Meet Wolfy, a 8 month German shepherd coming from Laguna Beach, CA for our 2 Week Board and Train program. Wolfy is a friendly dog who has a habit of barking loudly, playing rough, being easily distracted, jumping to greet, and not walking properly on leash. During the time I will spend with Wolfy I will focus on having a structure for him to go by to be a more positive dog with confidence. Over the two weeks Wolfy will be working on his off leash obedience and manners. Check in to see his progress!
Pupdate 12/24/2022
Today was the first day I met Wolfy, I took him to a local park by my house which is close to a dog park. At first I walked Wolfy around the park near a playground which was ok just pulling and trying to engage the new smells around him. Once I took him near the dog park a dog passed by us and Wolfy tried to lung but I redirected him with a correction with the leash and he started to be more obedient. Wolfy was in a sit as the same dog was running by and from what it seemed like Wolfy was interested instead of insecure. Once I brought him home he settled going into the crate I had for him, he did bark hearing my neighbors talk next door so each time he would Bark I would get his attention taking him out the crate and putting him back inside and asking for a down and he would listen and eventually stopped barking.
Pupdate 12/25/2022
Wolfy and I went to a park that is close to my house to work on his first day of E-collar training. Today I wanted to fix his pulling, so I started off by keeping him on my left side and any time he tried to drift towards my right side, I would redirect him to stay on the left. Once he was adjusted to my left side I introduced him to the heel command. I turn my body the other way when he passes me or if I just want to make that decision, I will tell Wolfy to "heel". If he doesn't respond and follow I administer the E-collar to reinforce the command and this helps get his attention. I kept this consistent and he started to follow. When he started to heel better I cut the walks short and taught him heel to sit, which is to take a couple steps forward and ask for a sit. This short practice of walking and stopping helps educate Wolfy that I want him to stay at my pace and I'll praise him for being a good boy.
Pupdate 12/26/2022
Today I took Wolfy to work on his leash pulling since he is still pulling at times, not so much since he was first boarded. We had the other trainer's come with their dogs so as soon as Wolfy noticed them his attention was on them instead of me. This is when I started to practice my heels and a new command which is off. When I tell Wolfy off I use the remote on a low setting since Wolfy does acknowledge the e-collar now he responds by looking the other way and putting his attention back on me. When he gives me eye contact that's when I mark the command with a good boy and good off. I don't want to rely on treats for minor situations, so by petting him and talking to him he is still able to understand the scenario being presented to him. Wolfy was able to sit next to the dogs but if they walked behind him he would get up from his sit but I redirected him every time he wasn't paying attention. After consistent repetitions he started to understand it's ok to be near dogs on leash.
Pupdate 12/27/2022
Wolfy and I worked on conditioning his recall, which is to come to sit. When I recall Wolfy I first ask for the word come and signal him with my hand for body language. The goal is to come around my body and end up in the sit position. As we practiced this morning he was able to understand the concept quickly but would have trouble coming around into the sit at times as well as stopping in front of me. The more we practiced he was able to understand and ended up coming around me with some use of the E-collar. If Wolfy doesn't listen the first time he is received a low stim the second time and responds most of the time to the e-collar and it helps guide him back to what he's supposed to do.
Pupdate 12/28/2022
Today I wanted to work on Wolfy's door manners since he's been over he has the tendency to just bolt out. Anytime we are near a door he's overly excited. Since the first day of his boarding we have been working on it so this morning is his progress oh what he knows so far. I start this off practice by having Wolfy in a sit and ill watch his body language to see if he's getting excited from seeing me engage myself with the door. I'll wait until he's calm and starts to relax without panting so I can ask for an obedience command. Once the door is open and he's still in his sit, I'll guide him to come any direction that's not near the door by walking away from it. Once that door is open I do give him the option to go out, but I want him to listen to me so I ask for an obedience command and it's up to him to make that independent decision to make a choice. In the video you can see in the beginning he makes better choices to listen to me rather than leaving. Only once did he try to leave but I had a leash on him and redirected him with the e-collar implemented with the off obedience command, so he responded when I instructed him and he comes back to me in the video. After being redirected he started to stay more consistent on staying away from the door rather than trying to leave.
Pupdate 12/29/2022
I took Wolfy today to a local park I usually go to which is Hillcrest Park in Fullerton CA, we worked on his place command and his recall at the end of the visit. In the beginning he was trying to lead in front of me but each time he tried I would always redirect him until he stopped. This only took about the first 5 minutes of walking when we got here, so during the walk we were passing by people and some owners with dogs that were on their walks as well. Wolfy didn't care about seeing other dogs and just kept a pace with me as we continued around the park and took photos. Before leaving we worked on his recall which he was being lazy with today but he was still able to complete that task after being redirected. Wolfy is coming around me but at times he will stop by my right side when he should be ending up on my left side. With more days of practice wolfy will continue to improve his overall obedience.
Pupdate 12/30/2022
In the morning I took Wolfy to the park near my house that has a dog park to work on obedience around distractions. At first I wanted to get some energy out of him by working on his place command. He has been learning this for the past couple of days and by now he's confident to jump on any obstacle now once I point in the direction I want him to place himself on. Wolfy got distracted once when the leash got in his face so he started to bite it, as well as trying to smell the grass. At that point I redirect him by asking for the place command even though he was distracted, it's ok that he messes up because it's those opportunities that allow me to educate him to understand better. Once I took him to the dog park we walked on the outside area again and he was interested to see the dogs even leaning his head forward to smell them but he still didn't have the confidence to approach them fully. I kept him in a sit every couple of steps, I would heel with him just so he can absorb the area and learn that dogs running in his view doesn't mean he has to start to get excited.
Pupdate 12/31/2022
Today was raining so I wanted to focus on more training inside of the house. Wolfy has been working on his food manners with me with the leash most of the time, so this morning I relied only on the e-collar to redirect him. He is very excited for most things but once he is given a command he does settle and try to comprehend what's going on for each and every lesson now. At times I used the remote to redirect him to get food from me instead of his bowl. You can see in the video he has two choices, to come to me or go to the bowl. When I signal him to come towards me for the treat I have in my hand, he goes for his food but you can see his body language change each time he goes near his food on his terms. Once I give him a response from the e-collar he changes his direction and follows through to me for obedience. He has improved but I want Wolfy to stay in one position without moving, so throughout the rest of his boarding we will continue to improve it even better.
Pupdate 1/1/2023
Today I took Wolfy to the local Home Depot on New Year's day. The store had very low traffic so passing by customers and hearing random noises was somewhat limited on a normal day. When we first walked in he was excited to be there trying to pull and figure out what these new smells were. As we walked around I always asked for a sit before heeling him down a different aisle or letting someone pass us. There were two female employees who saw Wolfy and wanted to say hi. I gave them permission and Wolfy didn't even mind that they were petting him, keeping his sit position until he was given his break. Once I took him by the wood section of the store we practiced all of his obedience commands and he did well performing them, even slightly messing up but was redirected with ease. Anytime a random noise was heard he would always look around but keep his position no matter what, even when music changed in the store his attention was to look around and understand what these noises were. As we left he was heeling fine and nothing really seemed to bother him today inside a public store setting.
Pupdate 1/2/2023
Today I wanted to focus on Wolfy's extended down and sit with dogs around him to see if he still has problems being overly excited when seeing one. When we first practiced down he would always try to bite my hand in the beginning trying to place him into a down. Treats helped motivate him in the beginning but I have weaned him off the treats so he doesn't have to feel dependent on them. Now Wolfy will do the down command with ease but at times he will try to go against the command and still try to bite me, but there's no force to him nibbling at my hand since the first time we practiced. Once he was down the other trainer's from offleash were walking around Wolfy and only once he got up but was redirected. Most of the visit at the park was fine until we went near the playground and the swing set movement alarmed Wolfy so I tried to help him with his fear of seeing a swing set move. I used treats only for this to help motivate him and maneuver him between the swing sets as they moved, but this was very intimidating for him so I took it very slowly guiding him between the swing sets with the treats, also keeping the swing sets in place to take step backs for this practice. Wolfy was also around an intact male shepherd, anytime we were near this dog Wolfy was very excited and had trouble focusing but we still worked on every obedience command while around the dog, he did start to settle but would cry out every couple of minutes until he fully settled. Wolfy had a redness on the lower area of his body, I applied a cream and spray to prevent any further infections. I haven't seen him obsessively lick himself anytime recently but I will keep him monitored to prevent him from licking it.
Pupdate 1/3/2023
This morning once the stores started to open I took Wolfy to the Anaheim Pet & feed supply store in Fullerton. Wolfy's mood today in the store was very positive. From my experience with him so far he seems neutral to being in new surroundings but is excited to be in a new place. Once I focus on his obedience in a new location he starts to settle and relax, and by focusing on very basic commands like off or sit, Wolfy has more confidence staying to my side and not reacting to things around him but his nose has him curious just to new smells his unfamiliar with so at times he will lean his heard towards things, sometimes breaking his command or staying in his command when asked. While we visited he was calm and was able to practice his extended down without getting up as workers were storing shelves with food. One employee was able to say hi and helped me practice greeting manners with Wolfy, which he didn't move and I was able to break him after for praise, also rewarding with a treat. Wolfy's redness has gone down a bit , still applying the cream and spray I have for him, also is still monitored and will be updated about the redness tomorrow.
Pupdate 1/4/2023
Today it was raining in the morning but it didn't stop us from training. We focused on all obedience commands and leash dragging, working towards offleash walking. During each practice Wolfy had no problems listening but at times when I would ask for a down he would still take his time to place himself into a down. As this happens the second time he is redirected with the e-collar and follows through with the command. When we walked on grass he always wanted to keep his head down even after using the restroom, so at this moment I'm consistent with keeping his head up and neutral, as well as having eye contact as we walk on the grass. He was getting better as we practiced then I focused more on leash dragging, as I practice working Wolfy towards offleash walking it is important to remember to rely on the remote in case Wolfy doesn't listen to the first command asked for. The use of the remote is always during the second command when asked for never the first. Wolfy's redness seems to be better but not fully healed, I will apply the spray and creme as usual.
Pupdate 1/5/2023
Today was raining so I spent the day training Wolfy at home until the sun came out. He did really well practicing his door manners, always coming towards me and having the patience until I gave him a command to respond to for praise or treats. He spent a couple hours in my room and walking around the house as usual, as I watch him if he starts to smell furniture or looks for food from the ground I'm always giving him the off command so he doesn't engage or associate himself with things he shouldn't have. Once he hears off I call for his name and ask for a sit and throw a ball with him for fun or play with a tug toy. Now when he plays with toys he knows how to let go but still needs the assistance of the e-collar. We went for a offleash walk in the neighborhood for about 40 minutes and he did well. His redness looks better today, possibly it could have came from his allergies from something unknown but he seems to be fine overall.
Pupdate 1/6/2023
Today I took Wolfy to Santa Monica to work on offleash walking. As we walked towards the pier we took pictures and Wolfy would always look around smelling the environment, getting accustomed to another new setting. When we got towards the end of the pier I noticed he was nervous each time the waves would hit the pier making the sound of waves splashing so he started to get worried so I took him back where you can't really hear it. As I worked him going towards the end of the pier again, we found a bench to sit on together with but he was still consistent with breaking his sit every time so I gave him a break from that. I placed him on the other side of the bench away from the waves in a down and he was ok with that so I rewarded him for being as close as he could. When we stayed by the arcade and the heavy traffic of people he was doing very well with that, even getting comments from people such as Wolfy is such a cute calm dog, and look how relaxed he is. Wolfy also walked around the shopping centers and had no issues. Wolfy's redness appeared again after coming back from the beach, there might have been something there he is allergic too. I will give him more of the creme and spray for the redness.
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