Meet Krypto! He's back with me for some boarding and additional training. He's doing an amazing job with all of his commands, however he needs some work on his greeting manners, which will be what we focus on! He is about two years old now, but still remembers and loves me! Stay tuned for a fun three weeks with Krypto and me!
Pupdate: 7/8/2024
After picking up Krypto, we went to Almansor Park! We went through his commands and he did a great job with them! He seems to remember me and his commands very well. He has been a sweetheart the whole time I've had him so far! Any reactivity he presents seems to be limited to his home, which will make working on that specific behavior very difficult, but we'll continue to expose Krypto to as many places and people as we can to help with his issues.
Pupdate: 7/9/2024
Krypto and I went to Almansor Park today! I kept a small leash on him, but didn't have to touch it very much. His commands are strong, but there's always room for improvement. An extremely difficult thing for a lot of dogs to understand is the difference between Place and Under when performing both using the same object. Typically, I recommend to simply use separate objects for Place and Under, but for Krypto, he's already very good with both, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to try. As expected, it started out a little confusing, which you can see in the above video, but it started to click with him after a lot of repetitions.
Aside from that, Krypto's day was fun! He got to say hi to some strangers, and did very well. There were some birds that got his attention a little bit, but he did well at sticking close to me.
Pupdate: 7/10/2024
Krypto and I went to the park several times throughout the day to avoid the hottest parts of the afternoon. He was well behaved and had fun! I tried to get him out of his comfort zone a little bit by asking him to Place on some small ledges which you can see pictured above. He was hesitant at first, since he's a big boy, but he conquered the challenge!
Pupdate: 7/11/2024
Krypto and I went to Santa Monica Promenade today! He was an admirable canine for most of our day. He was a little too interested in a few distractions. While working, a couple tiny dogs crossed our path and he couldn't keep his eyes off of them. He did his commands with no issue and was a fine canine in this environment, but his attention sometimes strayed towards small dogs.
Pupdate: 7/12/2024
Krypto and I went to Santa Monica Promenade again today to continue getting him exposure to the outside world! He did really well most of the time although he did have trouble completely relaxing. He didn't seem too nervous or bothered, but I'd like him to get to the point where he could fully relax in any environment or situation. He was good with his commands, even though he was often distracted.
Back at home, he got some playtime with my dog and we walked to the park to get the rest of his energy out. He had a full and fun day today!
Pupdate: 7/13/2024
Krypto and I went to Alhambra City Park today! Neither of us have been to this park before so it was a great place to practice his commands. It was fairly busy, but Krypto stayed focused.
Last night, I had a new piece of furniture delivered, and took the opportunity to test Krypto. To prepare, I made sure his E-collar was charged and working, had his remote around my neck for easy access, and attached a leash just in case. When the delivery arrived, I asked Krypto to Place on a cot while the people moved the new couch in. Krypto barked once, but otherwise did a really good job staying calm. As soon as he barked, I used his Off command, and then asked him to lay down. Once he did he remained calm for the rest of the delivery.
Pupdate: 7/14/2024
Krypto and I went to the park today for some training and some fun! To try to challenge Krypto a little more than usual, we worked completely off leash and added as much distance to his recall as we could today. When we first tried this, he had a bit of trouble putting on the breaks once he got to me. He would run several feet past me, then turn around and get into the proper position. After a few attempts, however, he successfully gauged how fast he should approach and when to slow down in order to keep a nice tight Come To Sit. Before long, he was performing his recall from about one hundred fifty feet away with the same accuracy as he has from ten feet away. This proved to be a great way to test his limits and also get him a ton of exercise! After we finished, he was ready for a great nap!
Pupdate: 7/15/2024
Krypto and I went to Garfield Park today! There were a few people and other dogs there but it wasn't too crowded. The distractions there were enough to get his attention once or twice but not enough for him to break his commands or misbehave at all. Now that his long distance recall is pretty strong, I feel more comfortable having him off leash and we tried playing fetch. I'm not the best thrower in the world, so next time I'm going to bring a tennis racket to hit it farther for him. He seemed to enjoy it either way!
Pupdate: 7/16/2024
Krypto and I went to Almansor Park this morning, then back home for some indoor manners. Krypto gets super excited sometimes, even to simply walk outside, which I believe might be linked to his barking/reacting to people at the door. I want to show Krypto he can relax when we go to do something. If he gets too excited, we reset, try again and remain calm until we are able to walk all the way out in a relaxed manner. Showing Krypto to not be overly excited all the time might help with his issues with people at the door, and keep him from wanting to chase the cat around.
Pupdate: 7/17/2024
Krypto and I went to Whittier Narrows today! He was around several other trainers and dogs, and did well. We worked on his commands on and off leash. He seemed a little distracted when we first arrived but did really well starting to relax. I think showing him that it's okay to relax in all sorts of environments and around all kinds of people and dogs is the best thing for him.
After the park, we went home where he got a nap and more practice on his indoor manners.
Pupdate: 7/18/2024
Krypto and I went to Whittier Narrows Park today! In order to challenge him a little more, we worked on his Send Away To Place command with a fairly difficult place object. The big playground rock is much higher and larger than most objects he's used to hopping on, especially the place cot. Adding this extra difficulty is great for his confidence and ability to follow through when faced with a tough command. For example, when first asked to jump onto the rock, he ran up to it, but then turned around when he realized how high it was. When asked a second time, he jumped up. Then the next time, he did it without hesitation. This not only builds his proficiency with his commands, but also his trust in me. Pushing his training and helping him succeed with something tough, should help him move forward next time I ask him to do something difficult.
Pupdate: 7/19/2024
Krypto and I went to Almansor Park today! We had fun and worked hard before it started heating up too much. We mostly worked around the ponds where plenty of geese and ducks hang around. Krypto didn't bark or chase them, but he definitely focused on them a little too much. He also was a fan of a small band practicing under the shelter. The sounds of the saxophone and clarinet got his attention, so we spent some time resting and relaxing around them. At home, we had a mostly relaxing rest of the day. I found out that Krypto loves ice cubes so we're going to add that to our daily playtime plan, at least when it's hot.
Pupdate: 7/20/2024
Krypto and I went to Almansor Park this morning! We worked on his commands for some of the time but we spent a lot of our time playing. It's important for him to be able to easily go from playing to under command.
We played a lot of fetch, which he loved. Generally very good with fetch, although we had to work on bringing it all the way back, as he would sometimes drop the ball halfway through. Fetch was much easier with the tennis racket and Krypto had a lot more fun being able to chase the ball farther!
We also played a little focus game where I wanted Krypto to focus on the ball and then catch it. He wasn't as good at catching the ball, but we can work on it.
Pupdate: 7/21/2024
Krypto and I went to Almansor Park today for training! It was a great day for it since there were multiple sports leagues having their games as well as what looked like a meet up for small dogs. Krypto definitely noticed the tiny dogs, especially when two of them got into a little scuffle. He didn't bark or try to go towards them, but I put his leash back on just in case. Aside from looking at them several times, he actually did a good job of looking back at me and staying near me. Our main focus for his commands today was extending his Place command around distractions. Krypto was also interested in the geese and ducks around the ponds, so that made a good place to practice. He didn't seem to care about the baseball game or basketball game, but the soccer balls got his attention a few times, but with a little encouragement he maintained his focus on me.
Pupdate: 7/22/2024
Krypto and I went to Whittier Narrows Park today! He was polite around all the other dogs. For his commands, we spent time working on his "puppy push-ups" where I ask Krypto to sit and then lay down several times in a row in the same spot. He's pretty good at this, but he likes to try to close the distance between us between each rep. I'd like him to be able to move from one position to the other without feeling the need to come closer to me. We also played some fetch at the park. He has improved his fetch game and rarely drops the ball far away from me, but now I'd like to see if he will politely put the ball straight into my hand when he returns it. He did this two or three times today, but he still usually just drops it next to me.
Pupdate: 7/23/2024
Krypto and I went to Whittier Narrows Park this morning, and stayed cool inside for the hot afternoon. He had some fun and got a lot of exercise playing fetch and doing reps of his commands. At home, I introduced him to a new dog. They've smelled each other through their crates, but this is the first time they've interacted directly. Krypto did a great job meeting the new dog, and of course he got to play with my personal dog as well! By the end of the day they were all happy hanging out with each other.
Pupdate: 7/24/2024
Krypto and I went to Almansor Park today for training! He was a well behaved boy all day, and once it got too hot we went home and spent our time relaxing in the AC with the other pups! For his training today, we spent our time focusing on the difference between his Place and Under commands on the same object. We've tried this before, but Krypto did a better job today, and I talk through what we're doing throughout the video. He is getting much better with this. The main idea is to try to find the exact moment that Krypto makes a choice to perform one command or the other, and mark his correct decision with "yes" and praise him, or correct a mistake and help him fix it! The more precisely you can mark these very specific moments, the better his decision making will become, since each step is made more clear for him. This idea can also be used for his reactivity at home. If you watch him when someone is approaching, or you are expecting someone, there will be a specific moment when Krypto alerts to the sound and decides if he's going to bark or not. This is the most ideal time to step in, rather than waiting for a full blown reaction to start happening. Krypto is very expressive with his head and especially his ears, you can watch for his ears perking up, and begin reminding him to Off and Place, as soon as the distraction is acknowledged but before he starts barking. If your timing is precise enough, you can use this to reward him when he acknowledges the distraction, but chooses to remain calm, look at you, or go to his place on his own. The only downside with the reward part of this is it is extremely easy to mess up the timing and accidentally reward the unwanted behavior instead, which is why we don't usually recommend trying that.
Pupdate: 7/25/2024
Krypto and I went to Santa Monica Promenade today! He started the day doing well, and performed his commands as properly as ever. I left his leash on all day, which was a good idea, as he tried to snap at someone. It was quick, and Krypto was completely calm after, but still means he needs to remain on leash in locations like this. It wasn't his fault, since the person smacked him on the top of the head even when told to pet his chest, but still an inappropriate response.
Back at home, Krypto took a nap after a long day, and we'll be going back out to the park this evening for some more exercise!
Pupdate: 7/26/2024
Krypto and I went to Santa Monica again today, and he did a better job. Still on leash, but behaved well the entire day. Walking around the Promenade, he did great with his commands, and later at the park we ran for some extra exercise! Once we got home he took a nap and played with my dog. After some rest, we'll go back out to the park in the evening.
Pupdate: 7/27/2024
Krypto and I spent most of the day at the park today! We continued working on some of his more difficult skills, such as his balance which you can see in the above video. He's been asked to Place on such objects before, but fully walking across them while keeping all four paws stable was a little more tricky. After a few attempts, he started to get the hang of it, but walked very slowly and with caution. I tried making it more fun for him by changing up the speed and this helped a lot. When I sped up, he gained much more confidence and actually seemed to find it easier to balance than when we moved slowly.
We also took a lot of the time today to sit beside the track and let people run by us. I was thinking that maybe Krypto is finally starting to settle in with me enough to be protective of me the same way he is at home, but that doesn't seem to be the case. With people running up behind us and in front of us, the most reaction he gave was to look at them, then me without even seeming startled.
Pupdate: 7/28/2024
Krypto and I went to Alhambra City Park today! We started off the day slow, walking around the neighborhood and getting Krypto some exercise. Once we got to the park, Krypto and I walked around the park practicing his commands, there were tons of people today, it seemed like a few birthday parties were going on throughout the park. There's a pool at this park, which Krypto seemed interested in, but he wasn't allowed in the area. He did enjoy watching the divers from outside the fence. Once it started getting too hot, we headed home and Krypto got a giant ice block that he licked and played with. Once it cools down enough, we'll go back out to the park for some more exercise!
Krypto is going home tomorrow, and I'll miss him as I always do when he leaves!
Comments