Meet Rosy, she's a five-month-old Havanese from Los Angeles, California! This tiny, sweet pup is here with us for our Two Week Puppy Board and Train Program! She doesn't have much knowledge of basic commands yet, and has a short attention span which causes her to be easily distracted. She comes to us with some undesirable behaviors that are common with puppies, such as play biting, having potty accidents, jumping to greet, and pulling on the leash. Over the next fourteen days, we will be working on improving her obedience and manners to set her on the right path to becoming a well-behaved puppy. Stay tuned for her transformation!
Pupdate 2/18/2025
Today Rosy and I spent the day bonding and getting to know each other! She was very friendly and excited to meet me, but her attention span is definitely on the lower end, so 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 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 didn't seem to understand any of them and was more focused on investigating her surroundings rather than paying much attention to me. She would sometimes Come over to me when called, 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 at the end of the leash walking around wherever she pleased rather than staying next to me. She was unable to Sit or Down on command, and didn't seem to have any understanding of the Place command. She didn't seem to grasp the concept of leash pressure either, and was often trying to move against the leash in an attempt to get where she wanted to go.
After our time at the park, it was time to head home and get her settled into my home. She's far too small to jump into my car on her own, but was happy with being picked up and placed into the car and stepped into the kennel without much issue. Anytime Rosy 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. This may be a useful tool in her potty training journey as well, as pups are instinctually discouraged from going potty inside their sleeping area. Upon arriving home, she quickly settled in and had lots of fun exploring the new environment, playing, and cuddling! Later, we went out for a walk around my neighborhood to let her go potty and become familiar with the location. When she did go potty, she was praised heavily to encourage this good behavior! Starting tomorrow, we will be taking walks around the neighborhood multiple times daily to work on potty and obedience training. When exiting the house to start our walk, Rosy kept trying to run 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. During feeding times, Rosy was quite excited and was set on running around and jumping all over me while I prepared her meal. She was also a bit impatient and wanted to rush to the bowl as soon as I put it down, so we'll definitely need to work on her Food Manners to establish some better habits. Overall she seems to be settling in nicely, and we are so excited to begin this training journey together!
Pupdate 2/19/2025
Rosy and I worked on her training around my neighborhood today. The neighborhood was pretty quiet in the morning hours, with not many distractions around, which was a good time to begin introducing Rosy to her training as the calm environment encouraged focus and learning. Closer to the evening hours, the neighborhood got much more lively, with lots of people, dogs, bicycles, and other kinds of distractions out and about. As expected Rosy was much more distracted and nervous during the evening session, and frequently placed all her attention in her surroundings. During both sessions, we made sure to give Rosy lots of breaks during training, to let her enjoy sniffing and playing around between training, which helps keep training fun while also serving as a reward for good behavior! We focused on introducing the concept of leash pressure to Rosy today, and teaching her the Heel command. Pressure is a fundamental tool used in balanced obedience training. The idea is that whenever pressure is applied it is paired with a command to communicate, guide, and reinforce the desired behavior. When leash pressure is applied, Rosy needs to problem-solve, follow the guidance, and perform the specific behavior being asked of her. Once she follows through with what is being asked, the pressure immediately stops and a reward is then given! We utilized a slip lead today during training, which is a great tool for teaching the concept of leash pressure, as it provides clear communication when pressure is applied which discourages pulling or ignoring the sensation the tension creates. We practiced some simple exercises by applying leash pressure, encouraging her to follow it, and rewarding her when she did! She caught onto this easily enough, and after a bit of practice she seemed to understand that pulling against the leash was not rewarding or successful, and that following its guidance was the better option. She still needs lots of work with this, but with this training in place she was able to successfully walk around my neighborhood with me. She sometimes would try to stop and freeze, but with a nudge from the leash she was able to snap out of it and continue walking.
Heel is an important concept for Rosy to begin developing early on in her training. The goal for the Heel command is for Rosy to be able to follow directly alongside me on my left side, 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. 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, she was given some guidance with the leash, and the verbal command "Heel" command 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 will definitely take some practice to accomplish. She did struggle to ignore distractions around us, but she eventually began to grasp the concept. The most common issue noted today was Rosy's habit to freeze in place and stop walking, but with consistency she began to do this less and less. She would also sometimes flail around and try to pull away at times, but this did occur less commonly as we continued training. 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.
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