Meet Kodak! He’s a two-year-old Goldendoodle from Los Angeles, California here for our Two-Week-Board and Train Program! Kodak is a handsome young pup. Kodak was rescued by his pup parents this year. Kodak can be nervous and anxious around new people, places and things. Kodak can perform a command or two, however, it is when Kodak wants to and it’s highly inconsistent. Over the next fourteen days, Koda is going to learn to be a confident, brave pup through consistent, structure, and clear communication through balanced training in areas such as at home, in the car, and in discovering new people and places. Kodak is going to learn how to do all these things on and off leash in a positive and balanced training environment. Kodak will demonstrate how great of a pup he can be! Stay tuned for Kodak’s two-week transformation!
Pupdate 12/15/24
Today Mr. Kodak came home to join my pack. We stopped at the park on the way home to see what he knew and for a quick photoshoot. Mr. Kodak decided to show me how stubborn he could be at the park by plopping down and not moving. It's all good! A lot of changes today for him so we are extra patient and I give him today to relax and get used to the new environment. After the park, Mr. Kodak got to meet the whole family, our family pup Ms. Toji, and my other board and train - Mr. Duke. Mr. Kodak wasn't overly impressed with anyone in particular but more timid. I took him for a walk around my neighborhood with my mini-trainer to acclimate to the sights and sounds. Afterward, I let Ms. Toji and Mr. Kodak hang out for the afternoon. I tried to give him his food, but he wasn't interested in it. I'll leave it in his crate for him to see if he eats some more throughout the night. Tomorrow we will hit the ground running and address his timidness and stubbornness simultaneously.
Pupdate 12/16/24
Today I introduced quite a few things to Mr. Kodak. As you can see in the video today, I introduced the e-collar. We start at the lowest level, 0, and work our way up 5 at a time to see how Mr. Kodak will respond. I observed the e-collar working around 15 and around 20 it was a little too high for Mr. Kodak. So we will stay in the 15 range for now. This level varies on Mr. Kodak and his willingness to perform the tasks. We want it to be as low as possible. The main purpose of the e-collar is to be a communication device to him. He receives a low-level stimulation + the verbal command = him performing the command. However, if he does not perform the command, then we have to press it again and say the command again. We will go up on the e-collar each time until he performs the task. The pup controls the stimulation levels. As soon as he performs the task properly, we fully reset the e-collar back to its low level and carry on.
As a Goldendoodle, Mr. Kodak is going to be stubborn and resistant to a lot of the commands and tasks I ask of him. I tried to start today with only the flat collar and the e-collar stimulation but he was not on board. I used my slip lead which is a rope leash that goes around him to help apply pressure. As soon as Mr. Kodak performs a task, all the pressure is released. Once again, he decides when the pressure is released or not. Today was our first day working together so I am ok with about 50% of where we need to be. I introduced the place, sit, heel, and come-to-sit commands. I am trying to be understanding that he was rescued and has a lot of change in his life but the more structure we can add to his life, the more comfortable he will be in new environments.
Mr. Kodak didn't eat his breakfast but he did eat all of his dinner overnight in the crate. He spent the majority of the day outside playing and exercising with Ms. Toji so I am sure he will have a full appetite tonight. Overall, not a bad start to Day 1. I'll keep adding more and more structure to his life while giving him plenty of time to be a happy pup.
I've included the e-collar video which reviews all the features and components. Please review a few times before Mr. Kodak comes home. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.
Pupdate 12/17/24
Today Mr. Kodak and I hit another backyard session. Although these sessions tend to be distraction-free, today the gardner was doing his thing and there were plenty of loud noises going on throughout the training session. I introduced the final command for Mr. Kodak, "down". I tried to reward him with treats for him performing the "down" but I don't think he trusts me enough for that yet. He was willing to hold the "down" for about 2 minutes which was awesome! He also held the "sit' for about 2 minutes as well! We are making good progress!
I also introduced the pinch collar to try to encourage Mr. Kodak to not be so resistant and defiant. Once again, the pinch collar applies pressure to Mr. Kodak when he plops down and doesn't want to participate or if he's lagging too far behind. Once he performs the task at hand, all pressure is released and he's pressure-free. I think he's starting to figure this out more and more. Now that he knows all his commands, it is just practice, practice, practice.
He loves hanging out with Ms. Toji and I've been letting him hang out in my office with me and my other board and train.
Pupdate 12/18/24
Today Mr. Kodak and I headed over to Rynerson Park in Lakewood, CA to get to work on all his basic obedience commands. Mr. Kodak can be one stubborn pup! That's ok, we will be patient and firm at the same time. Mr. Kodak likes to have tantrums when I ask him to perform a task and he doesn't want to do it. He will plop his butt on the ground, stop moving, try to break off, try to bite the leash, try to bite me, poop, or even put his feet out like a spider to stop himself from going into the crate. However! We are making progress! These outbursts are in between periods of performing well!
As you can see in today's video, his "heel" is coming along nicely. He tried to break off several times to the magical dog pee light post but I kept him on task. When I gave him a break to do his business, he just sat around and looked at me. This is a reminder that as long as Mr. Kodak has been fed, hydrated, allowed potty breaks, and is in good physical condition, then there is a reasonable expectation that Mr. Kodak performs the tasks that we are asking of him. Today he ate all his food, was given plenty of water, and was given about an hour to play with Ms. Toji before we headed out. A tired dog is a dog that performs poorly. Keep that in mind as well. If you play fetch (you said he doesn't like toys), but if you go on a long walk and he's tired, it's best not to come home and then ask him to perform every obedience task or overwhelm him with many people at the house. He might be less likely to perform well. However, a quick potty break and a stress-relieving walk before or during having people over will go a long way in ensuring that he is mentally prepared to be a good pup.
His "down" is not very good! You advised me that he isn't a big fan of this command. I have been using pressure on his back and moving his front paws as he locks them up. I will try to use treats and the most positive way to encourage him to perform the task. Let's see what we can do to figure this out!
Pupdate 12/19/24
Today Mr. Kodak and I focused on his "down" in a little to no stimulus environment in my backyard. I would have to say that Mr. Kodak has to be one of the most stubborn pups I have ever had the pleasure of being around. I worked on his "down" for a few minutes by applying pressure to his back while gently sliding his front feet out and giving low-level stimulation. This works two or three times and then Mr. Kodak starts to anticipate that I am going to ask him to do this. Instead of complying more readily, he locks himself even more. This means that I have to use more pressure to get him to "down". As a result of his resisting so mightily, he has pooped a few times on my dog bed and even on the ground. Another time, he was tired of me asking and tried several times to nip at me or at the leash. I tried using hot dogs to encourage a down and I even tried to give him hot dogs after he was in the "down" and that wasn't enough to convince him to keep performing the "down". I had to give him a half bath due to the poop getting on his tail and hindquarters. I am going to reach out to my fellow trainers who have also trained Goldendoodles and explore as many options as I can.
Lastly, obedience training is based on behavior modification. I know you stated that Mr. Kodak was rescued from an overpopulated Goldendoodle breeder. I wonder if there is any psychological trauma that occurred to him in that environment that makes him resistant to performing the "down". Performing the "down" is a vulnerable position for many dogs. Usually, they can be encouraged to do it with treats, medium leash, and collar pressure. Even after asking a handful of times, a lot of pups start to pick up on the game and trust me enough to perform the "down". Mr. Kodak refuses to perform it willingly at this point. We'll keep working on it each day and I'll let you know how it goes!
Pupdate 12/20/24
We have a lot to go over today! Last night, I headed over to one of our fellow Off-Leash trainer's house to work with Mr. Kodak. I feel like I am a little behind on Mr. Kodak. I felt we had some conflict and that he didn't trust me. We have a pretty reliable system and timeline for our pups at Off Leash. However, with Mr. Kodak being so stubborn and not trusting me yet, things sometimes feel disconnected. I think we decided that the best thing for Mr. Kodak is to just keep assisting him into the "down" as much as possible. He is showing signs of thinking about going into the "down" by moving his feet forward slightly when we get into the "place" and "sit". He thinks about it but still isn't sure. Due to the issues we've been having, we decided that just being extra patient and using our voice is the best we can do. He doesn't like treats, his kibble, toys, or even seems to care too much about being petted. What we usually figure out early on in the process is a good consequence system for the pup. Usually, the pup likes to be pet, loved on, belly rub, treat, or allowed to just go smell around when they are done performing their tasks. The things listed above are positive consequences. Then we have negative consequences which is the command "off" + low-level stimulus. If the pup continues unwanted behavior, then the stimulus of the e-collar goes up. The same thing goes for reinforcing the obedience commands, we use leash pressure to shape the pup's behavior. When the pup adequately performs the task at hand, we release all the pressure + release any stimulation. These are considered negative consequences. In Mr. Kodak's case, he doesn't have a lot of things to pull from to reward him for performing adequately besides a release of pressure and my voice telling him "good boy". Sometimes I'll throw in a head rub or massage his back but he doesn't really care for them. Then when it comes to pressure as a negative consequence, the greater the pressure, the more Mr. Kodak shuts down. So we have very little to motivate him by except a lack of pressure and if we use too much pressure, he isn't too keen on participating. He will poop himself or plop on the ground when overstimulated even by a little bit. He has been working around a level 15 on the e-collar but if we have to go up to as low as 25(reminder that the collar goes up to 100), he starts to resist and push back and it becomes a negative feedback loop. This is no longer productive training either. The best course of action is going to be patient, very clear, and minimize Mr. Kodak's mistakes as early and often as possible.
Based on the feeling of distrust and lack of rapport I've been feeling with Mr. Kodak, I decided to practice today without the e-collar and try to gain his trust by using his kibble. You can see in the first video how nervous and shaking Mr. Kodak was just sitting there. He also pooped himsef a little bit on the car ride over. Some of the shaking could be stress related from the upcoming training or car sickness or both! When we worked on the "down" he was much more calm and relaxed. He still didn't want to eat his kibble even on the cot for the "down". However, he has been much more willing to let me shape his "down". The problem is going to be that if he doesn't start doing it with just a little pressure from me pressing on his back or slight pressure on the collar, then he might not be able to do it. If I keep doing it for him, then he's not learning anything.
Before we headed out for a really long walk around the park, I had to help someone jump their car. Mr. Kodak hung out while I helped out. He actually tried to follow me which shows that he does recognize me and wants to be with me. I really enjoyed that. Once we were done helping this person out, we went for our long walk. During our walk, we went to another bench where we practiced going up and down over the bench, then practiced the "down" again. I still had to move his legs to get to go into the "down" but once he's there, he has no problem relaxing there. Once again, he was watching me while I walked around him which is a good sign that he was focused on me. This tells me that he recognizes me, he is looking to me for what I am going to ask of him next all while relaxing in the "down". I think not using the e-collar and pinch collar was a good idea to regain his trust.
We finished the second half of this extended walk with the leash-dragging the entire time. It wasn't perfect but he didn't try to run off, he didn't try to do his own thing, he just lagged behind a little bit. He would catch up and be in the correct position and I would tell him "GOOD BOY!" and rub his head for affirmation. We continued to vary our pace by going fast and slow. I reinforced that when I stop, he should be sitting. He is good at that one.
Lastly, we practiced come to "sit" throughout all the "down" exercises and in different areas. I tried it one time without holding the leash and that didn't go very well. He just came to me and sat in front of me. I backed up a few steps while telling him 'come" and then got him to the correct position by stepping forward once he went past me.
Tomorrow, I will bring back the e-collar but keep working on the flat collar. All we can do is keep practicing and be as patient as possible with Mr. Kodak. I will be taking him to the mall later this week. It's a little too busy right now with everyone wrapping up their last-minute Christmas shopping.
Pupdate 12/21/2024
Today Mr. Kodak and I headed over to my local Home Depot. Mr. Kodak and I are rebuilding our relationship slowly but surely. We re-introduced the e-collar. I put him on a light 6' leash to simulate being off lead as much as possible. I am being extra patient and extra careful not to overstimulate Mr. Kodak. He can be overstimulated mentally and become resistant to the training and tasks. I did practice come-to-sit about 10' away. Mr. Kodak did not want to break his "down" and come to me but a little patience and encouragement, he made it over and into the proper position. As I stated yesterday, if I keep showing him how to do everything, then he's being stubborn and not showing me that he's learning anything. He must do these tasks without input from me on the leash. He should only need a nice low-level stimulation, around 7-10, and the voice command for him to perform the task. He understands them all, he just chooses not to perform them. If I am too harsh on the negative consequences, he will shut down, poop himself or start to lash out with nipping and biting. We obviously want to avoid those so I am giving him plenty of time and opportunities to show me that he can perform all these tasks. Overall, I would say that we are finally making some good progress. We have some catching up to do, but we're going to be persistent and consistent with what we ask of Mr. Kodak!
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