Meet Sunny, a 6-month old Australian Shepherd from Riverside, California. Sunny is a playful pup with a mischievous side. On walks he is reactive to people, especially children, and dogs, he pulls when walking on leash, doesn’t respond to basic commands, and will jump on the kitchen table/counter to steal food. Sunny is here for our Two-Week Board and Train Program to work on his confidence as well as his basic obedience and manners. Stay tuned for his fourteen-day transformation!
Pupdate 11/28/2021
Sunny and I walked around TeWinkle Park where earlier in the day he was barking and lunging at people, dogs, and geese. He was skittish about being touched, so I introduced a food chase game as we walked around while Sunny was on a long line. I let him look at things he was unsure of from a safe distance, then I would mark the moment with the word “yes” and follow that by a treat reward. He was able to take food from me with no problem and seemed to really like the treats. Sunny barked and threw a minor fit when he was first put in the crate but he settled down soon after, and the second time he was put in he was quiet. In the yard back at my house he enjoyed meeting the other dogs, Juno, my Belgian Malinois, and Sage, who is a 6 month old Great Dane puppy. They ran around the yard and played until it was time to come in and eat.
Pupdate 11/29/2021
Sunny and I worked on loose leash walking, leash pressure, come to sit, heeling, sit, break, and place. He's a very smart little guy! He figured out that going on the place board would yield a reward and started going on with little to no prompting. I was able to put the behavior on cue in no time! To reset him I would toss a treat, then say place, point to the cot, and when he had all four paws on the cot I would mark with "yes" and toss the treat. He socialized with the other dogs in the yard several times throughout the day, and he's such a happy-go-lucky pup when off-leash with other canines! I checked his pad and between his paws and didn't find anything wrong, but noticed he occasionally holds his back left paw up. I also held his knee and stretched his leg back and he was able to fully extend it. He was also able to bend it fine. I'll monitor this and update accordingly. Since Sunny didn't willingly go into the crate at pickup we spent some time working on loading up into the crate that's in the van. I used a small step to elevate him, as well as treats, and after several reps he was going in on cue.
Pupdate 11/30/2021
Sunny and I went to Best Buy today and walked down the isles practicing our loose leash walking, heeling, and sit, while exposing him to an environment with people. He barked and tried to lunge at a little girl in the store, but I was able to use the leash to stop him from moving forward. He was able to calm down and use his nose. After he stopped sniffing I rewarded him with a treat. I did a lot of rewarding after he would sniff in the direction of people in the store. Overall, he did very well compared to the puppy I met the day before who was lunging and barking at adults and children. I'm still monitoring Sunny's back leg, and it does not appear to be any worse. He does, however, still shift his weight when standing still and will have it slightly off the ground. For now I'm limiting his time outside of the crate to training sessions and potty breaks so his leg can have a chance to heal.
Pupdate 12/1/2021
Sunny and I stayed on my property to work on his commands. We focused on place, come to sit, loose leash walking, extended sit, and break. I use the leash or my hand with a treat lure to guide him around my back, and when he's in position sitting at my left side, I mark with "yes" and reward him with a treat. For puppies I like teaching using food and fade that out to where I'm rewarding with praise or affection. Overall, I'm very happy with him progress! He is still skittish at times, especially with hands reaching towards him, so I'll work on some desensitization to get him used to that visual, and also have other trainers work with him when we meetup for group trainings. His leg has not improved, and he continues to hold it up when stationary so we will do a vet visit to get it checked out.
Pupdate 12/12/2021
Sunny and I went for a walk around TeWinkle Park today. We did long line work where I had Sunny on a 15 foot leash. When he hit the end, I would turn and do a 180 and if he wasn’t paying attention, the pressure from the leash would guide him forward. After a couple of repetitions he quickly caught on and was walking and turning by my side.
Pupdate 12/13/2021
Today we stayed on my property so I could introduce the e-collar while having Sunny on a long line. I found the lowest level where Sunny feels the stimulation from the collar, and then I would tap the top left black button on the remote until he looked in my direction. I would then use my verbal marker “yes” or body language to get him moving towards me. When I would stop walking, I would tap the black button on the left side of the receiver and ask for a sit. On turns, I would tap the same button while patting the left side of my leg to help Sunny understand that I want him moving with me. He is a quick learner and picked it up fast!
Pupdate 12/14/2021
Today Sunny and I stayed on my property. I worked on layering his known commands with the e- collar and treats. After several verbal repetitions of “place” I then asked for a “come to sit”. I lured Sunny into position by pressing the black button on the left side of the remote and a lure with a treat to help him understand where I wanted him. If he completed the “come to sit” but was too far away from my leg, I would lure him again so he was closer and mark only when he was where I wanted him to be.
Pupdate 12/15/2021
Ears are back but he did not have a negative reaction and held his extended down.
In the morning we went to Pets Plus to train in a more stimulating environment. I realized right away that Sunny needs more work on loose leash walking and heeling, so we focused on this in the afternoon when we returned to my property. In the store, Sunny was able to look at a big black dog without having a negative reaction. He held his extended sit and down, and was able to walk past people who were shopping. Overall he did really well!
Pupdate 12/16/2021
Sunny and I went for a walk at Irvine Spectrum Center with my dog Juno to get him more comfortable in a distracting environment. We worked on loose leash walking, heel, come to sit, break and down. Sunny did an awesome job! On our walk he was able to pass by multiple dogs and children with no bad reaction. He was engaging more with me and less worried about the distractions around him which is a great improvement. I rewarded him with treats every time he looked at a dog to make a more positive association with other dogs. He is still nervous and his ears do pin back frequently, but he is more responsive and less reactive in public.
Pupdate 12/17/2021
Today Sunny and I worked at a local shopping center. We practiced come to sit, down, break, and heel. At first he was a bit distracted, because there was a dog very close to us. After a few repetitions Sunny was completing his commands and was no longer worried about the distractions around us.
Pupdate 12/18/2021
Sunny and I worked on his commands around the playground at Walnut Grove Park. We worked outside a building where they were setting up for an event, but the noises and children running sent Sunny past his threshold. He would take the kibble I was giving him but then spit it out. I switched over to a higher-value bag of freeze dried raw treats and was able to keep his attention. He was able to focus on me and perform his commands while being close to children running and playing on the playground equipment. I was very happy to see him trust that I would take care of things so that he didn’t have to.
Pupdate 12/19/2021
Today Sunny and I worked on his commands on my property and the local park. He did very well around the tennis courts at the park, but struggled to hold his commands around the basketball courts. He could not relax and his head was turning in every direction. On the property he was able to socialize with several of the dogs. He got a little over stimulated with the male puppy that is his age and tried to mount him, so I used the off command.
Pupdate 12/20/2021
Today I had Miranda work Sunny on my property to see if he would complete his commands with a different handler since he can be a little weird with people. He struggles at times to hold his sit, so they mainly focused on extended sits as well as come to sit. She noticed when asking for a come to sit he would stick his body and butt out to the side too far away from her. To help him understand where she wanted him, she used a big rock as a barrier so he had to sit straighter. In the afternoon, Sunny finally got to play with Bella! When I introduced them last week in the yard, he came on too strong and scared her away. Today they ran and played in the yard together.
Pupdate 12/21/2021
Sunny and I worked on his commands while he was off-leash on my property. I had Miranda and my dog Juno around us to work Sunny through distractions. I noticed when Miranda would run past us he was very unsure and jumped out of position and he struggled with holding his commands. After several repetitions I noticed him getting a little more comfortable and less jumpy, but was still nervous and unsure of the activity around him. Sunny is quiet in his crate during the day. He enjoys socializing with the other dogs, and is progressing nicely in his program!
Pupdate 12/22/2021
Sunny and I worked on his commands around the property. He had difficulty around the chicken coop so we stayed in this area and focused on "place" before moving on to the driveway to work on heeling. He's much better about staying close to me, but could still use additional work. We continue to plug away at this!
Pupdate 12/23/2021
Sunny and I worked on his commands at Irvine Spectrum Center. He heeled off-leash and completed all of his commands. While his head darted from side to side, and he was unsure and wanted to jump out of position numerous times, I was very proud of him for holding his extended sit and extended down, and for walking past dogs without a negative reaction.
Pupdate 12/24/2021
Sunny and I went back to Irvine Spectrum Center to work on his final video. He did well heeling past children and dogs, but got spooked a couple of times when holding a sit or a down when a person would stop and stare at him. My solution to this is to step between Sunny and the individual, smile, and let them know he is in training. We did several repetitions where we worked on extended downs in different places, and Sunny relaxed the more we worked through this. By the end of it, he was able to perform all of his commands in a much calmer manner. On the property I worked all of the training dogs on place while some of the dogs ran around free. It was a test to see how good their impulse control was and if they've learned the "off" command during play. Sunny really has!
Pupdate 12/25/2021
Merry Christmas! Sunny is performing all of his commands so we worked on filming his car manners, door manners, and food manners. He socialized with the dogs in the yard. They got a bit dirty and had a great time!
