Pumpkin – 10 Week Journey

Training Begins: November 30th, 2025 | Training Ends: February 8th, 2026

Behaviors Pumpkin will learn or begin learning during her stay here:

BEHAVIOR	7 Weeks In Training
Sit	Pumpkin is a master at “sit”! She sits for attention, to be released from doorways, for her food, and for many other rewards throughout the day! While sitting, her tail wags so hard she can’t properly sit still, but she knows the behavior well despite her wiggly body!
Down	Pumpkin is almost starting to do “down” on a verbal cue. I can see the wheels spinning when I tell her “down” but she still needs the hand gesture (pointing to the ground).
Name Recognition	Pumpkin knows her name and reacts to it really well!
Touch	Pumpkin loves to touch, and like with everything else, she does it with such enthusiasm at times she smashes her face into my hand. She’s a hoot!
Recalls	Pumpkin listens to recalls about 90% of the time. If she is out for a walk with my dogs, she sometimes gets so busy following them she ignores me. Thankfully, she doesn’t go far and aside from when she gets distracted, she is listening to this cue very well.
Go Into Crate	Crating was going incredibly well for Pumpkin – until her brother went home a few days ago! They were crated near each other, and she must have been eased by his presence, because since he’s gone hom,e she’s had a rough few nights. She barks initially, but quiets and goes to sleep within 10 minutes. I’m hoping this phase passes soon, as she was doing wonderfully in her crate prior to Lenny leaving.
Leash Walking	Pumpkin is so very excited outside that while she will leash walk in short bursts, she does get too excitable and has a hard time focusing. Indoors, she does well on leash; outdoors is a work in progress. This is something we are going to be really focusing on her last few weeks here.
Place	Pumpkin does a good job with “place” and is starting to go to her “place” with just a verbal cue, instead of needing me to point to it. When introducing new “place” spots, she will need them pointed at for a while until she gets accustomed to them.
Stay	Pumpkin is still learning “stay” – her inability to sit still has made this one of the more challenging cues for her! She is starting to stay while I take several steps away.
Drop It	Pumpkin isn’t a big tugger, so we haven’t gotten to work on this too much, but she does drop things instantly when I say “Drop it” and present a treat to her.
Leave It	Pumpkin is doing very well with “leave it” and is starting to work on a “leave it” with food being dropped on the floor. Since she loves food so much, this has been a challenge for her but she’s successful with food dropped from a small height!
Wait	Pumpkin does well with “wait” around doors and gates, though she often dances around for a bit before I can get her to sit and be patient.
Potty Training	Pumpkin has not had an accident since her first couple of weeks here. She signals she needs to potty usually by panting and whining/barking near exits. She will initially pace near the doorway to her playpen or the door to the outside.

Pumpkin’s Midway Update

Pumpkin has a little of everything! She’s playful, cuddly, silly, sensitive, and can be either a party girl or the calm one sitting on the outside watching everything. She loves her hikes through the woods, but also really loves it when I sit on the floor and she can crawl on my lap and snuggle. She also really enjoys playing with her friends, but will often perch on a high spot and just watch them.

Pumpkin goes by the nickname “Punkin” and will respond to that and her name. She is doing really well with listening to her name… unless her friends Cas and Enzo (my dogs) enter the picture – she LOVES them way too much to care about me! When Pumpkin starts to get tired, she gets pretty whiny and will walk in circles, whining as if asking to go to bed. She loves to go to her crate to take her naps and is also sleeping all the way through the night.

Pumpkin’s biggest flaw is that she is so, so wiggly and has a hard time sitting still, which makes cues like sit, down, and stay a little tricky for her. She just cannot contain her happiness, and because she loves her training sessions, she is wiggling nearly the entire time. She is learning everything, it’s just with wiggles! Her favorite cues are “touch” and recalls, probably because they involve moving. She struggles the most with anything that requires her to be calm. Leash walking can be a little tricky just because of how bouncy she is. She understands the mechanics and knows how to walk next to me, but has a hard time staying in place. Her brother was very much like her; they are just very energetic, bouncy puppies!

Pumpkin is a very sweet puppy with a lot of personality, energy, and smarts! She picks up cues pretty quickly (If we could just get some of that energy under control, she’d be doing amazing!) and really loves all of her training sessions. She also does wonderfully in the car and while she is a little reserved upon first meeting people, she loves to make new friends who give her time to warm up first.