Suka's Training Begins

Suka is a very sweet and pretty laid back Husky mix. She has had some obedience prior to coming to us. She is a very smart girl and so far is doing well in her training. I have noticed that she has a little bit of an issue about sitting right next to you. She either wants to sit just behind your leg or flip around and face you. We will be working on this as she progresses. So far she has been working on sit, down, stay, place and follow me. I will post more about Suka in the coming days.

Suka

Suka
Female Husky mix, 11 months old

Owned by Renee and Christian from Troutman, NC

Board N Train began on 5/27/09

List of problems as stated by owners:

• Barks at neighbors, other dogs, other animals, tv, etc
• play bites
• chews destructively on kids toys, books, and her halter
• doesn't come when called
• bolts through open doors
• shy toward approaching animals
• pulls on leash
• sniffs at food on countertops and tables
• jumps on furniture she shouldn't
• digs in yard
• afraid of the car wash
• not tolerant of grooming
• chases the roombas (robot vacuum)

Main goals owner wants to achieve:

• Consistent obedience
• Walk on a leash
  

Short video of today's session

This is a very short video of Tucker from today's session. It shows him following me and sitting on command without the guidance of the leash. He does break the sit a couple of times, but goes back into the sit when commanded to. This was the first time we had worked on these commands without leash and hand guidance.

Tucker in Training

Tucker is a very sweet boy but one that lives up to his bulldog breeding. He has a very strong will and a mind of his own. The last several days we have been feeling each other out. He has not been very willing to participate in learning to follow me on a leash. When he is walking, according to him, it is "his" time and he could care less about anything but what HE wants to do. Well that is changing. To help facilitate some of that change, I added hot dogs to training session today. That created a whole new willing participant in Tucker. As we go along, the hot dogs will be weened out, but for now, it helps him to understand what I am asking him to do as well as giving him a willingness to care what I am asking. :-) Today we saw much progress. He will follow me around the yard dragging a long line. He is also learning to sit when we come to a stop. Over the last several days we have also worked on his "place" command, sit and sit-stay, as well as sitting at the door to come in or go out. I was very pleased with Tucker's progress today and I expect more from him in the coming days.

Tucker

Tucker

Male French Bulldog, 15 months old

Owned by Debbie from Shelby, NC

Board N Train began on 5/23/2009

List of problems as stated by owner:

• Overactive, doesn't settle down easily
• Jumps on people
• Doesn't come when called all the time
• Bolts through open doors
• Pulls on the leash
• Sniffs at or eats off countertops / tables
• Jumps on furniture he shouldn't

Main goals owner wants to achieve:

• Not pulling on leash
• Don't chase other animals
• Not so excitable
  

Raja at the Park

I took Raja with us on our morning walk today. I worked her around the playground equipment and had her heel with me along the walking paths. She did great. There were guys there weed-eating so there was a lot of noise around. There were also two little boys playing on the playground while we were there. She did very good around the distractions. At first she did not want to sit on bench, but after working with her a couple of times, she would jump up on her on. She is still a little nervous about some things. The key to her overcoming her nervousness is to not let her fear play into what you are going to make her do. If you ask her to do something, require that she does it. If she is fearful and her fear is irrational, require her to do as asked anyway. Help her through her fear and show her that she will be fine. By doing this, she will gain more confidence around strange things because she has conquered them already. When she first came to the house, she did not want to climb the stairs. Now she has no problem with the stairs. Even the little ones on the playground, she walked up happily.

Raja Off-Leash

Raja has progressed very quickly and has moved to off-leash status quicker than most especially considering the first couple of days where we did not get much accomplished. Here are a few pics of Raja performing "place" on the bench outside, and performing a Sit-Stay with Mackenzie. There is also a short video clip of her performing heel, stay, and come. I hope the video doesn't make you seasick. It is a little "wobbly". LOL

Raja came to us a little shy so it took a couple of days for her to get use to her new pack. She is an extremely intelligent little girl. It only takes a couple of times showing her something and she "gets it". She is a real pleasure to train. She is nervous about stairs and we are working on building her confidence with that as well. Even though we had a few delays in her training, she has made up for it. She has progressed very quickly over the last several days. She is now 90% off-leash. She is very controllable in the yard with only the remote collar. She will heel, sit, down, stay, place, come and sit and wait at doors before coming in or going out. We are also working on her excitement with the other dogs. She does well with Mackenzie, but I am also teaching her to respect Mackenzie's "space". Here are a few pics of Raja in her first week.

Raja

RAJA
Female Giant Schnauzer, 5 months old

Owned by Angie and Jeff from Shelby, NC

Board N Train began on 4/23/2009

List of Problems as stated by owner:

• Not housebroken
• Doesn't settle down easily
• Jumps on people
• Too rough toward other dogs
• Play bites
• Chews destructively on nearly everything
• Doesn't come when called consistently
• Pulls on leash
• Sniffs or eats off countertops and tables
• Jumps on furniture
• Separation anxiety
• Digs in yard

Main goals owner wants to achieve:

• To not be dominant toward kids (taking toys from the 4yr old)
• Control prey drive toward their smaller animals
• Calm down indoors
• No play biting
• Not to jump on furniture
  
• Not to bolt through doors