Who Apollo (the Sharkie) is
As the trainers describe him
A shark. The nickname is the trainer's own, and so is the tally of bites in play, which he calls harmless.
On film
i call him a nutbag or a freakazoid a lot crackhead crackhead too yeah malinois did you like
like the uh the tagline i gave him apollo the sharky he's a shark dude um he's bitten me at
least 15 times not hard enough to hurt me or anything but he looked at you no like he's put
Tug is the whole currency. It is named his favourite 'far and away' in the earliest session and called 'god for this dog' at the handover. Food plays almost no part: a treat was tried once, late in the program, and he did not know what it was.
On film
And for him, his favorite is not even close.
It's far and away playing tug.
that kind of stuff into play um because i told you over the phone play is like god for this dog yeah
he don't even know what a treat is he didn't even know what i was trying to do i've never
A grip that does not quit. Two sessions report him holding a toy for ten minutes at a time.
On film
green light. Okay. Oh. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's way too strong. I have had him hang on to this
thing for a full 10 minutes in a row.
over 10 minutes
High tolerance for pressure, named by several handlers in several ways: a collar he 'wasn't feeling', a level 'higher than I would put with a lot of the dogs', and small leash pops he ignores.
On film
him on the e-collar and i turned it up a bit and he still wasn't feeling it so i'm probably gonna
to turn the e-collar up just a little bit, specifically for him. He's a very high drive
The only reason is because he doesn't care when it's not.
doing trying to move a little bit so a dog like him we can move pretty fast
Wound up by confinement and release: out of the crate, out of the truck. This is his most consistent difficulty, and it is described as excitement, not aggression.
On film
going to say is threshold manners right so he's really crazy coming out of the crate oh yeah he's
Been in the truck for a minute, so he was mad excited.
He's much more worked up than he was yesterday.
He's very, very hyperactive sometimes.
Interested in dogs more than people. The one handler who names a distraction problem calls it wanting to greet, and says it is when his recall is weakest.
On film
People he does have an interest in, but it's really dogs that when they're walking toward
him or he sees them in his peripheral, he's got a strong interest to go and say hi to them,
check them out and that's often when I have the greatest issues with recall or
The goal, in the trainers' words, was a calmer version of the same dog, not a subdued one.
On film
This is just a nutbag that needs to be slightly less of a nutbag.
suppressed all the time and just kind of sad. Um, we want the same dog, just he listens. Um,
As his family describe him
The one owner complaint the trainer relays from before the program is about arousal and listening, not about reactivity.
On film
one of the problems that apollo's owners have is that he gets amped up and then he doesn't listen
At the handover the owner asks whether Apollo had been aggressive or reactive around people. The trainer says no. Speaker turns are merged in this cue and in the owner-side remark that follows about Christian's visit, so exactly who said what is uncertain.
On film
fine yeah i mean he likes him that was my thing um was he being aggressive around people or is
he being reactive really wow okay yeah i could see somebody i mean this is going yeah i mean
that was one thing that me and christian uh when he came to see him yeah that was one of the things
A crate destroyer and escape artist at home, by the owner's account during the handover.
On film
home do you have a wire crate not anymore not anymore because he will destroy a wire crate in
might work send me a picture of it that might be good it only works for a certain amount of time
The program, stage by stage
Before the program, off camera
Late January to early February 2026. Nothing filmed.
The owner submitted the intake form on 2/1/2026 (source: intake). It asks for obedience and calm around other people, describes occasional barking at strangers and strange animals, and records previous e-collar and no-pull-harness use. Christian met the owner and dog at some point before or early in the program, and the owner's concern about Apollo and people was discussed then. The trainer also had at least one phone conversation with the owner in which he called play 'god for this dog'. None of this is filmed. There is no evaluation and no day-one session.
On film
that was one thing that me and christian uh when he came to see him yeah that was one of the things
that kind of stuff into play um because i told you over the phone play is like god for this dog yeah
The play foundation: tug as the currency, obligation at peak arousalTurning point
The first two weeks, approximately. watch (published 2026-02-15), watch (2026-02-17), watch (undated, placed by the heel-entry stage).
The method is set in the earliest narrated session. Tug is his reward, and commands are inserted between bouts, deliberately at his highest arousal, because 'amped up and doesn't listen' is the owners' complaint. The out is sometimes rewarded with the toy straight back so that it never becomes a 'cheat code' for ending the game. Nipping outside the game gets a conditioned 'nope'. Down still needs a little physical help, with the e-collar just being added. Heel has barely been started and is taught first as an entry from the front. In watch a trainer teaches heel entry with the toy as a lure and coaches a second handler to do the same, saying a dog like this can be moved on 'pretty fast'. What can be recovered is a trainer describing a down achieved with nothing but a collar tap as help.
On film
you obligate it in their highest arousal when there are the most amped up oh god
it. Why? Because I don't want him to start thinking that the out just is a cheat code
good boy so there i haven't done as much with the heel with him yet oh good
okay yeah good boy so I added the color there to the down a little bit
his head go right there so I'm waiting for the position then saying it
Other handlers, other places: leash manners and the collar
Middle of the program, approximately weeks two and three. watch (published 2026-02-24), watch (2026-03-01), watch, watch and watch (all undated).
Apollo is handled by several people in busy public places. At a crowded park one handler reports that he was polite with a crowd of strangers at a food truck, including sitting for them, though the encounter itself was not recorded. A handler working him for the first time finds him pulling and keen on other dogs, teaches 'let's go' with a pause and a prong pop, and finds that a raised collar level still does not register. The main trainer's loose-leash work punishes the leash pressure, not the bird he chased, at 35 out of 100, which he calls high. The down moves from leash help to the collar in about four sessions. Place is proofed until the trainer is 'all the way at the truck'. 'Nope' becomes a correction on its own after about three collar pairings in a week. Loose-leash walking has 'improved a lot'.
On film
So what went on over at the food truck is that Apollo got the attention of a lot of people
my preference is the six-foot leash. Nope. So why did I punish there? Not because he went after the
bird, but because he put pressure on the leash. And for these kinds of distractions, I am going
e-collar two or three times oh yeah and he did it oh we're really out of that leash phase finally
way I go if he stays successfully if not skip it I'm good yeah I'm all the way out of the truck
And now I just say nope, and he's willing to drop it.
Recall under arousal, and the first step off the leashTurning point
The recall is the live problem. He knows the word, the leash and the collar, but ignores them when aroused and sprints past the handler. Two trainers (Kelton and Christian are both named as present) raise the level to about 45-50 because 'on the 20 he doesn't care'. By the end of the session he comes back and stops, and one recall toward another dog needs no reinforcement at all. Then the trainer cuts a 25-foot line down to 10 feet, drops it, and lets Apollo explore past dogs, children and strollers, calling this 'pretty far towards what we want for the off leash'. He holds a down while runners with three dogs go past.
On film
because he was he knows the word and he knows the leash help he knows the e-collar means to recall
he needs he needs just to feel that it's actually a thing yeah yeah because like on the 20 he doesn't
fixing that up today just now actually yeah because he was just sprinting by me
foot long line that he barely notices so this is pretty far towards what we want for the off leash
Let's see how Apollo does in the down running by,
The last week: off leash, proofed against his own currencyTurning point
The final week, approximately. watch, watch and watch (undated), watch (published 2026-03-04) and watch (published 2026-03-12).
The trainer goes looking for distractions. On a trail he recalls Apollo off deer (with several collar taps) and off another dog, but has to 'fight him a little bit' back into the heel. The off-leash heel fails because Apollo reads the handler's leash-holding posture as part of the cue. In a field Apollo is recalled mid-sprint off a thrown ball with no collar, and is then declared 'fully off leash'. At Lowe's two staff agree 'he knows everything' and the remaining job is proofing against excitement. His out is 'terrible' when he is wound up, and a treat means nothing to him. On a later outing the trainer tells him 'three and a half weeks ago ... zero'. In a short proofing session he records a message for the owners that the training is 'essentially complete' and asks them to 'play with this dog a ton'. Twice in this week, the trainer records advice to the family on camera: the dog needs thirty to sixty minutes of hard activity a day or 'he's going to be a menace'.
On film
You can see I can call him off that.
he's looking for leash input cues because he's used to me holding my
So I did not have to use the e-collar for that callback. So that means I recalled him off the
y'all fun it's not perfect but it's good he's just really worked up yeah he knows
Three and a half weeks ago, bro. Zero.
with the tab leash um he knows up he knows to load up into the truck his training is
essentially complete for what we're going to be able to do during a board and train
The go-home lessonTurning point
The handover, in the first week of March 2026 (published 2026-03-12 in two parts, about 82 minutes).
The only session with the owner present. The owner practises down, release, tug and recall. Apollo is still loud and jumpy out of the crate and mouths during tug. The trainer reports the improvements (no excitement urination since week one, no longer losing control at dogs and people) and is frank about what was not done: no flat-collar conditioning, so he will still pull on one. Handover paperwork follows and is private.
On film
Because then he's just jumping all around and making a bunch of noise.
integrated into the games we used pressure which is much easier to do in games than it is not in
the flat collar, I'll be honest with you. Yeah. Because I didn't have, I didn't do a
but um any questions no I'm pretty happy with this down down yep exactly as long as you maintain it
Afterwards: the dog as teaching material
March to May 2026.
No follow-up session exists. Apollo turns up in other dogs' sessions as a reference point. On 2026-03-05 a trainer recommends his 'apollo the sharky' playlist to another family as the example of a hard-playing dog. Penny's trainer compares her collar sensitivity with his, and in Penny's mid-program lesson says 'apollo did that a lot', in the past tense. Two edits follow: a 'Reviews' re-cut of the handover (2026-05-01) and 'From Extreme Reactivity to Off-Leash Recall'.
On film
there's another dog named apollo apollo i have a playlist on there called apollo the sharky because
they bite me yeah um i like when they like put their my shoulder in their mouth apollo did that
Skills
Out (release the toy)
How it was taught
Cue the out; sometimes give the toy straight back so the out is not the end of the game; go limp rather than pull, since pulling is the game to him; pop or tap until he drops; charge 'nope' with the collar until the word alone works. A new handler also shaped it by marking the first release, and used a back-leg grab he meant to fade.
On film
And some of the times when I give him the out, he is allowed to come right back and get
And when I'm saying out, I'm not tugging on it like I'm trying to pull it up his teeth,
I think maybe three times altogether in like the last week.
come out no out that was terrible i think it's so hard it's a terrible out it's so hard to let go
like that and then he'll let go right um and then if he doesn't pop pop pop pop or tap tap tap
Down
How it was taught
Physical help and light leash pressure, then collar taps layered in until he downs with no touch; more collar pressure to make him down where he stands rather than circling, 'for emergencies'.
On film
Down. So that took just the tiniest bit of pressure.
you good boy okay apollo apollo down down so he's not doing it off the cue yet
because i want him to down in place instead of moving around so much
the only command that i want to proof with him other than i'm going to keep proofing his down
call I never just say come down and I use down a lot more often than sit just
Heel: entry, in motion, and off leash
How it was taught
Entry first, stationary, lured to the head position with the toy and named on arrival; then tuck the lure, add movement, pace and direction changes; leash help for the entry on a cut-down line; collar worn on the left side so a tap pushes him into a left heel; off-leash transfer by dropping the leash and marking the moment he finds position himself.
On film
No, then you're stuck in the lure forever,
boy. It's not too bad. It's gotten better. Yeah. He almost had the entry. He knew what
Probably means I need to work on the heel entry just a little bit more
Yeah, his heel is perfect on leash. I say off leash. It's pretty good, but just needs more proofing
heel okay that was a much much better off leash heel there that's what i was actually looking for
Recall
How it was taught
Biggest reward for the recall; three independent cues (leash pressure, collar, word); the Flexi to let him get distracted and then be called; collar raised to a level he notices; finish required (stop at the handler, not sprint past); formal and informal recalls kept apart.
On film
had three different cues or commands and all three of those cues mean to recall
it, what, you just want belly rubs, good boy, and his recall has gotten pretty good, I still
informal recall, that's why I'm not stemming him or reinforcing the recall, this is just
on a relatively high level, like a 50.
up yet no okay it was i recalled him off of that we were at a park in fuquay marina taking a walk
Loose-leash walking and 'let's go'
How it was taught
On a prong, in three phases: U-turns, sporadic walking, then a normal walk with one rule (no leash tension). Punish the leash pressure, not the distraction. 'Let's go' means move with me, not come. Firmer pops, because small ones mean nothing to him.
On film
show you how to make sure he doesn't pull because on a flat collar he has a major pulling problem
let's do u-turns and his loose leash walking skills have improved a lot since last time we
not mean that he comes to you it's not a recall let's go just means he just moves with you so if
the flat collar, I'll be honest with you. Yeah. Because I didn't have, I didn't do a
Place, sit and duration without a stay cue
How it was taught
Implied stay from the start; 'nope' then a collar tap on a break; put him back in the same spot; walk out progressively further; the collar replaces the leash as help.
On film
super motivated. He's staring at me. And this is just an exercise in his implied stay duration
And then I can say good like that because that's just a marker for duration there.
for. So I don't ever have to say stay because he's just gonna, he's, he's required to stay
There it is. I had to go a little closer.
Release on the word, not the body
How it was taught
Stand still, say 'okay', and only then move or throw. Pair 'okay' with play so it is high-value.
On film
So he still needs just a little visible aid there.
it. I didn't even make any physical gestures before throwing it. When I said okay, he jumped
which is what he thought at first,
Mouthing, jumping and thresholds
How it was taught
A conditioned 'nope' for biting outside the game; jumping put on cue; a nose boop and closing the crate door for bursting out; a ball given before he winds up.
On film
teach him hey like don't do that there's rules you can't just bite at me when we're not tugging
He's a goof. Nope. Nope. No. Okay. Nope. Okay. There you go. So I taught him an up command
You're jumping, aren't you?
oh god you bit my face ah why'd you bite me why'd you bite me why did you bite me it's because you're
Loose-leash walking and 'let's go'
On film
however they still need to be sensitive to the leash pressure for us to be able to teach them through negative reinforcement
which is a concept Apollo's already pretty good at
we're doing the loose leash walking on the e-collar here
because you need to be able to take him on a nice calm walk in order to do that he has to be sensitive to leash pressure
let's go which is to go ahead and go with me
Release on the word, not the body
On film
So he heard okay, and he thought, all right, we're about to play.
he needs to learn that that doesn't happen every single time
Good is just a duration marker.
Down
On film
We're still working on a down.
pretty good with the down now
Or not fading off the lure, but I'm fading off of help from negative reinforcement.
Recall
On film
i'm not fully confident in his off leash recall yet so instead of doing it on the six foot
And we'll probably do more of the recall work during the walk.
Out (release the toy)
On film
Out. Out. Nope. No. Out. Out. Nope. Nope. Out. Hey. Out. Nope. Let go. Let go. Nope.
he's learning so good you saw his out place
out and his out is looking really nice
Mouthing, jumping and thresholds
On film
but I still have to tell him, don't do that again, buddy, right? Because he just got my beard.
So I just headed it off there and prevented him practicing that as a habit.
Place, sit and duration without a stay cue
On film
So I can teach I just started teaching them this like 10 minutes ago
So I stemmed him on the e-collar there.
Place.
Out (release the toy)
On film
out hey out out nope let go let go let go out nope nope good boy
out nope out out nope there you go good boy
Mouthing, jumping and thresholds
On film
you bite the toy
Like one of the rules obviously you can't jump on me to try get the toy
Don't do that. Nope
Release on the word, not the body
On film
then I teach you what's called a release cue which means it's okay for him to come get it
Apollo down. Okay. Apollo sit. Okay. Apollo down. Okay. Apollo heel. Okay. Go.
From the Shorts
Short clips posted from Apollo (the Sharkie)'s training. They are undated, so they sit beside the program rather than inside it.
How a session starts: a loose-leash warm-up
The trainer explains that he usually warms dogs up with loose-leash walking drills, because pulling is one of the main problems people have with their dogs. He calls Apollo's energy an engine that makes training easier, but says a dog still has to learn to give to leash pressure, which Apollo already does easily. He names the equipment: a prong collar, a backup collar ('which i always recommend') and an e-collar, and takes one link out of the prong for a better fit, which the backup collar lets him do safely.
On film
So we're gonna start out with just like a little loose leash walking drills
Just how I like to warm up the dogs most of the time when we're first going out for a training session
because one of the main issues that people have with their dogs is The dog pulls them on the walk
the more activity you have the stronger the engine is the more motivation you have the bigger results
you saw he gave very nicely to that little bit of leash pressure there no problems at all here he's giving to it very easily
we have a prong collar on this is the herm springer prong collar
we also have a backup collar on which i always recommend and then we have an e-collar on
take one prong out of here which i can do easily while it's still on because of the backup collar
When 'okay' starts to mean 'toy'
After a sit and 'okay', Apollo lunges for the trainer's back pocket, where the tug toy is. The trainer explains why: they train with the toy so often that when he hears 'okay' he expects play. The trainer says he sometimes has to release him because he is so charged up, but Apollo has to learn to sit without getting the toy every time. On the next rep he goes for it again and gets two 'nope's.
On film
Okay, so the reason that he got really active there and went for my back pocket
is because he can see that the tug toy is there, which is how we train a lot of the time.
So he heard okay, and he thought, all right, we're about to play.
So I have to sometimes give him the release marker because it's really charged up right now,
but I need him to be able to sit without having to get that every time.
nope nope he's going for the toy there
A long line until the recall is trusted
Before play, the trainer says he is not yet fully confident in Apollo's off-leash recall, so he moves him from the six-foot leash to a long line. In the same clip Apollo nips the trainer's beard; the trainer says Malinois will bite and usually do not mean anything by it, but he still tells him not to do it again. Earlier he gives one down ('We're still working on a down') and one place, and explains that 'good' means keep going while 'okay' means he can get off.
On film
i'm not fully confident in his off leash recall yet so instead of doing it on the six foot
Because he just got my beard. So I'm just going to switch him over onto the long line now.
if you have malinois they're going to bite you
they don't mean anything by it a lot of the time he doesn't mean anything by it
but I still have to tell him, don't do that again, buddy, right?
We're still working on a down.
Good is just a duration marker.
apollo place good boy okay and so now he knows he can get off when he hears okay
Less help on the down, and a progress check
Near the end of a session, with the toy in hand, the trainer works downs using as little leash pressure as he can, because he is fading out the help. He says this is hard for Apollo because the toy is out. He then lists Apollo's implied stay (holding a position until released), place, down, sit and heel as all 'steadily improving', says the recall will get more work on the walk, and calls Apollo's out 'really nice'. His summary: 'we teach all of it through a game'.
On film
And my main goal here is I'm trying to do as little pressure here as possible
Or not fading off the lure, but I'm fading off of help from negative reinforcement.
This is hard for him because I have the toy.
You can see his implied stay, his place, his down, and his sit, and his heel are all steadily improving.
And we'll probably do more of the recall work during the walk.
out and his out is looking really nice
so you can see we teach all of it through a game
His first real session: tug with rules
Talking to passers-by, the trainer says this is 'kind of like his first training session his first real one' and names the method: 'possession games'. Trainer and dog compete for the toy, the dog has to win some of the time, and the rules are taught inside the game - no jumping on the trainer to get the toy, letting go of it, and a release cue (a word that tells him he may come and get it). The trainer says play is how all of his obedience is taught. When Apollo goes for the trainer's hand, the trainer calls him 'a little guardy', not aggressive.
On film
And honestly, this is kind of like his first training session his first real one
He's a little guardy
He just went for my hand. He's not aggressive.
So what I'm the method I'm using is called possession games
So what we're doing is fighting for possession of the toy
But I let you know, he's got a win some of the time of those that doesn't want to do it
And so then what we do is I'm teaching rules Through the game
Like one of the rules obviously you can't jump on me to try get the toy
Toy and then I use play to teach all of my obedience behaviors
then I teach you what's called a release cue which means it's okay for him to come get it
Starting place, and what 'nope' means
In the same public session the trainer explains that place - staying on the cot - was started only about ten minutes earlier, and that 'nope' is the punishment marker, the word that tells Apollo he got it wrong. After several 'nope's and a 'place', the trainer says he followed it with an e-collar stimulation ('a little shock', in the trainer's words). No level is given. The trainer adds that a high-motivation dog like this is the easiest to train, if you know what you are doing.
On film
This is the easy if you know what you're doing is the easiest dog to train high motivation
So I can teach I just started teaching them this like 10 minutes ago
Place so place is the command to stay on the cot
Nope is my punishment marker. Nope
So I stemmed him on the e-collar there. So he got a little shock.
Letting go of the toy, and staying on the cot
Across several rough-play clips Apollo is asked to 'out' (let go of the toy) and holds on through several asks, each answered with 'nope', before he lets go and is praised. When his teeth land on the handler he is told 'you don't bite me, you bite the toy'. Between bouts he is sent to place and sit, again with 'nope' each time he comes off, until he stays.
On film
out hey out out nope let go let go let go out nope nope good boy
out nope out out nope there you go good boy
no no no you don't bite me
you bite the toy
Noop! Noop! Place.
There you go. Noop. Place.
Place.
Sit. Apollo, sit.
A quick skill check
A handler runs Apollo through down, sit, down and heel, releasing each with 'okay', then a second run of downs that needs a few 'nope's before he gets it. The clip ends with him being loaded into the truck ('Load up'), missing the jump once first. When in his stay this was filmed is not said.
On film
Apollo down. Okay. Apollo sit. Okay. Apollo down. Okay. Apollo heel. Okay. Go.
down nope down nope follow come come come down follow down nope okay
puppies go up up up in the truck oh my god you missed in the truck
Load up.
Why he is called 'the Sharkie'
During a cuddle Apollo mouths the handler hard enough to hurt. The handler treats it as play ('You're a bitey dog'), moves him on with a run of 'nope' and 'no', praises him when he stops, and loads him into the truck. In another clip the handler plays hard tug with him ('You're way too strong!') and pretends to steal the toy when he drops it, to keep him wanting it.
On film
You're a bitey dog.
Ow, ow, ow.
Don't do that. Nope
Good boy. There you go
You're way too strong!
Don't put it down, it's mine now!
How the method adapted
Apollo is a drive case, not a fear case. Almost every adaptation in his file is the program turning up the intensity to match him: more collar, firmer pops, more play, harder play, and practice at peak arousal. The one adaptation in the other direction is the insistence that the result must still be the same dog.
Obligation taught at peak arousal, inside tug, not in calm drills.
The owners' complaint was that he stops listening when amped up. If commands are obligated at his highest arousal, everyday distractions are small by comparison. At the handover the trainer adds that pressure is easier to tolerate inside a game.
On film
one of the problems that apollo's owners have is that he gets amped up and then he doesn't listen
you're strong and then that is when you go oh you have to so then other
scenarios and distractions are tiny in comparison you don't have a very firm
Collar levels well above the house norm, raised whenever arousal made the lower level meaningless.
'On the 20 he doesn't care' when aroused. The trainers say a few meaningful taps beat a low level he ignores for life. The trainer calls 35 'pretty darn high' against a norm of rarely over 40, and later sets 45-50 and 'like a 50' for recall.
On film
dog, and that's higher than I would put with a lot of the dogs that we work with. 35 is pretty
thing's more interesting yeah but on like the 50 he goes oh i don't like that and um and now i'm
not having to use it so yeah just a little yeah that's it's funny because we're recording this
The out handled so it never ends the fun: toy back sometimes, go limp, mock him when he loses, let him win when he tries.
A dog this driven will fight any cue that reliably ends the game. The trainer says he 'comes back harder' when taunted.
On film
And so he's learning that these interruptions don't mean the game's over.
and he comes back harder when I do that right right and then if they show a lot
Food abandoned, not tried and failed.
Play worked, so food was hardly used. The one treat offered late in the program was not recognised.
On film
he don't even know what a treat is he didn't even know what i was trying to do i've never
given him a treat he was looking for a tug yeah paula down down i'll let that go okay
Jumping put on cue ('up') rather than only punished.
A cued version gives a Malinois an outlet, and even a reward, while making the uncued jump clearly punishable.
On film
make it clear that like i can punish it when they do it when i don't ask but then there's like an
outlet for it so that way they're not like jumping all over you but if you ask for it they'll jump
Harness ruled out, and the Flexi released rather than held when he fixed on something.
The trainer diagnoses Apollo's reactions as excitement and barrier frustration, and says restraint builds barrier frustration. He uses the same mechanism to build protection dogs. The intake records that the family had used a no-pull harness (source: intake), and the trainer does not refer to that.
On film
That's why you have so many people walk around with harnesses with really reactive dogs because they're inadvertently creating it with the harness
more then I could have gotten him to start reacting right so if I held him
Freedom measured in line lengths: six feet, a 10-foot cut-down line, the line dragging, the Flexi, then off in open fields.
Each step gives more room while keeping a way to help the heel entry and enforce the recall.
On film
like 15 feet that way i can make a little bit shorter long line so that i can graduate it and
at this point apollo is fully off leash he wants the ball so bad he's fully off leash um
A ball before the wind-up, 'almost like a binky'.
Trying to make him stop once he is amped works less well. Giving him something first, after a small ask, heads it off.
On film
Another one is I just give him a ball.
like, encouraged being amped up, but you do, it's almost like a binky. I just give him something,
An exercise prescription, recorded to camera for the family before the handover.
Without outlets a dog 'built for' hours of activity will be unmanageable at home. The prescription is 30-60 minutes a day with hard play. The intake records walks only a few times a week (source: intake). Whether the trainer knew that is not stated.
On film
of activity sometimes three four hours a day now you don't have to do three or
four hours a day but you got to do at least 30 minutes 45 minutes an hour the
If you don't play ball, you don't play tug, you don't take him on walks,
What the family was told
Markers, and verbal first, then pressure
So okay, that means he is free to get up, and it's also his reward marker.
The important thing about it is that you don't pop first
good no sit good so good is the duration marker that doesn't mean you can get up
Play is how you keep it
You build a game by having a thing they want to do with you,
like at least twice as much of the time that you're playing versus training and
Like 20 minutes a day of this
No stay; always a way to obligate
maintain that is to make sure that you always use it always and then that you always have a way to
And so a lot of times I'll actually put him back
The recall rule
and so for the come the rule is like this all right so I give him a chance in
However, if he doesn't come back right away,
people around and stuff like that i'll have the e-collar turned up a little bit by default if
Walking: prong, three phases, no harness, don't heel grind
and you just walk with him and then there's just one rule and that's there's no leash tension he
assembly chain you want this to tighten when it tightens those two should not touch the center
So what I always tell people is don't be the guy
What his reactions are, and are not
normally categorize them in there's intent intent means that they want to do something bad
or barrier that he's behind will amp him up.
Crate and thresholds
because you'll only need one crate forever you'll never buy another one um it's also crash tested so
Exercise and outlets (recorded before the handover)
he needs to do this as many times as possible so when he comes home
please play with this dog play with this dog a ton he's a really really really good boy he's
After the handover
yeah and I'll try to help you out with it so the other best thing that you can
because we've gone through a good 80% of the stuff that you need to know there
In the family's own words
Apollo is going to work with him every day. This is the only statement on film about his daily life after the program, and it partly answers the exercise question.
On film
I mean, he's literally gonna come with me to go to work, so.
He had been watching the program videos, and remembered the trainer saying this dog needed a higher level than usual.
On film
Yeah, because I remember one of the videos,
you were like, relatively I don't do this high,
He says Apollo can now do something he had tried and failed to teach him.
On film
That was one of the things I kept trying to teach him.
But like, he wouldn't get the hang of it.
Walking is 'a lot better', and he is 'pretty happy with this'.
On film
is it better you were like yeah it's a lot better what the fudge i dropped the leash to show off for
but um any questions no I'm pretty happy with this down down yep exactly as long as you maintain it
Outcomes
What the trainers reported
The presenting problem improved: he no longer 'loses his crap' at dogs and people, especially dogs.
The go-home trainer, at the handover
On film
But that's one big improvement is he doesn't like lose his crap when he sees dogs and people anymore especially dogs
Fully off leash; recall, place, duration, distance and distraction 'no problem at all'; training essentially complete for a board-and-train.
The trainer, in the last week (two sessions)
On film
proofing with his heel his sits his down his recall as you can see he's fully off leash now
his recall his place command his duration his distance his distraction being able to do all
at this point apollo is fully off leash he wants the ball so bad he's fully off leash um
From nothing to 'a few little things to sharpen up' in three and a half weeks.
The trainer, to Apollo, on a late outing
On film
We've got a few little things to sharpen up and that's it.
Fine with people: a ten-minute conversation, 20-30 people passed in a store.
The go-home trainer
On film
i had like a 10 minute conversation with somebody and he he was they were loving on him and saying
hi and stuff he doesn't care at all we walked by at least 20 30 people in the store yeah because
No excitement urination since the first week; gained 10-15 lb.
On film
I haven't seen any excitement urination or submissive peeing or anything like that.
you can see he gained a bunch of weight i think he probably gained like 15 pounds or something
Walking is 'a lot better'.
The owner, at the handover
On film
is it better you were like yeah it's a lot better what the fudge i dropped the leash to show off for
What the footage shows
A recall mid-sprint off a thrown ball, which the trainer narrates live as done with no collar. This is the single clearest proof against his own currency in the file.
On film
ball with zero negative reinforcement. Did not have to do anything. He came back purely off my
Calls off another dog and off deer, narrated live, but with collar taps and a fight to get back into heel.
On film
Come I definitely had to give him some e-collar taps there, okay
bit of pressure on him to get him to chill out and then go back into the heel. So I had
A down held while runners with three dogs pass.
Calm contact with strangers on several occasions (petting in a park; a shopper in a store), and one jump on a stranger called off into a down. No reaction to people or dogs is recorded anywhere.
On film
sure yeah go say hi apollo hey apollo hey bubba yeah he's a good boy he's a sweet boy is he yeah
Apollo, come.
Still wound up at the handover: loud and jumping out of the crate, mouthing during tug. The goal of 'the same dog' is visible in that.
On film
He vocalizes a lot.
oh yeah and that's when he's gotten me on the arm when he's going for the thing
The ideas Apollo (the Sharkie)'s case runs on
- 'Let's go' is not 'Come' - and the recall has an ending
- Contingent, avoidable, and the right size
- False reps: the dog reads the chain, not the word
- Freedom is given in measured steps
- Internal emotional change, not repression
- Keep the marker charged
- Might beats will
- Play becomes the reward - and play is a contest
- Punish the act, not the feeling: he may look
- Put the unwanted behaviour on cue
- Restraint manufactures the reaction
- Switch him on, then ask for off
- The camera is part of the method
- The four behavioural levers
- The level is not a number
- The outlet comes first