Gnocchi the Yellow Lab
Everyone, meet Gnocchi, the 3-month-old yellow lab. He is a sweet boy who’s looking for his home. He is currently being raised at The Oaks Ranch. He is registered and ready to go be someone’s best buddy. He’s laid back, confident, and great at retrieving. Loves everyone, is dog- and cat-friendly, crate-trained, working on potty training, and walks decently but definitely looks forward to the walk ending and the AC being on upon his return.
July 9th, 2026
Gnocchi had a good first day. He quickly settled into his new surroundings. He enjoys his naps and bully sticks. His first day was spent tether training and learning some foundational skills such as touch, door manners, sit, find it, and settle. He’s highly food driven, nearly taking off my pocket in the process of his searching. For fun, we worked on a grooming skill by learning side. His first day, and he dealt with some large fireworks on his walk and seemed not to notice. He loves people and loves to put things in his mouth just as much!
July 10th, 2026
Gnocchi had an eventful day! He’s starting to auto sit at doors after a few seconds. He loves his new best friend Stitch. His favorite walking buddy, so far, he does love everything. He is a hot potato requiring many fan breaks but he loves his training sessions and walkies. He is building his touch command and pivot. He seems to be a happy go lucky baby. We worked on his sound desensitization. He seemed unphased by all the city noises, door bells, dogs barking, fire trucks, fire works, and baby cries so far.
July 11th, 2026
Gnocchi had a fun day going to a painting class. He met lots of new people and other dogs! He was an excellent assistant, bringing everyone a cup of water in exchange for pets. He was very neutral around the other dogs, eager to meet them but respectful in not saying hi. He is improving with his door manners. He now understands to auto-sit at the door if he wants to go outside. He is also learning crate manners. That one is still a work in progress, but he is catching on to touch and pivot! He likes to hold your hand in his mouth as a reward if the treats run out. It is very cute since he uses his soft mouth and seems quite proud of himself when he brings you somewhere. It has helped significantly with his tight U-turns(pivots).
July 12th, 2026
Gnocchi met some kitties today! He loved them very much. My kitty returned the sentiment. He was calm and polite and loved that they gave him very excellent treats! He hasn’t yet adjusted to his new sleep schedule but enjoys his late night walks with his newly appointed Uncle Stitch. He is working on his bite inhibition and has been enjoying using his soft bite as a reward for things like pivot and switch. His down from a stand is still a work in progress but he thinks the side command is funny and hopefully we can begin paring it touching his feet soon. He enjoys his food puzzles especially the frozen ones. He is getting better at tether training but still wants to zig zag, potentially murdering the both of us. It has helped him work on his settle.
July 13th, 2026
Gnocchi has been learning the ropes from Stitch. Working on door manners, recall, and staying calm, cool, and collected. He is getting better at potty training. Tethering helps; he still doesn’t tell me when he needs to go, but he has begun to go when I give him the opportunity outside without having to walk for an hour. He is great at retrieving items he wants to bring you, but we still need to work on dropping said item and picking up the item you want him to get. We’ve been playing with a puppy box, and he is very confident. He’s been a great little assistant when I garden, picking up pots for me.
July 14th, 2026
Gnocchi had a long day, but I think he enjoyed himself. We have been working on his soft mouth and bringing us things he finds on the ground. His crate training is getting better; he was able to sleep for 4 hours in the crate after he spent the evening at the beach learning about the ocean! At first he wasn’t a fan, but with Mr Landshark with him, he had no other choice but to give in to his uncle’s demands and frolic into the crashing waves in the warm summer breeze. He did lots of Stwabble watching as he ran in and out of the waves, trying to bite the crashing foam or yell at us to swim with him. Gnocchi said he designated himself guardian of the stuff instead. That was until Stitch (Mr. Landshark aka Stwabble) decided we all had to go in the water with him or he would not go home. After a few waves scared Gnocchi away, he gave in to the peer pressure and ran into the waves to frolic with his self-proclaimed uncle. We left on a good note when he chose to run into the waves with us on his own accord. A grand success indeed! He also pooped in the sand, and we were very excited when he also pointed to it in the dark for easy pick up! He’s learning from the best!
July 15th, 2026
Gnocchi had a busy day! He worked on hanging out with my cats calmly. They both enjoyed some shower training. Later, Gnocchi worked on some desensitization and learned how to eat while someone vacuumed around him. He was startled at first but then got over it after a bit of time. He was put back on his normal food, and immediately his stool hardened. His crate training is improving, he’s no longer getting car sick and is more tolerant of going in the crate for sleeping.
July 16th, 2026
Gnocchi had an exciting day. We’ve been working on his manners, but today we began adding some tasks and public access foundation skills. He was excited to work, jumping into each position. He is still working on his find-it game.
For a hungry potato, he struggles to operate his nose, but it’s a work in progress. He is also working on biting more gently and not biting people’s hands. One game I’ll be excited when it’s over.
July 17th, 2026
Gnocchi had a fun day running errands! During our Home Depot run, he said hi to everyone he could. Letting me talk about him and share his blog! He is getting better at being tethered and settling when I’m going to be a while. He did start trying to demand bark/cry, but we definitely ignore that behavior. Only auto sits in this house! He’s gotten really good at asking permission for things and putting himself in a position to be patient. However, his jumping has not yet ceased, unfortunately. He’s doing much better in his crate. On occasion, he will go in unoffered, but he still needs a lure and a command to not be confused.
July 18, 2026
Gnocchi has a rough day. Gorging himself after figuring out how to get unsupervised! He had to do lots of walkies, which he was not a fan of, but he beautifully tolerated the cooling coat and booties he had to wear. Due to his attempted self-deletion via the greed they speak about in the Bible, Gnocchi didn’t do much training besides his manners. He did get to go with us to a pet-friendly restaurant, where he slept in the damp shade. He was so well-behaved until he tried to steal an old, disabled man’s hat off the floor. Luckily, the old man thought he was so adorable.
July 19th, 2026
Now that Gnocchi is on the mend we are back to training as usual! We worked on his recalls around distractions and he seemed to do really well! He loves a leisure stroll where one stops to smell the roses and appreciates the little things in life. What’s really funny is that he already knows where he “lives” and starts to book it when we get close to our house and makes a B-line to the door. Letting me know its time to go back into the ac!
July 20th, 2027
Gnocchi had a hectic day! We ventured out to the wilds of LA. We walked the Hollywood Boulevard and traversed the metro! Gnocchi was so well-behaved, following in his friend’s footsteps. He got lots of compliments. People wanted to take pictures of him and were very impressed when I told them his age!
July 21st, 2026
Gnocchi learned swim safety today! He went swimming with Stitch and Winter. He worked on getting in and out of the pool safely. He learned to enjoy sitting in the water, and how to safely go to the stairs when swimming. He didn’t choose to jump in or swim with the rest of the pups but he enjoyed sitting on the step and being included.
July 22nd, 2026
Gnocchi had a long last day full of activities. He made a new friend named Sadie! She was a lot of fun and weirdly his size but smaller. Gnocchi also got groomed today. He was great in the bath; unsure why he has to get wet all the time, but he didn’t mind. He also did great for his blow drying and nail trim! He played during all his breaks and was so busy having fun he didn’t take a nap till the evening. He is ready to go home!