Who Beo is
As the trainers describe him
Happy and excited, all the time and everywhere. The park trainer returns to it in every session and eventually treats it as the source of both his strengths and his problems.
On film
Yes, and he's staying super happy.
he's a good dog he's just happy to be here happy to be alive
Now that Bale is so darn excited that I should just let him run around a little bit
Quick to learn and not shut down. On the park trainer's account this is why he is easy to teach.
On film
Bale, alright, let's see if that was a fluke or not, I don't think it was, I think he's just a smarty pants,
they're actually related he's so happy and so excited to be here that he um he's like really um quick to learn so he's really easy to teach because he's not he's not shut down at all um
A hound, and led by his nose. On 2026-09-17 the park trainer blames 'a little bit of the hound' for his pulling and says sniffing is what he loves most.
On film
You're a hound and I'm going to make you sit in the way.
little bit a little bit of the hound happening here that he smells stuff and he braces when i
dog like this dude like what does he love the most he loves the sniffies
He tolerates everything except boredom. Place and standing around are the exercises he is said to dislike.
On film
Good boy. Only thing he can't tolerate is boredom. He doesn't like standing around
yeah, I know, you don't like it very much.
He just really wants to go, though.
Loud. The day-one handler jokes that his vocal cords call for stronger headphones.
On film
Anyways, but if anybody has recommendations for more sound, more stronger sound canceling headphones, please let me know because something tells me his vocal cords are extremely strong
Sensitive to the e-collar at low levels. He had been jumpy at 22 and on 2026-09-08 he jumped at 10 of 100, which the trainer says he cannot feel himself. He stays happy under light pressure. On 2026-09-23 a down correction made him yelp at a level he had just taken without trouble, and the next day the collar was kept 'way turned down' because he was 'a little sensitive now'.
On film
right now it's only on a 22 right now but he was a little jumpy with the 22 last time i used it so
You just jumped from that 10?
down and oh down that was the same level as it just was so apparently that one freaked him out
yeah i have it even turned down further than it was earlier way turned down so he's just a little sensitive now to it i guess but uh it's way way way turned down
Interested in other dogs and people. At the dog park the trainer says he 'always wants to see the other doggies'; at the first park session he is more interested in an approaching person than in the toys; on 2026-09-23 the trainer says he is not dog reactive and just wants a friendly greeting, and on 2026-09-24 Kelton says he 'loves people and dogs'. On 2026-09-04 staff joke that Chunk 'almost killed him' in a tussle: 'He fought. Then he lost.' The tone is play, and it is the only dog-to-dog contact on record.
On film
You saw those two other doggies? he always wants to see the other doggies
so he's much more interested in the person that's coming up than he is in this so far
I think Chunk almost killed him.
He fought. Then he lost.
because say your dog's dog reactive or something like that which bail is not bail gets excited and wants to go see the dog but he just he just wants a friendly greeting um he doesn't like bark bark bark at them or anything like that
i don't know the other dog even if they're friendly like bale loves people and dogs he's not problematic but i don't know their dog
With his owner there, on a walk, a different dog. At the first owner lesson, with three dogs nearby, he whined, barked and howled at them; Kelton said it was the first time he had had him bark, and that Beo 'gets more excited while you're here'. A trainer later describes the full picture: loud, howling and barking with his hackles up when he sees another dog, and often people too.
On film
Well, he gets more excited while you're here.
that's actually the first time I've had him bark
now his hairs are standing up
But when he's really, really loud and howling and barking and his hackles are up and he's acting crazy whenever he sees another dog or even a lot of times when he sees people i mean they're not going to take him anywhere
Lives for attention, excitement and freedom. Kelton's summary for the owner: petting and contact, anything exciting, and being let go on the release.
On film
attention yeah man veil lives for attention right he loves it
he likes anything exciting right if it's exciting he's pumped
the other one is bail likes to be free oh yes right so if I can go bail okay right and that's the release the freedom part
Easy to work with. After the barking in the owner lesson Kelton still calls him 'probably the easiest dog in my set this time'.
On film
He's probably the easiest dog in my set this time.
As the family describes him
No trouble at home: obedient, comes when called, gets off the furniture when asked and goes to his place when told.
On film
it's it's really funny we've never had an issue with him in the house
yeah he's very obedient in the house yeah he comes when calls he stays does all the stuff
he goes to his place when when we tell him to go to his place
Walks are the problem. When another dog passes, the owner holds him close in a sit and he howls at it until it has gone; the owner calls the barking and howling 'normal for us'.
On film
when there's another dog it'll just be me holding the leash right up against me as i just tell him to stop i'll tell him to sit he'll sit and howl at the dog going by
that's normal for us
Likes food; treats were what the family had trained with.
On film
usually it's treats yeah he likes food
The owner wondered whether the noise on walks is a protective instinct toward the family; Kelton answered that it could just be excitement.
On film
i'm not sure where the disconnect kind of is whether it be since we're family um he's grown up with us and that it's sort of like that protective instinct
could be that it could just be excitement
Physical
White fur, by the park trainer's complaint (watch 05:58). He is not afraid of stairs (watch 00:16). He knows a 'shake' on cue (watch 10:54, 21:58), most likely one he brought with him. His owner gives his age as three at the first owner lesson (watch 02:37).
The program, stage by stage
The facility week: introduction, place and a long hold
2026-09-02, 2026-09-04 and 2026-09-09 (watch, watch, watch). Handlers unnamed; probably the 'other videos with Claudia'.
On day one the handler runs 'the introduction stuff that they go through every day': the e-collar is fitted (snug enough not to move, with fingers still fitting under the box), then sit, down and place. The handler times an un-repeated sit or down and gets about thirty seconds, 'longer than some'. The plan is duration and walking fully away over the week. On 2026-09-04 place is the lesson. The goal is a sit on the place 'of your own volition', with the full settle left for another day. The routine is a few rounds of up-and-sit, then switching to a settle after the third or fourth. The same recording carries the staff exchange in which another trainer describes toy tests and says 'Emotional state is king'. That is about other dogs, not Beo.
On film
it's only so tight that they don't wiggle around, but I can still get my fingers underneath the box.
But I think he's going to get it pretty fast since he already has it sit down and he can already hold it for about 30 seconds
is go through a couple rounds where I have them go up there and I tell them to sit and then after somewhere around the third or fourth time I flip it to just
That was a long morning session for you, but you did great.
The park trainer's first session: find the reward, then a verbal downTurning point
2026-09-08, about 13:29, a park (watch)
A different trainer's first session, on a long line in a park. He sets the pulling aside for the day and runs a play assessment: ball, flirt pole, tug, personal play, release to the environment. Beo is too excited to think about the ball and more interested in a passing person than in any toy, so toys are shelved 'another day when he gets more comfortable'. Personal play, running circles and release to freedom become the currency. The sit is sound ('not a fluke'). The trainer assumes the house's down will not carry over, because of the context change. Leash pressure is light, the collar is dropped from 22 to 10 of 100 because Beo was jumpy at 22, and he still jumps once at 10. The goal is one clean verbal-only down and 'some clarity in his mind'. The trainer watches the clock (about twelve minutes) and the heat. Then comes the rep he calls important. He lets Beo try to solve it under a little extra pressure, gives the tiniest hint, gets a half-down, and makes it clearer. After a rest, Beo downs on the next ask and the session ends on that rep. This is the method's hinge for Beo: pressure kept so low the dog stays happy, and struggle treated as the lesson. Two days later the owner comments on YouTube about this video.
On film
He's still pulling pretty hard.
Instead, I'm just going to see what he likes.
I just wanna see like some clarity in his mind, right?
to see if he could resolve the puzzle on his own, and I put a little bit of extra pressure on him,
down but didn't make it all the way down and so then I just made it more clear and put more pressure he found it right did it and I think that that was a big
I knew he was gonna do it. I knew from the last rep, those clarifications happened.
The owner writes in
Between publication of watch (2026-09-09) and Reaper's session of 2026-09-11 (watch)
In the middle of a Reaper session the park trainer picks up two sticks 'for bail'. He explains that Beo's owner left a YouTube comment on the first park video saying Beo loves to fetch sticks, and that he plans to add sticks to his toy kit for other dogs as well. Until the first owner lesson on 2026-09-24 it is the only exchange with Beo's family on record, and it runs through the published videos. At that lesson the owner apologises that the stick tip had not worked, and Kelton says he keeps two sticks for Beo in his truck.
On film
a message on YouTube is a comment actually on YouTube from Bale's owner
a good thing actually to add to my repertoire of toys, because there are a lot of dogs that really love sticks, but they don't care that much about the ball, or the tug, or the flirt pole, or any of
I felt like I steered you wrong. Yeah. With the recommendations.
i have two sticks in my truck for bail i i found two random sticks off in the woods and i was like all right these are baio sticks they're staying in my truck now
Sticks, a progress report and the first heel rep
2026-09-15, about 14:45, an outside yard at the facility (watch)
The owner-named rewards are tried first and draw 'a little interest'. The trainer reports that sit, down and recall are coming along well, that place is going well 'in the indoor context and home', and that the reward is still mostly personal play. Then the first learning rep of heel, to show him where the position is, pushed a little because he picks it up fast. The closing summary names the first fault of the program: on a sit cue he went into a down because he was expecting it. The fix is to remove the anticipation and make the two cues clearly distinct. Free time in an outside yard follows.
On film
his uh recall like the come command they're all going coming along really well uh and we're going
So that was his first little learning rep of heel for him to start to learn where the position is.
because when i first had said he went into the down because he was expecting it so get rid of that anticipation make sure there's clarity between the two commands
like i said and um you got to see us start on the heel um and i noticed that he was figuring it out relatively quickly so i did kind of push it a little bit
The park beside the dog park: the leash is the problem, and it is the noseTurning point
2026-09-17, a public park reached by truck (watch)
Sixteen days in, the park trainer gives his diagnosis. The commands are smooth everywhere he has taken Beo; the remaining problem is the leash. Beo braces against leash pressure and pulls when excited, and the only e-collar use of the day has been for pulling. Then the line that sets the go-home standard: 'we can't send him home if he's pulling a leash like that.' Mid-walk he locates the problem. On bare concrete Beo comes straight off pressure, but deep in a smell he braces, and he calls it 'a little bit of the hound'. The same cause, he says, makes the recall slow. He speaks to 'the owner watching this': a dog who does every command but still pulls is not what they wanted. The down gets distance and duration and breaks when he turns away. Heel is continued with start-stop reps, pace changes and turns, and heel entry is taught apart from heel in motion. Sniffing is made both the warm-up and the reward. He ends satisfied, and says more sessions are coming. His next filmed session is on 2026-09-23.
On film
He's one of those, let's go, so he's bracing on the leash pressure a little bit still,
opportunities where he blows me off. The only thing that I've had to use the e-collar for at all today so far since I've gotten Bayo out of the truck is just for him pulling on him.
something that we you know we can't send him home if he's pulling a leash like that.
like right here as an example if i put leash pressure on he comes right off because there's nothing that interesting here on the concrete however if he's like deep in the smell that's
See, like right there, he's pulling on me pretty hard again.
So I just turned away from him. Down. And so he took that as an opportunity to get up.
More sessions with Baio coming soon.
The rainy trail walk: 'come' is not 'let's go', the leash as a prop, and a yelp
2026-09-23, about 14:39 (title), a park trail in light rain, on a flexi (watch). The trainer is not named on the recording.
The next filmed session is a long, heavily narrated walk on a flexi that the trainer frames as proofing: Beo is 'pretty darn close', he says, and with a reliable 'let's go' and 'come' 'he could be off leash and it wouldn't matter'. Three teaching blocks are aimed at owners. 'Come' means come all the way in and stay until released, because a recall exists to keep the dog away from something; 'let's go' means move along, and the dog may run past. Pulling is handled first by management (a flexi instead of a six-foot leash, plus a reliable 'let's go' and 'come', so that 'the leash is just a prop') and then by leash yielding: let him get interested in something, draw him off with the leash, and if he braces, 'ah' and then a tap of the e-collar. Because 'let's go' needed saying twice, the bar goes up to the first ask. Passers-by become the distraction for recall, sit and down. One down correction made Beo yelp at the same level he had just taken without trouble; the trainer apologised, explained that a dog can become more sensitive to the collar between reps, and turned the level down, and the next down was held at more distance and for longer than ever before. Heel entries are tidied without the trainer stepping forward, so the owner will get the same picture at handover, and when Beo lags on the hardest heel rep yet, the trainer gets one brief correct position and releases him to protect his confidence. Two more points are for owners: most of a walk should be 'nothing', and the rewards here were freedom, time to settle between reps, praise and excitement rather than treats or toys. In passing the trainer says Beo is not dog reactive: he 'gets excited and wants to go see the dog'. The one shortfall he names is a recall that did not come all the way back with a person nearby.
On film
pretty darn close to anyway i'm just going to need to proof it
he could be off leash and it wouldn't matter
i've asked him to come and then he needs to stay here until i release him good boy that's the the function of the recall command
So the leash is just a prop. Your commands actually do the work.
just by doing that repeatedly where i let him get interested in something and then kind of use the leash to gently pull him off of it if he braces against it i use the condition punisher ah and then i uh tap the e-collar
down and oh down that was the same level as it just was so apparently that one freaked him out
all it means is you just need to adjust right because they can become sensitized uh to the e-collar in between reps right like so maybe the last one made a bigger impact on him for some reason and now he's really sensitive to it
so now i'm just doing a little bit of distance and duration here more than we've done in the past i've never done this far before or this long doing good with it so far
very often I found that I had a habit of walking forward a couple of steps and they come into the heel as I'm walking and I don't see too much wrong with that but it could complicate things on the the owner handoff end so what I might do is start trying to make it where he comes all the way to me and gets into the position without me moving
so instead you get him in the right position even just momentarily and then end it get him a quick win on that repetition
because say your dog's dog reactive or something like that which bail is not bail gets excited and wants to go see the dog but he just he just wants a friendly greeting um he doesn't like bark bark bark at them or anything like that
One thing I did notice is that it didn't quite come all the way back on the recall. I'm gonna have to work on that
Off-leash readiness on a short line
2026-09-24, about 15:05 (title), a park with a field, a running track and a trail, on a line of about 15 feet (watch). The trainer is named on the recording as Kelton.
Kelton tests and proofs Beo's commands on a short line he 'can probably barely feel', because Beo is 'pretty close' to being off leash. Asked into heel without the leash, Beo does not manage it: 'he still needs the leash for the heel'. The recall is tested by letting him wander off, sniff and pee, then calling him, and it is enforced once. Kelton explains the route to off leash: the flexi, then long lines of shrinking length (50 feet, then about 15, this one), then either straight off leash or a 10- or 6-foot line, depending on the dog, with recalls proofed against bigger and bigger distractions so that 'before i take a leash off i know instead of i hope'. The heel comes first because on a trail he puts the dog in heel at every blind corner: Beo 'loves people and dogs', he says, but a stranger round the corner would not appreciate a loose dog arriving. The collar is kept 'way turned down' because Beo is 'a little sensitive now'. When Beo lagged in heel, Kelton encouraged instead of pressuring, and he says he tries never to mix the two. The last recall, called away from the truck he was heading for (a spot where many dogs fail), was slow after the 'ah'; Beo looked unsure, so Kelton praised him in and he ran the rest of the way: read whether the dog is refusing or unsure, then confirm the right choice. His summary: Beo 'did great' and is 'pretty much off leash ready', apart from the heel.
On film
All right, so I got Bale on just like a little short line here that he can probably barely feel.
So he still needs the leash for the heel.
Yeah, so I did get an opportunity there to enforce the recall there, which was what I was looking for.
this is kind of part of the process that we have for getting a dog off leash we we start all on the flexi and then we move to like depending on the dog like different lengths of long lines
um and then you just do that with like progressively bigger distractions that way before i take a leash off i know instead of i hope
corners and i can't see um i put them in a heel right so being able to put them in a heel um is kind of like a a prerequisite for me taking fully off leash
yeah i have it even turned down further than it was earlier way turned down so he's just a little sensitive now to it i guess but uh it's way way way turned down
he looked like he just needed like a little bit of reassurance when he went around to the right side again and when he lagged back so instead of pressuring when he lagged back i just um i just encouraged and he took that right away and and found the right spot
punisher i didn't use the e-collar in this case but i used the condition punisher and when i used it like it worked and he started coming towards me but like slowly right he was like i don't know he looked a little apprehensive so all i did there was just go like good job and then he looked super happy and ran towards me
he's pretty much off leash ready
The first owner lesson: the barking appearsTurning point
2026-09-24, evening (title 18:45), a public park, with Beo's owner present; Kelton leads the lesson (watch).
The owner mentions the latest video, in which the trainer had said Beo had not been reactive; Kelton agrees he has not had him bark at any dogs, and says Beo could prove him wrong here, with three dogs nearby. He does: with the owner beside him, Beo whines, barks and howls at them. Kelton says it is the first time he has had him bark; the owner says 'that's normal for us', and later that at home Beo is no trouble at all and that walks are the whole problem: with another dog in sight he holds Beo close in a sit and Beo howls until it passes. Kelton uses the moment to explain what owner lessons are for: to see how the dog behaves with the owner, which is also why every session is filmed, and to teach the owner so the training holds at home. The teaching runs in two groups. The first is how behaviour is built and removed. For Beo the rewards are attention and contact, excitement, and freedom through the release, with few treats, because owners find them hard to fade and because they turn the trainer into 'a pez dispenser'. Pressure is taught with the leash first, since the e-collar gives no direction; 'uh-uh' always comes before any consequence; and a correction is judged only by whether the behaviour drops. The collar he had used on Beo's fixation and barking during the lesson had not stopped it, so, he says, the level has to rise. The look is allowed; the whining, barking or charging is what gets corrected. The second group is the four windows: a perfect heel would not stop the howling, because obedience only covers over the problem, and on walks the dog should be left free, corrected for the noise, then released and petted, rather than parked in a sit every time another dog passes. A short tip covers adding cues in a second language: say the new word just before the English one. Because Beo's problems are outdoors, the second lesson is moved from the owner's house to a park. Kelton calls him 'probably the easiest dog in my set this time'.
The reactivity to other dogs shows on film for the first time, and from the next session it becomes the stated focus of the work.
On film
Um, yeah, you said that he hasn't had that reactivity and he has moved and he has not barked at a dog
Yeah, I haven't had him bark at any dogs.
that's actually the first time I've had him bark
that's normal for us
Well, that's why we have the owner lessons, and it's designed to do two things, right? So one is I get an opportunity to see how he behaves with you.
that's why I record everything because can you imagine if I was like hey like yeah no he hasn't barked at any other dogs he hasn't been reactive at all and uh but you didn't have any videos
say he's fixating and barking like that right then i used the collar this last time yes but did he stop fixating or barking no he's still doing it right um so then that should be an indicator right well that means that I need to increase the level of the penalty
he didn't start doing all the whining he didn't start doing he didn't bark he didn't charge he didn't do anything he shouldn't so i'm allowing the choice to happen
if i taught bao to do a perfect heel which i'm planning on right yeah he's getting there right that's part of the program um would that fix his whining barking thing it would seem not really no like he could do that those are compatible he could do both at the same time
what actually uh works is i don't give them any obedience commands at that time they're free to do whatever they want they can walk around they can sniff they can look they can do all that other stuff but as soon as they start the whining howling thing i penalize that and then i don't give them any commands i just go okay right and we're good i'm gonna pet them and everything else like there's no problems right reconcile and they're good to go
since the main problems you're having are out and not in your house we can probably should probably switch that second lesson to be out instead of at your house
He's probably the easiest dog in my set this time.
Working on the barking: a path with dogs on itTurning point
2026-09-25, evening (title 18:23), a walking path with people, dogs and cyclists (watch). The trainer is not named on the recording.
The trainer names two goals: the heel, and 'this thing that he does when he sees people or dogs', pointing viewers to the owner lesson. Now that the relationship and the obedience are well along, he says, the whining is not to be allowed at all. The heel is in good shape: a clean entry, stops when the trainer stops, left and right turns and some duration, 'Exactly what I wanted'. With a dog and its people coming up behind, he stands Beo at the side and lets them pass without giving any command, a harder test than walking past (his reasoning for it is on unclear audio). The trainer calls Beo 'really good' as they pass; following that dog along the path, with a couple of 'no's on the way, he manages 'that whole way' without loud noises, ignores a big dog barking from a house, and does not howl back at another barking dog, which the trainer says is the kind of real-life temptation that makes the change last. When another dog 'got really ramped up at him', Beo reacted; the trainer told him to stop and 'did punish through reactivity a few times', and he calls the habit 'really really deep ingrained' and Beo's main need 'more dogs'. He spells out the cost: a dog with 'excellent obedience now' who is not taken anywhere because he howls and barks with his hackles up. Because Beo has no problems at home, the second lesson and the go-home lesson will both be held at parks. He also explains that he turns the collar up before a dog arrives and uses less than half of that for heel corrections, because every level depends on the context.
The first session that sets out to change the whining, barking and howling, now named the main thing keeping Beo from going places with his family.
On film
I have two main goals today for bail one is to work on his heel and number two is to work on this thing that he does when he sees people or dogs he just absolutely goes bananas if you watch his owners lesson
So I'm just gonna not allow any of that whining at all. Now that we have a good relationship and we've gotten pretty far in the obedience, we're just gonna take care of that completely.
You saw that heel entry was nice. He came right into the heel there. He stops when I stop.
That was fantastic. Exactly what I wanted in this video.
And so I'm not gonna give me any command. I'm just gonna let him stand here.
other factors other than his owners being there that messed him up before was also that we were stationary so we need to kind of test that out and confront it and see how he does before stationary with another dog walking past.
Bayo's been really good.
That was a very good test for our boy Dale to walk behind that dog that whole way and not make lots of loud noises.
We need these kinds of things to tempt him to bark and howl back at the other dogs that are barking at him, and for him to successfully overcome that impulse. That's what leads to a more durable behavior you have to put it in real life situations and overcome those kinds of problems
So the other dog got really ramped up at him. So I did punish through reactivity a few times. And that's like the main thing that we need to keep working on with Baio.
we're making some progress on it but we definitely need more reps because it seems like it's really really deep ingrained for bail
we're just we're just gonna extinguish that behavior because it's the main thing preventing him otherwise than that he's a great dog with excellent obedience now and he should be able to go anywhere with his owner
so the second program lesson and the go home lesson i'd like to do both of them at the park for bail and um because his problems he doesn't really have any at the house they all revolve around being out
i'm changing my level that the e-collar is set on depending on what i see happening right so like if a dog's coming i'm turning the e-collar up before the dog gets there just in case i need to use it because i know that that context and that particular trigger is going to require more
The greenway: heel and down among people, and a word to the owner
2026-09-29, morning (title 10:55), a greenway trail with walkers, strollers and a playground (watch). The trainer is not named on the recording, and no owner is present.
A walk the trainer calls 'just proofing everything', mostly cues and praise. In heel Beo matches the trainer's pace past a person, heels by a stroller, and goes into heel even with a dog nearby that he wanted to see, after testing the trainer a few times and being backed up with the e-collar; pace changes follow. Downs are held as people and strollers pass, one after a re-cue. At a playground, as a group of about eight children and an adult walk by, the trainer reports that Beo went straight into a down and held it 'the whole time' without whining or barking, and he tells the owner through the camera that this is what the family wanted and that the heel is 'getting close'. He adds that he never feels finished with a dog; time is what runs out. A snake on the path sends them another way, chosen also because that stretch is new to Beo. On the last heel rep Beo gets excited at another big dog and starts to break the heel: 'That's why we do it out in public.' It is the last recording of Beo on record.
On film
So he matched my pace and he did it even when we were walking by a person.
so he did good. Healing right by that stroller.
That last one, I backed it up with a knee collar because he tested me a few times there.
Good thing is he went into the heel when I asked for it, even though there was a dog there he was interested in.
No. Baio, down.
and bail did fantastic i mean he went straight into the down he stayed in it the whole time he didn't whine or bark nothing he was just chilled out
hopefully that's what you wanted man talking to you the owner i know that's what you guys wanted
i hope you guys can see his heel has gotten a lot better he's really really on the way there he's he's getting close to being where we want him to be for you guys
i never feel like i'm actually done with the dog's training
Got really excited he saw another big dog over there. So he started to break the heel. That's why we do it out in public.
Skills
Leash yielding and pulling
How it was taught
Leash pressure with the expectation of a yield, verbal 'don't pull' and 'eh-eh', and the e-collar used for pulling, which on 2026-09-17 is its only use that day. The teaching described is diagnostic: the trainer tests pressure on concrete against pressure in a scent and concludes the fault is scent fixation. A dedicated leash-yielding session is planned twice; the method is first shown, briefly, on the 2026-09-23 walk. On 2026-09-23 the trainer sets out the whole approach: management first (a flexi rather than a six-foot leash, so the dog rarely needs to pull, plus a reliable 'let's go' and 'come'), then leash yielding: let him get interested in something, draw him off with gentle leash pressure, and if he braces, 'ah' and then a tap of the e-collar.
On film
I'm going to teach him about leash yielding, and then, like, at some point here, but I'm just going to get some play going.
pulling on him. He's been kind of bracing against leash tension and so that's the one thing that still needs to like be addressed continually because that's
when i'm seeing that he's having a hard time coming off of the smell
See, like right there, he's pulling on me pretty hard again.
the simplest thing that i can say about pulling is get a flexi if you have a flexi and your dog knows two commands let's go and come right if they know let's go and come and you walk on a flexi uh most of your pulling problem is completely solved already
teach them the kind of like core concept of leash yielding right and this just means like if they feel the leash they never pull on it instead they give to it
just by doing that repeatedly where i let him get interested in something and then kind of use the leash to gently pull him off of it if he braces against it i use the condition punisher ah and then i uh tap the e-collar
he came right off of it good job
him to come off the end of the leaf there he's pulling on it
now it's not fully appropriate right because sometimes i still have to use this to maneuver him to guide him still
Down
How it was taught
On 2026-09-08: ask first to test, light leash pressure, collar at 10/100, 'eh-eh' as a conditioned punisher. The key rep is let him struggle, the tiniest hint, then more clarity. Rest and end on the next success. On 2026-09-17: add distance and time, turn away as the harder picture, re-cue and correct verbally when he gets up. From 2026-09-23: passers-by as the distraction, more distance and duration, 'Eh-eh' and then the collar for a break, and loud celebration after a hard rep.
On film
good with that uh that was pretty smooth um i should be able to get that uh verbal only by
verbal only D O N W N. Um, I just want to see him do it without me needing to use any kind
All right, down.
Ready babe? Sit. Good. Sit. No. No. Sit up. Down. Good. Down. Down. Down. Down.
So I'm starting to add some duration, a little bit of distance to his down.
So I just turned away from him. Down. And so he took that as an opportunity to get up.
Eh-eh. Eh-eh.
so now i'm just doing a little bit of distance and duration here more than we've done in the past i've never done this far before or this long doing good with it so far
he's about like 30 feet away from me down
so that was perfect right i need that to happen sometimes that's part of the proofing process so he's thought about getting up there
if he were to get up out of the down before i give him the release word which is good job
No. Baio, down.
and bail did fantastic i mean he went straight into the down he stayed in it the whole time he didn't whine or bark nothing he was just chilled out
Sit, and telling sit from down
How it was taught
Cue, release with 'Okay', and praise. The remedy for anticipation is stated as the next goal.
On film
Bale, alright, let's see if that was a fluke or not, I don't think it was, I think he's just a smarty pants,
We got to work on the distinction between sit and down because when i first had said he went into the down because he was expecting it
he thought about it right you could see his wheels turning he was like do i get up or like he walked away like what do i do and he chose to say sitting
just sitting is down are both fine
Place
How it was taught
Send him up and ask for a sit for a few rounds, then after the third or fourth switch to waiting for at least a little settle.
On film
Place five. There you go, good.
is go through a couple rounds where I have them go up there and I tell them to sit
just fine he's doing great with place um in the in the indoor context and home
he goes to his place when when we tell him to go to his place
Recall
How it was taught
'Come' during walks and in the yard. On 2026-09-17 the trainer is looking for moments when Beo 'blows me off', so that there is something to address. From 2026-09-23: 'come' kept for a full recall that ends only on the release, 'let's go' for moving along; recalls off a sniff and past passers-by; an ignored recall gets 'eh-eh', with the collar next; a call away from the truck, where many dogs fail; and praise to bring him in when he is unsure.
On film
work on the recall a few times which he's doing good with already
thing that i see is that he's a little slow to recall and i think it's the same thing though i think it's just because he's so amped and like gets stuck on smells
come okay good boy that was a perfect recall no issues at all with that
i've asked him to come and then he needs to stay here until i release him good boy that's the the function of the recall command
One thing I did notice is that it didn't quite come all the way back on the recall. I'm gonna have to work on that
Yeah, so I did get an opportunity there to enforce the recall there, which was what I was looking for.
i want to see him like off sniffing interested in something still being able to recall
A lot of times they don't want to recall when they're going back towards the truck. So I'm going to recall them away from the truck now.
punisher i didn't use the e-collar in this case but i used the condition punisher and when i used it like it worked and he started coming towards me but like slowly right he was like i don't know he looked a little apprehensive so all i did there was just go like good job and then he looked super happy and ran towards me
i did my first foray with him uh in that today um okay i had him on like a line that's maybe about this long yeah so just like a little bit more than the regular length leash and just let it drag around on the ground and got pretty far away from me and recalled
Heel
How it was taught
A first rep only to show the position. Then a straight stretch of path: stop and start without releasing on the stop, vary pace, turn, and practise the entry from wherever he is. From 2026-09-23: entries without the handler stepping forward, so the owner's handling will match; pace changes, stops and turns; a quick win and a release when he lags; encouragement rather than pressure when he is unsure; and, at the lesson, negative reinforcement to guide him in and praise when he is right.
On film
So that was his first little learning rep of heel
important that um when you're teaching the heel you make it such that they are able to start and stop like that
we'll stop start again then I'm gonna do a turn you have to practice all of them
entry is designed for him to come in from wherever he's at and go into the heel position
Yeah, he fell right into it nicely and he stayed in it for the duration.
very often I found that I had a habit of walking forward a couple of steps and they come into the heel as I'm walking and I don't see too much wrong with that but it could complicate things on the the owner handoff end so what I might do is start trying to make it where he comes all the way to me and gets into the position without me moving
He started losing focus because he started thinking about sniffing stuff, and he drifted off.
So he still needs the leash for the heel.
corners and i can't see um i put them in a heel right so being able to put them in a heel um is kind of like a a prerequisite for me taking fully off leash
fail heel okay good boy right so i can say fail heel and then i'm just using a little bit of negative reinforcement i didn't use the color there because he didn't really need it
You saw that heel entry was nice. He came right into the heel there. He stops when I stop.
That was fantastic. Exactly what I wanted in this video.
So he matched my pace and he did it even when we were walking by a person.
Good thing is he went into the heel when I asked for it, even though there was a dog there he was interested in.
i hope you guys can see his heel has gotten a lot better he's really really on the way there he's he's getting close to being where we want him to be for you guys
Got really excited he saw another big dog over there. So he started to break the heel. That's why we do it out in public.
Duration holds
How it was taught
Cue once and time it (day one). A long hold while staff are present but occupied (2026-09-09). Distance, time and turning away (2026-09-17).
On film
already hold it for about 30 seconds, hence the sound canceling headphones because some
Just holding it for a minute.
And so he took that as an opportunity to get up.
so now i'm just doing a little bit of distance and duration here more than we've done in the past i've never done this far before or this long doing good with it so far
he's about like 30 feet away from me down
and bail did fantastic i mean he went straight into the down he stayed in it the whole time he didn't whine or bark nothing he was just chilled out
E-collar conditioning
How it was taught
Fit first (snug, fingers under the box). Level set below one he was jumpy at, then used to clarify rather than to compel. Often not needed at all ('actually didn't have to use the e-collar there'). Later: always the marker first, then the tap; the leash, not the collar, while a command is still being taught; and the level set by context, within one dog as well as between dogs.
On film
If anyone ever wonders how tight are the e-collars,
good boy okay so i actually actually didn't have to use the e-collar there um
good, yes, that went pretty easily, super low level on the e-collar, and good job, yes,
excited this guy running up he's like ooh yay and so then I might anticipate that have the e-collar up slightly higher
down and oh down that was the same level as it just was so apparently that one freaked him out
so then now that means okay like i need to turn it down for that same thing next time
So negative reinforcement and penalties both vary depending on context, depending on mood, depending on temperament, depending on all kinds kinds of different things from dog to dog and within one dog
yeah i have it even turned down further than it was earlier way turned down so he's just a little sensitive now to it i guess but uh it's way way way turned down
I say uh-uh first. So that's another really important concept, is that the conditioned punisher is what they call it, but it can also be a negative reinforcement marker, is uh-uh. And you have to say it first before you use any kind of consequence at all.
say he's fixating and barking like that right then i used the collar this last time yes but did he stop fixating or barking no he's still doing it right um so then that should be an indicator right well that means that I need to increase the level of the penalty
i'm changing my level that the e-collar is set on depending on what i see happening right so like if a dog's coming i'm turning the e-collar up before the dog gets there just in case i need to use it because i know that that context and that particular trigger is going to require more
but then for like regular negative reinforcement context right if i need negative reinforce the heel or something like that it's far less it's less than half right
That last one, I backed it up with a knee collar because he tested me a few times there.
Quiet around dogs and people on walks (the whining, barking and howling)
How it was taught
Let the look pass and correct the act: 'uh-uh', then a correction strong enough to reduce it, then 'okay', petting and on with the walk, with no obedience command to manage it. Stand still and let a dog pass; follow a dog along a path; look for more dogs to practise on; turn the collar up before a dog arrives.
On film
that's actually the first time I've had him bark
that's normal for us
say he's fixating and barking like that right then i used the collar this last time yes but did he stop fixating or barking no he's still doing it right um so then that should be an indicator right well that means that I need to increase the level of the penalty
what actually uh works is i don't give them any obedience commands at that time they're free to do whatever they want they can walk around they can sniff they can look they can do all that other stuff but as soon as they start the whining howling thing i penalize that and then i don't give them any commands i just go okay right and we're good i'm gonna pet them and everything else like there's no problems right reconcile and they're good to go
So I'm just gonna not allow any of that whining at all. Now that we have a good relationship and we've gotten pretty far in the obedience, we're just gonna take care of that completely.
And so I'm not gonna give me any command. I'm just gonna let him stand here.
That was a very good test for our boy Dale to walk behind that dog that whole way and not make lots of loud noises.
So the other dog got really ramped up at him. So I did punish through reactivity a few times. And that's like the main thing that we need to keep working on with Baio.
we're making some progress on it but we definitely need more reps because it seems like it's really really deep ingrained for bail
and bail did fantastic i mean he went straight into the down he stayed in it the whole time he didn't whine or bark nothing he was just chilled out
Got really excited he saw another big dog over there. So he started to break the heel. That's why we do it out in public.
Let's go (move along)
How it was taught
Used as the informal move-along cue, kept apart from 'come'.
On film
he runs right by me because he knows that bail let's go good job buddy means hey look you can run right by me you don't have to come to me or do anything in particular
because right there I had to say it twice.
which now that he knows these commands I'm raising the criteria right he has to respond on the first time I asked
Off leash
How it was taught
A ladder of lines: flexi, a 50-foot line, a line of about 15 feet, then off leash or a short drag line. Recalls proofed against bigger and bigger distractions before the line comes off, and a heel that works off leash first, for blind corners on a trail.
On film
he could be off leash and it wouldn't matter
All right, so I got Bale on just like a little short line here that he can probably barely feel.
this is kind of part of the process that we have for getting a dog off leash we we start all on the flexi and then we move to like depending on the dog like different lengths of long lines
dog sometimes i'll just jump straight off leash from there sometimes i kind of like knock them down like a 10 foot or to a six foot or something like that so i had something i can grab if i need
um and then you just do that with like progressively bigger distractions that way before i take a leash off i know instead of i hope
corners and i can't see um i put them in a heel right so being able to put them in a heel um is kind of like a a prerequisite for me taking fully off leash
he's pretty much off leash ready
i did my first foray with him uh in that today um okay i had him on like a line that's maybe about this long yeah so just like a little bit more than the regular length leash and just let it drag around on the ground and got pretty far away from me and recalled
probably two maybe two three videos at most like i'll probably you'll probably see an off-leash video with him
How the method adapted
Beo is not a fear case or a bite case. Until the first owner lesson he was not, on film, a reactivity case either: his file recorded a program adjusting to a happy, quick, loud hound whose nose outranks everything the handler offers. With his owner present on 2026-09-24 he whined, barked and howled at dogs, and from the next day that became the main work. The early adaptations belong to the park trainer, who handled him in three of the first six recordings; from 2026-09-23 the work is narrated on field walks and in one owner lesson led by Kelton.
The reward was found in the dog, not brought to him. Toys were tested and shelved, and personal play, running circles, release to freedom and finally sniffing became the currency. At the owner lesson Kelton summed it up for the family as attention, excitement and freedom, with nothing to carry.
He was too excited to think about the ball and more interested in people and smells than in any toy. The trainer's rule is to go with whatever the dog likes.
On film
And we're going to figure out which one he likes, and we're going to go with that.
So another useful like reward you can use is just get them to run like that.
Rewards with sniffies.
the other one is bail likes to be free oh yes right so if I can go bail okay right and that's the release the freedom part
and so i don't like thinking like oh like i'm like a pez dispenser to the dog
The owner's knowledge was taken on board through a YouTube comment, and the trainer changed his kit for it.
The owner said Beo loves to fetch sticks. The trainer collected sticks during another dog's session and opened the next Beo session with them. He also decided sticks belong in his toy kit for other dogs.
On film
sticks so because I want to train bail later I think these two sticks are perfect for bail
Sticks, so we're gonna try sticks first
The collar was set low and the pressure kept light, because the dog is soft to it and stays happy under it.
He was jumpy at 22, so the level went to 10 of 100, and he still jumped once. The trainer treats staying happy as the sign the pressure is right.
On film
right now it's only on a 22 right now but he was a little jumpy with the 22 last time i used it so
the end of this little session here um because he's staying happy he didn't care about that
The first down was built on a deliberate struggle: let him try, give the smallest hint, then make it clear. Then rest and stop on the next success.
So the answer is his, and so he can 'put some puzzle pieces together' during the rest. The trainer also watches session length and heat because a tired dog does not learn well.
On film
which is which is good right because we wanted to struggle then I tried to give him like the tiniest bit of information just a little kind of like like that
Because I don't want to, like I said, push it super far because he is going to get tired and I'd rather have him rest
cool in the AC because a little hot out here again not super bad it's only the
The pulling was diagnosed as scent, not disobedience, and the trainer tested the diagnosis on the spot.
On concrete, where there is nothing to smell, he yields at once, so the bracing belongs to the hound in him. The same cause is used to explain the slow recall. Leash yielding is to be practised specifically, not treated as a compliance failure.
On film
little bit a little bit of the hound happening here that he smells stuff and he braces when i
like right here as an example if i put leash pressure on he comes right off because there's nothing that interesting here on the concrete
Sniffing became the start of every outing and the regular reward within it.
Let him acclimate and enjoy himself first; sniffing is 'his favourite thing in the whole world'.
On film
to start with the sniffies. Don't get them out into obedience right away. Let them acclimate and enjoy themselves and then you got to have regular sniffies especially for a
The heel was paced to his speed: pushed on the first day, and on the second an extra clarity step was skipped.
He picked it up quickly. The reward-at-every-stop step, which prevents the stop becoming a false release, 'seems to be relatively unnecessary in this case'.
On film
relatively quickly so i did kind of push it a little bit um but he did really great with it so
bail is is getting it pretty quickly so that seems to be relatively unnecessary in this case
Sessions were kept short and moving, with free running before and after.
Boredom is the one thing he can't tolerate. He is let run first because he is excited, and given yard time after.
On film
I think I'm gonna take him in, let him chill out. Probably just run around in the outside, one of the outside yards, let him have some free time.
Good boy. Only thing he can't tolerate is boredom. He doesn't like standing around
After a down correction made him yelp, the level was turned down, and it stayed well down the next day.
The yelp came at the same level as the rep before. The trainer apologised, said he had never heard Beo yelp like that, and explained that a dog can become more sensitive to the collar between reps, so the same context next time calls for a lower level; he added that this is not a ceiling for a more exciting moment. The next day the collar was 'way turned down' because Beo was 'a little sensitive now'.
On film
down and oh down that was the same level as it just was so apparently that one freaked him out
i'm sorry buddy so again that can happen
you've never yelped like that before it's okay buddy
all it means is you just need to adjust right because they can become sensitized uh to the e-collar in between reps right like so maybe the last one made a bigger impact on him for some reason and now he's really sensitive to it
so then now that means okay like i need to turn it down for that same thing next time
yeah i have it even turned down further than it was earlier way turned down so he's just a little sensitive now to it i guess but uh it's way way way turned down
Encouragement instead of pressure when he was unsure.
When he lagged in heel, and when a recall slowed after the 'ah', Kelton read uncertainty rather than refusal, praised instead of pressing, and Beo came straight in. His rule: never pressure and encouragement together.
On film
he looked like he just needed like a little bit of reassurance when he went around to the right side again and when he lagged back so instead of pressuring when he lagged back i just um i just encouraged and he took that right away and and found the right spot
so i try to um as best i can um as i mature as a trainer and get better and better i try to make sure that i um that i never use pressure when i put in courage
punisher i didn't use the e-collar in this case but i used the condition punisher and when i used it like it worked and he started coming towards me but like slowly right he was like i don't know he looked a little apprehensive so all i did there was just go like good job and then he looked super happy and ran towards me
you've said uh but now they're doing the right thing so confirm their choice tell them they did good right tell them they did the right thing so that they make it all the way to you
Heel entries were taught without the handler stepping forward, so the owner would get the same picture.
The trainer's habit of walking a step or two as the dog comes in 'could complicate things' at handover.
On film
very often I found that I had a habit of walking forward a couple of steps and they come into the heel as I'm walking and I don't see too much wrong with that but it could complicate things on the the owner handoff end so what I might do is start trying to make it where he comes all the way to me and gets into the position without me moving
When a hard heel rep made him lag, the rep was ended on a brief success and the next one started just below that difficulty.
To keep his emotional state and his confidence that he knows where heel is; pushing on would force the bar 'way down' later.
On film
so that's why when i got him back in the heel we walked a little bit we stopped and then i released him right because i want to preserve a good emotional state
and that can happen if you push it a little too far they can get into that zone and then you have to scale the criteria way down to get them feeling good about it again
so instead you get him in the right position even just momentarily and then end it get him a quick win on that repetition
The barking, first seen with the owner there, became the main work, and it was worked on walks without obedience commands.
Obedience would only cover over it: a perfect heel and the howling can happen together. So the look is allowed, the noise is corrected, and the dog is released and petted; then standing still while dogs pass, following dogs, and finding more dogs to practise on.
On film
we can use this as an opportunity actually um because you're here and maybe he's more excited when you're here we can get a chance to actually address it with you here
if i taught bao to do a perfect heel which i'm planning on right yeah he's getting there right that's part of the program um would that fix his whining barking thing it would seem not really no like he could do that those are compatible he could do both at the same time
what actually uh works is i don't give them any obedience commands at that time they're free to do whatever they want they can walk around they can sniff they can look they can do all that other stuff but as soon as they start the whining howling thing i penalize that and then i don't give them any commands i just go okay right and we're good i'm gonna pet them and everything else like there's no problems right reconcile and they're good to go
So I'm just gonna not allow any of that whining at all. Now that we have a good relationship and we've gotten pretty far in the obedience, we're just gonna take care of that completely.
And so I'm not gonna give me any command. I'm just gonna let him stand here.
my main trick is going to be finding more dogs.
The remaining lessons were moved from the owner's house to parks.
Beo has no problems at home; all of them are outdoors, and that is the owner's main priority.
On film
since the main problems you're having are out and not in your house we can probably should probably switch that second lesson to be out instead of at your house
so the second program lesson and the go home lesson i'd like to do both of them at the park for bail and um because his problems he doesn't really have any at the house they all revolve around being out
The collar was turned up before a dog arrived, and kept at less than half of that for heel corrections.
That trigger needs more; ordinary heel work needs far less. Every level depends on the context.
On film
excited this guy running up he's like ooh yay and so then I might anticipate that have the e-collar up slightly higher
i'm changing my level that the e-collar is set on depending on what i see happening right so like if a dog's coming i'm turning the e-collar up before the dog gets there just in case i need to use it because i know that that context and that particular trigger is going to require more
but then for like regular negative reinforcement context right if i need negative reinforce the heel or something like that it's far less it's less than half right
Off leash was approached on a ladder of shorter lines, and held back for the heel.
So the leash comes off on knowledge rather than hope, and because on a trail he wants the dog in heel at every blind corner.
On film
this is kind of part of the process that we have for getting a dog off leash we we start all on the flexi and then we move to like depending on the dog like different lengths of long lines
dog sometimes i'll just jump straight off leash from there sometimes i kind of like knock them down like a 10 foot or to a six foot or something like that so i had something i can grab if i need
um and then you just do that with like progressively bigger distractions that way before i take a leash off i know instead of i hope
corners and i can't see um i put them in a heel right so being able to put them in a heel um is kind of like a a prerequisite for me taking fully off leash
What the family was told
Leash manners are part of the deliverable, not an extra
he knows all the commands he does them all like verbal only first um first time every time but but he still pulls when he hits the end of the leash
That's not gonna be what they wanted. It's not gonna be what you want, right? If you're the owner watching this. So we need to make sure that we do both.
Start an outing with sniffing, and use sniff breaks as the reward
good. You did so good, buddy. Good job. All the sniffies. Sniff breaks. It's important to start with the sniffies. Don't get them out into obedience right away.
How tight an e-collar should be
If anyone ever wonders how tight are the e-collars,
it's only so tight that they don't wiggle around, but I can still get my fingers underneath the box.
Heel: never let the stop become the release
every time like when you stop they get released then they will end up thinking that the stop is the release so you stop and then they get released and then you end up with that being a false trigger for them
Owner lessons: to see the dog with you, and to teach you
Well, that's why we have the owner lessons, and it's designed to do two things, right? So one is I get an opportunity to see how he behaves with you.
that's why I record everything because can you imagine if I was like hey like yeah no he hasn't barked at any other dogs he hasn't been reactive at all and uh but you didn't have any videos
the other main purpose of the owner lessons are to teach you
that's one of the big fears with like a training program is like what if they come home and they like listen to the trainer great and like they don't do any of the bad things but then they come home and they're with me and they do a bunch of bad stuff
'Come' means come all the way and stay; 'let's go' means move along
that i wanted to point out that i try to point out as often as possible is that that recall is very very different than just asking them to come along with you
i've asked him to come and then he needs to stay here until i release him good boy that's the the function of the recall command
he runs right by me because he knows that bail let's go good job buddy means hey look you can run right by me you don't have to come to me or do anything in particular
Pulling: a flexi, a reliable let's go and come, then leash yielding
the simplest thing that i can say about pulling is get a flexi if you have a flexi and your dog knows two commands let's go and come right if they know let's go and come and you walk on a flexi uh most of your pulling problem is completely solved already
teach them the kind of like core concept of leash yielding right and this just means like if they feel the leash they never pull on it instead they give to it
So the leash is just a prop. Your commands actually do the work.
Most of a walk should be nothing
here is that like hey like 90 of this nothing's happening right i'm not giving him lots of commands over time and this is even during training
if you're giving your dog like commands every every 30 40 seconds uh you're just micromanaging him for no reason
Rewards for Beo: attention, excitement and freedom, not treats
attention yeah man veil lives for attention right he loves it
the other one is bail likes to be free oh yes right so if I can go bail okay right and that's the release the freedom part
one variable is that i found it's harder for owners to train with treats why because of the problem you just pointed out which is if you train with treats you have to fade the treats out
and so i don't like thinking like oh like i'm like a pez dispenser to the dog
Teach with the leash first; say 'uh-uh' before any consequence
the leash is the most useful for when you're initially teaching something because the e-collar if you think about the e-collar i felt it lots of times and worn it and been you like taught like a dog and when you feel it it doesn't give any kind of direction about where to go
I say uh-uh first. So that's another really important concept, is that the conditioned punisher is what they call it, but it can also be a negative reinforcement marker, is uh-uh. And you have to say it first before you use any kind of consequence at all.
And so I can use negative reinforcement first to guide him into the position and to keep him there. And then I can use a positive reinforcement when he's done it correctly.
A correction is judged by whether the behaviour goes down
an effective punishment is one that is uh it works right and so if you don't see a reduction in the behavior was your punishment effective no
say he's fixating and barking like that right then i used the collar this last time yes but did he stop fixating or barking no he's still doing it right um so then that should be an indicator right well that means that I need to increase the level of the penalty
one is it must be contingent on something they have control over right
If I'm getting tickets, well, I just want to avoid those tickets, and I know it's contingent on my behavior, so I can avoid it.
Let him look; correct the whining and barking; don't park him in a sit
he didn't start doing all the whining he didn't start doing he didn't bark he didn't charge he didn't do anything he shouldn't so i'm allowing the choice to happen
you have to let choice points um if you don't allow them to make the choice and then give them a positive or a negative consequence after the choice then what you never end up with is a dog you can actually have some trust with you just end up with a dog that you micromanage with obedience every time you take them out
what actually uh works is i don't give them any obedience commands at that time they're free to do whatever they want they can walk around they can sniff they can look they can do all that other stuff but as soon as they start the whining howling thing i penalize that and then i don't give them any commands i just go okay right and we're good i'm gonna pet them and everything else like there's no problems right reconcile and they're good to go
a lot of times the advice you'll see is like we'll pull them aside and put them in a sit and get them to look at you great but that means you'll do that every time for the rest of your life
i'm gonna end up penalizing it um more as we go along because and then like you'll need to do the same thing
Obedience will not fix the walk problem: the four windows
the idea is that you're able to do the same for the dog and so there are essentially four contexts that cover every part of the dog's life there's these four windows into the dog's life
if i taught bao to do a perfect heel which i'm planning on right yeah he's getting there right that's part of the program um would that fix his whining barking thing it would seem not really no like he could do that those are compatible he could do both at the same time
the work window also ends up band-aiding over this next window
most of their issues revolve around either just broad boundary behavior things, like what he's doing, or the other one is problems in this last window, the fourth window. The fourth window is the calm liberty window.
Adding cues in a second language: the new word goes first
Beo, kuja, come.
'kuja' is Kelton's example word for 'come' in another language, said just before the English cue Beo already knows
So he didn't register the kuja one at all. But he registered the come. And so if the one is paired with the other, then that's how they learn, right?
Heel on either side is fine
i've always had him on my right side
because it's easy to switch them to either one um as long as they know the command then you just guide them to the right place a couple of times and they'll go to that spot
Use heel where it matters, such as crossings; let him roam the rest of the walk
So healing is a really nice thing to do across when you're crossing streets on the crosswalks and stuff like that, because that can be one of the times that it's most useful because it keeps your dog close to you. But then like the rest of this walk, it's unnecessary. You can just let him roam freely.
When a dog slows after a correction, read refusal or doubt, then confirm the right choice
punisher i didn't use the e-collar in this case but i used the condition punisher and when i used it like it worked and he started coming towards me but like slowly right he was like i don't know he looked a little apprehensive so all i did there was just go like good job and then he looked super happy and ran towards me
you've said uh but now they're doing the right thing so confirm their choice tell them they did good right tell them they did the right thing so that they make it all the way to you
After go-home the owner can keep improving the dog
can get better when they go home they don't have to stay at the same place or regress they can get better you can improve their commands
To the family, through the camera: calm in public, and the heel getting close
and bail did fantastic i mean he went straight into the down he stayed in it the whole time he didn't whine or bark nothing he was just chilled out
hopefully that's what you wanted man talking to you the owner i know that's what you guys wanted
i hope you guys can see his heel has gotten a lot better he's really really on the way there he's he's getting close to being where we want him to be for you guys
In the family's own words
Before 2026-09-24 the family's words are reported second-hand: the owner's YouTube comment that Beo loves to fetch sticks, and the later report of balls and sticks. The intake is the family's own voice and is kept separately above.
On film
to the park and we i was just doing a set a play assessment and he pointed out that he loves to fetch sticks
All right, so I'm out here with Bale and I got the word from the owners that Bale likes two things a lot
At the owner lesson the owner says he has watched every video many times.
On film
of course i watched all of them 10 times
On the barking and howling at dogs: 'that's normal for us'. With another dog in sight he holds Beo close in a sit and Beo howls at it until it passes.
On film
that's normal for us
when there's another dog it'll just be me holding the leash right up against me as i just tell him to stop i'll tell him to sit he'll sit and howl at the dog going by
At home there has never been a problem: Beo is obedient, comes when called and goes to his place.
On film
it's it's really funny we've never had an issue with him in the house
yeah he's very obedient in the house yeah he comes when calls he stays does all the stuff
he goes to his place when when we tell him to go to his place
The owner wondered whether the noise on walks is a protective instinct toward the family.
On film
i'm not sure where the disconnect kind of is whether it be since we're family um he's grown up with us and that it's sort of like that protective instinct
On rewards: 'usually it's treats yeah he likes food'. On the sticks: the owner apologised that the tip had not worked.
On film
usually it's treats yeah he likes food
I felt like I steered you wrong. Yeah. With the recommendations.
Outcomes
What the trainers reported
He already holds a sit or down for about thirty seconds and will 'get it pretty fast'.
The day-one handler, 2026-09-02
On film
But I think he's going to get it pretty fast since he already has it sit down and he can already hold it for about 30 seconds
Sit, down and recall are coming along really well, and place is going well indoors and at home.
The park trainer, 2026-09-15
On film
his uh recall like the come command they're all going coming along really well
just fine he's doing great with place um in the in the indoor context and home
His commands are smooth everywhere the trainer has taken him. He is quick to learn and not shut down. 'I'm happy with him.'
The park trainer, 2026-09-17
On film
so he's doing really smoothly with his commands everywhere I've taken him so far and everywhere
I'm happy with him. He's doing pretty darn good.
He cannot go home pulling like this. It is the one thing that still needs continual work.
The park trainer, 2026-09-17
On film
something that we you know we can't send him home if he's pulling a leash like that.
Close to working off leash: on a flexi, with a reliable let's go and come, 'he could be off leash and it wouldn't matter'; what remains is proofing.
The trainer, 2026-09-23
On film
he could be off leash and it wouldn't matter
pretty darn close to anyway i'm just going to need to proof it
All right, this was an excellent session.
'Pretty much off leash ready', apart from a heel that still needs the leash.
Kelton, 2026-09-24 (afternoon walk)
On film
he's pretty much off leash ready
So he still needs the leash for the heel.
'Probably the easiest dog in my set this time.'
Kelton, 2026-09-24 (owner lesson)
On film
He's probably the easiest dog in my set this time.
Excellent obedience now; the barking and howling at dogs is the main thing keeping him from going anywhere with his owner, and it is deeply ingrained, though making progress.
The trainer, 2026-09-25
On film
we're just we're just gonna extinguish that behavior because it's the main thing preventing him otherwise than that he's a great dog with excellent obedience now and he should be able to go anywhere with his owner
This is big progress for Bale.
we're making some progress on it but we definitely need more reps because it seems like it's really really deep ingrained for bail
Calm at a playground as children passed, and a heel 'getting close to being where we want him to be for you guys'.
The trainer, to the owner through the camera, 2026-09-29
On film
and bail did fantastic i mean he went straight into the down he stayed in it the whole time he didn't whine or bark nothing he was just chilled out
i hope you guys can see his heel has gotten a lot better he's really really on the way there he's he's getting close to being where we want him to be for you guys
What the footage shows
A down on the verbal cue at the end of the first park session, after the struggle rep and a rest. The audio has the cue and the praise, and the trainer's 'I knew he was gonna do it'. Whether any pressure was used on that rep is not audible.
Heel begins on 2026-09-15 and by 2026-09-17 includes stops, pace changes, turns and entries.
On film
So that was his first little learning rep of heel
So I'm going to do some pace changes here in the heel.
Pulling persists sixteen days in, narrated as it happens.
On film
See, like right there, he's pulling on me pretty hard again.
The down with distance breaks when the handler turns away, and a later down takes repeated corrections before the release.
A down offered on a sit cue, reported by the trainer as anticipation.
On film
because when i first had said he went into the down because he was expecting it
With his owner present, whining, barking and howling at dogs in a park, which Kelton says is the first time he has had him bark; a collar correction during the lesson does not stop the fixation and barking, on Kelton's account.
On film
that's actually the first time I've had him bark
that's normal for us
say he's fixating and barking like that right then i used the collar this last time yes but did he stop fixating or barking no he's still doing it right um so then that should be an indicator right well that means that I need to increase the level of the penalty
A yelp at a down correction on 2026-09-23, at a level he had just taken; the trainer apologises, turns the level down, and the next down is held further away and for longer than before.
On film
down and oh down that was the same level as it just was so apparently that one freaked him out
you've never yelped like that before it's okay buddy
so now i'm just doing a little bit of distance and duration here more than we've done in the past i've never done this far before or this long doing good with it so far
Without the leash, no heel on 2026-09-24.
On film
So he still needs the leash for the heel.
By the trainer's account, 'really good' while a dog and its people pass him standing still, and no loud noises while following that dog along a path; a reaction when another dog gets ramped up at him (2026-09-25).
On film
And so I'm not gonna give me any command. I'm just gonna let him stand here.
Bayo's been really good.
That was a very good test for our boy Dale to walk behind that dog that whole way and not make lots of loud noises.
So the other dog got really ramped up at him. So I did punish through reactivity a few times. And that's like the main thing that we need to keep working on with Baio.
A heel rep with a clean entry, stops and both turns (2026-09-25), narrated as it happens.
On film
You saw that heel entry was nice. He came right into the heel there. He stops when I stop.
That was fantastic. Exactly what I wanted in this video.
On 2026-09-29, a down held as a group of children pass, by the trainer's report, and a heel that starts to break at another big dog.
On film
and bail did fantastic i mean he went straight into the down he stayed in it the whole time he didn't whine or bark nothing he was just chilled out
Got really excited he saw another big dog over there. So he started to break the heel. That's why we do it out in public.
Elsewhere from Angier K9
- Read Beo’s Angier K9 story ↗ · angierk9.com
The ideas Beo's case runs on
- 'Let's go' is not 'Come' - and the recall has an ending
- A life that gets smaller, and the bargain
- A raised texture, and never a punishment
- Attitude is the leading indicator
- Bracing and the oppositional reflex
- Breed is a checklist, not a verdict
- Build the handler's timing while it is easy
- Command, marker, collar - in that order
- Contingent, avoidable, and the right size
- Control is not obedience
- Don't accept the almost
- Drilling is what represses a dog
- False reps: the dog reads the chain, not the word
- Fit before level: check the tool before you judge the dog
- Food facilitates calm, it cannot create it
- Freedom is given in measured steps
- Generalisation is the whole job
- Give him time to answer
- He has to be allowed to get it wrong
- Heel entry versus heel in motion
- Help it or press it - read which
- Honest limits, and reliability is not permission
- Maintenance is use, not practice
- Never punish the return
- Pick the place for what it contains - life is the training ground
- Play becomes the reward - and play is a contest
- Pressure, release, reward
- Proof it against his own currency
- Quit on the good rep
- Reading the dog
- Release to freedom
- Show what not to do, allow everything else
- Start with freedom
- Step aside and down
- Swapped commands: keep sit and down distinct
- The camera is part of the method
- The correction that did not work
- The dog is a different dog for his owner - and authority transfers
- The dog tells you the reward
- The dose of a session
- The four windows, and calm liberty
- The gear list, and the reasons for each piece
- The leash is a prop
- The level is not a number
- The settle criterion
- The standard is set by the job
- The three Ds, and the variables nobody counts
- Two events, not one - and what the handler does in between
- You have to be able to reward him at all