Rajah in training

Rajah is a very sweet and smart dog. However, he is a little shy until he feels comfortable with you. We are experiencing some of his shyness. He is not quite comfortable here yet so we are taking things really slow with him. I have been using a lot of food reward with his training right now to get him comfortable with me and his new surroundings. That will soon be weaned out as we progress with the training. I can tell that he is going to be an easy dog to work with, once he trusts me completely. We have been working on him following me on a leash, sit, stay and place. He has already been taught many commands before coming to us, now we will just teach him how to do them more consistently with or without a food reward.

Rajah

Rajah
Male, Long-haired Chihuahua, 22 months old
Owned by Pam from Winston-Salem, NC

Board N Train began on 8/22/09

List of problems as stated by owner:

• Overactive and doesn't settle down easily
• Mounts other dogs when he first meets them
• Jumps on people
• Is aggressive toward people
• Growls at family members when moved from where he is laying
• Nuisance barker!!!!!
  
• Play bites
• Doesn't come when called
• Bolts through open doors
• Guards his space and people
• Stresses easily
• Sniffs or eats off countertops or tables

Main goals owner wants to achieve:

• obey commands
  
• stop barking when told
  

Tucker and Suka

We had a great training session today. It all seemed to "click" today, especially with Tucker. He did really great. I worked with both dogs at the same time. I was able to put one dog on place while I heeled with the other one and vice versa. They also did really great together performing sits, downs, and place.

Mackenzie, Suka and Tucker

This is just a cute video of the dogs with Mackenzie. Both dogs are doing very well with their "place" command.

Tucker

Tucker is doing well with his training. He is now working off-leash. He is a smart dog but will test you at every turn. He is going to be a dog that I recommend implementing the "Nothing in Life is Free" program. Basically, anything he wants, he must "work" to get it. Food, petting, water, whatever, he must perform some obedient command to get it. He is going to test you when he comes home. You must not let him get by with anything, or he will take complete advantage of you. If you are diligent and continue to show him good leadership, Tucker will be an excellent dog. He is a great dog now, he just wants to be the boss and will "blow you off" if given the opportunity. Many bulldog breeds have this type of personality.

Suka off-leash

Suka is doing great in her training. She is 90% off -leash. The only time we use a leash with her is when we are "cleaning up" some of her heeling. For the most part she does excellent, but every now and then she gets a wild hair and wants to dart around the yard. Funny, but not as "clean" of a heel that we would like to see. LOL

Mackenzie the Future Dog Trainer

Both Tucker and Suka have been excellent around Mackenzie. I could not ask for two better dogs to train around her. She adds quite a bit of distraction for them. Here are of few pics of Mackenzie learning the e-collar method while working with Tucker and Suka. (The remote is turned off, btw)

Suka and Tucker Together

Suka and Tucker are now training some together. They have done very well. I will put one dog on place while I train with the other one and vice versa. They are doing excellent and also enjoy each others company. They love getting out in the yard and running around also.

Tucker

Tucker is progressing quite nicely in his training. He now only drags a 4 foot leash. This will soon be taken away, as I have great control over him off the leash. He still wants to test his limits every now and then, but he is MUCH more controllable and easier to live with.

Suka

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Suka is doing very well with her training. She continues to progress everyday. She is doing great with her "place" command in the house and also doing very well with sitting before going in or out of the house. The heel command is coming along nicely and she is doing much better with the automatic sit when we come to a stop. She is great in the house and great with Mackenzie.It is amazing how much she reminds us of Astrid, our first dog and the one that I took to the dog training school where Mark and I met. It is very nostalgic having Suka around.

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