Sumo | French Bulldog | La Cañada Flintridge, CA | In Training
Updated: 2 hours ago
Meet Sumo! He's a 5 month old French Bulldog from La Cañada Flintridge, CA, and he's here for our Three Week Puppy Board and Train Program! Sumo is a typical Frenchie puppy, which means he has a lot of fun personality, but all the wild silliness that goes with it! He's very friendly, but he has a tendency to jump up when he wants attention or when he gets overexcited, he has some issues paying attention when it's time to follow through on commands, and he still hasn't quite gotten the hang of going potty outside yet. Over the next three weeks we'll make sure he knows all of his basics commands and that he has to do them when asked, we'll teach him out to sit properly if he wants attention instead of jumping all over people, and get him housebroken so there'll be no more accidents inside. Stay tuned for Sumo's three week transformation!
9/21/26
Before we left the park today, I spent some time getting to know Sumo and what he could potentially do. It seemed like he alreayd knows at least the beginning of Sit, and he didn't do too badly with his Recall. I just needed to get his attention first and get him to calm down some before he could follow through! He doesn't seem to want to wander off too far from a person, which is great. It means he's not really a bad puller on the leash and it shouldn't be too difficult to teach him a proper Heel command. He did seem pretty clueless on his Down command, but we'll get him there! He was friendly and seemed willing to follow along readily enough, so I'm hoping that means he'll be an eager learner!
He did just fine on the car ride home, and wasn't too anxious around the house at all. I let him run around and potty for a bit in his own play yard where he could see the others, then I brought him into the house on leash to explore while I had him under control with no options to have any accidents. He took a nap in his crate for a little while and only protested a tiny bit (I get a kick out of the fact that he softly squeaks instead of full Frenchie screams!). Then I brought him back out to potty, and once that was done, let him play with a few friends. So far he's getting along with his playmates just fine and learning well to listen to their cues. I'm sure he'll catch onto the house routines in no time and become a great little addition around the home while we have him!
9/22/26
Today I took Sumo out to a neighborhood park where there were no distractions (besides just the excitement of being somewhere new!) to start working with him on the basics. We know he somewhat grasps the Sit command, so for that today I worked on having him move into position faster and with only telling him once. I also introduced to him a marker word - "Yes!" - which is a sound I give him at the moment when he's done what I've asked. So if I ask him to sit, then the moment his rear touches the ground, I give him the marker word and then give him the treat afterwards. This will help work on getting him off the treats eventually as he'll start looking for that sound to let him know he's done the right thing instead of the treat, which will just become a bonus reward instead of the cue that he's succeeded. I also introduced a release word to him - "Break!" - which lets him know when he's allowed to move from his position. Having a release word will ensure he holds each command until you give him the okay to go be a dog again! A couple other things we worked on today were how to get into the Heel position on my left side, and we worked on the Down. I had to be a little bit more hands on with that one until he grasped the idea, but he was getting it by the end of session! Once he can solidly lay down quickly on command, then I can start working with the duration he can hold it for, and the distance I can move away from him as well. At the house he's doing very well. I already have him on unleashed supervision, as in he doesn't need to be tethered to me, but if he's not in the crate then he's always within sight of me so I can catch him quickly if it looks like he needs to potty. He hasn't had any accidents in the house at all or in his crate, and he's already moving to stand by the door when he needs to go out, so that's clearly carried over from what he's learned at home. He's eating well and playing well with the other dogs. He's doing great!
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