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Walker | Dalmatian | Los Angeles, CA | In Training

Tanner Strong

Meet Walker! He's a thirteen month old Dalmatian here for our Three-Week Board and Train Program from Los Angeles, California! Walker can be a little nervous around new people and environments, however, he's a super happy and loving pup once you get to know him! He has trouble following his basic commands, and he's a huge leash puller. He also likes to jump on people and counters/tables, and sometimes barks through his fence at passersby. Over the next twenty one days, we'll help build Walker's confidence, teach him his basic commands, work on his manners in and out of the house, and show him how to be the best pup he can possibly be! Stay tuned for Walker's three week transformation!

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Pupdate: 10/1/2023


After picking up Walker, we went over to Almansor Park to get to know each other! He was fairly standoffish, but allowed me to pet him and walk him. Around the other people at the park, he seemed pretty nervous as well. When asking for his basic commands at the park, he wouldn't give me any, however, later on at home he would sit for me when asked about half the time. At home, I let him sniff around my house to get him settled in. He seems to be slowly adjusting to the change! For his crate, he barked a few times when I first put him in, but has been pretty good ever since. I'll update tomorrow on how he does sleeping in the crate!

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Pupdate: 10/2/2023


Walker and I went to Maple Park today for his first full day of training! We started by introducing him to the Come To Sit command and the Place command. For Come To Sit, I want Walker to come to my right side, walk around my legs and sit at my left side with his ears at my knee. He's doing a great job learning the motion, he just sometimes has trouble following through to the correct position and sitting. For the Place command, I want Walker to hop onto a raised object, such as a bench. Since Walker is a little bit nervous in these new environments, I wanted to start working on this command right away, as it is great for confidence building! This command will also come in handy in the house when you need Walker to go to his bed or another specific location and remain there while you do something like prepare dinner! For Walker's crate, he did a great job all night without barking, and only started whining a little at about 7am to let me know he needed to go out. While driving to the park, he piddled a little in the crate, but I think that was more from him being nervous about going somewhere new rather than the crate itself. He had a really great first full day!

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Pupdate: 10/3/2023


Walker and I went to Almansor Park today! We continued to work on his Place and Come To Sit commands, and introduced his Heel command. For Heel, I want Walker to walk politely at my left side with his ears at my knee. Walker was a major leash puller so this is an important command for him! So far, he's doing an amazing job with all of the commands he's learned. For Walker, his confidence seems to be where he's struggling the most, as he was a little unsure of the park today, even with very few people around. That being said, he usually starts to perk up towards the end of our workouts and opens up a little bit!

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Pupdate: 10/4/2023


Walker and I went to Santa Anita Mall today for training! This mall has a nice outdoor area as well as an indoor section. Walker was clearly nervous, and it took quite a while for him relax. That being said, his Heel command was on point nearly the whole time. He seemed to struggle much more when asked to Place on an object while I walk several feet away. He often wanted to break from his Place and come toward me. When this happens, I want to quickly ask him to Place in the same spot he moved from, so that he doesn't get the idea he can break whenever he wants! His Heel is definitely his strongest command so far, but his other basic commands are coming along nicely as well! Today was a slight step up as far as environmental difficulty, but he did a great job for most of the day.

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Pupdate: 10/5/2023


Walker and I went to the Santa Monica Promenade today for training! There were plenty of people and other distractions, so Walker was a little nervous. Other than some anxiety, Walker behaved very well the whole time, and he did great with his commands! A few times, he got distracted and wanted to either stop short during a command, or pull away for a second, but he always did a good job of following through after!

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Pupdate: 10/6/2023


Walker and I went to Almansor Park today, and he did a great job! We are still mostly focusing on his basic commands, but I started dropping the leash while we Heel. Allowing the leash to drag gives me some idea of how he might perform off leash while still having access to the leash should I need it. With the leash dragging, Walker's Heel was still very strong. His Place, Come To Sit, and Down Commands still needed a little leash tension today, but I believe allowing Walker a bit of freedom while we walk is bolstering his confidence. Ideally, our training tomorrow will focus on refining his other commands while his leash is dragging, and I'm pretty sure he can do it!

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Pupdate: 10/7/2023


Walker and I went back to Almansor Park today to continue his training with his leash dragging! As discussed yesterday, this is a transition between Walker being on leash, and getting him off leash safely! Today, he continued doing a great job with his Heel, and his Come To Sit improved dramatically. There were a few place objects he still needed a little bit of help hopping on, but other objects he had no issue with! For example, he seems to be more willing to jump onto the rocks around the pond, rather than bleachers and certain benches. His Down command still needs a lot of work. He is fairly responsive when asked to Down inside, but out at the park he's still just a bit too nervous to perform his Down without the use of leash tension. Great job today, though!

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Pupdate: 10/8/2023


Walker went to Obregon Park today for training! We kept working with his leash dragging for most of our session. I switched to a much shorter leash to further replicate the sensation of being off leash. He's still heading in the right direction as far as working toward the off leash goal, although he's still having a hard time with a couple of his commands when the leash isn't in my hand. I believe this wall we're hitting is coming down to Walker's confidence level, and I think he needs to build just a bit more confidence before going fully off leash. He's progressing each day though!

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Pupdate: 10/9/2023


Walker and I went to Almansor Park today! I used an even smaller leash for today while working with his leash dragging. I rarely had to step on or pick up the leash, however, there were a few times he tried to walk away from me. When he did this, he would always come back when asked, but I'm worried about him doing this in more crowded areas. I believe Walker was having a bit of an off day, because last night he seemed to panic in the middle of the night in his crate. Once I opened his door and pulled him out, he started calming down relatively quickly. I'm currently unsure what caused this, since he's slept through the night in his crate almost all the rest of the days he's been here. The only thing different last night is that his former roommate went home and was replaced by a new, female dog, so the difference might have had something to do with it. It might also have to do with him becoming attached to me, as he also jumped on me a few times today trying to hug me and lick me, which he hasn't really done before.


As far as Walker's commands, he started working on a couple of slightly more advanced versions. We started on his Come To Heel, and Send Away To Place. Come To Heel simply combines his Come To Sit command with his Heel. He picked up on this very quickly, and has been doing great with it! For Send Away To Place, I want Walker to go to a place object and hop on without me having to walk him all the way up to it. After a lot of repetitions, he started gaining a bit of confidence and ended up doing pretty well with this, as you can see in his video for today!

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Pupdate: 10/10/2023


Walker and I went to Garfield Park today! We worked on all of his commands, as well as introduced his Under command. For this command, I want Walker to crawl underneath an object, such as a bench or table. This can come in handy if you want to take him to an outdoor restaurant or Café and want him to lay under the table while you eat. He was extremely skeptical of the underside of the benches we came across, so the process was very slow and reward based. To start, I simply want him to crawl all the way under the bench and come out the other side so he hopefully gets more comfortable with the motion. After that, I try to stop him half way so he stays in a Down position underneath the bench. We have a lot of work to do before he's completely comfortable going under the objects, but I'm happy with his progress today.


Last night, Walker was a little better in his crate, although he did wake up a few times to whine. This is still strange because, up until now, he has only whined in the morning to tell me he was ready to potty. When I took him out in the middle of the night last night, he didn't potty, then went back to sleep when back in his crate, then started again a few hours later. This leads me to believe he is getting attached to me and whines when he wants my attention. Hopefully he'll settle in a little more tonight!

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Pupdate: 10/11/2023


Walker and I went to Santa Anita Mall today for training! He was pretty nervous, but did a really good job nonetheless. I've been using more treats with Walker for the last few days to try to get him more engaged and comfortable, but today he would only accept the treats about half the time, which tells me he was definitely a bit anxious. He had a tough time with his Down command around all the distractions, but he was willing to lay down without leash pressure about half the time, which I'm happy with for now!


Walker had a much better night last night in his crate. He seemed to sleep all the way through the night again, and only started whining at around 6:30 this morning to tell me he needed to pee. While I'm not entirely sure why he had such trouble the previous couple nights, I have to assume he had some sort of separation anxiety from his former roomate and had trouble adjusting to the change, since that was the only thing that changed between Saturday night and Sunday night.


After the mall, we went to Almansor Park so Walker could have a chance to work in a more comfortable environment. He did a great job there as well!

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Pupdate: 10/12/2023


Walker and I went to Santa Monica Pier today for training! He was visibly nervous for a lot of our time there, but he did an okay job with his commands! On the pier itself, he walked with me very well, and didn't hesitate to hop onto the blue bench pictured above! He didn't like when we got close to louder noises, such as performers and people rolling carts across the boardwalk. We walked through the arcade for a bit, but Walker started shaking and became very nervous around the noisy games. There were a few times I was able to drop his leash and walk across the pier with Walker, but I held onto the leash for much of our session. Overall, he did much better than I was expecting, and I think if we go to the pier a few more times he will get a little more comfortable there!

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Pupdate: 10/13/2023


Walker and I went to Almansor Park today! Today was his first day being allowed fully off leash. Even though he still needs more work/confidence to be off leash in higher distraction areas, starting him off leash at the park is extremely valuable to the process. The exposure he's getting in the tougher areas seems to be paying off, as going back to the park off leash today seemed not to be too challenging for Walker. He performed each command with a fair amount of confidence and precision. In the above video, you'll see Walker go through his Come To Sit, Heel, Come To Heel, and Send Away To Place commands. I opted not to have Walker lay down, because we were around quite a bit of mud and goose poop, and Walker's feet were already becoming quite dirty. That being said, his Down and Under commands are also coming along nicely, even off leash!

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Pupdate: 10/14/2023


Walker and I went to Almansor Park today for training! He was off leash once again. The park was a bit more crowded today due to soccer games, so he was a little more nervous, but still did a great job! We worked more on his Down and Under commands, since he's the most uncomfortable with those two, especially around distractions. He's starting to get better with them though!

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Pupdate: 10/15/2023


Walker and I went to the park again today! I wanted to show how his Down and Under commands are coming along. I think taking a step back and having these "easier" days at the park was the right thing to do, as his progress in the last few days has been great! He still sometimes gets confused about if I'm asking him to place on the bench or go under it, but that should be helped with repetition and consistency with the verbal component of the commands.

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Pupdate: 10/16/2023


Walker and I went to Santa Anita Mall today! He was off leash for about half the time. He behaved extremely well in the outside sections and performed each command almost perfectly. When inside the mall itself, he was a little more nervous and wanted to pull ahead a few times. When he gets about a foot or two ahead of me, I can simply stop and Walker gets back into heel position and boops me with his nose. Almost as if to say, "Why did we stop? I would like to go back outside!"


Other than his slight nervousness, he did a really good job in both locations. We'll be going to the park later tonight so he can have a bit more fun!

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Pupdate: 10/17/2023



Walker and I had a slightly more relaxing day today! We went to the park in the morning, then spent the afternoon working around the house. For his video today, I wanted to show one of the household manners we've been working on! For Walker's door manners, I want to be able to open doors without Walker feeling the need to run out. Ideally we want to practice this to the point where Walker can sit right in front of the door without going through before I ask him to. We practice this at least a little bit each time we go in or out of the house, so he's getting pretty good!

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Pupdate: 10/18/2023


Walker went to Belvedere Park today! He was off leash the whole time and did a great job all around. At one point, a nearby school had recess at the playground and Walker continued to perform well even with screaming children running around nearby. There were also a few other trainers with their dogs working at the park, and Walker heeled with me off leash right next to some other, newer dogs without issue. Very good work today! I really don't have any complaints, he was a very good boy all day long!

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Pupdate: 10/19/2023


Walker and I went to Santa Monica Pier today! He was off leash for nearly the whole time and perform very well considering how nervous he was on the pier last time. There were a few loud noise that spooked him a bit, but he was able to hold his positions even around these noises and simply jumped a little when a noise occurred. He was able to off leash heel very comfortably around fairly large crowds, and perform even his more difficult commands. His Send Away To Place and his Down commands are the ones he has the most trouble with around distractions, but as you can see in today's video, he did them with a fair amount of confidence today!


For Walker's crate, he's starting to develop a bit of raw skin on his elbow, which means he needs more padding. The area is very small, but worth noting nonetheless. So far, he's had a blanket in his crate with him, but I'm going to line the bottom with towels and add an extra blanket to hopefully make him more comfortable. He hasn't shown any signs of trying to chew/eat the blanket, so I believe he will be fine with this.


Walker performed very well all day today, I'll be taking him to the park tonight to give him some more exercise in a more relaxing environment!

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Pupdate: 10/20/2023


Walker and I went to Santa Anita Mall today for training! First thing in the morning, it was fairly quiet, however the crowds started to pick up as the day went on. He didn't seem to mind all the distractions, and was well behaved all day. He was off leash for about half the time, and performed each command reliably whether he was on leash or off.


In addition to Walker's pictures from our adventures today, I've added a video tutorial of his E collar! I'd recommend watching it to make his transition home as smooth as possible.

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Pupdate: 10/21/2023


Walker and I went to the park for his last full day of training! He'll be going home tomorrow and I couldn't be more proud of the progress he's made with me. His confidence has shown great improvement and his ability to follow through with his commands has grown incredibly well. For his video today, I wanted to show a couple more of his manners! For food manners, I want Walker to be able to sit patiently when I put food in front of him. Practicing this can make meal times easier, and the impulse control can also help if something is dropped that he shouldn't eat!


Walker has come a long way, and I'll miss him greatly once he goes home!


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