Meet Tony, a three and a half year old Blue Heeler from Santa Monica, California! He's here with us for our Two Week Board and Train Program, where we will be working to improve his obedience and manners. This pup has some knowledge of a few basic commands, but he is easily distracted by his surroundings and struggles to listen when asked to do something. Tony has some bad habits, such as pulling heavily on the leash, jumping on people, and nipping when overstimulated. While he is generally a very sweet pup, he tends to display some reactive behaviors such as barking, growling, and lunging. This can be caused by a variety of triggers including other dogs, bicycles, scooters, joggers, and other stimuli. He also tends to get a bit possessive over his food, toys, or loved ones, and will sometimes display resource guarding behaviors. Over the next fourteen days, we will be working to improve his obedience and manners, as well as address his reactivity issues to set him on the right track to becoming a well-behaved pup! Stay tuned for his transformation!
Pupdate 3/4/2025
Today Tony and I spent the day bonding and getting to know each other after his pickup! We walked around and explored the park a bit, and I worked to develop a positive relationship with him to help him feel comfortable and happy training with me going forward. While he warmed up to me very quickly, overall he seemed to be much more interested in his surroundings and was focused on exploring and looking around rather than paying any attention to me. While there were some of his reactivity triggers around, such as other dogs and some bicycles, he interestingly didn't have any reactions while I was handling him today. However, before he was handed over to me by his owner, I did observe him react towards a bicycle and other dogs, so we'll have to explore his reactivity more in the coming days to get a better understanding of it.
After taking some time to explore the park and assess his general behavior and personality, I began testing his knowledge of basic commands to help me get an idea of his starting point and what areas of his training may need some extra attention. Tony didn't seem to have any understanding of the Heel command, and he was pretty determined to pull on the leash so he could get where he wanted to go when something caught his attention. He didn't seem to have any interest or understanding of Sit, Down, or Place, and was unable to perform these commands when asked. His recall was generally unreliable too, though he did seem to have some concept of the command. When called he would often ignore his name, leash pressure, and the Come command completely, especially if he was focused on something else, which was almost always the case. Sometimes he would come my general direction when called, however he did not stick around for more than a moment or two before immediately wandering back off in a different direction.
After we'd spent some time together at the park getting to know each other, it was time to head home and get him settled in! Tony had no trouble jumping into my car, but he was a bit unsure about the kennel in the car. However with a piece of his kibble he was easily lured inside and settled down for the ride home. Whenever Tony is to travel with me in a car, he will be secured in a kennel to ensure his utmost safety. We will also be using a kennel while at home for sleep or if he is otherwise unsupervised. The goal is for him to be able to enter a kennel without needing any physical assistance or food motivators, so we will spend some time working on this throughout his program. At home, he quickly settled in and made himself at home! He sniffed around the room, enjoyed some attention, and found a comfy spot to relax at. Later, we went out for a walk around my neighborhood to help him become familiar with the area. We will be taking walks around my neighborhood daily, so getting him used to this environment will be good for him. I noticed when exiting the house to start our walk, Tony kept trying to run out the door as soon as it was opened, so we will also be working to improve his Door Manners to make sure he can respect the boundary a doorway creates as this will help keep him safe. At dinner time, he happily ate his food, although he did try to jump on me and rush to his food as soon as it was visible, which is something we will work on as well. Tony seems to be settling in nicely overall, and we are so excited to begin this training journey together!
Pupdate 3/5/2025
Today was a rainy day, but that didn't stop us from jumping into our first day of training! We worked around my neighborhood today, which is a good starting location to begin introducing commands and working on behaviors in a relatively calm environment. The residential areas of my neighborhood are usually quiet most of the day, and were especially so today due to the poor weather. We did still encounter a few distractions here and there, such as the occasional bird, dog, or person, but mostly it was just us two as far as the eye could see. Today's training was focused on introducing leash pressure and the e-collar. Be sure to check out today's video for an in-depth e-collar tutorial! 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 Tony follows the pressure and the command being given. The moment he follows through, the pressure immediately turns off and a reward is given! We spent some time working with just leash pressure, using simple exercises encouraging him to follow the directional guidance it provides, and then rewarding him each time he succeeded. We then began layering in the e-collar alongside the leash pressure as we continued these exercises. By pairing these two forms of pressure simultaneously, he will come to understand that both forms of pressure have the same meaning, eventually allowing for the leash to remain unused during training.
We discovered that Tony has a bad habit of redirecting onto his leash and/or his handler and having a bit of a temper tantrum when he is feeling frustrated, overwhelmed, or simply does not want to do what is being asked. This behavior includes jumping in the air, jumping on his handler, biting and pawing the leash, nipping his handler, and vocalizing. These behaviors were triggered in instances when the leash or e-collar were used to guide or communicate with him, and they seemed to be his attempt to get the pressure to turn off and to avoid doing as told. Some examples of when this would occur were instances where he was asked to Sit, or if he wanted to pull towards a tree or bush but was prevented from doing so. It will be important to teach him that this behavior will not be rewarding, successful, or get him what he wants, as this is a dangerous behavior to let continue!
One way to help to keep his handler and those around him safe while training through behaviors like this is to introduce a muzzle. A muzzle removes a dog's ability to bite, which makes outbursts like this more manageable. We spent some time today introducing him to a muzzle so that he is comfortable wearing one. Ideally, this will be a temporary training tool used just until he is no longer attempting to bite anything or anyone, though learning how to wear a muzzle is a good skill for any dog to learn during their lifetime. He was introduced to it by placing some food in my hand and positioning the muzzle in a way where he had to place his face into it to reach it, which he happily did as he is very food motivated! After just a few minutes, he seemed to have built a positive association with the muzzle and was eagerly placing his face into it and letting me strap it on, all the while happily wagging his tail! We kept the duration of him wearing it short at first, though we will work on gradually extending the time so that it may be effectively utilized during training should it prove needed.
Pupdate 3/6/2025
Today Tony and I visited a local park! The rain persisted throughout today, so people and dogs were rare to come across, though the park was next to a busy street, so there were some noise distractions present. We focused on introducing the Heel and Come to Sit commands today. His muzzle training has been going very well, and he is now comfortable wearing it for longer periods of time, so we opted to utilize this tool during training today to ensure he could not bite at his leash or at me when he became frustrated. His outbursts did make some aspects of training rather difficult, however we were able to work through them and we did see some good progress overall today which is good!
The Heel command is an important concept for Tony to begin developing, as his strong pulling while on the leash can pose dangers to his handler, himself, or others in the area if it is allowed to continue. The goal for the Heel command is for Tony to be able to follow directly alongside his 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 reduce and eventually eliminate pulling on the leash or veering off in different directions, and allow his handler to take the lead on walks instead of him trying to pull them around wherever he pleases. To introduce this command, I kept the leash short but loose, and ensured he stayed on my left side in roughly the Heel position as we walked. If he began to veer off or pull ahead, leash and e-collar pressure were applied, and the verbal command Heel was given. He quickly began to grasp the concept, stopped trying to pull, and instead learned to follow my lead. He didn't have any outbursts while practicing Heel, and didn't seem to be triggered by the use of the leash or e-collar while practicing this command, which was good to see!
Come to Sit is another important command to begin practicing early on in Tony's training journey, as it will be our main form of recall. The goal for Come to Sit is for Tony 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 he not only comes when called, but also requires him to sit beside his handler and not leave that spot unless released or given a new command such as Heel. He seemed to quickly understand the concept of coming to me when called, and was easily guided through the maneuver into position on my left side, which was great! However, getting him to Sit, whether for Come to Sit or otherwise, proved to be a very big challenge for Tony today. Whenever asked to Sit with either leash pressure or e-collar involved, he immediately resorted to the problematic behaviors we described yesterday, with lots of jumping, vocalizing, flailing around, and trying to grab at the leash. Thankfully, the muzzle prevented him from successfully biting the leash or myself, which did make dealing with this much safer. Other methods of guiding him into a Sit, such as using hand pressure on his rear end or using a treat to lure him were both unsuccessful. Whenever he had an outburst, the best option was to stay calm and wait until he gave up the behavior. Sometimes, he would end up in a Sit once he was done, so anytime this happened he was quickly released from the position and rewarded.
Pupdate 3/7/2025
Today we ended up doing the majority of our training with Tony at home and around my neighborhood, as the relatively calm environments helped to promote learning and progress. We introduced two new commands, Place and Down, and continued to work on his Heel, Sit, and Come to Sit commands.
The goal for the Place command is for Tony to be able to jump or climb onto an object, such as a bench, bed, or other platform, and hold a stationary position such as Sit or Down while remaining on the object until released or given a new command. We introduced Place at home today using a comfortable dog cot that Tony is already familiar with climbing onto and relaxing on in his own time, which helped to promote confidence and learning. By using a small amount of leash pressure, light e-collar stimulation, and the occasional treat, he quickly seemed to understand the Place command and began to rely less on physical guidance to follow through! The goal for the Down command is for Tony to lay down completely when prompted to, and remain in that position until released or given a new command. This was a tough command for Tony, and he seemed set on refusing to perform it on command. When using any leash pressure or e-collar stimulation, he would react and have an outburst of jumping, rolling around, vocalizing, and attempting to bite me and the leash. He also didn't seem motivated enough for food for this to be a successful lure, and other methods of physical guidance were also unsuccessful. So to make some progress with this command, we opted to simply reward him whenever he chose to lay down on his own accord, and used the verbal cue while doing so, so that he can begin to develop a new, more positive association with the position. On a good note, we did see some progress with his Sit command today, and he was less prone to reacting when asked to Sit than he has been thus far. He did however still need some physical guidance to get him into the position, as he was unable to do it without this extra help.
Later in the day, we made a trip over to a shopping strip to get some training in around distractions. This location provided a variety of distractions to work around, such as people, dogs, bicycles, and noises from the nearby street. Overall, Tony did well with his Heel, Come, and Place commands, and was decent with Sit apart from some tough moments, but he was unable to perform Down at all. We opted to muzzle Tony while working in this environment, which ended up being very important as he did have some close calls today that could have potentially resulted in a bite had the muzzle not been on. Not only was he more prone to redirection and outbursts towards me while working in this environment, but he also had some bad reactions to people. Interestingly, he didn't seem to have much reaction towards dogs, bicycles or skateboards today apart from a bit of staring that was easily interrupted before it escalated. However, his reactive behaviors towards people were much more unpredictable, as he would give very little to no warning before an explosive reaction would occur. He made an attempt to lunge at and bite three different people today. Proper leash handling and the presence of the muzzle were key in ensuring no physical contact was made, though had these precautions not been taken, it likely would have ended very differently. There didn't seem to be any pattern to his reactions, as some people he seemed to completely ignore without any issue, while others would set him off and result in a reaction.
The first incident was a lady who we were simply walking past going opposite ways on the sidewalk, she didn't engage with us or make any unexpected movements, though Tony jumped up and lunged towards her face while in passing. This one had nearly caught me off guard as we had just walked past several people in the same fashion with no issue, and since she was relatively close to us, he came within inches of making physical contact with her. We made sure to keep more distance between Tony and people going forward. The second was a man who was on his phone walking slowly on the sidewalk in the same direction as we were heading, so we moved around to pass him. Despite being nearly six feet away from the man, Tony had tried to turn around and go for his leg once we had just passed him. The third was a teenager, who was walking by us while we were standing still. While several feet away from us, he had reached out his hand to wave to Tony. The sudden movement seemed to startle Tony, and he made an attempt to lunge at his arm. This was definitely troubling behavior to witness, so we will be making solving this issue a high priority.
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