Tristan | Golden Retriever | Newport Beach, CA | In Training
- Alex Kruse
- Nov 8
- 10 min read
Updated: 7 days ago
Meet Tristan! He's an 8-year-old Golden Retriever from Newport Beach, California, and he's here for our Two Week Urban Board and Train Program. Tristan is a sweet old man who doesn't know he's reaching senior years yet, and acts like a big, overzealous puppy! He has issues pulling on the leash when walking, barking when he wants something, jumping up to greet people and being a little too eager when taking treats, and generally doesn't follow commands. Over the next two weeks we'll teach Tristan all of his basics, get him Heeling properly on the leash, and just generally improve on all of his manners. Stay tuned for Tristan's two-week transformation!
11/8/25
Since it was Tristan's first day with us, we kept his training on the lighter side and mostly worked on just letting him acclimate to being away from home. Pulling on the leash was the immediate issue being addressed, so he was worked on the Sidekick head halter to teach him to slow down while walking. He wasn't super fond of it at first, but adjusted to it fairly quickly. We also noticed he's too snappy when it comes to taking treats, so we'll work on his Wait and manners with that so people fingers can stay intact! Generally he did alright at home when it came to getting along with people and other dogs. He clearly isn't fond of the crate so we'll work on getting him adjusted to that over the next couple weeks, and he definitely knows how to use his voice when he wants something! There'll be a lot of trying to undo some learned behaviors over the next couple weeks while instilling the proper behaviors we'd like to see, but he seems like a smart boy and we're looking forward to watching him grow with us!
11/9/25
Today I took Tristan over to a local neighborhood to work on some of his basics. There was a playground with some kids running around in the distance, so I kept to the field a little further away since he seemed to want to go over and say hi to everyone. I didn't want to start him off with too much distraction so soon! Once he focused up I worked him some on his Heel with the Sidekick on, and worked on getting him to Sit whenever we stopped walking. His Sit in general is pretty solid once he knows that you mean business when you give him the command. His Down is actually really nice too, so with those two it'll just be a matter of making sure he understands he has to stay in position until released. I also did a little work on his Recall today, which for our company has the added steps of moving around the legs and stopping at a Sit on the left side. It makes it nice and easy to go straight into a Heel from there, and he was catching on pretty quickly with that! I also tried his Heel again with the nose piece off, turning the leash into a standard slip, and while it took a lot of reminders that he's not allowed to pull, he was starting to catch on by the end of the session. He's really smart and I think we'll get him to a good place in his training by the end of his stay with us!
11/10/25
Today Tristan got to join the group for our weekly meet up, so he got to work around other dogs and people. We worked mostly on our Heel since that's the one he struggles with the most, and he fought me a bit more today while around the close distractions. He wanted to go say hi to people and the other dogs instead of following through on his commands, but he does need to know that he needs to stick with his handler and not just be able to do what he wants. It was a little bit of stop and go, but he was getting there by the end of session. We also worked a little bit on our Recall, Sit and Down. He clearly knows all these commands, it's just getting him to do it when told and not just on his time. Similarly at home he most definitely tries to push people around to get what he wants. He does a lot of demand barking, but he's beginning to catch on already that it simply doesn't work on me. He's also being much gentler about taking treats since he's learning he won't get anything if he's snappy or pushy about it. He's a very smart boy and it's obvious he's had the basic training foundations; he's just been able to get away with things for a little too long, so most of what we're doing is having him unlearn the negative behaviors so we can replace them with the good ones. I have faith he'll get there!
11/11/25
Today we went out to Arcadia Park, which is a huge park with lots of things to do and see! There's distractions, but there's enough space to spread out away from them as needed, and Tristan did just fine today with all of that. I switched from the Sidekick to a prong collar to test it out, and he actually responded really well on that so I'm going to work him on his Heel for a little bit with that tool and see if I can't get him down to just a flat collar by the end of the two weeks. He did great on most of the walk, but he likes to pull more when we're on the way back to the car and he knows he's done with the session. For his Sit, I've been able to get him to hold it for a little longer each day. His Place and Down are actually pretty solid. I think he likes those because he gets to relax! At home I worked a lot on his manners while I'm eating in front of him. I made sure he knows he needs to keep his distance and to stay in a Sit if he's going to be watching me while I eat. When I was finished, then I got up to get him a dog treat, not rewarding him with any of the people food. He never attempted to take anything out of my hands, thankfully, just tried to crowd in a little bit at first. He catches onto boundaries pretty quickly, he just needs to know that they will be reinforced.
11/12/25
I went to a small local park that's not usually busy and mostly fenced in to hone back in on things with no distractions. Today was our biggest breakthrough yet on the Heel! You can see him actually focusing on me when we're walking and not just running through the motions because he knows he has the training gear on. He was engaged and eager to work for me today! I was able to switch the leash from his prong collar to the flat and he still maintained a really decent Heel. His extended Down, Sit, and his Recall are all pretty good too, as is his Place, so I'm hoping after today's progress that I can start taking him to those busier areas and not have to worry about him trying to pull so much! For his home manners, he's been getting a lot better each day. Less demand barking in general for things, and when he does start to bark, he gives up a lot faster. I'm currently eating chips right next to him and he's not even looking at me lol. He's still a little overly eager when I put his food bowl down, but he can hold it longer and longer without trying to move towards it before he gets his release word now. Overall I think he's making some pretty fast progress!
11/13/25
I took Tristan to Old Town Monrovia during the lunch hour today so he could walk through the area when it was a little busier. We went through outdoor dining areas, past other dogs, scooters, loading carts, and of course other people, and he was really good about leaving everyone alone. He still tries to pull here and there on the leash, but he's starting to get the idea that he needs to stay next to me and not ahead. On a funny note, when we got to the statue of the film director, he thought it was a real guy and got really excited about it! I had to show him several times it was just a thing so he'd calm down lol. It was really cute!
11/14/25
Due to the rain I worked Tristan indoors today at the Home Depot. We started off on the prong again, and he went straight into his Heel with great focus no problem, so after a few laps I switched him down to just his flat collar. He continued doing well, so we moved to the long line to work on his extended Sit and Down, as well as his Recall. He had no issues with any of the hardware store noise, or with any of the people going by. He still pulls a little bit when we're on the way back to the car following our sessions, but he's getting a lot better at slowing himself down on verbal command now. Once I break him of that habit, then I feel like I'll be able to go without the prong entirely. We'll get him there!
11/15/25
It was back to Home Depot again, this time to go up and down all the aisles at our Heel, and work on our greeting manners. Everyone wants to say hi because he's a big, sweet old man, but he gets a little overexcited saying hi back sometimes. We worked on making him Sit and not get mouthy (I noticed in general he likes to grab at things when he's excited, usually a toy to hold when we're in the house), and no one was allowed to pet him until he was calm. Or they would have to stop petting him if he started getting wound up. This way we're teaching him that he doesn't get any of that attention he wants until he's relaxed. Overall he did really well though, and had no issues with any of the Christmas animatronics either!
11/16/25
I had a great day with Tristan at the Santa Anita Mall today! We worked on our Heel for a little bit inside in an area less crowded to get him used to the noise, then passed through the food court and did more work in the outdoor area. He was pretty much unbothered by all of it and is doing amazing with checking in while we walk. You can see near the end of the video that we wind up walking parallel to a woman. She was making kissy sounds at him and wiggling her fingers trying to pet him, but all it took was a small verbal from me for him to turn his head and leave her be. We also went up and down the elevator and the stairs to make sure he behaved for both of those, and he did amazing. I'm so very proud of him today!
11/17/25
We had our weekly group practice at another Home Depot today, so Tristan got to work around other trainers and their dogs. I first worked on his manners as he still gets a little excited when being pet by other people. He was still enthusiastic but did much better at sitting while he was being pet. I then worked him on all his commands both with the prong and with the flat collar inside, then we went out to the parking lot to work him on just the flat collar near the car since that's where he pulls the most. He's keenly aware of when he's wearing the prong collar and when he isn't, so when I took it off him, he immediately went back to hard pulling. Some of the other trainers took turns working him with a stronger e-collar, and while he was still doing quite a bit of pulling at first, we were finally able to get him to walk at his Heel past the car several times without him trying to tug people around. I'll continue working with him on the flat collar with the new e-collar and hopefully that'll be enough to break him from needing the prong. He's smart, I know he can get there if we can push past the stubborn!
11/18/25
Today I took Tristan out to a local park that's entirely fenced in so I could work with him on only the flat collar, no prong. That way if he got away from me there wasn't really anywhere for him to go. He tested me twice while on the long line, trying to head back towards the car, but he fell right back into place with a little reminder on the e-collar. Outside of that, he did really great! I was even able to drop the leash entirely and call him over to me without him making any attempts to wander off. It also only took one reminder with the collar not to pull while we were actually going back to the car, which is great for him. I'm really pleased with this progress, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get him off that prong. We're getting there!
11/19/25
Today I thought I'd show off some of Tristan's house manners, particularly the waiting for food one since I know that's been an issue. He's been expected to wait before going through any door or gate, to wait before going for his food bowl, and to wait before we get in and out of the car. He's been shifted fully down to his flat collar, no prong, for all of his commands, and I included a little bit of his Recall while he's fully off leash. We were in a closed off area for this just in case he made any moves, but he stuck close using mostly just verbal corrections with only a few collar corrections. I've also been working on his "Crate" command, having him go into the crate before putting his food bowl down. He picked up on that very quickly and will lay in there quietly until I let him out. He's come a long way in just a couple weeks!
11/20/25
Another rainy day meant another mall trip! I ran him through all his commands with the mall crowd passing around us, took him up and down the elevators some more for exposure, and worked on his greeting manners. All of this was done strictly on the flat collar. There was just a little bit of pulling as soon as he got out of the car, but he responded to the collar correction well. Otherwise everything was smooth sailing from there! I'm really pleased with him today!
11/21/25
It's our last pupdate with Tristan! I took him to a big playground that's all space-themed for a fun, last-day photo shoot. There were lots of kids running around, other dogs walking the track, and people going by on scooters and bikes, and he did absolutely great. There's still just the tiniest bit of test-pulling on the leash here and there on his flat collar, so be aware he will still try to challenge people to see what he can get away with, but a quick correction with the e-collar usually sets him straight again. Otherwise he's able to perform all his commands beautifully.
Tristan's really been a pleasure to work with all around. He's very smart and caught onto everything so quickly. Once he got over his stubborn streak he was a total gem to have around. Thank you so much for letting me be a part of his learning journey, and his big, sweet face will be missed around the house!
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