Wayne | German Shepherd | Long Beach, CA | In-Training
- Scott Hansen
- Apr 26
- 20 min read
Updated: May 9
Meet Wayne! Wayne is a four-year-old German Shepherd here for our Two-Week Urban Board and Train Program. Wayne is a nice pup; however, he does display several unwanted behaviors. Wayne loves to bark at critters in the backyard and howl at firetrucks. Wayne has poor leash manners, will not recall, and has highly unreliable obedience. Wayne can perform a command or two with proper motivation; however, he lacks structure and performs tasks inconsistently. Over the next fourteen days, Wayne is going to learn to be an obedient pup through consistent, clear communication and balanced training at home and by discovering new people and places. Wayne will learn to perform all these things on leash through a positive and balanced training environment. Through structure and consistency, Wayne will demonstrate how great a pup he can be! Stay tuned for Wayne’s two-week transformation!
Wayne | German Shepherd | Pupdate 04/26/26
Today, Mr. Wayne joined me for his Two-Week Urban Board and Train Program. On the way home, we stopped at a local park to see what commands Mr. Wayne could perform. He did ok but not great! He kept trying to pull me everywhere, but I held on for dear life. He did jump up on me a few times as well. I think you know all that, and that's why he's here. After I tested his skills, we had a mini photoshoot for his profile picture for his blog. I don't know if you know this, but as soon as dogs see a phone or camera in front of their face, you are now invisible to them, and they must ignore you at all costs. Once we got what we needed, we loaded up and headed to Mr. Wayne's temporary residence for the next two weeks. Mr. Wayne had no issues with the car ride.
Once we got home, I let Mr. Wayne smell Ms. Toji and Ms. Lyra through the front gate. Ms. Toji was excited to see Mr. Wayne. Ms. Lyra was fine meeting Mr. Wayne. Mr. Wayne showed interest in the pups but didn’t seem too excited. More skeptical interest if anything. Mr. Wayne had no problems coming to the house. I let him explore each room and meet everyone. Throughout the introductions, Mr. Wayne showed no adverse reactions. I took Mr. Wayne outside to meet Ms. Toji and Ms. Lyra. Mr. Wayne was excited to meet them. I think Mr. Wayne and Ms. Toji will be fine hanging out with each other.
We then went on a long walk around the block so that he could get used to the sights, sounds, and scents of his temporary new neighborhood. He had no issues with walking around the block. It was more of a jog than a walk thanks to my mini trainer, who wanted to go with us. She basically had us jogging around the whole block, but Mr. Wayne didn’t mind jogging with her. He was super interested in all the usual dog spots around the neighborhood. He made sure to mark every bush, tree, and item he could to let everyone know Mr. Wayne is in town. He ignored all the other dogs in the houses that barked at us as we went around. We even stopped by a neighbor's house so my mini trainer could show her friend Mr. Wayne. He had no issues meeting them or their pup.
I expect to see him work well with the structure and positive reinforcement. We will be using the prong collar with him, and this should help make it clear that those behaviors are unacceptable. With clear, persistent communication and expectations, he will learn to be a well-mannered pup!
I gave him dinner and observed how much he ate. I keep track of his weight and will ensure that he maintains his weight while he is with me.
I've attached the e-collar familiarization video. Please review the video a few times before Mr. Wayne's turnover. We'll practice together to make sure you are comfortable with the system before using it with Mr. Wayne. I will introduce the prong collar for tomorrow’s training.
Wayne | German Shepherd | Pupdate 04/27/26
Last night was quite fun hanging out with Mr. Wayne. He is scared of Ms. Gwen, which is funny because he is much larger than she is. However, he is not scared of coming over and getting attention. He tried to crawl into my lap a few times! What a sweet guy! He didn't eat much of his food, even though I did mix a little bit of the fresh food in there. I'll give him plenty of chances to eat, and, of course, I'll monitor his weight to make sure he stays where he needs to be. Lastly, he did give me a few little yips and yaps last night when I would put him in the crate, but then he would relax.
Today, I introduced Mr. Wayne to quite a few new things. First, we focused on introducing the e-collar and finding a nice level to work with. We will be around level 20-25 with Mr. Wayne. At about 35, I had a significant reaction from him. The tricky thing with pups like Mr. Wayne is their fur. Although I'll be using the same 3/4" titanium contact points that Ms. Gwen went home with, due to his fur, the collar isn't always as snug. If we go too tight, then we are cutting off his air. This is where the long contact points shine. If the numbers don't stabilize due to too much movement of the looser collar, I'll switch over to the 1" contact points to ensure that we have consistent contact with the skin. Now that we have introduced the e-collar, I can also use this to nip the barking in the bud.
Once I figured out his level, I brought out the prong collar. Mr. Wayne is a wild but friendly boy. Structure is in his DNA, but not in his current behavior. I will be working to pull out that German Shepherd structure. He has shown me that he is intelligent, eager to please, and responds well to the pressure of the prong collar. He has also shown me that he will do what Mr. Wayne wants if left to his own devices, which is why he is here. I mainly relied on the prong collar to introduce "sit", "place", "down", "come-to-sit", and "heel". Well, I used platz for his down command, but he performed everything well. This shows me that the pressure of the e-collar and prong collar is going to help him be an amazing pup!
He is getting along well with Ms. Toji and Ms. Lyra. Ms. Lyra goes home tomorrow, so it will just be Mr. Wayne and Ms. Toji for a few days. This will help Mr. Wayne and me build up a better relationship, too, since Ms. Lyra gets jealous when I give another pup too much attention.
Wayne | German Shepherd | Pupdate 04/28/26
Today, we had another reinforcement session in my backyard. I chose to stay here to work on his extended "sit", "down", and "place" as he was like a jack-in-the-box yesterday. It's better to reinforce the extended commands in low-level distractions prior to venturing to the higher distractions. As you can see, and as you advised me, Mr. Wayne likes to pop up after performing his command. I had to reset him several times in the "sit" command. You can see that I reset him, and the timer starts over again. I was going for one minute at first, but he kept breaking after 45 seconds or so. I chose to take a 45-second "sit" and end it with a "break!" to let him know he did well. I thought he could make it to one minute, but instead of forcing it, I'll take the 45 for now so that he knows that staying in the "sit" brings good things.
I knew the extended "down" would go better since he was already offering the behavior. When they give the "down" instead of the "sit", they are just giving up. We don't want this. This could lead to learned helplessness, which is where the dog just gives up whenever there is any adversity. Mr. Wayne is too big, handsome, and strong to just give up like that! We did a great job with the "down" and "place".
His "come-to-sit" is going to be a work in progress. He jumped on me, and I said, "Off!" This then confused him about what to do. He was thinking that his job was to come to me and play with me. That is not the case. So when I said "off!", he went back to giving up by just sitting and not moving. He was like, "This guy made me sit here earlier, I'll just do that." I worked on getting him into position by using my momentum and body positioning. We were able to get to a 60-70% version of the "come-to-sit." I'll take that for Day 2 of training.
We are also working on his door manners. He does love to barge through the door, so we have to hold him accountable and keep him in line. This goes back to the popping up when performing his "sit". He's thinking that he did the "sit" and now it's time to go. Not the case, Mr. Wayne! We go inside the house when the human says so, not when you say so.
Overall, not a bad day of training! Tomorrow, we will start heading out to the public places and parks to work on his commands out and about.
Wayne | German Shepherd | Pupdate 04/29/26
Today, Mr. Wayne and I headed over to Rynerson Park in Lakewood, CA. It appears that I have misplaced my dog cot at another park, so we skipped "place" and worked on "heel", "sit", "down", and "come-to-sit". I went back to the prong collar and e-collar combo. Mr. Wayne is not necessarily stubborn, but he does like to do what he wants. He likes to comply and then do what he wants. Some examples are how he wants to barge through the doors and come out of the crate in the car. As we reviewed with Ms. Gwen, this is not acceptable. We need him to be patient and exercise self-control.
For some reason, there was a puppy pow wow next to where I conducted the training. Mr. Wayne did a good job of ignoring them. Overall, the training session went much better than yesterday. His "sit" was about a minute when I was next to him. This is fine. We have to work on duration and distance. I chose to focus on the duration of the "sit" first. Once he understands to "sit" for an extended period of time, then we can start working on getting our distance from him. He has no issues with distance or duration in the "down." As I worked on the "heel", I had him come around me to reset. This is a good way to work on the "come-to-sit." After practicing the other commands, we reviewed the "come-to-sit."
He's doing well with his food and is having a great time hanging out and playing with Ms. Toji!
Good job today, Mr. Wayne!
Wayne | German Shepherd | Pupdate 04/30/26
Today, Mr. Wayne and I headed over to Liberty Park in Cerritos, CA. It was mildly busy. Kids were playing on the playground, pickleball games, people getting their laps in on the track, pup parents walking their pups, beach volleyball players, and some sort of track practice for little ones. The great park about where I train at Liberty Park is that those distractions are close but not overwhelmingly close to our training area.
I did switch the e-collar contact points from 3/4" to 1". This made a huge difference in our training today. I was able to reliably use the e-collar between 15 and 25 today with Mr. Wayne.
As you can see in the video, we continued reviewing all his commands. I focused on letting the e-collar remote guide Mr. Wayne as much as possible. I had the leash dragging and was barely holding it. The "heel" is coming along nicely. I started with the "place" and "down" as he is really good at those. He nailed the extended "down". We practiced his "come-to-sit," which is also coming along nicely. I then worked on his extended "sit." Due to the better and consistent contact with the e-collar contact points, this is looking so much better! On the first try, he almost made it to two minutes. When he got up, I simply used the e-collar to reset him. I didn't have to touch the leash. After the second and third time, I did get up and fully reset him. However! This is progress. He went from jack-in-the-box to consistently waiting a solid minute with all the distractions at the park, me not holding the leash, and me not being right next to him. I think he likes the "Break!" command and hanging out with me. He's a good pup, and I like working with him.
We are working on his door manners throughout the day as well as his car manners. We do have to work on him barging out of the car crate, but now that the e-collar is better situated, that should resolve quickly.
He has been eating all of his food! I have been mixing in just a little fresh food for him. He also voluntarily goes into the crate at night and has the routine for his breaks outside down. He's a smart guy but lacks some impulse control, and we're working on that!
Wayne | German Shepherd | Pupdate 05/01/26
Today, Mr. Wayne and I made our inaugural trip to the Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos, CA. We went a little earlier in the day to expose him to this environment while it was not too busy. I wanted to get him familiarized with the area at a less busy time. Mr. Wayne is hyper-alert, checking everything out, investigating with his nose, eyes, and ears that move around like a radar. This was such a great day of training for Mr. Wayne! I ditched the prong collar and relied on the e-collar now that we upgraded to those 1" contact points. We maintained the e-collar level between 15 and 25 today. We started a little higher due to the new environment and what was likely a lot of stimulus for Mr. Wayne, but it was a rather tame day at the mall.
We started with his "heel", then worked on "place", extended "down", and "come-to-sit". Once again, Mr. Wayne is great with the "place" and "down". He tries to cue off of me and get up and leave a little too early sometimes, but overall, he has this one down. I don't even need to hold the leash when he's performing this task, which means I can take much better pictures of him! We then did more "heel" and worked on his extended "sit". While practicing his extended "sit", Mr. Wayne has some admirers stop and say hi. He was a polite gentleman and let them say "hi". I was really proud of him here. However, during the extended "sit", he did give up a few times and tried to lie down. Once again, we don't allow this. I did not ask him to do this, and this is him giving up and doing what Mr. Wayne wants. We wouldn't allow him to get up from his "sit," and we won't allow him to lie down in the middle of it either.
Once we were done with the "sit" exercise, we headed over to a store so I could buy something for my son. He received an award today at school, so I wanted to grab him something. Mr. Wayne hung out in the store in the "down" and "sit" while I shopped around. He even had someone else want to say "hi" to him while we were waiting in line. Great job, Mr. Wayne!
Then we went on an extended "heel" through the rest of the mall. While on our walk, one of the workers at a kiosk was giving him the googly eyes. I asked if they wanted a pet for Mr. Wayne, and they said yes. I let them say hi to Mr. Wayne as well.
After wrapping up training at the mall, Mr. Wayne was allowed to pee and poop outside. He had a little bit of a wet poop. This is from the wet/fresh food and a combination of training stress. He has been eating all of his food and is really excited each day to consume it. His weight is the same as when he arrived.
When we arrived home, he finally didn't barge out of the crate! We are making such progress everywhere with Mr. Wayne!
Lastly, he is having a blast hanging out with Ms. Toji. They let everyone know who passes that they are on guard and not to mess with them!
Wayne | German Shepherd | Pupdate 05/02/26
Today, Mr. Wayne and I headed over to Almansor Park in Alhambra, CA, to meet up with some of our fellow Off-Leash trainers and their pups. Overall, Mr. Wayne is doing so well with his training! No rushing to jump out of the crate, no excessive pulling on the leash, no barking, and not a lot of unwanted behavior. His biggest issues that we will have to focus on this week are his extended "sit" and "come-to-sit". He can perform both of these tasks, but I would like a more confident "extended sit" and a more consistent "come-to-sit".
We also owe you a video on how his door and car manners are going. Overall, I am very pleased with where we are after this first week.
Wayne | German Shepherd | Pupdate 05/03/26
Today, Mr. Wayne and I made a quick trip over to Heartwell Park to meet up with you and Ms. Gwen. We practiced "heel" with both of them. As a reminder, they will have to work out between themselves where they want to be on your side. Mr. Wayne can be like Velcro with his "heel".
After we got home, we worked on his door manners. I show you the two different door manners for Mr. Wayne. I have been waiting for Mr. Wayne to make eye contact with me before letting him go through the doors. This way, I know his mind is in a calmer place, and he's not hyperfixated on going through the door. His "place" and "down" are solid, so I was doing a little awkward stuff to work on him exercising impulse control while I went in and out of the door.
Another board and train friend will be joining us today. They are here for our old-school board and train, so they will be a good pup to hang out with Mr. Wayne and Ms. Toji.
Wayne | German Shepherd | Pupdate 05/04/26
Today's video is longer video than usual. We had what was likely our final backyard session. I had to take a step back and focus on the extended "sit". As you can see, it was struggle city at the beginning. I know it seems boring with him just sitting there and doing nothing, but this is the name of the game. I asked him to "sit". He needs to "sit" for two minutes or more. He keeps quitting at 90 seconds or so. Sometimes sooner. Although he is relaxing and not doing any unwanted behavior, allowing him to lie down when we didn't ask him to is a problem. This leads to him doing what he wants in other areas. Eventually, I just stood next to him, wrapped the leash around my hand, which would prevent him from going into the "down". This was the magic trick! I was able to get him to maintain that position for a little more than two minutes!
We moved on to his "come-to-sit'. This is our other problem child at this point. I am not sure what he is confused about, but we will need to figure out what the hiccup in the expectation is. He understands the pressure but will stop before going around me. When I say "come" without the pressure, he will just come up to me. He's not very food or treat-driven, so we have to rely on good timing, pressure, and proper praise timing. I can't constantly be moving into the correct position because then he isn't learning. He'll expect me to do all the work. I need a way to balance the pressure and being able to provide positive reinforcement as he does the proper technique, without being so encouraging that he will stop and not complete the task. This will be a daily, multi-repetition exercise going forward.
I did try to put him in a "down" a little bit into the session, but he refused!! Make it make sense! He will down when he wants to, but when I ask him to "down", he is resistant. My assistant pulled out the dog bed, then Mr. Wayne went right onto it and performed a nice "down"! I did advise you yesterday that there will be a time when Mr. Wayne decides to see if he can do Mr. Wayne things, but we just stay persistent, consistent, and clear about what our expectations are.
I also had my mini-trainer take Mr. Wayne for a small "heel" walk. He wanted to come hang out with me, but he figured out how to walk with her. He's so nice and gentle!
This training is a lot for Mr. Wayne. He fell asleep immediately after this session. Keep in mind that these training sessions are mentally straining. You don't need to practice all the tasks at once, but staying consistent throughout the day is important. A focused obedience session requires that Mr. Wayne is well rested, hydrated, fed, has been given a potty break, and is in an environment where he can be challenged but be successful.
Mr. Wayne is having no issues with my new board and train, Mr. Apollo. He is eating all his food as long as I throw a little bit of Ms. Toji's fresh food in there.
Wayne | German Shepherd | Pupdate 05/05/26
Today, Mr. Wayne and I headed over to Liberty Park in Cerritos, CA. We continued our goal of reinforcing the extended "sit" and "come-to-sit". Before working on his challenging commands, we reviewed all the commands that he is excelling with. As you can see, I was doing leash dragging "heel," and he was on me like Velcro! His "place" and extended "down" were executed without any issues! Great work on those, Mr. Wayne.
I then transitioned over to his extended "sit", which was amazing!! He nailed it today! Finally! I was very proud of him, which is why I gave him a "break!" after that. I then tried to reinforce the "come-to-sit". I tried to put more distance between us so that he could make a proper choice and go to my right and around. He went straight for me. I tried to use the leash pressure. I was still doing too much moving for him to wind up in the correct position. I think I'll be using the prong collar or slip lead to help me make it clearer for him. I will also use a wall to help me guide him into position better. Back to basics to get him locked in!
I also went ahead and gave him a quick grooming to brush off some of the incredible amount of hair he sheds. We don't call them "German Shedders" for nothing!
Wayne | German Shepherd | Pupdate 05/06/26
Today, Mr. Wayne and I headed to the Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos, CA, to review all his commands in the urban environment. Overall, Mr. Wayne is highly proficient in his "heel", extended "place", and "down". He is not proficient in his "come-to-sit". He does not do a consistent job of this task. It is a little frustrating and confounding. He can do it about once out of four times consistently. He is putting me in a weird position. He isn't the biggest treat hound, and if I use too much pressure or go too high on the e-collar, he starts to shut down. This is going to be something we practice a lot more! We just need to find the proper motivation for Mr. Wayne to perform this task. I am trying to find the best one that is not overly compulsive or where I do all the work for him.
Last night, I had Mr. Wayne join me for a lesson for some other pup parents who were struggling with their pup. Mr. Wayne was a model pup. His calm, friendly energy makes the other pups around him nice and calm. Mr. Wayne displayed this when we met up with our fellow trainers on Saturday. He is a sweet guy.
The last few days, for better or for worse, Mr. Wayne has put his full attitude on display. Happy, go-lucky, goofy, energetic, loving, and eager to please. However, this comes at the cost of Mr. Wayne not exhibiting a lot of self-control. With the e-collar on, he is a saint and easily controllable. As with Ms. Gwen, this is a foundation to get Mr. Wayne started on his obedience journey. Stay consistent and ensure that Mr. Wayne has his e-collar on frequently to optimize wanted behavior and minimize unwanted behavior. He still deserves and gets plenty of time to be himself. We just have to establish clear boundaries and limitations with Mr. Wayne.
Wayne | German Shepherd | Pupdate 05/07/26
Today, Mr. Wayne and I headed over to El Dorado Park in Long Beach, CA. We reviewed all of his commands with low to medium distractions. There was a lot of baseball and softball practices, kids on e-bikes, e-skateboards, etc, soccer practice, other pups walking around, and kids hanging out at the skatepark. It was relatively low because we were not in the middle of all those distractions and stimuli, but it was close enough for Mr. Wayne to see, hear, and smell all the stimuli. There are usually squirrels running around, but none today.
We reviewed all of his commands with the leash dragging. Everything was going well until we hit the "come-to-sit" command with no leash pressure. Once again, Mr. Wayne just wants to go to my left side (the correct side), but not go all the way around me and face the correct direction. I tried to practice with him last night and used light pressure, firm pressure, and e-collar stimulation to motivate him, and it just made it worse. That's why today I was jogging backwards and then forward to get him to pursue me and wind up in the correct position. I gave him lots of love and affection when he performed the task. This is the method I have been using with the leash, but I want him to perform it without the leash pressure, and it's just too inconsistent. We have figured out all of his other tasks except for this one. I think since he is an on-leash pup, I relied too much on the pressure for the "come-to-sit" and now, without the pressure, he is not sure what to do.
I am proud of him for carrying out so many tasks with the leash dragging. We still want to use the leash with him at all times, but this shows that he understands all the other tasks without the input of me holding the leash.
Wayne | German Shepherd | Pupdate 05/08/26
Today, we focused on a final review of Mr. Wayne's manners around the house. We reviewed his door manners, food manners, and car manners. We also continued to work on his "come-to-sit" without leash pressure. I am thinking it's one of two things at this point: 1 - he was taught some sort of recall with ya'll (totally fine). This is what is making it confusing for him. Or 2) he only relies on the leash pressure because with just the e-collar, he is not performing the task. I am not sure what the disconnect is. German shepherds are highly intelligent. Mr. Wayne is highly intelligent. He knows where he's supposed to wind up, and he continues to try to take shortcuts there when off-leash. Or, he will choose to do nothing at all. I tried to lure him into position with hot dog bits, and that didn't work either. The good news is that he can do it on-leash. The other good news is that if you go high enough on the stimulation, he will recall to you off-leash. It just won't be the pretty around the back "come-to-sit". I personally don't like that he won't do it from far away while off-leash because I know he can do it. But - I'll take a dog that comes back to me at the park over one that runs away when we recall it. Your best bet is to be super happy and energetic to recall him from a distance. I'll show you in two days what I mean by this, but just know that he knows the command "come," and we can expect him to perform it the same way Ms. Gwen can.
Wayne | German Shepherd | Pupdate 05/09/26
Today, we had our final review at the Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos, CA. Mr. Wayne was pretty much perfect! We reviewed "come-to-sit"(nailed it), "heel", extended "place", extended "sit", and extended "down". We even reviewed his greeting manners with a 10-month-old baby! Mr. Wayne posed for a picture with the baby and his grandfather. He's such a good pup!
Thank you for trusting Ms. Gwen and Mr. Wayne with me. We can't wait to show you all the things he has learned while with me!
As a reminder, here are the obedience commands that he has learned while with me:
Sit/Extended Sit: Press the black "S" button + say "Sit".
Down/Extended Down: Press the black "S" button + say "Down".
Place/Extended Place: Press the black "S" button + say "Place".
Come-To-Sit: Press the black "S" button + say "Come" + use your hands to guide them into place and say "sit" when they are on your left side.
Heel: Press the black "S" button + say "Heel".
Food Manners/Refusal: The pup must patiently wait in either a "sit" or "down" while you prepare the food and then say "break," allowing the pup to access the food.
Car Manners: Press the black "S" button + say "Load up!"
Greeting Manners: Have the pup "sit" then allow for the new person to say hi
Door Manners: Place the pup in a "sit", open the door, and then allow the pup to go through with you, or say "ok" and let the pup inside
"Off" + black button "S" to stop the pup from performing unwanted behavior. Always press the black "S" when using this command.
"Break!" - no stimulation, and the pup can freely sniff or go potty.
We will be reviewing how to perform all this tomorrow during the turnover! We can't wait to show you how much he has learned and how great a pup he will be in the future!
Comments