top of page
Tanner Strong

Umi | Goldendoodle | Ventura, CA | In Training


Meet Umi! She's a fourteen month old Goldendoodle from Ventura, California here for our Two-Week Board and Train Program. She is very sweet and friendly, but she has trouble listening to her commands. She loves to jump, pull on her leash, and sometimes runs and won't come when asked. She also gets nervous around distractions, then barks at any nearby dogs. Over the next fourteen days, we will work on Umi's confidence, her willingness to respond to basic commands, and prepare her to be the best pup she can possibly be! Stay tuned for Umi's two week transformation!

____________________________________


Pupdate: 2/19/2023


After picking up Umi, we stayed at the park for a while to get to know each other! Umi was very nervous and shaking a bit. She just got most of her coat shaved so we walked in the warm sun to make sure she wasn't just shivering. Her shakiness didn't stop, so I do believe she's anxious about the change. I noticed she would stop shaking when she saw another dog. Most of the time she would then proceed to bark at the dog. She definitely likes to pull on her leash and jump, but she seems to respond fairly well to the Sit command already. After the park, we went home where Umi is starting to get settled in! Very soon after entering my home, Umi started getting playful and wagging her tail! I'm glad she is starting to like me, but this tells me a lot of her anxiety comes from being in the outside world. We'll be spending a lot of time outside exposing Umi to as many distractions as possible!

____________________________________


Pupdate: 2/20/2023


Umi and I went back to Whittier Narrows Park today for her first full day of training! We started working on her Heel and her Sit commands. She was already pretty responsive to the Sit command, but I'd like her to sit immediately when asked and also be able to hold her sit for a longer period of time. For Heel, I want Umi to walk nicely at my left side with her ears at my knee. She's already starting to pick up the Heel command fairly well, and she managed to walk politely for much of our time today! She was also around quite a few dogs at the park today. There were a few times she got a bit too excited, but generally managed to ignore them. Her anxiety was not nearly as bad as yesterday. That being said, we went to the same park as yesterday so we will see how she does somewhere new tomorrow!

____________________________________


Pupdate: 2/21/2023


Umi and I went to Almansor Park today for training! I didn't see any signs of anxiety or nervousness throughout the day. She seemed happy and responsive. We passed several dogs throughout our time at the park and there was only one that she got overly excited for. Her Heel is coming along very well, and we introduced the Come To Sit command today! For this command, I want Umi to come to my right side and sit at my left side with her ears at my knee. She started getting the hang of it very quickly! Great job, Umi!

____________________________________


Pupdate: 2/22/2023


Umi and I went to La Bonita Park today for training! She was a little bit more nervous than yesterday. I think part of this was because there were two dogs there who incessantly barked at Umi and me. Umi, however, didn't bark at them. She did an excellent job maintaining her composure. It still clearly made her uncomfortable, but she's learning to ignore those distractions. We started working on her Place command today! For Place, I want Umi to hop onto a raised object and remain there until I either release her or ask her to perform another command. For today, I used a cot to practice, but Umi should eventually be comfortable Placing on other surfaces as well. In the above video, you can see she's very hesitant to hop on for the first two tries, but quickly gets comfortable on the cot!

____________________________________


Pupdate: 2/23/2023


Today, Umi and I went to Home Depot to avoid the rainy weather. It wasn't raining when we first got there, so we spent a little time in the garden section, and Umi was very calm and collected. When we went inside the building, however, she immediately got super nervous. This surprised me because she's done so well the last two days with her anxiety. I believe this is the busiest, noisiest place we've gone so far, and also the first indoor public area, so either of these could have triggered her nervousness. She seemed to especially dislike the beeping made by the forklifts. She was mostly able to maintain her Heel around those distractions, but she was constantly looking around, moving and sitting with nervous posture, and started shaking at certain points. After about an hour, it seemed like she started to get used to the noise. Since it will be raining for the next couple days, I think we'll go to more indoor areas so we can try to get Umi as comfortable as possible in those types of locations!

____________________________________


Pupdate: 2/24/2023


Umi and I went to Del Amo Fashion Center today! Just like yesterday, Umi was a little bit overwhelmed by the area. We introduced the Down command today, and Umi seems to be getting the hang of it quickly! In the above video you can see Umi Heeling with me. At certain points she appears very stressed out and her attention is moving from distraction to distraction constantly. Some of the time she seemed to be even more nervous when we stop moving. It's difficult to see in the video, but when we stop for her to sit, she starts shaking a bit. She's doing a good job at following through with her commands even with her nerves, but she still needs a lot of exposure and practice to stay more calm in these public areas.

____________________________________


Pupdate: 2/25/2023


Umi and I went to Montebello Mall today! She exhibited the same anxieties as the mall yesterday but still behaved and performed her commands very well. I used a fifteen foot leash at the mall today to see if Umi would be comfortable holding her positions with me farther away. For the most part she did well, although she broke her commands a handful of times.

____________________________________


Pupdate: 2/26/2023


Umi and I went to Almansor Park today! In an effort to get her closer to her goal of being off leash, had her performing commands while I hold only the end of a fifteen foot leash. She did well, and stayed with me most of the time. There were a few times she got distracted and wanted to go elsewhere while Heeling. We met an art student who wanted to sketch Umi, and I thought it would be a good test to see how long she could hold a sit. Our goal is to have her be able to hold a sit with distractions for at least two minutes, and Umi did that today! She also got to be a model in the process!

____________________________________


Pupdate: 2/27/2023


Umi and I went back to Home Depot today for training! While she was still a bit excitable and nervous at times, she did much better than last time we went to Home Depot. She seemed much less nervous about the carts and the forklifts. There was one particularly playful dog nearby that Umi really wanted to play with, and she struggled, at times, to sit still around that dog. Most of our training today was with the leash fully dragging on the ground, and Umi did a pretty good job with most of her commands! There were a few times where she got too excited and I had to ask her a few times to follow through with a command, but she always followed through eventually. Having the leash drag gives me some idea of how she might behave off leash while still having access to the leash should I need it. 

____________________________________


Pupdate: 2/28/2023


Umi went to Montebello Mall today for training! We continued working with the leash dragging, but with a much smaller leash. This is to further replicate the sensation of being off leash for Umi. While she was a bit nervous at first, she seemed to get a little more comfortable in the mall as the day went on, and she ended up doing a good job!

____________________________________


Pupdate: 3/1/2023


Umi went to Almansor Park today for training! We had to take several breaks for rain, but it was generally a good day! Umi went off leash at the park today. Because of the weather, there weren't very many people or dogs, to serve as distractions, but still, Umi did a good job without the leash. She stayed close to me and seemed confident and responsive!

____________________________________


Pupdate: 3/2/2023


Umi went to Pan Pacific Park today for training! She was off leash for most of our time there and she did very well. There are a ton of off leash dogs running around this park, so I thought it would be a good place for Umi to practice. There was one time today she wanted to go over and try to play with another dog, but she responded immediately when called, and sat correctly at my left side. Other than that slight break, Umi remained attentive and confident the whole day. We worked on all of her off leash commands, and she nailed each one reliably!

____________________________________


Pupdate: 3/3/2023


Umi went to the Santa Monica Pier today for training! She was off leash some of the time and she did a great job! It took a few minutes for her to get used to the area, but despite the large crowds, Umi stayed relatively confident the whole time. This was the most crowded spot we've been to, so I'm very proud of her for holding it together and succeeding!

____________________________________


Pupdate: 3/4/2023


Umi went to Almansor Park for her last full day of training! She had a fun day while we worked on her commands and played. For her pupdate today I wanted to show some of the manners she's been working on. For her door manners, I want Umi to sit and wait by the door when I open it, without rushing through before me. This one took some time for her to understand, but she's gotten really good! For car manners, I want Umi to hop into the car, and walk directly into her crate when asked. She got the hang of this one fairly quickly! For greeting manners, I want Umi to sit nicely when being approached and touched by someone new. She's been nervous with this some of the time, but gained confidence over the course of the last two weeks!


Comments


bottom of page