Meet Enzo, a two year old Aussiedoodle from Pacific Palisades, California! This sweet and playful pup is here with us for our One Week Board and Train Program, where we will work on teaching him basic obedience and manners. He has some knowledge of basic obedience commands but has a short attention span which causes him to be easily distracted. He tends to display selective listening, and struggles to pay attention to instructions or follow through with what is asked of him. Enzo likes to pull heavily on the leash while walking, and barks persistently whenever he is seeking attention or feeling frustrated. He loves people and other dogs, but tends to get easily overexcited around them which emphasizes these poor behaviors. Over the next seven days, we will be working on improving his obedience, discipline, and manners to set him on the right track to becoming a well-behaved pup. Stay tuned for his transformation!
Pupdate 9/22/2024
Today Enzo and I spent the day bonding and getting to know each other after he was dropped off with me. He seemed very nervous once he realized his family had departed the park, and he was persistent about trying to run back in the direction where he had last seen them go. It took him some time, but he did eventually warm up to me and became more interested in interacting with me. Even then, he did still seem to be on the anxious side, and was very easily distracted by our surroundings overall.
Before beginning any training, I tested his knowledge of commands to get an idea of his current capabilities, and what areas may need some extra focus on going forward. I asked him basic commands such as Come, Heel, Sit, Down, and Place, but he was typically much more focused on his surroundings rather than anything I was asking of him. His recall was very unreliable overall, and he almost always ignored the Come verbal cue, his name, and even leash pressure attempts to guide him to me when called. If he did happen to move towards me, he would often walk right past me and did not seem interested in staying near me once he got close. He didn't seem interested in performing Heel either, and was almost always at the end of the leash pulling as hard as he could to get to where he wanted to go. He was able to Sit on command sometimes, however he would often need to be asked multiple times before he would follow through. He was unable to perform Down on command, and generally seemed too anxious in this environment to settle into this position. He wasn't able to perform Place either, and he didn't seem to understand what was being asked of him. Even when working with relatively low and easy to reach objects, he seemed to lack confidence about jumping or climbing up.
Once we had spent some time testing his knowledge, we jumped into our first training session! We focused on introducing him to the e-collar, as well as Come to Sit and Heel. The e-collar will be an important tool in his training program, as it will allow for effective communication with minimal to no leash pressure needed. By pairing the e-collar stimulation with leash pressure, we can teach him that these two forms of pressure mean the same thing, allowing them to eventually be used interchangeably. I have included a tutorial for the e-collar in today's pupdate, so be sure to check that out! We also ended up switching Enzo from a flat collar to a prong collar, which helped immensely in stopping his pulling behaviors and helping him to better understand leash pressure when it was provided. The goal for Come to Sit is for Enzo to come when called, approach his handler's right side, circle around the back, and finish with a Sit facing forward on the left side. He is then asked to hold this Sit until released with "Break", or given a new command. This ensures he not only comes when called, but also that he remains stationary until told otherwise, which will be a common theme among all of his commands, as they each come with an implied stay. The Come to Sit maneuver when completed in its entirety also sets him up to be in the perfect position to begin walking in a Heel! The goal for the Heel command is for Enzo to walk nicely alongside his handler on their left side, without pulling ahead, veering off, or falling behind. His job during Heel is to focus on his handler and follow their lead at all times, which will take some practice to get the hang of. Enzo seemed to pick up on these commands quite quickly, especially with the help of the prong collar, as he responded very well to it and seemed much more calm and focused when provided with this clear directional guidance. We will continue working on these commands every day to help him become more reliable and consistent with them!
Pupdate 9/23/2024
Today Enzo and I visited a park, where we began focusing on three commands, Off, Place, and Down. We met up with some other OffLeash SoCal trainers and their pups, which provided a great opportunity to train in close proximity to distractions like other dogs and people. The park also had large grassy fields, squirrels, and birds which also served as distractions.
Enzo is often easily distracted, as he tends to focus on his 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 Enzo to stop whatever he is doing, and focus on his 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, eating or sniffing things he'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 him to refocus so that he 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 he stops whatever behavior he was doing, asking him to set his focus on a task will help keep his attention away from what initially distracted him or caused the undesirable behavior. Enzo has shown good progress in understanding the Off command so far, and with each repetition, he seemed to be quicker to respond and refocus when prompted. However, more work will need to be done in various situations before he is fully reliable with the command.
The goal for the Place command is for Enzo 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. We introduced this command at home using a familiar object, a dog cot. He is comfortable climbing onto and relaxing on the cot in his own time, so this was a good object to use and help set him up for success. We used some leash pressure to guide him onto the cot while giving the verbal Place cue, which he quickly picked up on. Once he seemed to understand the behavior, we began pairing leash pressure with e-collar stimulation as additional reinforcement and communication when needed. We then took the Place cot with us to the park, where we continued our practice. He did well with this, so we moved on to practice with other types of objects such as benches, rocks, low walls, and other types of objects. He did well with this overall, and while he was sometimes a bit hesitant with new objects, just a bit of motivation and encouragement helped build his confidence and willingness to Place on cue. We will continue practicing this command with different objects in a variety of environments to improve Enzo's skills with this command!
Another command we focused on today is the Down command. The goal for the Down command is for Enzo to lay down completely when asked, and remain in that position until released or given a new command. He seems to understand this command, though before today was very unreliable about actually performing it when asked. So we worked to improve his reliability with following through by always reinforcing it and holding him accountable for it. If he didn't Down when asked the first time, leash pressure and e-collar stimulation were added to reinforce it, and he quickly understood this and was much better at listening on the first ask. As we continue to practice this we will continue increasing the duration gradually so he can learn to remain in this position for extended periods of time. We will also continue adding in more distractions so he can be reliable with the command in any situation or environment.
Pupdate 9/24/2024
Today Enzo and I visited a local park, where we practiced all of his commands around distractions. The park had a variety of distractions, including people, children, dogs, and small animals. He was pretty excited when we first arrived, though did seem to adjust to the new environment fairly quickly and was able to settle into a more focused mindset. The Off command was effective in helping to keep his excitement levels at a manageable level, and refocus his attention onto me and his training when he began to take too much interest in our surroundings.
He mostly seemed distracted by other dogs today, and when we first arrived he would tend to default to his habitual behavior of trying to approach each dog he saw. While it's great that Enzo is such a friendly pup and is eager to socialize, we need him to understand that there is a time and place for this activity. This isn't to say he can never play with or socialize with other dogs, though we want him to understand when it is appropriate, and that it is something he must get permission to do rather than an impulsive decision he makes on his own accord. It would be detrimental to his training to allow him to approach random dogs whenever he wants, especially if he is breaking obedience commands or pulling on the leash to do so. Also, rushing to greet other dogs is a rude and potentially dangerous behavior, in both human and dog terms. Instead, we want to encourage neutrality towards other dogs, and help Enzo get out of the habit of trying to say hello to every dog he encounters. To achieve this, anytime he saw a dog and began feeling overexcited about it, he was given the Off command to encourage him to bring his energy back down and focus on me. Paying close attention to his body language of excitement building helps to catch this behavior and interrupt it before it escalates to worse behaviors such as barking or leash pulling. As soon as he disengaged, he was rewarded heavily with lots of praise and affection, which he quickly picked up on! After just a few dog encounters, he began defaulting to checking in with me, paying more attention to me, and becoming less interested in other dogs overall. This allowed him to focus on and perform commands effectively, even with other dogs around us.
Enzo did great with his Heel today overall, and seems to be developing a clear understanding of the expectations set for this command. He did great with following my lead and staying close to me as we walked around. When passing distractions such as walking over interesting scents in the grass or a squirrel in a nearby tree, he would sometimes fall slightly out of position but he was easily able to be corrected with minimal leash pressure needed. He did good about always recalling when asked to Come, and generally always came right to me when called on the first ask even with moderate distractions around. He usually needed some guidance for his positioning, though he is seeming to get the hang of the maneuver. His stationary commands were good today as well, and he was able to perform Sit, Down, and Place without too much issue. He was sometimes slightly stubborn with his Down, especially if he was feeling a bit excited about something, though with just a small amount of leash pressure he was able to follow through. Once in a stationary position, he did an excellent job of remaining in that position without breaking it, even with plenty of distractions around which is a great sign he is understanding the rules of the implied stay!
Pupdate 9/25/2024
Today Enzo and I visited a local shopping strip, where we continued practicing each of his commands around distractions. This location provided a variety of distractions, including people, other dogs, music, food, and loud noises from the busy street nearby. Overall Enzo was a bit excited at first and was eager to explore the new environment, though he quickly settled into a focused mindset and was able to pay great attention to his commands! Even when faced with major distractions such as dogs barking at him or play bowing at him, he understood to ignore them and stay focused on his commands, and at no point did he break a command to try to approach any other dogs.
Enzo has become much more receptive to leash pressure, and has not been trying to pull on the leash or resist leash pressure at all. He understands that when leash pressure is felt, he simply needs to follow it's guidance to turn it back off. We have also switched Enzo from the prong collar to a slip lead, as he has been successfully responding to the milder leash pressure from this tool and no longer relies on the prong collar. He is also doing great with the e-collar, and seems to be understanding it very well as we have been successful in using these two forms of pressure interchangeably during training with good results. This has allowed us to practice his commands with very minimal to no leash pressure needed, which makes training and handling him much less labor intensive than it was even just a couple of days ago!
Enzo did fantastic with his Heel today, and was able to follow my lead as we walked along the shopping strip with minimal leash guidance or reminders needed! He seems to understand exactly where he is supposed to be once this command is given, and when slight adjustments do need to be made, he was able to correct himself without physical guidance more often than not. His Come to Sit was pretty good overall, and he always came straight to me whenever he was called. He would sometimes need some light guidance for the maneuver, but with this help he was able to correctly position himself each time. Without leash pressure, he was sometimes prone to trying to sit in front of or behind me instead of at my left, but this will improve the more practice he gets with the command. Enzo's stationary commands were all excellent, and he was able to perform Sit, Down, and Place all without any issues. He was also able to hold his positions for nearly two minutes each, even with plentiful distractions around.
Pupdate 9/26/2024
Today Enzo and I visited the Santa Monica Pier! This was a great location to practice all of his commands around a large amount of distractions, including dense crowds of people, other dogs, loud music, food, birds, and more. Despite the very busy environment, Enzo did a fantastic job staying calm and neutral to his surroundings. He had no issues with any of his commands, and did excellent work today! We were able to capture some great footage of him training today that will be included in his final video, so be sure to check out today's pupdate video for a sneak peek!
Pupdate 9/27/2024
Today Enzo and I visited an outdoor mall, where we practiced all of his commands around distractions. This location had a variety of distracting surroundings including groups of people, other dogs, food, and music. As usual, Enzo did an excellent job staying focused and on task during training. He had no trouble performing any of his commands, and was even able to train effectively without any leash pressure! While training and walking around the mall, Enzo got lots of compliments both on his adorable looks and his impressive obedience skills! While Greeting Manners isn't something we focus on for One Week Board and Train Programs, we still of course ensured that Enzo remained polite and calm any time people approached us to say hello or pet him. He was a very good boy, and definitely loved all the attention he got!
Pupdate 9/28/2024
Today Enzo and I visited a park, where we had a great last day together! We practiced his commands, and he had lots of fun exploring and playing at the park with me. Enzo is not only excelling with his skills and manners while out in public, but he has also made huge transformations in his behavior inside the home as well! House manners are something we have been working on little by little each day since day one. Even seemingly mundane day-to-day tasks can provide excellent opportunities for training! These manners include areas such as Food Manners and Door Manners.
The goal for Food Manners is for Enzo to be able to hold a stationary command while his food is prepared and set in front of him. He is then asked to remain in that position until he is released before he can get up and eat his food. Enzo tends to be very excited about his food, and in the early stages of his training he was prone to jumping on me, on counters, and rushing to the food bowl the moment it was set down even if it meant pushing me out of the way to get to it. As he progressed in his overall obedience, patience, and impulse control, he quickly replaced his bad habits and learned to be polite and patient even when faced with very tempting distractions such as food directly in front of him!
Another area of manners we have been working on is Enzo's Door Manners. The goal of Door Manners is for Enzo to hold a stationary position while near a door and remain there until released or given a new command, such as Come or Heel. He is asked to hold the position at the location asked of him, and not break the command even if the door is left open, if someone is knocking on it, or if people walk in or out of it. This practice teaches important boundaries, and prevents impolite and possibly dangerous behaviors he once displayed, such as trying to escape through open doors, jumping on people who enter, and shoving past people when walking through doorways. With daily practice, Enzo has made great progress with his manners related to doors, and understands to follow instructions even with the added distractions the door may create.
Enzo has made such an amazing transformation in these past seven days, and the differences in him are truly night and day! He came to us with some knowledge of obedience commands, but his tendency to become overexcited, distracted, and overstimulated by everything around him caused him to struggle to maintain focus. He has since learned to stay calm, focused, and neutral to his surroundings even in the most busy of places. His confidence, patience, discipline, and overall manners both in public and at home have all improved so much! While he may seem like a whole new pup, he is still the same goofy, loving, and playful pup he always has been, and with his new obedience skills he is even more of a joy to be around and take with on all sorts of adventures! Enzo has been such a pleasure to train and share my home with, and I am forever grateful to have had the opportunity to help this good boy become the best version of himself! With his intelligence and eagerness to learn, the sky is the limit for Enzo, and I know he has a very bright future ahead in his continued training journey with his family!
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