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Writer's pictureAmanda Lascari

Zelda | Belgian Malinois/Rottweiler Mix | Santa Monica, CA | In-Training

Zelda, a one year old Belgian Malinois/Rottweiler Mix, has joined OffLeash SoCal for our Three Week Board and Train program. Zelda knows her commands but doesn’t always listen to them. She is reactive towards strangers. If people try to approach her around her owners, Zelda will growl and bark. She also has some separation anxiety with her owners. Over the three weeks Zelda will be working on her  on leash obedience and manners. Check in to see her progress!

 

Pupdate 10/21/2024

Zelda is settling in well at my home. I let her run around and explore the property. I introduced her to one of my dogs. They both greeted each other nicely. Zelda wasn’t interested in playing, but okay with socializing. I am going to let her spend the rest of the day getting used to me and her new surroundings. Tomorrow we will begin her training.

 

Pupdate 10/22/2024

Today Zelda and I went to the park to work on her commands. We did a run through of all her commands to see what she knows and what she needs more work on. Zelda did pretty well with all of her commands. Heel was a little struggle at first, but she started to listen shortly after. When we got to the park there trash trucks and moving trucks that Zelda was not a big fan of. You can see in the video she was nervous constantly watching them. I continued to work her past them to work her through her anxiousness. Zelda was able to settle down and little and follow all her commands, but was still cautious. Once they drove away she was able to completely relax. We will continue to practice around more distractions to build her confidence and get her desensitized to her surroundings. We had no issues with loading into the car today. Zelda hopped up into the car and into the crate with ease. 

 

Pupdate 10/23/2024

Today Zelda and I went to Lowe’s to work on her obedience around distractions. She was a bit antsy when we first arrived. As we walked around and trained she was able to settle down and focus on her commands. We met with another OffLeash trainer and his dog, so Zelda was able to work around a dog distraction. She did a great job training around the other dog. She also did very well as we passed by employees and customers. We practiced all her commands and worked on her duration. It was a little hard for her to hold her commands, since she was a little nervous. We just need to keep working on building her confidence.

 

Pupdate 10/24/2024

Today Zelda and I went to the park to work on her obedience commands. She was a little antsy at first, but settled down quickly. We practiced all her commands and worked on her duration. Zelda is a little lazy when it comes to her Sit command. She holds it for a second, but will try to go right into the Down command. I made sure she followed through with her command and put her right back into the sit position. We also worked on her distance and duration. We need some more with on building distance. Zelda would try to break command, to come close to me, if I got too far away from her. 

 

Pupdate 10/25/2024

Today Zelda joined me on a little shopping spree at the shopping outlet. We met with other OffLeash SoCal trainers and their dogs to work around other dog distractions. Zelda did very well. She was focused and obedient. I had a few guests over that Zelda got to meet. She growled at first. I had my guests ignore her and allow Zelda to approach and sniff them. Once I let her sniff them, she was fine. She kept a little distance from everyone, but okay with being around them. 

 

Pupdate 10/26/2024


Today Zelda and I went to the park to work on her obedience commands. She did very well. We were even able to do some semi-off leash training, letting Zelda drag the leash while we practiced. After, she had some fun running around and exploring the park. At home, Zelda met a few family members. She  actually was super friendly and allowed them to pet her. Maybe because they were females, I’m not sure, but Zelda was a very good girl.

 

Pupdate 10/27/2024

Today Zelda and I went to a local shopping center to work on her obedience. She did a great job! We practiced all her commands semi-off leash. While we were training, someone approached us to talk about dog training. Zelda was a very good girl and didn’t bark or growl as the woman approached. She stayed calm in her Down command until I was ready to continue with her training. 

 

Pupdate 10/28/2024

Today Zelda and I went to the park to work on her obedience. We met with other OffLeash SoCal trainers and their dogs so Zelda could work around more people and dog distractions. She did very well and was able to leash drag while we worked around the other dogs. We worked on Zelda being calm when people approached. She sat and waited patiently while I greeted the other trainers. I decided to have the other trainers work with Zelda to see how she would respond. She acted the same way when we met for the evaluation. Now that Zelda is attached to me, all she wanted to do was be next to me. She listened to the other trainers as they gave her commands, but constantly whined and watched to see where I was at. 

We will continue to work on building Zelda’s confidence and trust in people. 

 

Pupdate 10/29/2024

Today Zelda joined me on a little shopping spree at the shopping outlets. It was pretty busy, so Zelda had plenty of people distractions to work around. We also met up with a few Offleash trainers and their dogs to work around more dog distractions. Zelda was a good girl. She stayed focused and followed all of her obedience commands. Zelda had a few admirers that stopped to watch her train. Someone approached and complimented Zelda on how well mannered she is.

 

Pupdate 10/30/2024

Today Zelda and I went to the park to work on commands. We practiced all her commands and worked on her distance and duration. We also practiced a new command, Under. Zelda is a smart girl and caught on to her command very fast. Under is very similar to the place command, except she goes under an object rather than climbing up onto an object. This command helps with teaching her to lay down and relax and gets her out of a walkway if you take her out to eat with you. 

 

Pupdate 10/31/2024

Today Zelda and I went to down to the beach to work on her commands. She a great job! It was her first day training completely off leash! Zelda heeled nicely at my side while we passed by people, dogs, and bikes. She did well with her duration Sits and Downs. Zelda received a few compliments on how well mannered she is.

 

11/1/2024

Today Zelda and her buddy, Barkley, went to the mall to work on their obedience commands. Zelda was a good girl and followed all her commands. She did well with all the people distractions. We had a little audience that watched both Zelda and Barkley train together. We worked on her under command while sat at a table to drink my Starbucks. Zelda was calm and people watched as they passed by. 

 

Pupdate 11/2/2024

Today Zelda and i went to the park to work on her obedience. We practiced all her commands off leash and worked on her distance and duration. Once again, she did very well following all her commands. We had someone approach us, wanting to greet Zelda. I let Zelda go up to the woman first to sniff. She was fine with the woman until she tried to pet Zelda. Zelda jumped back and gave a little growl. I told her ‘off’ and she stopped right away. The woman just talked to her and she sat calmly. We will continue to work on socializing with people.


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