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Writer's pictureReine Melnick

Thor| Labrador Retriever | Torrance, CA| In-Training


Meet Thor, a goofy 9 month Labrador Retriever from Torrance, CA! He will be joining Offleash SoCal for our Three Week Board and Train Program! Thor is your typical energetic pup who just needs some guidance. Thor loves to pull his owners around while out on walks and gets distracted very easily. During his stay, he will be working on Basic Obedience, Leash Manners, and Greeting Manners! Stay tuned for his transformation!


 

Pupdate 7/17/22






This afternoon Thor and I spent the rest of the day taking walks around the neighborhood so that he could adjust to his new surroundings! We spent some time relaxing on the grass at the park and getting acquainted with each other! Thor is such a good boy that enjoyed getting head rubs and smelling the grass! Even though he pulled on the leash most of the walk, I wasn’t too worried because we will start his training tomorrow. Today is just about letting Thor acclimate and decompress from traveling and being in a new place! 


 

Pupdate 7/18/22


Today Thor and I started the morning working on shaping the Heel command and walking around the neighborhood! He is obsessed with peeing on every bush he sees and will pull me there. I decided to use a prong collar to help stop the pulling and quickly give him the correct guidance! He did pretty well and pulled a little less. Later we went to a park and started shaping Place and Come! He is such a smart boy and tried to follow what I asked! Due to the heat we had a shorter session because I didn’t want him to overheat due to being a black dog and the hot temperatures. We spent some time hanging out around the house and watching a movie!


 

Pupdate 7/19/22


Today Thor and I started the day with our structured walk around the neighborhood to focus on Heel! He has a very hard time with heeling due to wanting to smell and pee on everything he comes across. When he decides to pull me around, I give him a slight correction to tell him that is not correct. He responds pretty well. Later we went to a park and continued working on Heel and Place! He did a bit better at the park and was less distracted! We also started working on his duration with Place. He did ok but started to growl at people walking by while on place. I gave him a firm correction to let him know that is not ok and he stopped!


 

Pupdate 7/20/22






Today Thor and I started our morning with a routine structured walk around the neighborhood and worked on Heel, Down, and Come. He did very well throughout our session! He did have a moment or two where he got distracted by a smell and veered off but came back when told “Off.” Later we went to a park and continued working on Heel, Down, and Place! He did very well and even started working on duration! He had been semi picky with his meals though and tends to knock his bowl over in his crate.


 

Pupdate 7/21/22


Today Thor and I started the morning with our routine walk around the neighborhood and focused on Heel, Come, and Down. He did fairly well with each command but occasionally would get stubborn and decide he didn’t want to listen. Later we went to an outdoor mall and focused on Heel, Down, Come, Place, and sit. Overall Thor did pretty good and listened to most of his commands. He did get pretty tired due to the heat and got complacent with his commands. Later we spent some time hanging out and watching a movie! He didn’t seem too interested in eating his breakfast and dinner, so I will be adding chicken to hopefully intrigue his appetite.


 

Pupdate 7/22/22





Today Thor and I started our morning kind of early due to the temperatures getting hotter by 10am! We went on our routine structured walk around the neighborhood and focused on Heel, Down, Come, and Place! He did pretty well and stayed focused for majority of the walk. Later we decided to go to Lowes because it was too hot to work outside. We focused on Heel, Duration Down, Place, and Sit. He got distracted a couple times during our training session due to carts and loud noises but quickly focused back on to me once I said “off.” Later in the afternoon we spent some time indoors watching tv and a couple movies! 

 

Pupdate 7/23/22


Today Thor and I started the morning with an early structured work session around the neighborhood and focused on Heel, Down, Come, and Sit! He did pretty good for the most part but sometimes struggles with Place and will move to adjust and fall off. This is mostly due to him still trying to figure out his body and how it works! Later we stopped of at a park that had a pond and worked on Place, Heel, Come, and Sit! He did well for the majority of the time but does sometimes when asked to Come, he will bulldoze through your legs to scratch himself against your leg. When that happens I like to try and move away from him and repeat the command again until he performs without running into me! Later we spent some time relaxing in my yard with my personal pups and give Thor some time to play and relax!


 

Pupdate 7/24/22





Today Thor and I started the day with our structured walk around the neighborhood and focused on Heel, Down, Come, and Place! He did well for the most part but got a little lazy with his sit. Sometimes when he gets in that mind space and decides to lay down when sitting, I give him a firm correction to let him know that was not what was asked. Later due to the high temperatures, we went to REI and worked on his commands while people walked past him! He was very curious but remained in his commands! Later we spent some time hanging out in my yard while I let Thor explore my yard and smell what he wanted!


 

Pupdate 7/25/22


Today Thor and I had an early start due to the temperatures being hotter starting at 10! We went on our routine structured walk around the neighborhood and focused on Heel, Down, Come, and Sit! He did fairly well with each command but did struggle with his come. Sometimes he does really well and other times he will start walking to you but decide to turn around and walk away. Usually when this happens, I go a bit higher on the collar but he has started to just ignore the feeling and keep walking away. Later we stopped at a tennis court and worked on Heel, Down, Come, and Sit! He did pretty good with most of his command but again tried to walk away multiple times. During the evening, we spent some time in the yard letting him relax and smell the plants!

 

Pupdate 7/26/22


Today Thor and I had a more relaxing training day due to the hot temperatures and wanting to give him some time to play and enjoy his time! We did start with an early structured walk around the neighborhood to work on Heel, Down, Come, and Place! He did pretty well for the most part and only got distracted twice during our walk. Afterwards we spent some time at home and relaxed in my yard and let Thor play or explore around! He was very well behaved while outside and mostly spent the time exploring and smelling my yard! 


 

Pupdate 7/27/22


Today Thor and I started with an early structured walk around the neighborhood and worked on Heel, Down, Come, and Place! He did pretty good for the most part but did have a major hiccup while working on Heel. While we were walking Thor got distracted by something and decided to walk away from me. However when I gave him a minor reminder with the collar, he decided to keep walking away from me. He had barely any desire to return to me. Later we went to Petco due to the hot temperatures and worked on Heel, Duration Down, Come and Sit. He did pretty good overall and even ignored some dogs that were barking at him. Once we got home, we worked on his Door Manners and he did fairly well for the most part however he did try and dart out of the door while on a longline. I gave him a firm correction and told him to come but he didn’t want to comply. For the rest of the training, I kept him on either a normal leash or a longline. 

 

Pupdate 7/28/22





Today Thor and I started the morning with our routine structured walk around the neighborhood and focused on Heel, Down, Come, and Place! He was very energetic during our walk and a bit distracted. Later we stopped at an outdoor mall and worked on Place, Down, Come, and Sit. He was overall very well behaved and listened to most of his commands. He did get distracted a few times and just wanted to play. Later we spent some time hanging out in my yard to let Cooper relax and enjoy himself! He is still only eating half the normal amount of food that he is given and is still slowly losing some weight. 

 

Pupdate 7/29/22


Today Thor and I started with our routine structured walk around the neighborhood and focused on Heel, Down, Come, and Place. He performed pretty well and had a very productive walk! He still didn’t want to eat his food overnight. Later we met up with other trainers at the Outlets Mall and I decided to work on transferability with another trainer! He started out a bit stubborn and wasn’t wanting to perform with the other trainer, but after about 20-30 minutes he did very well!  He did have runny poop while we were training. When we got home I gave Thor some time outside in the yard to relax and try and decompress.

 

Pupdate 7/30/22






Today Thor and I started our day with a structured walk around the neighborhood and focused on Heel, Down, Come, and Sit. He did well for the most part but got distracted twice due to a dog barking at him behind a fence. When that happened I quickly told him “off” and we continued working! Later we stopped at a Mall and worked on all of his commands while lots of people walked by him! He did well and only broke his command one time due to someone going over and tried to pet him. Afterwards we went to decompress at a nearby park where I let him smell around and just relax! He wasn't interested in his breakfast or dinner (tried to add greek yoghurt to his food) 


 

Pupdate 7/31/2022

Today Thor arrived at his new trainer’s residence in the evening. He had a mini training session before he was provided with dinner. He knows his basic obedience, but he is easily distracted. When he is distracted, he won't demonstrate knowledge of basic obedience. Reinforcement and consistency are super important for him. Thor had a little bit of runny stool today. It started off normal but got loose as he continued to go. Thor only ate 1/4th of the food provided for dinner.

 

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