Meet Tonka! Mr Tonka is a five and a half month old Cane Corso from Alhambra, California here for our world famous Three-Week Board and Train Program! Tonka is a very lovey pup, but he has a lot of anxiety. Occasionally on his daily walks he will plant his paws and refuse to follow his human because he is a little anxious and wants to get back to the safety of his house. Tonka also likes to nibble at things when he is exploring them. He knows a couple of basic commands like “sit” and “no” but he has a lot of puppy energy and tends not to follow through with the commands for long. Tonka has recently started barking at strangers as well. Over the next twenty one days, we are going to expand Tonka’s list of commands and his ability to follow through with them, build up his confidence around new people and in new places, improve his manners in and out of the house and help him become a calm, confident dog that can enjoy the outdoors with his family. Stay tuned for his 3 Week transformation!
Pupdate 11/10/2024
Today Tonka was feeling anxious after realizing his humans were not with him. He made his kennel his safe space and it took a few hours to get him comfortable enough to come out and explore his new environment.
Tonka and I spent a lot of time bonding to make him feel safe and comfortable.
Once Tonka was feeling more comfortable and curious we spent some time assessing his understanding of commands and introduced him to the rest of my family.
Tonka had good interactions with my wife and three pups at home.
After feeding Tonka we worked on place and the come commands.
Tonka ate half his serving of food this evening and had several treats during our bonding and home acclimation time.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's pupdate.
Pupdate 11/11/2024
Today Mr. Tonka and I worked on several of his commands, We worked on the "sit", "heel", "come to sit", "place", "down" and "off" commands. Tonka did great with all of these tasks. He is a quick study.
Tonka was still distracted occasionally by the other dogs and things that he wanted to explore but by using the "off" command paired with pressure applied to his collar I was able to keep him focused on his tasks. As the training went on I had to use the "off" command less and less.
Tonka is still slightly anxious when exiting his kennel but he is showing more improvement each time.
Tonka also spent some time exploring the yard with my dogs and they are getting along great. This should also help lower his anxiety when meeting other new dogs in the future.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's pupdate!
Pupdate 11/12/2024
Today Tonka and I headed to Stearns park to continue working on his “come to sit”, “place” and “down” commands.
Tonka did great with his “place” and he stayed for over a minute several times before I gave the “break” command and rewarded him for being such a good boy. I use the “break” command to release Tonka from whatever task he was asked to do.
Tonka struggled a little bit today with his “heel” command as we switched to the E-collar and he is still trying to adjust to it. He got better as the session went on.
Tonka is back to eating his full meals and he is doing great at home with our pack.
He still tries to nibble at things but the E-collar paired with the “off” command has already helped to stop the behavior when applied.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s Pupdate!
Pupdate 11/13/2024
Today Tonka and I did some work at home and continued to work on his “heel” command and his “come to sit” command.
Tonka got a little scared when he heard the trash truck but we were able to work through his anxiety and make it a positive experience for him.
Inside the house Tonka continued to test his boundaries by nibbling on things but the “off” command paired with a stimulation from the E-collar has started to clean up those issues. Now 1/2 the time when he hears “off” he will stop nibbling without the assistance of the E-collar.
This will be important to continue in your household when Tonka returns. Consistency is key!
I will go over all of these steps during the drop off in a couple of weeks.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s Pupdate!
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