filled with crows, squirrels, ducks, and children. There were adults and a few dogs thrown into the mix as well.
We were at Conejo Creek North in Thousand Oaks, walking around the large park. The first surprise was Sip's reaction to crows. After the reminder on the first crow that we were working, Sip decided the second crow wasn't worth his time. The next surprise was the squirrel that ran three feet in front of us, Sip couldn't resist trying to chase that one! Once again, a reminder that not only are we working but other animals are off limits. We did go visit the ducks but Sip wasn't interested, so moving on in our walk.
Other people were walking and playing in the park. At one point two women were walking toward us and I'm reminding Sip we're working. He does well as we pass them and then a three year old is running toward us to catch up with his mom. Sip couldn't resist the energy and wanted to join the three year old.
Once the video was set up, families with children or dogs came on cue to help with distractions. They were all walking behind the camera or across the creek watching Sip. We worked on heel sits, and then moved into recalls. Still working on the circle around to sit. I was able to have Sip go into a few downs. You can tell he's distracted in the video but overall he did a really good job. The only dog he really focused on was another Pitbull Mix which I worked on Sip walking away from. Near the end of our video we had a couple walk by with their French Poodle and commented how well Sip was doing with all the distractions.
As we left the area we ran into a grove of trees with another squirrel and crow foraging for food. Sip was focused on our heel and almost missed the two, caught them out of the corner of his eye. He didn't chase them but he was definitely focused on them. Once again, a reminder that we're working and to refocus.
I did try to place him on a cot which he happily got on, but once I moved off he followed. I will continue with place training on the cot.
Stopping at a park-like breeze way in Ventura to check out and walk, Sip chose to ignore the squirrels that were scampering about. I tried releasing him into a 'break' which is a command that he can go sniff or walk around away from me. I was trying to set him up for more recalls - he chose to stay close in a heel position.
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Pupdate 11/23/2023
Happy Thanksgiving mom and dad!
I’ve been playing this fun down game during dinner and today at breakfast I started doing what trainer Debbie calls ‘puppy pushups’.  I started in a sit, then down, back in a sit, down, and back in a sit. It was so much fun because I love to play in a down.
I’ve gone on several walks today and practiced my heeling sits. Trainer Debbie takes a step away and I just know she wants me to follow. Then I find myself back where I started with a reminder that I’m in a sit. As we were walking I heard sounds in the bushes and I wanted to go investigate but we were working.
On My 2nd walk of the day we stopped and looked at pretty flowers. I asked trainer Debbie to take some pictures so I could send you flowers. Trainer Debbie did not explain to me that I had to work as well. So these pictures are where we practiced sit and down stays.
While we were walking we passed a house with a truck in the driveway.  I was surprised to hear a dog bark coming from the open door of the truck. We walked by and I ignored the dog but this little chihuahua came running after us.  Mommy, I promise I was a really a good boy and I ignored that little dog but it wouldn’t stop following us. Trainer Debbie kept an eye on the dog and kept distance from it until the owner came to get it. I was so happy because we were able to continue on our walk.
Trainer Debbie said I’m getting really good on my car manners.  She asks me sit and wait for her to open the back of the vehicle and the door of the crate.  The second she says car I’m flying in the air into the crate. It’s so much fun!!
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Pupdate 11/24/2023
This morning Sip and I started working on his food manners. We practiced it several times and he was consistently able to hold a sit for 30 seconds before releasing to eat. That's a great start towards the two minute goal.
Today's adventure was the Santa Monica Pier which was quite crowded even though it was the day after Thanksgiving. Sip was a little overwhelmed with all the people but he held his heel as we walked down to the pier. Once it opened up, we maneuvered to the side and walked the whole pier. Sip was confident walking by all the musicians and street performers, glanced at a few dogs but kept checking in with me. The surprise was the birds and bird shadows that Sip would focus on.
After our walk, we returned to the beginning of the pier and did a place on a blue block type bench. Sip was willing to jump up and sit on it, but was not ready to lay down. From there we did a long duration sit. At the end of the pier there are steps up to the lookout that have places to sit. I tried a place there as well but again, Sip was not comfortable. While sitting on the main level of the pier, he finally settled into a down. Although we were working on a sit, I didn't correct the down because I'm trying to work on the down command with him. He did do a couple of downs when asked later at the pier, it just depended if he was comfortable to do so.
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Pupdate 11/25/2023
In the first picture, Sip is patiently waiting for his breakfast. I was so impressed I couldn't help but take this shot.
Today we were at Central Park in Santa Clarita. I brought a dog cot to work on the down on the place. He did a longer down while in the shade. The distances on the sit stays are building and his circles behind to a sit are becoming more automatic, he's also walking in a heel with the leash dragging off his collar behind us. A small Chiguagua sized pug walked by us but Sip chose to ignore it.
Sip's anxious whines are starting to reduce, although I'm still hearing some during our sit stays as I'm trying to get more distance from him.
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Pupdate 11/26/2023
Last night on our last walk of the night, I noticed that Sip's attention was heightened and it was a little more difficult than usual to bring his focus back to work. Usually its one of the local cats or wildlife. With all the wind blowing as of late, I'm sure there are lots of smells he's trying to work out.
We always use meal time for training. First it was to work on his name, then it was to work on downs. The latest training is on food manners. He only gets a couple of handfuls of food at a time, and he has to give up his bowl for more food - working on resource guarding. But another area it has helped with is keeping his focus off the counters. The trick is to keep him involved, finished a couple of handfuls of food, here comes more.
Today we worked on door manners and the OFF command. The door manners are an extended down until released in front of a door, usually open to freedom. It's always good to practice that while going in or out of the home, and for vehicle manners. As you can tell in the video, we need to do some more practice. I'm just excited that he was willing to give me some downs when asked. I will tell you that his car manners are much better. The off command is a reminder that he's working or that he's doing something he really shouldn't be doing.
This morning we found ourselves between two dogs, one following us on a walk, and then one heading toward us also on a walk. I immediately used the OFF command to remind him he's to ignore the dogs and move away as we're working.
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Pupdate 11/27/2023
Today we started out at Rio De Los Angeles State Park, and it was a turning point for Sip and I. Many of the commands we had been working on Sip just couldn't put a paw on it. For example, the come to sit is come to the right, circle the back and sit on the left side. When Sip and I first started out, he felt that a come to front was enough, or come and sit on the side. And even when he did come to sit, his sit could be behind me, or curled around me. Many times he'd be leaning on me or stepping on my foot. Many of those issues had been resolved and the main thing we needed to work on was sit placement. All these original behaviors returned.
Sip's heeling had been spot on with some slight jump ahead. Today he purposely broke several heels to go to the opposite side to stay away from another dog. Good news, I was able to get downs upon request, but I needed to stay within reach or Sip not only couldn't hold those down stays but he also started jumping on me. He hasn't done this behavior previously.
A different tool was introduced today, I started using leash pressure on the prong collar to help show him how to do the come to sit. To explain that jumping up is frowned upon, and that down is down. Once he started regaining his confidence again through correctly doing his basic commands, he quickly stopped his whining and leaning,
This afternoon on my way home I stopped at Balboa Park. Sip had a chance to nap and take a breather, and was up for a walk in the park. Balboa Park has lots of birds and Sip likes to chase birds. Other distractions included dogs, kids, and lots of people. Sip ignored the birds, even the Canadian Geese and Swans. There was a dog running behind us which surprised Sip, but he held his Sit. We were even able to get several Extended Places.
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Pupdate 11/28/2023
Today started out with a pack walk with Sip and his house mates. This is the first group walk of the three dogs. Sip and Diego hit it off well and I had to remind Diego not to set Sip up! Sip did really well on his heeling, even with Diego’s distractions.
Sip’s travels took him to Camino Real Park in Ventura today. We walked the whole park and then positioned ourselves near the dog park to do some extended sits and downs. Although there were several active dogs, Sip didn’t react to them other than to watch them. I used that opportunity for refocus so that Sip is ready for the next request. It does seem like Sip is multitasking because he was alert and fast on every recall. Sip is getting more comfortable with his downs, but still anxious about extended sits. We continued the walk and stopped at a children’s play area. We had a few people and dog distractions to practice our extended downs and sits. At the park we also did a little practice on the car manners.
Lowe’s in Ventura was a fun trip. Sip wanted to smell everything so it gave us a chance to practice refocusing. We had someone stop us because she was so impressed with how well-behaved Sip was. We talked for several minutes and Sip sat there like a perfect gentleman, and only jumped a little when someone behind us dropped a piece of wood. I tried filming in the busiest place in Lowe’s which was the holiday department. The aisles are not quite big enough to allow Sip to be right in the middle but he did really well tucked to the side. We had many comments and compliments as we worked, even someone thanking me for taking the time to train him. The squeaky door into the garden area kept throwing Sip off on his extended downs. It would either get stuck and squeal or was just a squeaky automatic door. We never knew when it was going to sound off.
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Pupdate 11/29/2023
During meal time, we have started playing ‘Come to Sit’. This morning Sip started doing the exercise without the request. Great news, time to start changing it up.  Now we are practicing sits, downs, and come to sit.
Today’s journey was a return to Conejo Creek North. While working on the long line, Sip did great ignoring other dogs and most people, but squirrels darted out of nowhere.  If I could give him an off warning, he was able to not chase them. He still had a stare that was difficult to break.
We found a chunk of wood for a distraction / toy while at the park. He was able to do a heel around it without pulling. Released with a break he went right to it. Â When asked to come to sit, he chose to ignore me and had to be coaxed to come, circle, and sit. He did improve as we continued to work with it.
We did go to Thousand Oaks mall only to see a sign right inside the door that said service dogs only. Â We walked inside, around the elevator and around the balcony and back out. Sip stayed in his heel until he realized there was something on the other side of the railing. I used an OFF to remind him we were working and then moved away from the balcony.
Janss Mall in Thousand Oaks was our final destination. Wasn’t as crowded but had lots of kids coming to attend an event. Did a place on a bench that Sip was totally against.  Held an extended sit for almost a minute while I stood about 20 feet away.  The last place Sip did a place was on the hearth of a large outdoor fire place. He was able to hold the place for two minutes. Â
While walking through this mall, I was holding a loose leash to keep Sip from correcting himself. He was reaching out to sniff bushes and kids toy rides often. Â An over stimulated area where the off command was used.
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Pupdate 11/30/2023
Today was an exciting day for Sip, we were at the Santa Monica pier working on his transformation video. Something to note . . . when he notices anything out of place, he goes into protection mode. Today it was someone with a blanket, my recommendation is to always be looking around, so you know what your surroundings are. That way you can help Sip get through it and not have to be on his guard.
I took Sip to the end of the pier where it was a little less crowded and worked with him for about 45 minutes. We practiced place, several sits, and he was even being serenaded by a musician during one of the extended down practices. When it came time for the video, I unhooked his leash, and Sip looked at me like he was shocked that I was willing to trust him. He was so proud of himself, he stood up tall, and you could see him looking around at everybody, as if to say, look at me! He did an awesome job with his places and extended sits. Sip got lots of "oohs" and "ahs" but getting a video of someone saying hi can be difficult at times. We even visited the Third Street Promenade hoping to catch some smiling faces who wanted to say hi. Didn't have a lot of takers, but the Promenade had some great Christmas decorations that begged to have a picture taken with a dog. Enjoy!
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Pupdate 12/01/2023
This morning was a chance to hang out at the park. Sip’s job was to be ready for whatever command, and was taught that down is still working. For example, if he started getting restless and moving around, he was up and heeling. Down meant he couldn’t go visit dogs that walked by, or a squirrel that was playing in the trees, or the birds that would flutter around. Sip was great, just looked at the dogs and then away, alerted to the squirrel but didn’t move, and watched the birds fly over without trying to chase them.
An afternoon stop at the Westlake Promenade. Sip was intrigued by all the water areas. The statues didn’t alarm Sip like it does other dogs, but he did take a couple of looks at the dog statue behind him in one of the pictures.
Another win… While at the Westlake Promenade mall, a gentleman walked up with two fairly good size akitas. Sip whined while he was in a sit at my side, but didn’t lunge or bark at the dogs.
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Pupdate 12/02/2023
I had the chance to run over to the Pacific View Mall in Ventura with Sip and he had fun looking at all the weird store fronts.
We ran into an area that had oversized kids vehicles that Sip couldn’t figure out and immediately started barking and hiding behind me. I slowly took him over to it and gave him the chance to sniff the vehicles. We spent about five minutes investigating, I was thankful they weren’t in operation.
I tried to get some video around the mall Christmas Tree but there wasn’t anywhere we could actually work. This video is from the other side of the mall, first floor.
