Meet Cooper, she's a seven-month-old Goldendoodle from Playa Del Rey, California! This sweet and playful pup is here with us for our Two Week Board and Train Program, where we will work on teaching her basic obedience and manners! She doesn't have much knowledge of any basic commands yet, and has a short attention span which causes her to be easily distracted. She comes to us with some common issues, such as pulling on the leash, eating things off the ground, and jumping up on people. Cooper tends to get into mischief while at home as well, such as counter surfing, getting into the trash, and barking excessively when her owners leave without her. Over the next fourteen days, we will work on establishing structure as well as improving her obedience and manners to set her on the right path to becoming a well-behaved pup both on and off leash. Stay tuned for her transformation!
Pupdate 12/29/2024
Today Cooper and I spent the day bonding and getting to know each other after she was dropped off with me. She was very friendly and excited to meet me, but she did jump up on me a lot, which is something we will be working on as time goes on, as polite Greeting Manners will be one of our goals for her training. While walking around the park after first meeting, she seemed very interested in her surroundings, and was eager to explore the area. Her attention span is definitely on the lower end, and she struggled to pay attention to me for more than a fleeting moment, which is to be expected for her young age! Generally she was much more focused on everything around us, and was very easily distracted by smells, people, dogs, and anything else she found interesting.
While at the park, I tested her current knowledge of commands to see if he's had any prior training, and what areas may need some extra focus on going forward. I asked her basic commands such as Come, Heel, Sit, Down, and Place, but she didn't seem to care for any of them and was more focused on sniffing around and exploring the park rather than paying attention to me or listening to what was being asked of her. She would sometimes Come over to me when called with lots of excitement and encouragement, though she would rarely come all the way to me, and mostly ignored the recall cue and her name. When asked to Heel, she didn't seem to recognize the command at all and was almost always at the end of the leash walking around wherever she pleased rather than staying next to me. She was unable to Sit or Down on command either. With some light pressure on her rear she was able to Sit down, however she would always stand back up and start walking away after a second or two, and overall seemed to excited to lay down at all. I asked her to Place on some low, easy to reach objects, but she didn't seem to understand what was being asked of her. She would sometimes put her two front paws up on the object, but seemed to lack the confidence to jump all the way up, even with plenty of encouragement. She didn't seem to have any understanding of leash pressure either, and was often trying to pull against the leash in an attempt to get where she wanted to go.
After our time at the park, it was time to head home and get her settled into my home. She was unable to jump into my car on her own, even when using some of her food as motivation, though she was comfortable being picked up and placed in the car. She was a bit unsure of the kennel at first, however she was able to enter it without physical guidance by using a few pieces of kibble to lure her inside. We will be working on Car Manners to help this process become more smooth and streamlined in the future. Anytime Cooper is to ride in a car with me, she will be secured in a kennel for her utmost safety. She will also be in a kennel at home during nighttime or any other time she is unsupervised. Once home, she happily explored around the new area, played with some toys, had some fun greeting my personal pup, and eventually she settled down for a nap. Later, we went out for a walk around my neighborhood to help her become familiar with the area. Starting tomorrow, will be taking walks around the neighborhood multiple times a day, so it'll be good to get her used to this environment. When exiting the house to start our walk, Cooper kept trying to run out the door as soon as it was opened, so we will also be working to improve her Door Manners to make sure she can respect the boundary a doorway creates as this will help keep her safe. When mealtime came, she was very excited and jumped on me several times, so we will also be working on improving her Food Manners. She seems to be settling in nicely so far, and we are so excited to begin this training journey together!
Pupdate 12/30/2024
Today Cooper and I visited a park, where we met up with some other OffLeash SoCal trainers and their pups, including Cooper's sister, Birdie! This was a great opportunity to train Cooper around major distractions such as people and dogs in a controlled environment. When we first arrived to the park she seemed a bit nervous overall about the new area, though she lit up when she realized her sister was there and she had some fun playing with her before we began training. Once we got into training, Cooper did struggle a bit with staying focused, as certain things would catch her attention and cause her to want to pause and stare at them or run and jump around, though overall she did well! We focused on improving her understanding of leash pressure and e-collar stimulation, as well as introducing the Heel command.
Pressure is a fundamental tool used in teaching basic obedience commands. The idea is that whenever pressure is applied, be it from a leash or an e-collar, it is paired with a command. The pressure then remains present until Cooper follows the pressure and the command being given. The moment she follows through, the pressure immediately turns off and a reward is given. Yesterday, whenever the leash was used to apply pressure, she would firmly resist it, try to pull in the opposite direction, and made no attempt to turn the pressure off, so it was clear she didn't quite understand the concept of leash pressure just yet. We spent a good amount of time focusing on teaching her what leash pressure means, and how to turn off the pressure once it's applied. She learned that trying to resist it was not successful or rewarding, and that simply following the directional pressure and paying attention to what I was asking of her was very simple and rewarding! After a while of practicing with this, she did much better and began showing a good understanding of leash pressure! In order to properly introduce the e-collar, it's very helpful for Cooper to first have a solid understanding of leash pressure, as this is the most simple form of pressure due to the clear directional guidance it provides. Once she understood the leash pressure, we began adding in a new form of pressure from the e-collar. By pairing these two forms of pressure simultaneously, she will come to understand that each pressure has the same meaning. With time and practice, this will allow the leash and e-collar to be used interchangeably. Be sure to check out today's video for an in-depth e-collar tutorial!
Heel is an important command for Cooper to begin developing early on in her training, as her habit of pulling every which way on the leash makes walking with her a challenging task. The goal for the Heel command is for Cooper to be able to follow directly alongside her handler on their left side at their heels, and maintain that position while walking unless released or given a new command. This precise positioning takes a lot of practice to master, but it will effectively eliminate pulling on the leash or veering off in different directions, and allow her handler to take the lead on walks instead of her trying to pull them around wherever she pleases. To introduce this command, I kept the leash short but loose, and ensured she stayed on my left side in roughly the Heel position as we walked. If she began to veer off, pull ahead, fall behind, or otherwise create tension on the leash, leash and e-collar pressure were applied, and the verbal command Heel was given until she returned to the desired position. During Heel, her sole focus should be following her handler's lead, and as such she needs to remain neutral to and ignore her environment, which means no sniffing, staring at distractions, or otherwise becoming distracted. When walking in the correct Heel position, the leash was loose, no pressure was applied, and lots of praise and rewards were given to create value in this position. As she gets better with this command, she will have an easier time staying in the Heel position without as much guidance needed, and will need to be given reminders less frequently. Overall she did a good job today and seemed to catch on pretty quickly, though more work will need to be done before she can Heel reliably, especially around distractions.
Pupdate 12/31/2024
Happy New Years Eve! Today Cooper and I visited a park, where we practiced her Heel command, as well as introduced two new commands, Off and Come to Sit. The park had some distractions around, such as people, other dogs, squirrels, and some sports games going on. There were also many grassy fields, which Cooper often found herself tempted to sniff around in and look for tasty things to pick up like sticks and leaves!
Cooper is often easily distracted, as she tends to focus on her surroundings even when asked to perform commands. Moments like this are a great opportunity to implement the Off command. The goal for the Off command is for Cooper to stop whatever she is doing, and focus on her handler. This is a very versatile command, similar to "no" or "leave it", and can be used in various situations, such as to interrupt fixation on distractions, barking, jumping on people, eating or sniffing things she's not supposed to, or any other behaviors that are undesirable or inappropriate at that time. The verbal Off command when paired with leash pressure and the e-collar allows us to interrupt the behavior and help her to refocus so that she is in a better mindset to listen for upcoming instructions. Once the Off command is given, it's beneficial to immediately follow it with another command such as Sit, Come, Heel, etc. Once she stops whatever behavior she was doing, asking her to set her focus on a task will help keep her attention away from what initially distracted her or caused the undesirable behavior. Cooper has shown good progress in understanding the Off command so far, and with each repetition, she seemed to be quicker to respond and refocus when prompted. However, more work will need to be done in various situations before she is fully reliable with the command.
Come to Sit is another important command to begin practicing early on in Cooper's training journey, as it will be our main form of recall. The goal for Come to Sit is for Cooper to come directly to me when called, and circle around to perform a Sit on my left side. The Come to Sit command when performed in its entirety, ensures that she not only comes when called, but also requires her to sit beside her handler and not leave that spot unless released or given a new command. By having her sit on the left side facing forward, we are setting her up for success to begin walking in a Heel as she is already in the desired position for it. We introduced Come to Sit today by combining the verbal command with leash and e-collar pressure to grab her attention and guide her towards me. Once she followed the guidance and approached me, the leash was used to then guide her around to my left side, where she was then asked to perform a Sit. As we practiced more, she began to rely less on the leash pressure to grab her attention and guide her, which is a good sign of progress! She would tend to sit slightly out of the desired position once she got to me, though for her first day, she did a great job overall! With each successful repetition, I made sure to reward her with lots of praise and affection, to build up a positive association with the command and coming to me when called.
Pupdate 1/1/2024
Happy New Year! Today Cooper and I visited a park, where we practiced her commands around distractions. The park had children playing, other dogs, squirrels, and other distractions around. We continued practicing Heel, Come to Sit, and Off, and also introduced the Place and Down commands.
The goal for the Place command is for Cooper to jump or climb onto a designated object, such as a bench, a bed, or another object with defined borders, and hold a stationary command while remaining on the Place object until released or given a new command. Before practicing at the park, we first practiced at home with a familiar object, a dog cot, that she is comfortable with. Later, we worked with more challenging objects such as park benches and rocks, which required a bit more skill to get onto than the dog cot. She needed a bit of help and some extra encouragement during the first few repetitions, though she did eventually become more confident and was able to climb onto the objects with very minimal if any assistance.
The goal for the Down command is for Cooper to lay down completely when asked, and remain in that position until released or given a new command. To begin working on this command, we used leash pressure, physical guidance, and occasional food lures to guide Cooper into the Down position while the verbal command was given. After some practice, she quickly seemed to catch on to the concept, so we began adding in the e-collar stimulation as reinforcement and gradually using fewer food lures. We kept the duration for this command pretty short at first with lots of breaks and praise, as this helps make the training fun and rewarding. As we continue to practice this we will continue increasing the duration gradually so she can learn to remain in this position for extended periods of time. We will also continue adding in more distractions so she can be reliable with the command in any situation or environment. While in quiet areas with minimal distractions such as at home, she has shown good understanding with this command and enters it when asked. However when in busier areas or when she is feeling a bit nervous or excited, she tends to need some physical guidance to help her into position.
Comments