Evie Walser 9/30/20 – 10/3/20 and 10/31-11/1

9/30 Stay with Distractions

We had one hiccup where Evie popped up out of her stay and snatched a biscuit but the session went swimmingly overall! We can continue working on this with small to medium level distractions in the future. -Maria

9/30 Dog Focus with Remi

Evie!! I love this dog and always enjoy getting to work with her. To build on the work you and Evie have been doing in CGC Class, I wanted to continue helping her relax in the presence of another dog. She did well, especially when Remi would get excited and vocalize. Off camera, I also rewarded her calm behavior when we saw some louder male neighbors in the distance. She was interested in them but stay calm. Good girl, Evie! –Gloria

10/1 Stay

We worked on Evie’s stay today. She has a great strong Stay, so I worked on finding some thing to distract her and make it harder. We landed on fluffy toys. She gets super excited and wants to grab them, making it hard for her to remember to stay. – Anna

10/1 Leash Manners with Marvin

Evie and I had a great session working on her leash manners and focusing while passing another dog. Marvin is almost as big as Evie and he likes to bark at other dogs so this was a great challenge for Evie. She was curious about him but managed to get her focus back on me and work with me the whole time. Nice job Evie! – Whitney

10/2 Leash Manners with another dog

Evie did so well today. We worked with Wrigley out at the overlook. Once she got really focused, we started walking closer to Wrigley, and Evie didn’t react at all, even when he did. She did a great job of checking in with me frequently, without cues. – Anna

10/2 Leave It

Our session was earlier today and Evie took full advantage of my grogginess by stealing the toy twice. Luckily, she was able to restrain herself more once I got back on the horse and did well! -Maria

10/3 Buddy Walk with Taffy

We went on a walk in the parking lot to the side of the building with another dog today and Evie did well! She didn’t bark once at Taffy. She did swerve a bit into my legs but she corrected nicely once I let her know. -Maria

10/3 Stay with distractions

I had SO much fun working with Evie today, she makes me laugh a lot and I really like her company. We worked in the kennel area where there are a lot of distractions. There are people moving around and dogs and toys on the floor but Evie did a really impressive job staying. She only got up twice, I believe, and those times were really difficult. For almost the entire session, no matter what I did to distract her, Evie calmly remained in a Sit or a Down and watched me. She’s really good at this! -Jenn

11/1 Stay

Today we did our session with Evie on Stay. We used a good distance and duration for most of them since she s so good at stays. As always she was a great student. Liz

11/1 Recalls

I worked on recalls outside with Evie. I got her up to responding really well by keeping the distance short, but especially by calling her back immediately, so she didn’t have time to get distracted. – Anna

Shelby Toole – September 2020 Dayschool

9/30 Leave It

I started Shelby with a refresher in Leave It today! I pulled out a small squeaky toy and biscuit, which she remembered to leave alone after I gave the cue. She definitely understands what I was saying so its a matter of if she wants to listen or not. 🙂 -Maria

9/30 Loose Leash Walking — Outdoors

Shelby has grown up so much since I last saw her! She did wonderful during our outdoor session and kept a loose leash despite a lot of traffic/distractions. She also had some excellent “Leave Its” during our walk when I wanted her to stay focused. Good job, Shelby! –Gloria

Tuffy Spangenberg – September 2020 Dayschool

9/29 Get to Know/Basics

Today I was just getting to know Tuffy on his first day and reviewing his basics! He is very excited and likes to jump up so I worked on reinforcing his sit, and he also knows down which is great! He needs a bit more work on his focus to improve his loose leash walking and then we can build from there on his basics! – Whitney

9/29 Get to Know/Recalls/No Jumping

Today I was happy to meet Tuffy, he’s very adorable! He seemed a bit shy during our session so I wanted to take it easy. Sometimes Recalls require higher energy, but Tuffy still did well to come to me even though I was trying to be more calm. He didn’t jump while we were in the classroom, but we were able to work a bit while I was getting him ready for the session. Good work! -Jenn

9/30 Focus

We did a variety of things today that all work on focusing and attention. Tuffy got faster and faster about responding to his name when I called but he can use more work with this, especially around bigger distractions. -Maria

9/30 Loose Leash Walking Inside and Sits with distractions (partial video)

I think we had some technical difficulties during our session, so you might only see a portion of the training that I did with Tuffy. We worked on loose leash walking inside and he did really well! As we were walking back to the kennel, we also worked on “Sit” since I saw your note about needing that cue strengthened when distractions are present. The right treat for Tuffy definitely made a huge difference in grabbing attention (cheese was his choice today). Good job, Tuffy! –Gloria

Pinney Dineen – September 2020 Dayschool

9/29 Leash Manners/Focus

Pinney and I worked on her leash manners and loose leash walking in the classroom today. At first she was excited and jumping up on me some, but then settled down and worked with me beautifully! Her focus was great and I think she might be ready for a little more distraction – Whitney

9/29 Leave It

Pinney is so darn cute and just wants loving! She was really good at Leave It today. In fact, she was so good that she actually wanted nothing to do with the milk bone that we usually use for Leave It training! I wanted to find something that would motivate her more, so we used hot dogs instead. Because she wanted attention more than to eat treats, leaving them was pretty easy for her, but we had a good couple of times where she tried to get the treat but gave up when I asked her to. Nice work! -Jenn

Jett Cramer – September 2020 Dayschool

9/28 Get to Know / Basics

Jett was a bit nervous at first but she definitely warmed up quickly with some cuddles and treats. She did some good sits, downs, and “looks” while getting used to the noises of the building and the trucks that went by. -Maria

9/28 Get to Know / Recalls

Jett is so sweet. She was a bit nervous with me, but okay with following some basic commands when I had treats she liked. I did feel like we needed to build some trust so that she would be more engaged in working on recalls. We want it to be fun. So I spent some of our time just working on gradually building her comfort level with me touching her face and shoulder. – Anna

Maui Hall – September 2020 Dayschool

9/28 Get to Know / Basics

It’s good to see Maui again! We were able to get some good sits and looks, but she was too unfocused to do anything else so we worked on increasing her focus. It’s going to take time working on her patience and impulse control but she already shows great promise! I can’t wait to work with her more in the future. -Maria

9/28 Get to Know / Recalls

I think Maui was a little overwhelmed on her first day. We’ll work on building her focus so that she is able to withstand some of those distractions and still be able to work. She so wants to work, and that is key. I’m sure we’ll see a lot of progress with her. – Anna

9/29 Leash Manners/Focus

I worked with Maui today on her leash manners and focus in the classroom. I also worked with her on taking treats more carefully since she was trying to use her teeth to grab the treats from my hand. I kept my hand closed until she used a softer mouth and was more gentle. Then I started working on her focus on me while walking at my side ( there may only be a partial video for this that is short, so sorry about that!) – Whitney

9/29 Leash Manners/Focus and No Jumping

Today I was happy to meet Maui, she is a beautiful girl. She was very excited to work and meet me, so I reinforced her a lot for Looking at me and giving eye contact while we tried to walk calmly around the room. With practice, Maui will be very good at this, and I’m looking forward to seeing her more! -Jenn

9/30 Focus

Maui was very excited to get to work today, so much so I was afraid she’d wiggle her tail off! We did some focus and patience work where I would ask her for Look and wait a few moments before rewarding her. I kept the time between cue and treat random so that she wouldn’t know when she would get her reward, causing her remain calm. She did well with this but we’ll have to keep working on her jumping habit as well. -Maria

9/30 Four-on-the-Floor

Today Maui and I worked on jumping for our training session! When I went to get her from the kennel area, she was very excited/jumping in anticipation of interaction (the feeling was quite mutual I might add!). We started our session off camera and I would only interact/proceed into the kennel/place harness if we were not jumping. Once we got to the room and I turned the camera on, you will see us working with a “Flirt Pole” which is one of my favorite tools/toys for high energy pups that love to jump for attention. Once I got a lot of her energy out, we then resumed practicing keeping four-on-the-floor and she improved greatly. Well done, Maui!! –Gloria

Fig Drummond 9/26/20 – 10/2/20

9/27 Stay

Fig and I worked on stays today. We focused on duration stays. Fig was very focused and alert throughout our session, but was having trouble staying still. He would sit and stay for a few seconds and then pop right up or shift around while he was trying to stay. By the end of the session, I was having more luck getting him to sit still for a while. Fig definitely needs practice, but he made some great progress today! -Miryam

9/27 Leash Manners

Fig is definitely not a fan of his leash. We worked on leash manners today and Fig was having a hard time maintaining the loose leash walking form. He really wants to lead while we walk and he pulls to do so. He was starting to get the idea by the end of our session and was walking close to me, but still a little too far ahead. Leash manners are really tough, especially with a big, strong dog like Fig, but consistent practice is key. So, consistent practice we will do! Even though Fig didn’t make a ton of progress in his leash manners today, we laid down some really important groundwork for his future sessions. -Miryam

9/28 Stay

This was a tough one for Fig! He consistently popped out of his sit stays after about 1-3 rounds of my cue and we couldn’t get a pyramid done all the way through smoothly. Fig was able to stay for a single cue for 10 seconds stray but had to get up and move around afterwards. -Maria

9/28 Leash Manners with fake dog

So my last session on leash manners with Fig went really well, so I wanted to challenge him with something that I knew would be tough for him. He got really focused on me, and was doing great as before, so I revealed a stuffed dog, which we use as a fake dog to trigger some of the same reactions that a real dog would, but a little less of a challenge. Fig was indeed completely focused on the fake dog when it was visible. But after I moved a barrier in front of it, he was able to refocus on me and get back to work. I know outside the classroom he is definitely not able to work on leash so well, so we’ll have to keep finding ways to challenge him and bring up his skill level so that outside the classroom he can leave his leash alone and walk by your side. – Anna

9/29 Leave It

Fig and I worked on leave it today using the same board with the toys and bones attached, and he did awesome! He is really doing so well with being able to focus back on me instead of the items on the board. Fantastic! – Whitney

9/29 Leash Manners

Fig was really excited to start training this morning but I was happy to see him gradually get calmer as the session went on! We practiced mostly on trying to get him to stop walking in front of me and instead stay by my side as we walked. I definitely saw improvement from the beginning to the end of the session and noticed he was correcting himself when he realized he was starting to get ahead of me. Nice work! -Jenn

10/1 Stay

Fig was definitely feeling like himself this afternoon. We were able to do some good work on Stay. He was really focused, and working hard to overcome the impulse to pop up out of his Stays. – Anna

10/1 Leash Manners/ Focus

Today I worked with Fig on his loose leash walking and focus in the classroom. He is still getting out in front of me quite a bit so I wanted to work on keeping him at my side for longer instead of him getting into a pattern of going in front and then back at my side. He was making some improvement as we worked but needs more practice – Whitney

10/2 Recalls No Jumping

Fig worked really hard today on his recalls, and especially on reining in the impulse to jump. I know that is really hard for him, but when we’re working, he does a great job of returning, and giving a polite sit. – Anna

10/2 Stay

I used toys today as the reward for Fig and he loved it! We worked really hard on increasing the distance I could get from him but all I got was 3 ft before he popped up from a sit stay. -Maria

Kennedy Watson 9/26/20 – 10/11/20

9/27 Place

Kennedy and I worked on place today. He picked it up so quickly. I was really impressed. I started by just rewarding him for having all of his paws on the mat, but then I only rewarded him for sitting on the mat. After that, he was rewarded after he laid down on the mat. Kennedy had great focus throughout the session and had already started to pair the command, “place” with the behaviors of going to the mat and laying down on it. Really impressive work! -Miryam

9/28 Leash Manners

Kennedy did well for this first session of leash manners! He was able to stop pulling towards the distractions (biscuits and a toy) I threw out, so we’ll have to increase the level of distraction next time. I can see what you mean by the mouthing, as Kennedy started doing it more towards the end, so we can also work on that in a dedicated session. -Maria

9/28 Recalls – Outside

Kennedy did well with this, he wasn’t perfect but we can always improve. He got really excited to chase me when doing recalls, which triggered his mouthing. What I learned is that he doesn’t bite down, which is awesome bite inhibition, but he mainly uses his mouth like a child would use their hands: to get your attention. Like I said in the video, its a tough habit to break especially if Kennedy’s used to getting attention by mouthing but its absolutely doable! -Maria

9/28 Paw Handling

Kennedy put in some hard work with me today. First we had to get past all that mouthing so that he could start to work on being comfortable with my hand approaching him. I worked down to halfway down his leg on one side. Each time he showed me he was uncomfortable, I would back up and approach again, letting him sniff my hand and going from there. He made a lot of progress today that we can definitely build on. – Anna

9/29 Leave It

Kennedy is great at leave it! He was very good and consistent about looking back at me and moving away from the toys and rawhide bones attached to the peg board on the floor we were using. He can practically walk right over them and still focus back on me! nice work – Whitney

9/29 Leash Manners

I met Kennedy for the first time today! Before we started the video, Kennedy was mouthing a lot to get attention, so we privately worked on getting calmer and I rewarded him for sitting nicely instead of biting. Afterward, he did very well walking nicely beside me! He just needs to be reinforced when he calmly asks for attention with a Sit, for example, rather than biting or jumping. -Jenn

9/30 Leash Manners

We started okay good with our leash manners but Kennedy decided he really wanted to get me to play by mouthing again. At first, I just ignored it and became a rag doll so that I was uninteresting to him but he seemed to get really frustrated with that and decided to chomp a bit harder. To save my skin, I hooked him up to the wall and walked away from him when he started jumping. I did this for a little bit longer off camera and Kennedy seemed to get the idea so we can work more on that using this model. -Maria

9/30 Impulse control for mouthing

Today Kennedy and I worked on building impulse control when a human hand is nearby. I would click and treat any disengagement from my hand; I saw great improvement for when I was in a standing position. Near the end of our session, I was practicing in a lower position which got Kennedy more excited so we can continue working on that in future sessions. Good job, Kennedy! –Gloria

10/1 Stay

Kennedy was much better about his mouthing today. We worked on his Stay. It was a challenge for him to keep his concentration up throughout, but he did really well. We got to a Stay of 10-15 second duration. – Anna

10/1 Leash Manners/Focus

Kennedy already does such a nice job of not pulling while walking on his gentle leader! Today I worked on getting him to start making more eye contact while walking at my side as well, so that his attention will improve while moving. He is starting to make some progress but needs some more practice with it – Whitney

10/2 Recalls No Jumping

Kennedy did a beautiful job today working on recalls with me. He does a great job of coming, and giving you a very polite and focused sit. – Anna

10/2 Stay / Mouthing

We got a few minutes of good stay work before Kennedy got bored and wanted me to play with him. We worked on his mouthing instead and he’s making great progress with it, thanks to Gloria’s model! -Maria

10/3 Impulse Control / Mouthing

Kennedy did much better today!! He led with his nose instead of his mouth when he investigated my hand for the treat, which might seem like a small thing but its a huge change in Kennedy’s behavior. We’ll have to keep this up for future sessions!! -Maria

10/3 Stay

I noticed something interesting about Kennedy today. When I ask him to Sit to begin his Stays, he starts to itch his body and by the time he is finished, he seems to forget what we were doing and gets up. I was not quite sure why he scratched almost every time he sat down, but when he did not scratch, he was able to get some pretty good Stays. He got a little bored at the end and started mouthing, as we had been doing some calming practice before the video started. He will do well with more practice! -Jenn

10/4 Leash Manners

Today we did a session on leash manners with Kennedy. What a lovely boy. He did a fantastic job with his leash skills and manners. He has the cutest walk with his long legs. One of the sweetest doodles I have worked with yet 🙂 Liz

10/4 Stay

Kennedy and I worked on stays today. He was really worked up at the beginning of our session and was trying to cuddle and nip at me. I put a little distance between us by having him get a treat a few feet away from me and I think giving him an “excitement breather” really helped. He did a perfect 180 in the second half of session and was very focused. Kennedy did great with duration stays after he calmed down a bit. I think his nipping and jumping is very much a product of excitement and working on focus and impulse control with Kennedy will be really helpful for the rest of his training. Our video shut off at around 6 minutes when I was in the middle of a sentence so I thought I would include what I was saying in this post as well: “Kennedy was really nippy today, but it was definitely from excitement, because he was able to perfectly sit and stay once he had a few minutes to focus”. Kennedy is such a sweet boy and I look forward to working with him more and seeing his progress! -Miryam

10/5 Stay

Kennedy was ever the goof ball during our session today! He did some good stays with duration, getting up to 10 seconds, but when I moved away from me, he popped up. We’ll just have to keep working at it, inch by inch! -Maria

10/6 Loose Leash Walking/Focus Outside

Kennedy was a little distracted when we first got outside but started to improve after the first few minutes. We were working in the fenced area beside the building, with less distraction, but he did so well I think he could handle a little more distraction with this! Nice work today – Whitney

10/6 Stay

Kennedy did much better today with his stays! He was much more focused and we made it about 3/4 of the session before he got bored of it. We’ll have to keep working on this, especially with his distance stays. -Maria

10/7 Leave It

Kennedy was acting a bit goofy today but we were able to get some good work in! We’ll practice some more with anti-counter surfing in the future. -Maria

10/7 Cooperative Care

Today Kennedy worked on staying calm if someone needs to touch his face. In the video, you will be able to see some recommendations I give for using touch gradient to increase his comfort levels. Good job, Kennedy! –Gloria

10/8 Leash Manners – Outside

We were in front parking lot this morning for this session. Kennedy didn’t mouth at me at all today!! He also wasn’t concerned about the trucks passing by at all and had great focus. We’ll have to work more with other dogs around Kennedy to really challenge him. -Maria

10/8 Stay

Today I worked with Kennedy on his stay in the small lounge room. I mostly worked with him on his down stay, holding it for a longer duration and not getting up until I give the release word. He is making progress but needs to continue to practice and add both duration and distance – Whitney

10/9 Leave It

I busted out the advanced leave it board and Kennedy had a bit of a tough time at first with this. We were able to get his focus off from it and he especially liked getting cuddles and belly rubs as a reward for staying away from the board. -Maria

10/10 Stay

Kennedy is ever the goof ball when it comes to stays, I think he purposefully tries to get out of doing them. We worked on strengthening his stays from a distance and with distractions today. Some more practice is in Kennedy’s future for this but he made some good progress. -Maria

10/10 Leash Manners with Blue

Kennedy really wanted to meet Blue today! We were behind the barrier so he wasn’t able to pull a lot, and he did not lunge or bark at her. He gave me some very good check-ins as well and was not as mouthy as usual. Good job! -Jenn

10/10 Cooperative Care (Face)

I had a great session with Kennedy today. He was great about staying calm, minimal jumping or mouthing. He would come to me and engage, without command or restraint, which is perfect. When you work with him, you want it to be a game for him. If he lets you touch his face, he wins, and gets some more treats, and he has the choice of whether to play or not. Once I moved to his ears, he tolerated that really well, so we used to that to build the trust and let him see how the game works. I moved from there over to his eyes. When you work with him at home, give him lots of these short sessions, remembering that this is stressful for him, so you don’t want to ask him to work through anxiety for very long. And definitely try out a lot of treat options and find what he likes the best. You can use different treats for different sessions, and this would be a time for something super high value. When he’s comfortable with you touching him, you’ll want to gradually expose him to whatever grooming tools are being used. Starting with him just seeing it, maybe then hearing it, before they ever get near his face. Then build from there! Take it slow and watch his body language, he’ll let you know when you’ve made him anxious, and then you just back up. I’ve really enjoyed working with Kennedy, he is a great dog. – Anna

10/10 Life Skills Walk

I took Kennedy for a life skills walk where we worked on focus and leash manners outside. Kennedy did so well! He stayed very focused despite the evening bugs making noise and jumping around in the grass. Kennedy only tugged a little on the leash here and there, but stayed in the loose leash walking form for the majority of our walk. The video for our session is a summary video because it would’ve been difficult to film while walking. Great work! -Miryam

10/11 Leave It

I am sad that Kennedy is leaving today! I work a lot of the evening shifts so I got to hang out with Kennedy a lot while he was here and I will definitely miss him! He did so well in his last session today. We worked on leave its to practice some impulse control. I was really impressed with Kennedy’s focus. He stayed right by my side the whole time and did a really great job keeping himself from trying to get the treat. Really great work today! -Miryam

Lola Cryer 9/25/20 – 9/29/20

9/26 Leave It

Lola did some awesome work today! She ignored all 3 biscuits and one toy that I threw out to distract her. They were even far away from me, where she could’ve easily gotten them without me interfering, so this was a great session! -Maria

9/27 Stay

Lola has great duration stays! She was sitting patiently with no issues at all. She was having a bit of trouble with distance stays here and there, but overall she did a great job today! -Miryam

9/27 Life Skills Walk

I tried to do a Buddy Walk with Lola and another dog here named Remi today. Remi is quite a bit bigger than Lola, but I had seen them being friendly to each other before so we decided to formally introduce them. Even though Remi was very calm and tried to be less intimidating by laying on the the ground, Lola was simply uninterested in walking with him. We did a life skills walk separately and Lola had great focus and was very responsive. I was a little disappointed that Lola didn’t like Remi because it would’ve been an adorable match, but Lola still did a great job on her own today! -Miryam

9/28 Recalls

I worked with Lola outside today on her recalls. She definitely got distracted by all the smells, and some stray treats she found on the ground, but she did a nice job of coming back when called most of the time. Shuffling my feet and moving away from her gets her excited to come. I think all that running tired her out at the end, so this is a great exercise game for her. – Anna

9/28 Distance Stays

I could tell this was tough for Ms. Lola but she worked really hard to get it right. We had a few mistakes but overall, she did a great job staying on the mat for me. -Maria

Bella Lefort 9/25/20 – 9/28/20

9/25 Focus/Impulse Control

I worked with Bella today to increase her focus, to help her calm down. I kept my own body language, and voice as calm as possible to model calm behavior for her, and reinforced, gently, any calm behavior from her. She knows her basic commands, but I can see that you would like for her to be able to settle down. We’ll keep working with her! She is a sweet, beautiful dog, and boy does she love those carrots! – Anna

9/26 Place

I like Bella a lot, she’s really cute when she makes the crunching sound eating her carrots! Today we worked on Place, and I realized that she is so smart! At first she struggled with even getting four paws on the mat, so I started slowly leading her using a short leash. Doing that, she caught on really quickly and started sitting all by herself when I led her over to the mat. Great work! -Jenn

9/27 Focus/Recalls

Bella was really worked up today and had a lot of energy to burn. I was planning to do a leave it session and have her on leash to practice focus and impulse control, but she was just too wound up and I didn’t want to stress her out. We did focus recalls instead where I let her run around and play and called her attention back to me here and there. I also gave some tips for practicing focus and impulse control at home since this session didn’t go quite as planned. -Miryam