Who Chapo is
As the trainers describe him
Very big and heavy-set.
'Truly aggressive' by the trainer's own contrast with Sofia. He wears protective clothing with such dogs. This is his characterisation, three days in; no incident is described.
On film
Porque tengo uno que está muy agresivo de verdad. El Chapo.
At pick-up he is intensely fixated on the staff, but improving as it goes.
On film
He's just so fixated on us.
He's doing better. He's not going right into the bike.
The program, stage by stage
Pick-up
2026-09-14.
Two staff collect him from a gated enclosure. A leash is made into a slip lead, and the line is handed across the gate. A ball and tug toy are fetched from the truck so the first contact is play. He is asked to sit, is intensely fixated on them, improves, and is loaded with 'Go home' while both handlers keep even tension on the line. In the debrief they agree the tug was the right call because it said they were there to play, not to confront. They expect him to play ball and tug. A stretch of client scheduling by phone (04:10-07:24) is private and not used.
On film
Felton, do you want me to make this into a slip lead?
You're going to see there's a ball and there's a tuck toy.
Go home, Chapo! All right. You're just gonna keep even pressure.
well it was good that we ended up doing it that way because he actually he did good coming out
yeah yeah he was doing good and especially with like the i think it was a good call on the tug
How the method adapted
One handling choice at pick-up, explained afterwards.
The first meeting was framed as play: a tug and a ball rather than a straight leash-and-load.
Stated in the debrief: they are not there to confront him, they want to play.
On film
yeah because then it's like hey like dude we're just here we're not here to like attack anybody that's just anything yeah like honestly i just want to play
like because I mean that's true yeah I have no interest in having confrontations with dogs no I do have a lot of interest in playing with dogs
Two-person handling: a gate hand-off, then even tension from both sides while loading.
Not stated. Inferred: safety with a large dog reported to have bitten.
On film
Keep even tension.
What the family was told
In the family's own words
None.
Outcomes
What the trainers reported
He did well coming out.
Staff debrief at pick-up
On film
well it was good that we ended up doing it that way because he actually he did good coming out
What the footage shows
A calm pick-up and loading, with no incident audible.