Meet Marina, a seven-month-old Central Asian Shepherd from Los Angeles, California who is here with us for our Two Week Board and Train Program. This big pup has some knowledge of a few basic commands, but she is easily distracted by her surroundings and struggles to listen when asked to do something. Marina has some bad habits, such as using her strength and size to pull heavily on the leash, jumping on people, and playfully nipping when she is overly excited. Although she is generally a very sweet pup, she tends to display reactive behaviors towards other dogs, such as barking, growling, and lunging. She often gets into mischief at home as well, and likes to bark excessively and chew on walls or furniture. Over the next fourteen days, we will be working to improve Marina's obedience and manners, as well as improve her reactivity issues to set her on the right track to becoming a well-behaved pup both on and off leash! Stay tuned for her transformation!
Pupdate 9/15/2024
Today Marina and I spent the day bonding and getting to know each other after she was dropped off with me. While walking around the park after her pick up, she seemed a bit overwhelmed by all the distractions around. Her attention span was 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 around her brother, Roman, she seemed to feed off his energy, and whenever he reacted to something she would begin reacting by barking and lunging too. However once Roman and his trainer parted ways from us, she seemed to settle down in this regard, and didn't display any further reactive behavior while at the park.
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 was more focused on her surroundings rather than anything I was asking 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 walking around or trying to pull wherever she pleased rather than staying next to me. She was able to Sit a few times when asked, though it was very inconsistent if she followed through or not. If she did happen to Sit, she would often quickly break the position. She wasn't able to perform Down on command, though she did lay down on her own a few times when she wanted to relax. 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 and seemed to lack the confidence to attempt even small jumps. 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. Switching to a slip lead did help to manage her pulling and begin teaching her the concept of leash pressure.
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, but with some guidance, she was able to get her front paws up and from there was comfortable receiving a boost to help her the rest of the way up. She wasn't quite sure what to make of the kennel, but she was able to go inside with some guidance, and settled in for the ride home. Anytime Marina 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. When we got home, she explored around the new environment and quickly found a comfy spot to settle down and relax. After some time had passed, we went out for a walk around my neighborhood to let her become familiar with the area where we will be taking walks daily going forward. When exiting the house to start our walk, Marina kept trying to shove her way 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. After our walk she enjoyed some dinner, which she was pretty excited for. She tried to jump on me and the counters a few times, and generally seemed quite impatient for it. During her program we will be working on her Food Manners as well, as this is a great way to improve her patience and obedience. She wasn't the biggest fan of entering the kennel tonight when it was time for bed, but she was able to be guided inside without too much trouble. She has been pretty calm in the kennel for the most part, but every now and then she will growl and bark when the other pup staying with me gets too close to her kennel. Covering her kennel with a blanket seems to be helping to keep her relaxed. Overall she seems to be settling in nicely, and we are so excited to begin this training journey together!
Pupdate 9/16/2024
Today Marina and I visited a park, where we met up with some other OffLeash SoCal trainers and their pups! This was a great opportunity to train in close proximity to other dogs and people in a controlled environment. Her brother Roman was also in attendance today, so we spent some time having them work near each other as well. When we first arrived we kept some distance from the other dogs to allow her to adjust to the new situation and monitor her for any signs of oncoming reactivity, however she was more interested in sniffing around the grass than looking at the dogs. When it was clear she was comfortable with the dogs being in the distance, we moved in closer and she continued to show no signs of reactivity! It may have helped that most of the dogs were focused on their own work and not paying much attention to her, though even once we were in close proximity to the other dogs she didn't seem all that interested in them. She did not display any reactive behaviors such as barking, lunging, or fixation at any point today. Her brother didn't display any reactive behaviors either, which seemed to help her stay calm as well. During our session, we focused on improving her understanding of leash pressure and e-collar stimulation, as well as introducing the Come to Sit 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 Marina 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 often firmly resist it, try to pull in the opposite direction, and make 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 better understanding of leash pressure. In order to properly introduce the e-collar, it's very helpful for Marina 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, and eventually allow the opportunity to begin training with the e-collar only, without the need for a leash! Be sure to check out today's video for an in-depth e-collar tutorial!
Come to Sit is an important command to begin practicing early on in Marina's training journey, as it will be our main form of recall. Having a solid recall is important for any pup's obedience training, though this will be especially crucial for her to master if she is to be allowed off-leash. The goal for Come to Sit is for Marina 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 a bit 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 9/17/2024
Today Marina and I visited a local park, where we focused on two commands, Off and Heel. We also continued practicing with the Come to Sit, and working to improve her duration for Sit. The park wasn't overly busy today, but there were still some common distractions around, such as people, children, occasional dogs, and small animals such as birds and squirrels. Overall Marina was quite distracted despite the relatively calm environment, especially by the smells in the grass, squirrels, and children running around, however she didn't display any reactive behaviors towards anything today which was good to see.
Marina is often easily distracted and struggles to maintain focus, as she tends to fixate and become very interested in her surroundings even when being asked to perform commands. Moments like this are a great opportunity to implement the Off command. The goal for the Off command is for Marina 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 Off command when paired with leash and e-collar pressures allows us to interrupt the behavior and get 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 an alternative, more desirable task or behavior will help keep her attention away from what initially distracted her or caused the undesirable behavior. Marina 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.
Heel is another important concept for Marina to begin developing early on in her training, as her strong pulling while on the leash can pose dangers to her handler, herself, or others in the area if it is allowed to continue. The goal for the Heel command is for Marina 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 she did become distracted, the Off command was used and followed up with a reminder of Heel. 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. One notable mistake she seemed to make often was falling behind, so she would frequently need some extra excitement and encouragement to get her to match my pace and keep up with me as we walked.
Pupdate 9/18/2024
***Graphic image warning below: Feces and blood** -
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Today Marina wasn't feeling too well, and had an upset stomach all day. We decided to take the day off from training and focus on keeping her comfortable and helping her to feel better. We went for a few short walks, but Marina seemed to be feeling pretty uncomfortable and low energy so we spent most of the day at home so she could get plenty of rest. She's had frequent accidents in her kennel and indoors, and she doesn't seem to be able to control when she goes. Each bowel movement has been almost completely liquid, and there has been some blood in it as well. Thankfully, she was a very good girl for her baths, and allowed me to gently clean her up each time she soiled herself. It's unclear what caused this, but to help her feel better we replaced her meals today with plain white rice and pumpkin, which will hopefully work to settle her stomach. We also made sure she drank plenty of fluids to keep her hydrated. We'll continue to monitor her closely.
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