The AMAZING Bailey

Bailey is a ridiculously adorable maltipoo puppy who came in kennel with us for help with basic manners and housebreaking. Bailey's problem - he is absolutely adorable and he knows it :-) Bailey is incredibly brave for a tiny 3-4lb doggy. He would try to play with even the biggest dogs at daycare and helped us teach some of the more fearful students like Spark, and the other two maltipoos, that other doggies aren't so bad. He is incredibly playful and therefore, elected not to listen whenever possible.

Bailey's mom is one of the BEST dog owners we know. She loves him with all her heart and readily admits her own flaws in his training :-) After all, its easy to fall prey to Bailey's charm and good looks and become completely smitten, ignoring the fact that he isn't listening.

Bailey improved by leaps and bounds in kennel with us. His down stay was among the best. Check out his video! (and Yes...I did get new production software so I got a bit carried away with the effects!)



Keep an eye out for our new VIDEO BLOG. We will be tracking the progress of one of our in kennel dogs, uploading regular videos with training tips, tracking the in kennel process!

An ADORABLE akita and two TERRIFIC terriers!

Things have been busy here at the ranch over the past few weeks. To give you a QUICK recap, we have Bailey, an adorable maltipoo in kennel for help with basic obedience and housebreaking. We also had the pleasure of working with Diego, a fear aggressive and dog aggressive eskimo/jack? mix who went home just last week after making great progress in our in kennel program. We also have Rufus, a fearful Greyhound/Boxer (best guess) mix, and 2 fearful maltipoos (yep! two more maltipoos!) Bailey and Harley in kennel at the moment. We also had Tane (there is supposed to be an accent on the e in his name but I am not sure how to do that!), a HUGE 5 month old Akita in kennel for two weeks for help with obedience and manners.

Tane is a STUNNING akita puppy, HUGE for his age. When he came in kennel, he was only 5 months old. Akitas are notoriously stubborn so we were well prepared for Tane....but he was different. Tane was a giant clown...he loved to be goofy and LOVED to play. He was an ideal student - he loved training and was eager to please.....he also loved hot dogs (which we used extensively in his training!). He had a great time in training....check out his video to see handsome Tane show off his stuff!



While we were working with Tane, we also had the pleasure of working with two ridiculously adorable terrier mixes. They came to our DAYCARE and train program for three days of all day training. They were experiencing issues with on leash dog aggression. They would get so worked up when they saw another dog, they would become increasingly aggressive until they turned on each other. After only 3 days...that's right...3 days!....they made a complete recovery. Check out their awesome video!



Keep watching the blog...we have two awesome English Bulldogs joining us for in kennel training mid June. Also, stay tuned for Baby Bailey's video, Rufus' video and the maltipoo duo's video...coming soon!

Sparky comes to Metropawlitan

Sparky is an EXTREMELY handsome 8 month old Siberian Husky who joined us for in kennel training for help with his basic manners. Trainer Katie Earle decided to take on this case. Every time we went for a walk with Sparky, people would stop dead in their tracks, in awe of his absolutely stunning good looks. We couldn't walk out the front door without people falling all over him....

Here is a video of Sparky - but don't look too close - his stunning good looks just might blind you!

Marvelous Maruca!

Maruca is an energetic staffordshire bull terrier who joined us for in kennel training after being labeled a "vicious dog" by animal control. He had some pretty serious dog aggression issues that needed to be addressed.

After only a few weeks, Maruca was playing in social with several other dogs and was easily controlled when other dogs were around. Check out his new skills!

The Amazing Daisy!

Daisy is a rescue. For those of you who have rescued dogs with behavioral problems, just the mere statement that she is a rescue is enough said. Daisy is a ridiculously adorable mix- border collie/bull terrier is our best guess because of the very slight brindle color under her black coat and because of the stubborn tenacity and at the same time utter adorable-ness that is Daisy!

Anywhoo...Daisy joined us for in kennel training about a month ago because she was having extreme dog aggression issues. Her mom had rescued her and within a few weeks of having her home, things started to go south. During a trip to the vets office, Daisy attacked a dog just outside of the waiting room, costing her mom a pretty penny in vet bills. After that incident, Daisy was uncontrolable around other dogs. She would bark and throw herself at any dog she saw (or heard!). In addition, she would drag her mom all over town, practically choking herself just to get a good sniff on her walks.

When Daisy came for her intro consultation, I immediately saw the aggression as she barked at any dog she heard (and you know, the dogs don't keep quiet around here....especially when a new dogs arrives!). We recommended in kennel training for Daisy given her aggression was so severe and the same day, Daisy came to stay....

Daisy was a star student and rehabilitated more quickly than we ever expected. She was brilliant and LOVED training! A big kudos goes out to Daisy's parents who didn't take the easy road and return the tenacious Ms. Daisy to the shelter where she would face near certain death....instead, they invested the time (and money) to see Daisy got the help she needed even though they had only had her a few short weeks. And I do have to admit, after she returned home, they have been consistent and really followed through with her training (which is the most important aspect of any in kennel work!). If only more dog owners were like them!

Check out this video of our sweet Daisy, showing off her newly acquired skills after participating in our in kennel training program!

Who says Puggles are untrainable?

Here Ye Here Ye! All praise Prince Rocco, the best trained Puggle in San Diego! Two weeks ago (sorry for the late post... technical difficulties with our movie making crew) Rocco graduated from the In-Kennel Obedience program run by the Collared Scholar out of the one, the only Metropawlitan Dog. After a mere 14 days of training, Rocco has gone from a rambunctious, unruly teenager to the sweet, attentive, and mature dog he has always strived to be. Rocco came to us with all of the natural Puggle tendencies -- jumping, running away, chewing, and of course the eating of lovely delicacies found on the streets of SD. He worked hard every day and finally found the peace within... for all you Puggles reading, thats the peace of mind within his soul, not the piece of cake within the fridge...sheesh guys! Now Rocco is able to show restraint in a number of different circumstances. He proudly wears patches for Down with Distraction, Leave it Don't Eat It, and Really Really Reliable Recall. Watch as he continues to succeed even when faced with so many temptations!




PS. As a reward, Rocco's achievement video will be placed on the Metropawlitan Dog homepage as of today. He will lead this generation of Puggles into the light... no guys! the light of knowledge, not the light of the fridge...you'll never learn!

Zulka Amazes us with her Skills!

Recently, we met with a client who was having some difficulties with his dog. This however, wasn't just any dog - he had a South African Boerboel. These dogs come from the mastiff family and were originally bred to defend livestock from lions. Given this was their primary function, you can imagine they are big, tough dogs!

When we met with Zulka, we decided to take things slow. We had a dog pass by across the street at which point Zulka lunged forward and upon hitting the end of the leash, spun around and started trying to pull the leash from her dad's hands. Her dad tried to correct her at which point she snapped at him, grazing his arm with her teeth. She would not be calmed. She was a little leary of our trainer taking over the leash work and on multiple times, tried to snap at her as well. Given the severity of the issue, we decided in kennel training would be the best option.

A few weeks later, Zulka joined us at Metropawlitan. The daycare staff was intimidated at first but their fears were soon quelled when this big, bumbly dog came in the front door. Zulka is as sweet as can be and, overlooking her one fatal flaw, everyone quickly fell in love with her.

Zulka stayed in kennel for only 10 short days. We are amazed at the progress she made in such a short time period. Here is some video of the new and improved Zulka!