
Meet Stormy! She is an energetic and playful 4-month-old Australian Cattle dog who is here for our Three - Week Puppy Board and Train Program. Over these next few weeks, we will be working on her obedience, nipping, leash manners and greeting manners as well. Stay tuned for her 21-day transformation!
Pupdate 03/06/2022
Today Stormy and I built our bond and had a lot of fun together. Right when we got to my house, I got her settled in and let her say hi to my dogs through the gate. They seemed happy to see each other and got into a very playful mood. We began to play together, and I practiced recalls with her to begin our training session. I used the 15 ft leash to give her freedom in the backyard to get distracted, then I asked her to leave that distraction to come to me. She did great with her recall and came every time I called her. I want her to associate coming when called as a positive thing to build her drive. I made sure to mark it with a “Yes” as soon as she turned around to look at me every time I called her, even if she was far away. When she gets to me, I reward her as long as she isn’t jumping on me. After recall training I put a slip lead on her and introduced her to leash pressure and leash pops. Leash pressure is the action of me guiding her with the leash in the direction I want her to go. If she follows my pressure path, I release the pressure and mark it with a “Yes”. When she hears yes, she knows she is doing well and will be rewarded. I used leash pressure to introduce her to Come to Sit and Heel. Come to Sit is the action of her coming to my right side from a distance and walking behind me until she reaches my left side to sit. This is a great way to start your Heel since she will be on your left side for the Heel command as well. Heel is the action of her staying on your left side while walking, sitting when you stop and moving forward when you walk. Anytime I am about to change my direction I remind her to Heel which gives her a heads up we are going to turn. If she turns with me, I offer praise and if she doesn’t, I apply leash pressure in the direction I want her to go. I noticed she relies heavily on hand signals, so I am teaching her verbal cues that way she fully understands both. If she doesn’t sit after I give the cue, I add a leash pop to follow through with the command and correct her. I also added a leash pop when she would jump on me. She liked to jump every time I released her with word “Break!” Break is the cue I use to release her from any position, so she knows to get up on our terms and not whenever she wants to. To deter Stormy’s jumping I also withheld the treat from her until she stayed sitting. All four paws should be on the floor whenever she gets treats or pet. Initially she couldn’t wait long for a treat and would instantly jump for it but now she is patiently waiting for me to slowly give her a treat. Great work Stormy!

Pupdate 03/07/2022



Stormy and I went on a field trip today to Wilderness Park! There were a lot of distractions for her to soak in like other dogs, joggers, and construction workers. She has a lot of energy so before we began training, I made sure to get some of that energy out with taking a couple laps around the park. After that we started to work on her Come to Sit. Her Come to Sit is improving and she is getting faster at coming to my side. We then practiced Heel all around the park. Initially she was pulling a lot but with some corrections and frequent turns she began to stick by my side. We even practiced Heel around the other trainers’ dogs! This was very challenging for Stormy, so we worked at a distance then gradually got closer to the other dogs. I introduced her to Down today as well. She needed some help with leash pressure and after repeatedly trying it she became more consistent. During her breaks we played with the squeaky toy, and she enjoyed that so much! We will keep working on her Down to build that consistency.

Pupdate 03/08/2022
Today Stormy and I started our day with a long walk around my neighborhood. During our walk we passed by a lot of reactive dogs. She initially barked at the dogs and got overstimulated. I began to walk back and forth with her next to the dogs that were barking. I applied leash pops whenever she lunged at them and turned the opposite way. Turning the opposite way redirects her away from the triggers which helps her focus back on me. Once she calmed down, I put her in the down position right next to the reactive dogs and rewarded her calm behavior.
After our walk we went to The Home Depot. I wanted to see how Stormy responded to loud noises and crowds. She did great during this trip and wasn’t afraid of any loud noises or crowds of people walking with big wooden planks. We practiced our Heel with 180 turns, and this kept her extremely engaged, checking in with me. Stormy did have an accident this morning in her crate,but this may be due to some water she had before bed. This was her first accident, and she has been doing better with her Car Manners jumping in the car on her own and waiting for me to release her from the crate with the release cue “Break”!

Pupdate 03/09/2022



Today Stormy and I put an emphasis on working around other dogs at a local dog park. She initially was reactive to dogs that were playing off leash. We kept walking together and I marked it with a “Yes” whenever Stormy looked my way. Stormy then began to check in more often and did good with her Heel. We then worked on her Extended Down and Place. Stormy was hesitant at first to jump onto Place. I then walked back and forth with Stormy encouraging her to jump which helped her and she did! She became consistent and offered an Extended Place for 2 minutes straight which was her new record. Great progress Stormy!

03/10/2022
Stormy and I went on a new adventure to Huntington Beach today! This was a lot to soak in for Stormy at first, but it didn’t take her long to start checking in with me during her walk. We walked around the beach first to get some energy out and let her acclimate to her surroundings. I then began working on her Heel. As soon as I start marking every time, she looks at me she does it way more frequently which is exactly what I am looking for. During our walk I noticed Stormy was reactive to dogs and bicyclists. Anytime I saw a dog coming from a distance I created some distance and called Stormy’s name so she can offer me her attention. I rewarded her in those difficult situations, especially when she would see those triggers then check in with me. I want Stormy to look to me for reassurance and guidance in these scenarios. Stormy stopped reacting to the dogs and was more focused on her Heel. I took frequent turns to keep her engaged. Her extended Down is consistently at a minute or more with distractions. Stormy’s extended Sit was challenging for her, but she managed to do a whole 30 seconds while bicyclists past by her and joggers. As a cattle dog she has a strong herding drive which is why she reacts to movement a lot. I keep her engaged with my own movement during these situations and it helps her out with staying engaged. We will keep working around these triggers to build impulse control.

Pupdate 03/11/2022



Stormy and I ventured out to the Glendale Galleria today! It was her first day on the Herm Sprenger Prong Collar and she did great! The prong collar is similar to the slip lead where it creates pressure on her neck when she pulls. The only difference is the prong collar applies pressure evenly all around her neck whereasthe slip lead only applies it in one area of her neck. This is to discourage her from pulling while walking or lunging at other dogs. She transitioned to the prong collar smoothly and offered a Heel the entire time we were walking. When she saw other dogs,she initially became vocal. Barking is natural for her breed, but we want her to be able to be quiet on command. When she barks, I tell her quiet sternly and if she doesn’t then I apply a leash pop which stops her quickly. Stormy received a lot of love and attention today from friendly people who wanted to say hi. I used this as a training opportunity to work on her Greeting Manners. Stormy tried jumping initially when saying hi to people. I reminded her to sit and told them to only pet her if she was sitting then applied leash pops. I only had to leash pop once and she stayed sitting the entire time. The next couple of people she said hi to she didn’t jump on which was an improvement for her! We then worked on her Extended Sits and Down. She has gotten to a minute and a half with her Extended Sit which is our goal. We will keep proofing the command around distractions like dogs and bicyclists. Once we got home, I worked on her Car Manners. She tries to jump up on the car but when she’s really tired, she struggles so I help her up. Her potty training is improving with pooping and peeing on the grass. I did notice she likes to eat her poop, so I tell her “Off “when she tries to eat it and body block her from getting to it. Keeping Stormy on a consistent schedule of going out for potty breaks often and a consistent feeding schedule helps her stay on track. Great job Stormy!

Pupdate 03/12/2022
Stormy and I took a trip to the Hollywood Walk of Fame today. There were a lot of distractions like buses, crowds of people and dogs. Stormy followed all the cues I gave her. She only reacted to a high energy dog that was approaching her but does great around dogs that stay in their own space and are calm. If I see a high energy dog approaching, I call stormy which is her Cue to look at me. If she does, I offer a lot of praise and stay moving which keeps her engaged. Her Extended Sits and Place command is consistently at a minute or more around distractions. She stays next to me while we walk and checks in with me often. If she doesn’t check in, I call out her name and mark it with a “Yes” whenever she offers me her attention. If she tries to sniff something for too long while walking, I cue “Off”. She gets to sniff around when she is on break but not during Heel. This teaches her structure and to follow me until she is released. We will be adding more and more distance as she progresses with all her commands around distractions.

Pupdate 03/13/2022



Stormy and I practiced everything she has learned at Wilderness Park. There were a lot of dogs walking around at the park and Stormy did not react to any of them. Whenever she looked at them for too long, I called her name, and she is doing great with checking in with me during those scenarios. We have been focusing on her Car Manners, Greeting Manners, and Come to Sit. I put a box in front of the trunk to help her up on the car. Once she is ready, I will be taking out the box. Her Greeting Manners is improving, and she is fighting the urge to jump and only jumps when the persons energy is really high. We have been working on her Come to Sit and it is consistent we are working now on her placement being closer to me.

Pupdate 03/14/2022
Stormy and I focused a lot on exposure around skateboards, bicyclists, dogs and even horses today at our local skate park! We first started our session in the playground area where there were a lot of surfaces to practice Extended Place on. She was able to jump pretty high onto Place with a lot of encouragement from me. There were kids playing all around which was a great distraction for her to work through. We then walked down to the riverbed next to all the kids riding their skateboards. There were joggers with dogs running by them, and even a man on a horse. I was impressed with how Stormy kept checking in with me and stayed by my side next to all these distractions. Whenever I felt like I was losing her attention I switched direction and reminded her to Heel which kept her engaged. We then worked on her Car Manners, and she was able to jump into the car without the box. Amazing job Stormy!

Pupdate 03/15/2022



Today for Stormy’s session we worked on all her commands that she has learned, while adding distance and duration. Today was the first day Stormy got to see her sister Luna. She got a bit excited initially when seeing her but didn’t take long to focus back on her training. We worked them closely to each other and she stuck next to me most of the walk. I gave her frequent breaks to keep her drive there. Stormy has become more consistent with all her commands, especially place, which she used to struggle with. I will keep proofing her commands around all these new distractions, especially her sister!

Pupdate 03/16/2022
Stormy and I went on a trip to Rosie’s Dog Beach today! She encountered a lot of dogs and didn’t have any negative reactions towards them, not even a bark! She has been engaging with dogs she sees then checks back in with me, which I always praise and reward! Some friendly off leash dogs approached her briefly and she was comfortable with the interaction. Every time I redirected her away from the dogs, she followed my cues. Once we started our training session, we emphasized adding distance with her Come to Sit, Extended Down and Extended Sit. She is at a minute and a half with each of those while I walked to the end of the 15 ft leash. Great job Stormy!

Pupdate 03/17/2022



Stormy and I ventured out to Whittier Dog Park today. We worked on all her commands on the outskirts of the park. She did amazing with all of the distractions and yet again did not react to any dogs that were playing and running around everywhere. She is performing all of her commands with distance and made a new record today with her Extended Down. She was able to hold her Extended Down for a whole 2 minutes and a half! Her Come to Sit has improved and she is now able to do it from 15 ft away. At times she gets distracted with her come to sit from a distance, so we are working on getting her to come to me more quickly. Her eye contact is consistent, and Place is her favorite command now!

Pupdate 03/18/2022
Today Stormy and I practiced everything she has learned at The Citadel Outlets. There were a lot of shoppers and a few dogs as well. She was very excited at first, so we made sure to get some energy out by going on a good walk before doing any training. Exercising before helps her stay more focused during our training sessions. She did great with all her commands, and the only things she seemed to struggle with was staying in the down position while a door opened loudly and quickly right next to her. This seemed to startle her and got her in an overstimulated mood. After giving her the Down cue again she was able to snap out of it and continue her Extended Down. She knows she’s cute and tries to sneak in some belly rubs when she doesn’t want to continue to work, but I can’t fall for the cuteness and have to follow through! After she stayed there for a while, I cued “Break”! And she came to me from a distance. I’m always ready to correct her if she jumps. She is starting to fight the urge to jump and is doing it less often now. Stormy did not react to dogs that passed by her unless they were trying to invade her space which is normal for her to assert boundaries to other dogs. I have noticed jealous behavior recently, mainly when I offer another dog attention in front of her. I will expose her to that more often to work on that. We will continue to work on the jumping as well and clean up those behaviors!

Pupdate 03/19/2022



Stormy and I went to Petco today to work on all her commands. There were a lot of new smells and things to see for her. Today was the first day that I transitioned her off the prong collar. She did fairly well without it and stayed by my side. Anytime she went too far away from my side I made frequent turns to keep her engaged. She only reacted once to another dog which I believe happened because she hadn’t seen many dogs today. Desensitization helps her when she sees a lot of dogs at once and that was her first dog she had seen today. We worked on her Extended Down and Sit with distance. I threw dog treats and bones around her while she stayed down, and she fought the urge to go after it. She chose to come to me instead! We then practiced more at home without the prong collar around all the toys on the floor. I had to remind her “Off” a few times then she caught on quickly to leave them alone until I released her. Great job Stormy.

Pupdate 03/20/2022
Today Stormy and I worked on all her commands at The Pike in Long Beach. There were quite a lot of different distractions for her, for example, bicycles, skateboards, dogs, joggers, kids, etc. Initially she was very excited to be there, so I did some power walking with her to get that excess energy out of her system. I also played tug of war as a reward every so often to help her have fun with it and get that excess energy out as well. Once she got her energy out, she acclimated to her new surroundings and walked very nicely next to me. Stormy didn’t react to any dogs, though they did get her attention. I never let her focus on anything for too long. If I see her focus is on something for too long, I create distance from that distraction and walk in circles to get her to follow. I also always call her by her name as soon as I see a dog from a distance to make sure she checks in with me, which helps a lot with preventing her from reacting. I conditioned her to look whenever her name is called and am always marking it with a “Yes” when she does. Eye contact is key to getting her attention in those challenging scenarios for her!

Pupdate 03/21/2022



Stormy and I ventured out to Virginia Ave Park today! This was a perfect day to work on her reactivity towards dogs, Greeting manners, and Place command on different surfaces. Stormy did well with her Extended Sit and Down while all of the other trainer’s dogs circled around her, even her sister Luna! She worked through it and only reacted to a dog that was barking at her. Stormy decided to bark back. I added a few leash pops to correct her which helped her stop reacting. I then called her name to focus on me and marked it with a “Yes” when she did. We then worked on her Greeting Manners with the other trainers. Stormy only received attention when she had all four paws on the floor. She is improving with fighting the urge to jump when being pet. It also helps to remind her to Sit while she is in the position.
We then began to work on her Place command. There was a wobbly seat in the childrens playground and Stormy jumped on there quite confidently! Even though she fell off a few times she had no problem getting right back up and trying again. Finally towards the end she discovered her rear end awareness and balance, holding her sit on the wobbly chair. Amazing job Stormy!
Once we got home I introduced her to my dog Bear for the first time, without the fence being in between them. Stormy has a lot of energy and struggles with boundaries when playing with a dog. I helped her understand by telling her “Yes” when she is playing nice, and correcting her when she is being too rough. She caught on quickly and responded quickly to the cue “Off” when she was being a bit much. They then began to run around and play together for a while!

Pupdate 03/22/2022
Stormy and I took a trip to the Block of Orange today! We began to prepare for her final video and practiced everything she has learned. She nailed her final the first time we did it! Her main struggle throughout the day was eating stuff off of the floor and Greeting Manners. Every time I see something on the floor before we pass it I tell her “Off”. If I’m able to be proactive, she doesn’t go after it. If it’s something I didn’t see before she had the chance to get it, she will go after it. Being proactive is key! She needs to be reminded often, since she is a puppy everything is new and intriguing to her. She is also teething and gets that urge to chew on stuff which helps alleviate her teething pains. After working on her “Off” we worked on her Greeting Manners. Stormy did well with sitting while being pet for the most part, but did struggle with sitting when a person approached her with high energy. I corrected her for trying to jump then she began to fight the urge. Consistency is key with her, if she knows we won’t reinforce it she will keep doing it. As long as the reinforcement is there she will follow through! After training we had a puppy play date with her sister and another trainers dogs, they had a blast!

Pupdate 03/23/2022



Stormy and I focused our work today on her Extended Downs, Place, and Extended Sit. I really pushed her today to strive for 2 minutes with each command. Since she is a puppy, her standard is a minute and a half but I knew she was capable of more! Also, if she can do it for 2 minutes consistently then she has exceeded our expectations. She was very consistent with everything today and made it to a whole 2 minutes! We Heeled around the citadel outlets and came across multiple dogs. Stormy did not react and even held her Place command while a dog passed by her. I offered her a lot of praise for this challenging scenario she did well in. We then worked on her Greeting Manners with multiple people. Stormy held her sit but did paw at a few people. I reminded her to Sit and she stopped pawing at them. When she extends her paw out that is a sign of over excitement and we only want to reinforce her calm behavior. Once she sat back down she continued to receive attention. After our training session Stormy was so tired and cuddled up next to me while I drank Starbucks at the citadel. She is so loving and had a bunch of belly rubs for all of her good work!

Pupdate 03/24/2022
Stormy and I have been proofing all of her commands and manners everywhere we go. She has improved her Heel, listening to me consistently when I cue “Off”. Her Extended Down and Sit was also consistent. We came across friendly people who wanted to say hi and practiced her Greeting Manners. Stormy sat the entire time while being pet and is gaining that impulse control I am looking for! We Heeled around the whole outlet with another trainer’s dog and had a pack walk. Pack walks are more difficult at first because dogs often like to get ahead of each other. This was perfect practice for her to stay by my side even with other dogs straight ahead of her.

Pupdate 3/25/2022



Stormy and I took a trip to the Santa Monica Pier today. This was her first time there and there was a lot to soak in for her at first. We walked the whole pier together to help her acclimate to her surroundings, then we began to film for her final video. We practiced all of her commands which were difficult for her initially. The Pier was full of dogs, crowds of people, musicians, and even dancers. After a couple of tries Stormy was able to hold her Extended Sit and Down in the middle of all of those distractions! Her Place command excites her so much and she can perform quite the leap! This makes it difficult for her to hop onto Place without falling at times but we worked through it with light leash pressure to help her stay in Place without falling off. After filming, Luna’s trainer Tanner and I took turns Heeling with the both of them on each side and they did great! Staying by our side even while passing by multiple dogs. Amazing work Stormy!

Stormy and I practiced all of her commands that she has learned over the last three weeks at Heritage Park. When we initially arrive anywhere I always make sure to exert her energy with walks and playtime. After we played some tug of war and walked around the park we practiced each command next to other dogs that were playing at the park, and a live band that was performing at a family party. Stormy did great with these distractions, although she did react to a barking dog which is a trigger for her. She is doing well with snapping out of it fairly quickly, and if I see that she struggles with that we create distance and walk together. Every other dog we passed by she performed a great Heel and checked in with me along the way. She now automatically sits at the door before we leave anywhere and automatically hops into the car as soon as I open the trunk. When we are home, If I tell her “Crate” she runs into the kennel where I feed her the Greenies or Healthy Edible bones that are her favorite. She is a quick learner who is always eager to train, especially if there is playtime involved! The video attached is from Stormy and Luna Heeling together at Santa Monica Pier where they did quite well! She also grew a lot while with me. The scale was not working for a while so I recently received a new one and updated her current weight which is at 19.9 lbs now. They grow up so fast! Excellent progress Stormy!

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