Meet Skye! Skye is a one-year-old German Shepherd/Husky Mix from El Segundo, CA who is joining us for our Three Week Board and Train Program. Skye likes to pull on the leash and wants to lead. Skye is protective of her family and barks at new people. Skye needs help with basic obedience as well as her manners at home! Overall, Skye is a good girl who is ready to become a great pup! Check out her 21-day transformation!
Pupdate 12/18/22
Today Skye and I started to get to know each other. Although Skye was extremely vocal and resistant when picking her up, she is actually quite timid. She urinated a little before loading her up as I was doing her check over. She did let me check her all over which was good. She was nice and quiet on the ride home. She did start barking at my oldest while still in the crate when we got home. Once we went to our local park she was not so vocal. Skye was showing signs of timidness and being uncomfortable as she would tuck her tail between her legs whenever I would attempt to pet her or get close to her.
After the park, she got to meet the whole family. She was a little shy but wasn't vocal or responsive in a negative way. I took her on a walk around the neighborhood to get her used to the sights and sounds. After a little break, I introduced her to Toji. They got along well. Toji would chase the ball but Skye would watch. I tried feeding Skye her usual serving of food at 5 pm but she didn't want to eat anything. This is likely from her being in a new environment. I'll leave her food in the crate overnight and see if she eats.
I let her wander around the office for a few minutes and she slowly got closer and closer to me as I sat on the floor. I was saying hi to her as she went by. Eventually, she sat down in front of me, no tail tucked, and she let me pet her. I didn't introduce the e-collar or the pinch collar today because I want to gain her trust and for her to feel more comfortable. I was reviewing Chase's initial video and he had his tail wagging the whole time and was happy and interested whereas Skye was trying to get away from me and kept putting her back to me. The difference between the two is why I will hold off until tomorrow to introduce the new collars and structure.
I look forward to working with Skye and showing you what she can do!
Pupdate 12/19/22
It seems that I have gained some of Skye's trust; however, not all of it. I let her wander around some more today and she would get closer and closer to me. She allowed me to rub her belly and even gave me a few licks. Skye definitely gives me a lot of German Shepherd vibes as she is focused and alert at all times.
Now that I have her trust and she's getting comfortable, we headed over to Rhynerson Park in Lakewood, CA to get the real training started. I put the ecollar on before we left so she could get used to it being on. When we got to the park, I put the prong collar on to mitigate the pulling. Once there, I started at 0 on the ecollar and worked my way up until I got her attention. There were several other dogs and people running around and it was also a new park with lots of different distractions (this is why I like this park). This made the initial number that got her attention way higher than I like. I made a mental note of the number but brought her in and readjusted the collar to make sure it was making good contact and that it was in the correct location. When using the prong collar, it makes the ecollar go a little lower than where it should be but that's ok because the prong collar is only temporary. We started walking around the park while maintaining a tight leash and introducing "heel" and "off". I kept adjusting the stimulation levels lower and lower to ensure that Skye would respond to the lower numbers. When there were distractions she would ignore the stimulation. However, by the time our walk around the park was complete and she was a little sweaty, the numbers were down to around 10 which is fantastic! Skye was responsive to the prong collar and at times I was only holding the leash with one finger. She would try to creep ahead a little bit but I would hit the brakes on the leash and she would come back. Overall, a great session of training!
Tonight, I will take her out to my backyard and work on introducing "come to sit". I want her to start recognizing that structure and obedience are almost a 24/7 activity, early morning, middle of the day, and evening all mean that the rules apply.
As far as Skye's food goes, she did not eat immediately last night but around 10 pm I heard her eating all her food. She only ate dinner today despite playing with Toji and having her training. She is still drinking plenty of water. The vitamins that you provided have significantly improved her stool. She is still urinating and pooping regularly and I will monitor her weight. It could take a few days before she gets into her new eating habits at my house. I will include some pumpkin tomorrow to see if that entices her to eat breakfast.
Pupdate 12/20/22
Last night, Skye and I worked on introducing some more of her commands as you can see in today's video. I introduced the "come" and "break". We also reinforced the "sit" and having me move away from her. This was a good session and overall I was pleased with her progress.
Today, it seems, I have gained her trust and she is happier to be around me. No more tail tucking or cringing away. She's doing much better at coming to me when I go outside and get her also. She was shying away but now she comes up to me and is excited. Turns out that she likes belly rubs just like Chase! She rolls over and lets me rub her belly.
Today we also introduced "place" on the dog cot and "down". We reinforced the "heel" on the right side, practiced more "come" to sit, and worked on the "sit" and stay as well as her new favorite "break!". Those belly rubs are hard-earned after a good training session and she deserves them! Tomorrow, I will introduce the "under" and she should be ready to go for her commands. Send away to "place" and come to "heel" are built upon the other commands. She is on the prong collar still and will be on it for a few more days. Her reaction to lower numbers is dependent upon the amount of time we are training. The longer we do the training the lower the numbers come down. We ended today's training session around 10 again! Great job, Skye!
The only rough patch with our friend Skye is her eating. She finally ate all her breakfast around 12 PM even though it was first presented to her around 7 AM. Skye ate all her dinner today! She had eaten about 1.5 cups of her food, then I added some warm water to her food and she still wasn't interested. This is probably better anyway because we want to avoid her having too wet of stool. Her weight is about the same so I think based on the serving suggestions of her food and weight, 1.5 cups in the AM and 1.5 cups in the PM will be fine as we continue. She will continue to be pushed further and longer with her obedience training and this should fuel her desire to eat more regularly. Will keep you updated!
Pupdate 12/21/22
Today Skye and I headed over to Don Knabe Park in Cerritos, CA. Skye did amazing! I think she really likes me now so it's making the training go smoothly. I introduced the "down", leash dragging "heel" and come to "heel". Skye did amazing with all her commands! There were plenty of ducks around to distract her and she barely gave them a second look with a good "off". I am very pleased with how well she is doing now that I have gained her trust. She is very German Shepherd in this way that I had to gain her trust to get her to work with me but once you gain their trust they are very loyal and obedient. She's even doing ok with me starting to back away from her as you can see in several of the pictures the leash is on the ground while I backed away and snapped some pics. While there we practiced the "come" to sit, the "place", "sit", "down" and "heel". Thank goodness Skye didn't try to jump in the water like her brother! Great job Skye!
This morning Skye ate all her food without any issues! As stated above, I think now that I have gained her trust, she is much more comfortable and settling into her new environment. For dinner, she ate all her food without any issues. She's doing well with the family and little ones. She is always on patrol and ever vigilant.
Pupdate 12/22/22
It's official! Skye loves me now. How do I know this? Because when a few of our fellow trainers and their pups decided to walk by me today while we were at Bonita Park in La Habra, CA, she started to show defensive behavior. Nothing too crazy that an "off" couldn't take care of but the same attitude she had towards me when I tried picking her up, she's showing to others. The catch is that it's only when she's in the crate, in the yard, and can see the dogs, or is right next to me. If she's out in the open, unprotected, she's really nervous and anxious. She was even shaking a little bit at first today being around all the new people. We will continue to socialize her with large groups of people (sounds like Christmas is at our house this year!).
Overall, she's doing great with her commands. "Heel" is her best command and the "come" to sit is the hardest and is probably her weakest command at this point. It will get better with more practice and repetitions. She understands them all which is fantastic!
Her food situation is doing really well and since she's comfortable now I don't think this will be a problem going forward.
Pupdate 12/23/22
Today Skye and I loaded up and headed over to Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, CA to meet up with our fellow Off-Leash trainers and Skye's fellow pups in training. Skye was a bit overwhelmed at Santa Monica Pier but overcame the adversity and overall was a really good pup! As you can see in the video, we started with her right next to a performer in an under and she did great! We practiced "under" on several of the benches near the ocean on the wooden planks and over the ocean. Skye did well with these!
We also practiced the "place" on the same benches to see how she would do with those. She did great with holding her "place" and "under" for about two minutes which is great! By the time we went to practice the extended sit, which we aim for 2 minutes or more, Skye was tired and would go into the down due to being tired. Also note, that I left the leash on the ground or by her while doing the "under", "place" and "sit". There were a lot of distractions and she was a bit overwhelmed. She still did great even on the way back to the car. It appears about one hour is her current max based on her stamina and the demands of the obedience training. This is a great time limit as it's a reminder to let her take a break and relax.
Obedience is taxing and should be limited to short sessions. Even an area like the pier is somewhere where even if the dog is in a down can be overwhelmed by the stimuli of the people walking by, the loud noises, and the different environment. Always keep an eye on them for signs of fatigue or when it seems like they are not listening, it might mean that they need a break from the stimuli.
Pupdate 12/24/22
Skye and I headed back to Santa Monica, CA today to take care of some last-minute Christmas shopping and continue to work around distractions. There can't be more distractions than a busy trip to the mall! We got there early so it wasn't too overwhelming but it's important for Skye to be around more distractors. She is protective as well as apprehensive about being around new people and environments. This was a good experience for her and her confidence. Great job Skye!
Pupdate 12/25/22
Merry Christmas from Skye! Skye spent the day around a bunch of new people and working around strangers. I brought her out to meet and greet a wide variety of kids, teens, and adults. I really want to work on her social skills as she is not very consistent with her skills. An "off" or good leash pressure is enough to curb the behavior right now but I'd like to see her learn to be more comfortable. Maybe some more trips to the pier or malls where people can pet her and she can get used to being around more people.
We ran over to Don Knabe Park in Cerritos, CA for a little session before everyone came over and to burn off some energy. She gave me some more growling action when a little pup passed by when she was still in the crate. So what did I do? I took her out and we walked right past the barking pup. Skye was perfectly fine. It's clearly a behavioral thing likely linked to her personal space. A quick "off" with stimulation usually will end that behavior. But it still needs addressing and consistency.
As you can see in the video, I took her prong collar off for a little bit. It's still hit-and-miss with the prong collar; however, the issue right now is that Skye is overreacting to the stimulation right now. She will roll on the ground to curb the stimulation. She got duck poop on her because of this! I had to give her a rinse-off when we get home! Chase and Skye got me at Don Knabe! No worries! We carried on and worked on her coming to sit. So the problem with overreacting is that even at a level below 10 she will exhibit this behavior. This means that I have to use the pressure of the collar to be clear on what I need from her. This is ok when you are holding a leash but the point of her training is to be off-leash.
An interesting finding today, Skye will break the "sit" when I am holding the leash but if I leave the leash on the ground, she knows to stay and wait. I'll take it! I'm just using my hands to signal her where to go so that's good for her off-leash work!
Pupdate 12/26/22
Today Skye and I headed over to Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos, CA for some post-Christmas shopping. I really wanted to nip this socialization thing in the bud as soon as possible as I need her to be ok being around strangers and in larger venues without being overprotective and exhibiting protective behavior.
Well, nothing like being thrown into the fire on the day after Christmas in an extremely busy mall! Skye actually did well all things considered. I would definitely not recommend doing that again or on a regular basis. It was a lot for Skye. Often she would be shaking from anxiety and being overstimulated. Did she show any abnormal behavior because of it? Nope! Did she let strangers actually pet her? Yup!
I switched back and forth from the prong to the flat collar as when we get around a lot of stimulation she will ignore the flat collar pressure but will respect the prong collar. Once again, if I use the ecollar above 10, she will shake her head and sometimes try to roll on the ground to manage the stimulation feeling. Obviously, we can't have a pup rolling on the ground randomly when trying to walk through the mall or any other venue. I was really proud of Skye today. As you can see in the video for today, I left her by the storefront and stood about 10' away from her while throngs of people walked by. She lasted about a minute of doing this before her anxiety kicked in and she wanted to come to me. She received several compliments while wandering around and I felt proud of how well she behaved! Great job today, Skye!
Well, today was one of those stay-in-the-house kinds of days due to the gloomy weather and raindrops falling from the sky. As usual, no worries! We worked on Skye's house manners. She's currently sleeping on her dog cot while I work on this. My mother-in-law came by and she started to growl a little bit but we worked on her calming down. She stayed in the "down" and "place" but didn't break it. I gave her a few "offs" and my MIL petted her and Skye went to being submissive and rolling on her back.
As you can see in today's video, she performed beautifully! No leash and very little stimulation to get her in the right place. Although she does have a little bit of separation anxiety in public places or in large fields, at home she is safe and secure and doesn't even worry about me walking out the door. She still will throw out an occasional growl when she sees someone she doesn't expect but an "off" will correct this and then she seeks the comfort of her crate. Also, the large trash truck happened to come by and she paid it no mind. I enjoyed a slice of pizza while she stayed in the "place" and "down" and she showed no interest in breaking the "place". I even went outside two separate times to make sure she didn't break the command. I say it every day but Skye is super smart and is doing great!
Pupdate 12/28/22
Today Skye and I headed over to Rhynerson Park in Lakewood, CA for some off-leash training! After the last few outings and adventures, I decided that today would finally be the day we cut the cord and go for it on the off-leash training. Skye knows her commands and now I just have to make sure she knows when and where to apply them without input from me other than the remote and stimulation. It was a rocky start but we were outside for over 45 minutes without using the leash. When I do training it's more akin to an obstacle course where it's one thing after another after another to push her. This can lead to confusion and frustration. For your lifestyle and what you asked of me from Skye, she's going to do great! We walked through the whole park, on trails and off, in the "heel" and she did well throughout. She struggles still on the send away to "place". While working on the send away to "place", I was also working on the come to "sit" at various distances. Skye picked up on my body cues which involves me turning to face her. This is good because she knows what to do but it's also a negative in that she's breaking the command before I release her or tell her what to do. She proceeded to do this for the rest of the time we were at the park. I capitalized on her wanting to break and instead focused on me walking away and recalling into the "heel". She did great with this!
We will have to counter-condition the breaking early behavior with more training. The great part is that she is not breaking the command to go run off and do whatever she wants, she's breaking it in anticipation of the command and to avoid the stimulation (even at low levels) and to come to me. As with Chase, sometimes she gets overwhelmed because, as stated above, I am asking a lot of her in a short time. Sometimes this is confusing or causes frustration and she will break and just want to come to be by me, seek out a wall to sit next to, or even a bench to "place" on. All of these are not a big deal because she knows the commands but she just needs reinforcement from here on out. The great part is that we will be reinforcing everything off-leash and without the prong collar.
She ignored all the other dogs at the park (except the one that walked by when we first got there while I was getting ready and she growled to let the other dog know to stay away)!
I left her on her dog cot for quite a while today while we took a nice family day at home. She loves just hanging out there and really enjoys hanging out with Toji. They play and hang out a lot. Skye is a great family dog!
Pupdate 12/30/22
Today Skye and I headed over to Liberty Park in Cerritos, CA. We continued our off-leash work. Skye still continues to be irritated when the stimulation is around 10 but from 15-25 she responds quickly and over 25 she vocalizes. When I use the vibrate button, it will work in getting her to follow the commands but sometimes she will break the command quickly then there will be a low-level stimulation, and then she will shake her head or try to roll on the ground. If you have attempted to stimulate your hand with the device, you can feel how it could tickle at low levels. I think this is what's happening; however, going too high is distracting to her. It's just a balancing act with her depending on the number of exterior distractions and environmental factors that are happening which will determine how much stimulation is needed to keep her on task. We walked right by an off-leash little dog and I had to give her a few low-level stimulations "off" and "heel" and she mostly ignored the little guy even though he was trying to distract her. Also, when we first arrived, a husky puppy walked right by her as I was getting ready, and no growling today! Great job Skye!
As you can see in today's video, she will do everything off-leash and knows all the commands. It's just a matter of repetitions in different environments and different levels of stimulation. She only really broke once today to go to the car when we were leaving and that's the only time I had to go above 25. Her reset button seems to be a good "come". Chase needed a "sit" to reset whereas Skye will "come" and go back to my "heel" position and then we can continue the training. Lastly, we were able to do what is called "center line" drills or commonly referred to as "fetch". I technically needed a second ball so as soon as she releases the first ball the second ball is thrown. But Skye had no problem going after the ball and coming back even with distractors such as other dogs and people playing volleyball, pickleball, and running around the track. I tried playing with Skye in my backyard but Toji kept stealing the ball so this was good that we got to play outside away from Toji. Skye and I were able to do this without Toji ruining it. Skye is completely exhausted from our session today which is great! Now we push her stamina and up those repetitions!
Pupdate 12/30/22
Another rainy winter day in So-Cal! I managed to run over to Mayfair Park in Lakewood, CA during a rain break. Once again we continued all off-leash work. I am not sure if Skye was anticipating stimulation or wanted to roll around in the wet grass but as soon as we got out of the car she started to roll on the ground despite the stimulation. I just patiently waited and continued the stimulation until she performed the requested command. Once again, around 20 she started to vocalize a little bit. Once she actually calmed down and got into position, she was perfectly fine. This is a symptom of training anticipation despite going to different parks and venues. After she got all that out of her system, she performed well. Once again, I am not worried about her running off but she does still break when she is confused or anxious. She does need the reset with the "come" to heel and using my hand as a stop sign with a verbal "heel" or "sit" or else she will go too far in front of me.
Pupdate 12/31/22
More and more rain! Luckily it broke enough to run over to Liberty Park in Cerritos, CA. As you can see in today's video, Skye was a little excited to be out and about and was jumping on me. I wasn't planning on working on her jumping on me but since she was showing that unwanted behavior, I figured I would just address it. She seems to have gotten excited about going into the "heel" and jumping on me. This is an immediate "off" with stimulation. It took a few tries and she finally calmed down. We carried on with some more training and after those trials and she was a lot better once she burned off that initial energy surge. Another thing to note is how Skye does like to break the command early based on my body position. What I noticed today was that as soon as I turned my back, she was anticipating the command "heel" so she would break, once again likely to avoid the stimulation (if any from me). You'll notice I started walking backward facing her and reinforcing the sit with my hand and verbal reinforcement. Then she started picking up on that she is supposed to sit and wait until I tell her what to do. She stays because I face her for the "come" to sit and I walk away for the "come to heel". She's clever and trying to anticipate. This is where and when we introduce variable training. I may walk away and recall her to either "come" or "heel" or "break" or I might even walk all the way back to her and then "break" or "heel" her. This variable keeps it unpredictable for her and she has to follow the commands.
Skye also sometimes does what we call the "velcro heel" where she is right up against the leg, almost pushing me. After a few steps, she moves back into a position where she's not so close and impeding my ability to walk.
Skye also didn't do her usual roll on the ground or pawing at the collar. It was in the incorrect position when I started and I moved it to where it was supposed to be. Then when I put her up after her training session, I noticed that it was about one hole looser than when I normally put it on. I'll see if this could help reduce the overreacting I was seeing previously.
Skye was following my oldest and I around the playground but was not trying to leave or break off. I like to give the dogs the time to be dogs and be kind of free as long as they are behaving or giving "wanted" behavior as I like to call it. There was no one around and Skye was sure to be within 10' of me at all times. When I recalled her into a "heel" she ran right over and was in position. Once again, no more leash for Skye as she has this down. I'll make sure to have one nearby or use the bungee leash necklace I have in case I go to an area where the leash laws dictate keeping her on a leash.
Pupdate 1/1/23
Happy New Year! Today Skye and I headed over to Bolivar Park in Lakewood, CA. We tried to beat the rain but looks like our luck ran out! It's all good because the ecollar system is waterproof. We still carried out the training. I focused back on the come to "heel" and Skye started exhibiting the jumping behavior again. I believe in the rule of three when it comes to dogs. This means they need to exhibit the wanted behavior at least three times to demonstrate that they understand the task. So we worked on this for a little bit.
Next up, is Skye's send away to "place". She has been struggling with this a little bit. She is too attached sometimes to move away. I used my bungee collar to kind of sling-shot her to the seat. It worked a little too well at first as she went up and over the bench. I had to control the pressure so she didn't go all the way over. It worked well after a few tries. Once again, the rule of threes. I had her do it at least three times. We will focus on this in the next few days to clean it up.
Pupdate 1/2/23
Today Skye and I loaded up and headed over to El Dorado Park in Long Beach, CA. We met up with our fellow Off-Leash Trainers and their pups in training. It's always great to socialize with Skye and all the dogs together. Everyone has an opportunity to learn.
Again we primarily focused on the send-away to "place". This went well after a few trials and she figured out the game. What was interesting was that when I tried to get her to do "under" after so many "place" drills, she was not having the "under". This is why I moved over to a different bench. The dogs will generalize and assume that every large bench and table now means "place" if you do it too much (which I did today). This is why I didn't really fight her on the table and moved to the bench. At first, she wanted to "place" again because she is trying to avoid the stimulation and guess what I want her to do. No worries, she figured it out and then had time to relax under the bench. As you can see in the video, I ask a lot out of the dog at once. You guys won't be doing that but this is part of her training. She may only need to "place" once or twice a day and "under" only when you go out but practicing the commands is important for her to remember what is expected of her.
Also, I brought my videographer with me and she decided to take a break on the swing. Skye loves all the kids and wanted to be with her. I put her in the "down" and Skye patiently waited in the "down" while she swang away. Great job, Skye!
Pupdate 1/3/23
Today Skye and I headed back to El Dorado Park in Long Beach, CA. We continue to work on all commands. The name of the game is repetitions and more repetitions. Due to Skye's sensitivity, she has taken to going into a down when ask her to "sit". Once again, this is not an indicator of her not knowing what to do, it's an overreaction on her part to avoid the stimulation even at the lowest levels. I simply just reach down and pick her up into a sit when she does the "down". It is important to be persistent and consistent when ensuring she does what we ask her to do. She may not do it at first but we can't let her do what she wants when we are telling her what we want her to do. If we don't hold her accountable every time she will learn that she doesn't have to follow through. Remember, she knows how to do everything in the program she will continue to test what you will and won't accept just like a small child.
Pupdate 1/4/23
Today Skye and I worked on house manners as it was super gloomy and rainy. As you can see, I did work on her door manners again. She seems to do really well once I put her in a "place" and "down" on the cot. We have been working on this the past few rainy days and she enjoys just hanging out on the cot and being able to see everyone yet she stays on the cot to not be in the way or intrusive. She has displayed some food scavenging behavior around the house, specifically by the little one's table. She is good with an "off" and will go about her business but it is something that will need follow-through and consistency. Generally, if you ask her to "down" and wait she is fine.
We also worked on food manners, I was pleasantly surprised at how well she did and how far she has come. From not eating to eating in her crate, to being able to sit and wait and being willing to go eat. It's definitely taken a lot of trust-building and relationship-building for her to be willing to do these things. As you can see, even on a "break" for her food she wants to check with me real quick for affirmation. She also went from being hyper-territorial when I picked her up (wouldn't even let me put my collar on her) to rolling over and having me rub her belly just like Chase! I'm super proud of how far she has come! She is going to be so happy to see you all and show what she has learned.
The only thing that she still struggles with is just doing a "sit". She reminds me of how Chase would run under a table or look for comfort when it became uncomfortable for him. Skye is similar in that when she is confused or is exhibiting avoidance behavior she immediately goes to a "down" as her safe place. However, she is in no harm's way and simply must carry out the "sit" for that moment in time and then we continue. For the final few days, I'll be working on the send-away to "place" and "sit" in random areas and times, just for practice.
Pupdate 1/5/23
Today Skye and I headed over to Mayfair Park in Lakewood, CA. The sun finally came out again! Although, the park was flooded in some areas we still were able to work on her "sit" and send her away to "place". The extended "sit" was a little touch and go but we eventually made it over the two-minute mark. She did the send-away to "place" pretty well. Previously she would hesitate to follow through but today she went on her own. Lastly, we worked on the come to "heel". I was still getting some jumping action from her. This is because she is so excited to be back near me. As mentioned previously, Skye can be a velcro dog. She wants to be right next to me or right on me. This can be a problem when you're trying to walk from Point A to Point B. Overall, Skye has shown great intelligence and a passion for pleasing. She is a good pup who is going to make you guys so proud of her progress.
Pupdate 1/6/23
Today Skye and I loaded up and headed over to Santa Monica, CA to enjoy the rain break. There was plenty of sunshine and people aplenty. The good news is that Skye will still carry out all her commands despite the distractions and loud environment. The tricky part is that she is still anxious and becomes clingy. This is not detrimental as it feeds into her being off-leash. We would much rather have a dog that wants to be by us and doesn't let the rest of the world distract her from being a good, loyal pup. My favorite thing about Skye is that she is so attached. She's loyal and responsive because she's so eager for approval from me. She wants to know that she's done a good job and looks for validation. She is still sensitive to the ecollar, I might try the comfort pad tomorrow and see if it has any difference in her sensitivity. She displays head shaking even when I don't press the stimulation because it has become paired with her psyche. It has become part of her while the ecollar is on. The problem is that she displays mild head shaking as if to work out the stimulation sensation with the vibrate or levels as low as 5. Higher levels will induce the rolling on the floor as if you or I scratched our backs on a post. With no ecollar on, she is still pretty responsive to the commands and isn't trying to run away. I will update you tomorrow on the effectiveness of the comfort pads or if is a sensitivity issue. The comfort pads are not usually used for dogs with longer hair but it is worth investigating. Overall, Skye has done amazing with her training and she's coming home in 2 days!
Pupdate 1/7/23
Today Skye and I headed over to Discovery Park in Downey, CA. Downey was critical to the space program and many of the parks are named or have things dedicated to the contributions that came from Downey. As stated yesterday, I wanted to keep an eye on Skye's sensitivity to the stimulation. I left the collar about two holes looser than I normally do for her. This seemed to minimize any overreaction from her during our training session. It turns out that I don't have any of the comfort pads but this is something you can definitely look into on the ecollar site. In the meantime, I would suggest not putting it on so tight. Other than that, Skye did amazing with all her commands! I even tried a few tricks with her and she was all for them! She is so eager to please and loves the praise that comes with it.
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