Field Notes · An evolving learning library from Angier K9

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Brody

Who Brody is

As the trainers describe him

Quick, playful and smart: fast after the toy, not fooled by a fake throw, and expected to pick up heel and a pressure-free down 'very quickly'.
On film

You're fast Brody!

Watch at 1:37 ↗

there it goes you don't know where it's going oh oh he's too smart he figured out where it was

Watch at 4:26 ↗

boy, so he'll very quickly figure out, good, that he just needs to stay by my side

Watch at 11:56 ↗
Soft to leash pressure.
On film

And this good leash yielding, came right off the pressure

Watch at 14:21 ↗

Rescue context

Point

That this is the same Brody is likely but not stated.

On film

betty uh uh brody

Watch at 13:35 ↗

The program, stage by stage

Stage

By 2026-03-18 (upload), if the Brody named then is him.

Nothing else.

On film

i know some of them just came in and everything and they don't look

Watch at 13:35 ↗

Second walk: decompress, recall, then pressure on the downTurning point

Uploaded 2026-04-06.

The trainer lets him pee, poop and burn energy before asking for anything. Recall is proofed on the walk, sit and down are cued. Believing he now knows down, the trainer states the next step: move from escape to avoidance with a little more pressure, so that he downs before the pressure arrives and soon needs none; dial the e-collar below the recall setting and layer it into sit, down and heel. Heel is kept to very short durations at first. The e-collar is layered into one down, and the trainer notes he turns it off the way he turns off any other pressure.

On film

When we first come out instead of going straight into commands once we get out of the building

Watch at 0:53 ↗

escape to avoidance and put a little bit more pressure on it so that he knows he

Watch at 10:39 ↗

and so i layered the e-collar into that one

Watch at 14:41 ↗

Back to work through play, and one refused sit

Uploaded 2026-05-25 (two parts).

After a water break he refuses sit again and again - 'the only time he's ever not sat' - so the trainer, who has not been using a leash, borrows a broken one, gets one sit, and takes it off: one rep, so the refusal does not become a precedent.

On film

you got it, you got it, you got it

Watch at 3:55 ↗

this is the only time he's ever not sat,

Watch at 2:25 ↗

We just need to do that one rep, dude.

Watch at 3:41 ↗

Can't set that precedent, buddy.

Watch at 3:46 ↗

Field trip and 'Return Home after Play' - not yet readable

OFVuBwEGd3c uploaded 2026-06-10; watch and watch undated here.

Nothing is concluded from them.

Skills

Down

At the startIn April the trainer thinks he knows it and moves from escape to avoidance with e-collar layering.
By the endIn May, after weeks off, it takes many repetitions and markers to get, and then he gets it.

How it was taught

April: a little more pressure so he downs before it comes, e-collar dialled below the recall setting and layered in. May: the toy held as motivator, 'eh' for errors, release to play.

On film

down good boy so since he I think he knows it now I just need to change from

Watch at 10:26 ↗

quickly such that very soon I won't have to put any pressure because he'll just

Watch at 10:51 ↗

Down, eh, down, Brody, eh, eh, down, down, come on, bud, eh, eh, Brody, down, down, bud,

Watch at 3:39 ↗

Heel

At the startEarly in April.
By the endOne rep the trainer calls good; not revisited in the May footage.

How it was taught

Very short durations first, markers for drifting.

On film

That's why I make the duration really short at first.

Watch at 12:04 ↗

So he did good on that one.

Watch at 12:25 ↗

Recall

At the startBeing proofed on the April walk.
By the endA good proofing rep in April; in May called in with 'eh' markers while more interested in another person.

How it was taught

'Come' on the walk under ordinary distraction (a squirrel, a barking dog, traffic exhaust).

On film

That was a good recall proofing rep.

Watch at 8:23 ↗

Place

At the startNot stated.
By the endGoes up on repeated cues in May; used as a break between play.

How it was taught

Cue, markers, praise.

On film

all right you're gonna take a break place place Brody place Brody place up

Watch at 6:43 ↗

Sit

At the startReliable, by the trainer's account.
By the endRefused repeatedly on 2026-05-25; one sit obtained on leash.

How it was taught

Follow-through: leash on for one rep, then off.

On film

Okay, let's get this broken leash back off you.

Watch at 3:39 ↗

Recall

Update. A tone is to be trained 'today' in the Day 4 clip. The Rufus walk read for Egg's arc (watch) has the trainer plan a tone recall for all the dogs in that group, which is probably what 'the tone we call' is; the Short does not show the tone being used. The kennel clip adds a plain on-leash recall at the end of the day.
On film

And we're going to be training him on the tone we call today as well,

Watch at 0:13 ↗

Brody. Brody come. Good boy.

Watch at 0:38 ↗

Sit

On film

Hey, sit. Sit bud. Sit. Good. Sit. Good job Brody.

Watch at 1:28 ↗

Okay, so he did great coming in and out.

Watch at 1:49 ↗

Down

On film

for brody super easy

Watch at 0:00 ↗

From the Shorts

Short clips posted from Brody's training. They are undated, so they sit beside the program rather than inside it.

Back out after a few weeks off

The handler comes to get Brody out of his kennel after a break of a few weeks, greets him as 'a sweet little man' and asks if he is feeling better. Then it is 'let's go' out to the play yard to play ball: the first handling after the break starts with affection and play, not commands.

Watch the Short at 0:00 ↗

On film

All right, I'm here to get Mr. Brody out, and he's just a sweet boy, just a sweet little man

Watch at 0:00 ↗

He's doing better. I love you, bud

Watch at 1:26 ↗

Let's go. Good job, man

Watch at 1:39 ↗

let's go we're gonna play ball we're gonna play ball buddy

Watch at 2:12 ↗

Doorway manners and a first look at 'the tone'

In a clip titled Day 4, the trainer says that today Brody will start training on 'the tone' (the words are unclear; probably a tone recall, where a beep means come), sharpen his other commands and work on doorway manners. A backup is put on to keep him safe, he is asked to sit at a second doorway, and the trainer says he did great coming in and out and feels good about him being off leash relatively soon.

Watch the Short at 0:13 ↗

On film

And we're going to be training him on the tone we call today as well,

Watch at 0:13 ↗

as well as sharpening up his other commands and doorway manners.

Watch at 0:28 ↗

Let's put on the backup, make sure he's safe.

Watch at 0:58 ↗

And I'm feeling good about him being off-leash relatively soon as well.

Watch at 1:02 ↗

Hey, sit. Sit bud. Sit. Good. Sit. Good job Brody.

Watch at 1:28 ↗

Okay, so he did great coming in and out.

Watch at 1:49 ↗

Back to his kennel after play

Walking him back after a play session, the handler lets Brody lead; when he heads the wrong way he is called, comes, and is sent in with 'Go home', with a promise to come and get him again soon.

Watch the Short at 0:38 ↗

On film

Remind me where you stay. I'm gonna follow you

Watch at 0:15 ↗

No, you don't go out there. That's not where you live.

Watch at 0:22 ↗

Brody. Brody come. Good boy. Go home. Go home.

Watch at 0:38 ↗

I'll come get you soon.

Watch at 0:53 ↗

How the method adapted

Two occasions, and the difference between them is the adaptation: structured pressure work on a walk before his injury, play-only work after it.

Decompression before any command on leaving the building.

Stated as the trainer's habit: let them pee, poop and get their energy out first.

On film

peeing on stuff. Good boy. I like to let them get there

Watch at 0:24 ↗

They're peeing and they're pooping in their energy out

Watch at 0:49 ↗

After weeks off for an injury, he is brought back on play rather than pressure: every rep in the May visit is paid with fetch or tug and no collar is mentioned.

Not stated.

On film

all right we're gonna play we're gonna play we're gonna play Brody

Watch at 0:29 ↗

A refusal is completed once, with the minimum tool, and the tool removed at once.

Stated: not to set a precedent.

On film

get a leash, I haven't been using one of them

Watch at 2:51 ↗

Can't set that precedent, buddy.

Watch at 3:46 ↗

Outcomes

What the trainers reported

He is happy and recovered after the fight.

The trainer, May visit

On film

he's good now he's happy now

Watch at 2:55 ↗

Soon he will down without any pressure.

The trainer, April walk (a prediction)

On film

quickly such that very soon I won't have to put any pressure because he'll just

Watch at 10:51 ↗

What the footage shows

No audiovisual review.

The ideas Brody's case runs on