Dante | German Shepherd Husky Mix | Venice, CA | In Training

Meet Dante! He's a six month old German Shepherd Husky Mix from Venice, California here for our Two-Week Board and Train program! Dante is very sweet and friendly, and does have some obedience knowledge, but sometimes doesn't respond to basic commands. He also pulls on his leash, and is very susceptible to being distracted by noises, people and other animals. Over the next fourteen days, we will teach Dante how to behave on and off leash, how to maintain focus when around distraction, and show Dante how to be the best pup he can possibly be! Stay tuned for Dante's two week transformation.

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Pupdate: 11/20/2022

After picking up Dante, we headed to Hacienda Park to get to know each other. Dante is very sweet and he seems to like me! I can tell he's easily distracted as he started focusing on another dog from a great distance. Once we got home, I let Dante sniff around my house and got him used to staying here!

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Pupdate: 11/21/2022

Dante and I went to Pioneer Park today for his first full day of training! We worked on his Sit and his Heel. He knows how to sit already, so my goal is to get him to sit immediately when asked. Sometimes he hesitates as if he's deciding whether or not he wants to follow through with the command, but he's quickly learning! For Heel, I want Dante to walk nicely at my left side with his ears at my knee. He started picking this up quickly as well, although he sometimes still wants to stop and sniff the ground. Dante also got to see his sister today! He mostly maintained composure, and only got a little excited, but I did feel that he was less interested in working after he realized she was there.

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Pupdate: 11/22/2022

Dante and I spent the day at Almansor Park! We continued to work on his Heel command, which is coming along nicely. We also introduced him to the Come To Sit command. For this command, I want Dante to come to my right side, move around my legs and sit at my left side with his ears at my knee. He learned this movement quickly. He sometimes stops and wants to play around halfway through, but as long as I make sure he follows through, this should get better! He also was extremely interested in the squirrels around the park! Because one of Dante's biggest weaknesses is his distractions, I tried to work with him around the squirrels as much as possible.

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Pupdate: 11/23/2022

Dante and I went to Cheviot Hills Park today for training! In the above video, you can see Dante perform his Come To Sit command, as well as his Place command! For Place, I want Dante to hop onto a raised object, in this case a small cot, and remain there until I either release him from command or ask him to perform a new command. His Come To Sit is getting really good, and he picked up the Place command very quickly! In the video, the only mistakes Dante makes are when I ask him to sit, and he starts to stand up when I move. Ideally, I'd like him to hold his sit without needing to be reminded.

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Pupdate: 11/24/2022

Dante and I went to Almansor Park this morning! We mostly had a fun day, but we did work on all of his commands, including introducing him to Down. Dante seems to be pretty good with Down, he just doesn't like to hold it for very long yet! Since it's Thanksgiving, Dante also got a few extra treats today!

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Pupdate: 11/25/2022

Dante and I went to the Santa Monica Pier today for training! This was definitely the most crowded area he's been so far. He did very well with all of his commands. There were tons of distractions that Dante was interested in, but he's been doing better and better every day at ignoring them!

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Pupdate: 11/26/2022

Dante and I went to Home Depot today for training! We started working through his commands with his leash dragging. This allows me to get an idea of how he might perform off leash while still having the leash available if needed. He did extremely well with this. There were times he would still lose focus and want to stop and sniff various distractions, especially in the garden center. Most of the time, however, he was very attentive and performed his commands diligently!

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Pupdate: 11/27/2022

Dante and I went to Almansor Park today for training! He started working off leash! He did so well yesterday that I decided to see how he would do with the leash fully off, and I wasn't disappointed! He did very well. He sometimes still breaks his sit or down in order to get closer to me, but we worked on that a lot today and he was doing much better by the end of the day!

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Pupdate: 11/28/2022

Dante went to Whittier Narrows park today for training! He was off leash all day and behaved very well for the most part. He was around several other dogs and trainers, but it wasn't until he saw his sister, Beatrice, that he wanted to break his commands and try to play. Other than that, he did wonderfully all day!

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Pupdate: 11/29/2022

Dante and I went to Citadel Outlets today for training! He did very well! He was off leash for most of the day, and was well mannered nearly the whole time. There were tons of distractions, including people, other dogs, strollers and carts, and Dante got distracted a few times. He did a great job at not breaking his commands, though! Whenever another dog caught his attention, he would quickly turn his attention back to me when asked, using the Off command. His video for today is from last night. We visited Home Depot with a few other trainers and their dogs. In this video, Dante is being handled by another trainer. Having another trainer work with Dante is a good way to see how well he's actually learning his commands, as opposed to just following me because he likes me! Dante did fairly well with the other trainer, although he would veer off from time to time, and he would get very excited when asked to Down.

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Pupdate: 11/30/2022

Dante and I started off the day at Cheviot Hills Park, where he did a great job and got to go on a nice walk around the park with some other dogs! After that, we went to the Block of Orange where there were a few more distractions. He did very well at this location too, but I did feel that he was a little more distracted than usual. He did all of his commands excellently, but he was looking at distractions a little more than he has in recent days. This was his first time at the Block of Orange, so I think the new environment was very interesting to him.

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Pupdate: 12/1/2022

Dante and I went to Central Park in Pasadena this morning! Afterward we went back to The Block of Orange for more training! Dante did much better today, and didn't seem to get as distracted as yesterday. He was very attentive and ready to work all day!

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Pupdate: 12/2/2022

Dante and I went back to The Block of Orange today for training! He did great off leash all day. He was able to walk through several big crowds without trying to veer off or go up to people! He also was approached by several strangers who wanted to pet him, and he allowed them to do so without jumping or breaking his commands! Dante is easily excited by new people, so this is very good for him!

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Pupdate: 12/3/2022

Dante and I went to Cheviot Hills Park for his last full day of training! For his video today, I wanted to show some of the manners he's been working on for the last couple weeks. For food manners, I want Dante to sit nicely when I place food in front of him without him immediately trying to gobble it up. For Door manners, I want to be able to open the door without Dante rushing through before me. For car manners, I want him to hop into the car and walk directly into his kennel when asked! Dante is such a sweet and playful pup, and I've loved working with him for two weeks! I'll miss him once he goes home.