Josi
Who Josi is
As the trainers and owner describe her
A dachshund, said many times by trainers, and a littermate of Milo. The Astro trainer calls them twins. He came out short-haired and she came out long-haired.
On film
I love these little dachshunds.
yep he came out short she came out long-haired
i actually just had that happen i had uh that little dachshund and she has a twin brother um named milo josie milo
Tiny, short-legged and long-bodied, with a coat that needs work.
On film
nice slow walking for her because she's not the fastest doggy because she got these little legs
yeah yeah you can say hi she's headlocking her she's got a long body she's like a hot dog
Well, her bottom end has just started growing out in the last four months.
Openly friendly with people. Strangers pick her up and kiss her, and she lets them. In November she is the 'more temperate' of the two dogs.
On film
Hi baby. Good girl Josie. Friendly or no? Oh super friendly. Can I pet? Oh yeah. Josie say hi.
Some of the two I always found Josie to be the the more temperate temperate.
that face well everybody loves her initially and then she starts kissing them and they're like
lovers she's a little bitey bite they love hugs they love hugs
Her response to pressure she does not understand is to disengage: stand still, freeze, hide or leave. Three different handlers name a version of this. It is the thread that runs through her whole case.
On film
milo's like i'm sitting okay so what she's doing there is she's freezing up a little bit
of just like because like josie does that to you where she just stands there and it looks like she just doesn't care
getting caught good girl come on good girl so there she just kind of suppressed and decided she didn't want to come with me
okay when Josie as an example felt the e collar she ran the opposite direction
Scent pulls her away. Handlers put that down to breed. In the March stay the opposite problem appears: she and Milo will not leave the trainer at all. Neither handler reconciles the two.
On film
Sometimes on distractions a little bit more even if it's just sniffing stuff for her Her and Milo, they're breeds. They get on the trail of something.
My goal is that they walk away from me a few times.
see josie do it too she doesn't go as far most of the time in my experience so far
Treats do little for her with the March trainer. People and petting do the most. She plays, but not hard: she mouths a rope where Milo pulls on it.
On film
that honestly right now for them the biggest reinforcer for them is to just interact with somebody and get petted
get Milo to play with me separately like without too much issue but I couldn't get Josie to play with me separately very much
good so like getting her to play easy right getting josie to play hard hard
The program, stage by stage
An earlier program
Before November 2025. Date unknown.
The owner says so, the staff greet her in November as a returning dog, and a trainer credits her release word to 'we worked with her on it'. She arrives at the November lesson already wearing an e-collar. Nothing else is known about that program: not its length, its trainer, what it taught or how the collar was introduced.
November 2025: her brother's lesson, and Josi as the easy one
14-15 November 2025. One lesson, uploaded as three parts. Josi is on camera only in part 3.
The lesson is about Milo, who had reacted to a small dog. Josi appears in the owner's stories in parts 1 and 2: rough play between the siblings that the owner calls normal, an episode in which Josi clamped Milo and he pinned her, and a walk on which Josi barked and went after a child. In part 3 she is fetched from the car. She has a prong fitted above her e-collar and works a stay with the owner, which the owner says is 'about the same'. The trainer says she is responding well to the release. The trainer describes her as the more temperate of the two, and less likely to need the correction Milo got.
On film
You'll probably get a chance to practice it with Josie if she does anything stupid, but she's less likely to do that.
but he flung Josie and like it stood on top of her and everybody was still
Would it be okay to grab Josie and see how she does with the pearl?
December 2025: the down in public, and a collar that was not touching her
In care by 1 December; uploads 1, 3 and 10 December 2025
A staff handler takes Josi into public places: a Sheetz while waiting for an order, and a Home Depot, the latter on the same trip as Milo. The current project, in his own words, is the down. It takes several cues and 'nope' marks per rep, one physical nudge, and he calls it 'doing good'. The heel needs many 'nope's, and twice he asks 'What's going on?' and does not say what she did. Once, during a recall in the store, he asks 'What's wrong?' and picks her up. On a late-night off-leash walk in downtown Angier, a missed recall leads him to turn the collar up. Then he finds the contact points are not touching her, tightens it, turns it back down, and tells the camera why fit matters. She then needs several stimulations, which he says she felt, before she comes. That is the first on-camera sign of the problem the March trainer will call poisoning. In December nobody frames it that way.
On film
how's your hand oh it's doing fine it's a little scratch yeah yeah we've been working with josie on down she's doing good
What's going on?
e-collar up just slightly because she did not respond to that. Josie, here. Here. Nope. Either that or it's not making contact. Yep, it's not making contact.
something it's just a reminder that it's important to make sure that your e-collar is on tight enough for the contact points to make contact because if they don't you can press it on any level you want and the dog feels nothing if it's not touching them
All right, I know she felt that one.
The December go-home lesson: hiding as learned escapeTurning point
Uploaded 15, 16 and 19 December 2025. One lesson in three parts, in a public place.
The handover. The trainer corrects Josi's attention-barking at passers-by until, in his words, she is 'done with it'. He tells the owner that a correction she does not care about is not a correction. On recall he says Josi is more likely than Milo to ignore it, and puts the tapped recall at 80 to 90 percent reliable for him. Then the owner describes the problem that defines this stage: at home, asked to sit, Josi walks under a covered chair and hides. The trainer says she has done the same to him under his truck. His diagnosis is about 90 percent learned escape and 10 percent confusion or fear: hiding worked, because the pressure stopped, so it became a habit. His prescription is to turn the pressure up, pull her out and have her finish. If something else is going on, he says, go back to the relationship and play first. In the last part he tells the owner to say 'nope' once, not repeatedly, because Josi will either ignore it or start to worry. And he tells her not to drill downs: drilled, Josi drops 'too fast' because 'she just thinks oh crap', which he takes as a sign of general suppression rather than learning. This is the point at which the two readings of her - stubborn or confused - are first set out, and the trainer chooses 'stubborn, mostly'.
On film
had to do until i saw that she cared right because that's all it is is if if you see she doesn't care well then you didn't correct her
way, which Josie is more likely to ignore it than Milo is, if they don't start coming
me and then walked underneath my chair and like it's covered um so you know but she can get under and you can't see her and so it's like i'd give her command and she'd run and go hide under the chair
Um, so here's the way that I kind of think about that, that scenario most of the time, and it's true of Josie. I happen to know that because of work, uh, is, um, there's two potential problems there and it can be like a kind of hybrid, uh, for her, it's about 90% one thing and about 10% the other thing.
the only reason that that would turn into a habit is if it worked
happened with her i don't think it's a lot of like a like a problem i think she has clarity but like in the wrong direction she has clarity that that works
trying to like when we're demonstrating stuff is then they she starts to go into that mode where she goes into it too fast right because she just thinks oh crap right so don't like drill like a whole bunch of them in a row
December to March
About mid-December 2025 to about 10 March 2026
The only trace of this period is a line from the March trainer to the owner: something 'that you had happen once', when Josi fled on feeling the e-collar. So at least once at home, the collar produced flight.
On film
it flipped her she's she's flipped her response to it successfully so instead of doing that thing that you had happen once where she fled when she felt the e-collar she just responds to the come
March 2026, week one: place, and a checkpoint standard she is measured against
About 10-11 March 2026 (watch, uploaded 03-11, the same day as Milo's 'Training Session 1')
A different trainer runs her. He says he did the same session with Milo earlier that day, and states the plan for later days: fix the distinction between sit and down 'again', then recall. The session runs play, then loose-leash walking in named phases, slowed for her legs; at one point she 'suppressed' and he talks her out of it. Then place. First comes a run of short, happy repetitions, to make sure the cot is a place she likes and the release word is good. Then a few small taps of pressure until she is on, with the pressure off the instant she is. Then a 15-minute timed hold in a quiet yard. She breaks once, before the timer starts, and no correction is reported during the 15 minutes. While the timer runs, he explains a document he is writing for the in-care dogs: weekly checkpoints, each of which counts only if it is recorded. By the end of week two a dog must hold place for 15 minutes on a cot in a park beside a walking trail, with people passing with their dogs and no more than one correction; otherwise it is a fail. That is the standard Josi's own record should be measured against. See outcomes.
On film
just like we did with Milo good girl and then and then on another day we'll get started on doing a little bit of the position work again you see where she's at with that we're gonna fix the distinction between the set and the down
So, the important thing about teaching the place is that you might have a little bit of pressure until they get on and that pressure increases as they know the behavior better and then the pressure must turn off immediately as soon as they're on the place got
good come on come on please good place so I'm gonna have her stay up there a little bit longer we're gonna see if she can do 15 minutes and see how many mistakes she makes
or walking out of sight or doing other things like that and then by the end of week two they should be able to do it on a cot at the park next to a walking trail during a time of day where people are walking by with their dogs and the standard is that you can't do more than like one correction during the 15 minutes otherwise it's void
This is a weekly video checkpoint, so you can't just say, oh, yeah, I did that. It needs to be recorded for it to count, and then I'll review it at the end of every week.
The backyard session: a helper to leave, and a collar she stops running fromTurning point
Uploaded 15 March 2026 (watch), at the trainer's mother's house by his own later account
The turn in her case. The trainer's problem all month is that both dogs stay glued to him, so there is nothing to recall them from. He refuses to give Josi a formal recall while she has no collar or line on, because he could not enforce it. Then a helper holds each dog in turn, so the dog has somewhere it does not want to leave, and he recalls the dog away from her. He frames both dogs as choosing flight: running from the collar worked, because the pressure stopped and nobody could make them come. The fix he describes is to teach them how to escape the pressure, so they can later avoid it altogether by coming on the word. Josi vocalises on one recall ('you sound like we're torturing you'). On the last recall she comes without any stimulation at all, and the collar comes off. Every later upload refers back to this session. The trainer credits it with most of the recall improvement - 80 percent in one lesson, 60 percent in another.
On film
prong collar Josie what you doing and then very importantly here I'm not doing a formal recall because I don't have a way to obligate her I don't have a long line on her I don't have any collar on her
is they have to have a clear understanding of how to escape the pressure and get the pleasure
that leg is so muscular he does have muscly legs otherwise in this case both of them have a tendency they choose flight right so they'll run instead of obeying the command
come oh that's so dramatic that's so dramatic you sound like we're torturing you
oh that was so good and josie did not have to feel anything she got she avoided everything
quickly like to be honest with you probably 80% of the recall improvement that you see now with the two of them came from that one session
Proofing: the response flips, place holds with cars passing, and a recall away from a person
Outings built around getting the dogs away from the trainer. In a wet dog park Josi wears the only micro educator. For the first reps it turns out to be switched off. At the end the trainer says her response to the collar is now to come, not to run. A play session with no formal recall at all is, by his own account, meant to make them wander off. In a new neighbourhood she holds place on a cot in a parking area while he walks off with Milo to search the truck and cars pass. Christian then makes himself interesting, and she is recalled away from him: 'That's a nice recall ... Dachshunds are trainable.' In the Major session she may be the second dachshund used as a distraction; the audio does not say.
On film
Josie come Josie Josie come Josie come oh I never turned it on
Josie come come that's a much better response than before to the e-collar her response now instead of to run is to come good girl that's what we need
We got a few reps in of the recall. call and Josie responded properly to the pressure this time
there. We're gonna be able to walk away with Milo while Josie's on the place cat.
Josie has stayed.
That's a nice recall.
The owner lessons and the off-leash claim
Uploaded 31 March, 1 April and 2 April 2026 (watch with watch; watch; watch). The order of the last two is uncertain.
Lesson one teaches the owner the trainer's framework, demonstrated mostly on Milo. Josi's turn covers place, the sit-down distinction and the recall. Her sit problem is the December problem under another name: she downs when asked to sit. It has been fixed, he says, by calmly showing her the mistake, because she is plainly trying to comply. He explains her earlier flight as a poisoned collar, probably an accident by one of his trainers. With the owner watching, a tap at about 18 makes Josi speed up and come, and the owner's next call needs no tap. At home, the second lesson tightens both collars a notch, because they were sliding, and teaches a property boundary. Josi stops at the line on her own, then gets one collar correction the trainer says was more than needed, and then actively avoids that spot. He says that making a place aversive is normally wrong and justifies it as life or death. In a busy park, with leashes and lines off and collars on, both dogs are recalled away from the owner, people, kids and a football game. No stimulation on Josi is reported. She does a 'fake sit'. Separately, on 1 April, the trainer tells another client they are 'fully off leash now'.
On film
right because she was downing sometimes when you're asking her to sit right
because it's just a mistake right um she's obviously trying to comply why did she down
You'll see it later on the camera. Hopefully but I tapped the collar on like an 18 And she sped up and came to me right so it clarifies it
yeah so like one thing to remember is i think both of their e-collars they're about one notch too loose okay yeah just because they were sliding around and they're not going to make consistent contact
but let's see how it goes i'll turn it down a little bit from it was on like a 12.
Sit. Oh, she is sitting. Okay. Oops. She's not doing her normal sit. She's doing his fake sit.
she has a twin brother um named milo josie milo they're fully off leash now
Skills
Recall, and her response to the e-collar
How it was taught
Two stays, two frames. December: say 'here'; if she does not start back, tap the collar and pop the leash together, using the leash for direction. The fault found on camera is fit, not level. March: no formal recall unless it can be enforced. Create something she wants to leave: a helper, Christian, the owner. Cue, give her a chance, then light taps with a line for direction, off the instant she heads in, then cheerlead and let her go back. The explicit aim is escape first, then avoidance. The March trainer checks the collar is on and making contact, and adds informal calls for when he does not want to enforce.
On film
they seem to confused because they normally know like it's about 80 to 90 percent reliable for me right now that I can see that if I tap the e-collar
This is where the e-collar comes in and she recalls great on the flexi on the long line and she normally recalls perfectly well, but
right and that can happen when to be very frank with you it's not made clear to the dog what turns it off
if i go josie come good job and see she avoids the e-collar entirely
there they go milo josie come yeah beautiful that's good all right
Down, and the sit it keeps replacing
How it was taught
December: repeated cue with 'nope' for non-compliance, a leash pop down and forward for the owner, 'nope' once before any pop so that 'down' never comes to mean a pop, and few repetitions spread over an outing. March: for the sit, a calm 'uh-uh, not quite', help into position, pressure off, release. The explicit reason is that her error is a mistake, not a refusal.
On film
how that goes instead down down nope nope down nope nope josie down down down okay good girl
Okay down we'll work with the down she likes it better down down what
nope then if they don't then you can start yeah yeah say nope once you don't have to keep saying
right so i just go uh-uh not quite and then i just help her and she gets into the sit
I also tapped the e-collar a few times.
Place
How it was taught
Positive first: short, happy repetitions with a quick release to check the release word. Then small taps of pressure until she is on, with the pressure off the instant she is on, so the cot never becomes a bad place. Then duration in low distraction. Then distraction and distance, which the trainer calls more important than duration once 15 minutes is reached.
On film
good, good, good, good. Come on. Come on. Good job, mama. You did good. I'm just making sure that her release word, her release marker is good and that she actually enjoys going
up. Nope. Place. So one mistake there. Place. Good. No pressure on the play scott.
the funny thing is that like increasing duration in this setting is like it's fine and all but it's like if they can do 15 minutes they can do an hour right so what's more important is that I increased the other two D's
And so the video that we did, I did one with Josie and one with Milo. um with a pretty good deal of distractions around um for I think it was like 15 minutes each
Loose leash and heel
How it was taught
Named phases: U-turns with a tiny pop when she lags, sporadic changes of direction, then straight walking with pulling punished. Pace slowed for her legs.
On film
girl you did it you did a good job you got a little sticky on the turn there
good girl come on good girl a plus so she's just following me on all these turns now she's not really trying to get away from me
So with her, we're going to have to do that at the park because I have a feeling she's just going to walk with me just fine here.
they just default to walking beside beside you which is or at most like the other thing i noticed is like josie will walk like right here
Boundaries: the yard line
How it was taught
A treat thrown over the line as temptation, blocked with body language, a walk back and praise, repeated at three or four entry points. The criterion: she walks on with the handler without needing a release. Then a collar correction at the line, so the rule is attached to the ground and not the handler and holds when nobody is there.
On film
so there's so they have a German Shepherd that dog that's walking around that's the one that came in the yard and lured her that way
it's right there yeah good girl come on good job she did that one on her own
they're listening to me i want it to be like a thing where it's like associated with the ground
Public manners: barking and greeting
How it was taught
Excitement allowed and greetings nearly always permitted; inappropriate expression marked with 'nope' and corrected until the dog shows she cares, then 'okay' and move on.
On film
And the reason that I did a little bit more very great there at the end is because all I wanted was I wanted for
off leash right she she barks really loud at the dogs that have passed by um but she wasn't trying to like engage them in a negative way which is always him doing that
just feel like if i can have them like if i see people approaching like go hit them down yeah you can yeah or you can just put them in heel and walk by
Recall, and her response to the e-collar
On film
You know the proper response to the e-collars much more active off the leash
Down, and the sit it keeps replacing
On film
test a little bit of duration Josie Milo down Josie and all the way down Milo
Loose leash and heel
On film
Josie Milo heel good dogs
From the Shorts
Short clips posted from Josi's training. They are undated, so they sit beside the program rather than inside it.
Off leash with her brother, past other dogs
A handler takes Josi and Milo off leash together and walks them past an area with lots of dogs as a test. He cues both by name to sit, down, heel and 'let's go', and lists what they know: come, heel, sit, down, let's go, 'okay' to release, 'nope' to mean no, and place. He then puts them in a down and walks away to test how long they hold it; Josi needs a second prompt to go all the way down. He ends by saying they do really well and he is very happy.
On film
They're looking good. I'm just going to test them
I'm gonna walk by an area with lots of dogs
Josie Milo heel good dogs so you can see they know come they
know heel they know sit they know down Josie Milo let's go
test a little bit of duration Josie Milo down Josie and all the way down Milo
so I can create some distance and for some duration good job guys and they do really well
Free time with Milo and Major
Josi and her brother Milo are let loose with another dog in the program, Major. The handler says Josi and Milo are running all around while Major would rather sniff. In two companion clips the same three dogs come out together in the morning and explore a room with a cat tree; there the handler names only Milo and Major.
On film
josie and milo are running all around i love the way these doctors run
they are having the time of their lives
their paws are all wet from the the dew of the grass
How the method adapted
Most of the adaptations are made for her size, and are shared with Milo. The ones that are hers alone are about the leaving: what to do when she freezes, hides or runs. On that, the two stays adapted in opposite directions.
Hiding was answered with more pressure, not less (December).
The December trainer judged it about 90 percent learned escape: she hid because hiding had ended the pressure before. The only way to reverse that, he said, was for hiding to stop working. He made an explicit exception if something else was going on, in which case relationship and play come first.
On film
i actually turn pressure up when they hide uh from me like that unless there's something else going on but in this case there's not
right so then i'm gonna uh kind of be like nope nope nope you're not gonna do that that's not gonna work mister or that's not gonna work little girl like that and then i'm gonna like pull them them out of there and then make, make sure they still do it.
Running was answered with clarity, not pressure (March): a helper to leave, a line for direction, and relief the moment she turned.
The March trainer judged that she did not know what turned the collar off, so she tried fleeing, and fleeing worked. The fix was to make escape obvious and quick, so she could learn to avoid it. His stated limit is 'a little stressful', not 'extremely stressful'.
On film
good good dogs good job guys yeah and so if you teach this very clearly from the beginning it does not have to be extremely stressful just a little stressful
to the dog what turns it off right and so then they try other things because they have options what are their options to try to turn it off well they could come to you or they could flee or they could freeze and hunker down
Her wrong position was treated as a mistake, in a quiet voice.
Offering a down for a sit reads, to the March trainer, as trying to comply. So the correction is 'uh-uh, not quite' and help into position, not authority. In December the same default was met with firmer delivery and a 'cracked out' release to lift her out of looking suppressed.
On film
And you notice that like my tone is not like, like really authoritative and like, no, you did the wrong thing.
Right. Right. But the important part is is making the release command like as as like cracked out as possible.
No drilling. A few downs spread over an outing, not a run of them.
Drilled, she drops into the down fast out of worry. The December trainer reads that as learning to be suppressed in general, not learning the cue.
On film
just doesn't care um what will happen is if you keep doing keep doing keep doing it then she's going to start to go she's going to start to kind of like freak out a little bit like what's going on
Equipment and pace scaled to a tiny dog: micro educator, micro or mini prong, slower walking, collar fit checked twice.
Her body. A standard collar's contact points sit too far apart on a dog this small, and a loose collar slides off contact. The December fit failure and the April 'one notch too loose' are the same fault.
On film
gonna i think they thrive on a mini prong collar yeah the mini prong collar fits them a lot better and the micro educator is a lot better for them
nice slow walking for her because she's not the fastest doggy because she got these little legs
Never recalled formally when the recall could not be enforced.
An unenforceable 'come' that she ignores teaches her she can ignore it. When she wore nothing she was not called, and informal calls were used whenever the trainer did not intend to follow through.
On film
Josie and I'm just giving her an informal recall there so I don't have to reinforce if she doesn't come because I'm not trying to do a recall rep right now
Kept away from large dogs, and the owner told to think about the other dog's safety first.
Size. A meeting that would be harmless for a large dog could kill a small one.
On film
know like a situation that um I would encourage you to think more about the other dog yeah and whether or not they're safe for them than the reverse
I mean, even generally, you got dachshunds, I don't let dachshunds play with large dogs typically.
Reward chosen from what she actually wanted - people and petting - while play was built in parallel. The owner was told to get her excited in her own way.
She ignored treats, and she would not tug.
On film
the training yeah i can't just be like all right i played with your dogs for four weeks now they know how to play now we have to finish the training
No, yeah, get her amped up however you can and then play with her.
What the family was told
When she hides or leaves
i actually turn pressure up when they hide uh from me like that unless there's something else going on but in this case there's not
where like they're like yeah then i'm like okay we need to like change direction here and try some other things and get you more engaged with me and improve the relationship and play with you
Corrections have to land
had to do until i saw that she cared right because that's all it is is if if you see she doesn't care well then you didn't correct her
it most of the time and and for something like this it's just obedience i don't keep saying nope nope nope nope
The recall and the collar
So all that would mean is that you would say like here, and then if they didn't start coming back to you right away,
Yeah, just tell her eh eh again. Tell her to come.
yeah so like one thing to remember is i think both of their e-collars they're about one notch too loose
Yeah, put it up above the e-collar.
Place and the release
And come on place good. So then you see how that's negative reinforcement There was pressure, and the pressure went away as soon as she got up there.
Yeah, and so if they don't get off right away, I normally just encourage them. I'll just cheerlead for them.
Other dogs, people and children
know like a situation that um I would encourage you to think more about the other dog yeah and whether or not they're safe for them than the reverse
just feel like if i can have them like if i see people approaching like go hit them down yeah you can yeah or you can just put them in heel and walk by
Boundaries
so like think of it like this so if you walk that way and they stop and they go and then you walk back and you walk by them and they get up without you saying okay then that means they're seeing that as a border that they're not supposed to cross over
actively right she doesn't want anything to do with that area um and normally it's like hey we don't want that that's a bad thing you don't want to train dog that way right but in this case it's one of the few cases where it's like no
Play
No, yeah, get her amped up however you can and then play with her. And then just like ask her for obedience while you guys
Film your practice
why i like taking videos and i also recommend that
In the family's own words
The owner's account of Josi at home is the only evidence of the hiding, and she is candid about her own part in it.
On film
under the chair yeah and she would just like man i'm not doing this and then walk away
like you know reaching out to you like i don't know what she's like zero percent yeah and maybe she wasn't zero percent i was just user error
She tried to call Josi out of an excited state in public and could not. That was her question at the go-home lesson.
On film
played with them and walked off and i was like okay here josie here they were still in that mode
then i had to really like correct and she just did not care
In April her worry about off-leash freedom is not running away but losing sight of a dog this small.
On film
oh there you are they freak me out though when i'm when i have them off leash um not because i'm worried they're going to run off but because they're so small i can't tell where they're at
At home Josi plays best in her own way, and gives way to Milo over toys.
On film
Um, when Josie even would play at home, um. She's slightly more docile with it.
play fighting yeah i'll kind of get on my knees and make her noise and she will just come at me
Outcomes
What the trainers reported
The down was going well in December.
The December handler, to a shopper, Home Depot
On film
how's your hand oh it's doing fine it's a little scratch yeah yeah we've been working with josie on down she's doing good
The tapped recall was 80 to 90 percent reliable for the trainer, at the December handover - for both dogs, with Josi the more likely of the two to ignore it.
The December go-home trainer
On film
they seem to confused because they normally know like it's about 80 to 90 percent reliable for me right now
Her response to the collar has flipped from running to coming.
The March trainer, 03-19 and again to the owner on 03-31
On film
Josie come come that's a much better response than before to the e-collar her response now instead of to run is to come
it flipped her she's she's flipped her response to it successfully
Most of the recall improvement came from the one backyard session - 80 percent in one telling, 60 percent in another.
The March trainer, 03-31 and 04-01
On film
quickly like to be honest with you probably 80% of the recall improvement
was done in that session you saw in that in my mom's backyard like that was like probably 60 of the learning for the recall happened like in that session
Good duration on everything; close to being trusted off leash.
The March trainer, 03-31
On film
doing really great on her duration for everything
let's go find it yeah but she also is getting pretty close to the point where i'm gonna be okay having her off
Fully off leash.
The trainer, to another client in the Astro update evaluation, uploaded 2026-04-01
On film
she has a twin brother um named milo josie milo they're fully off leash now and i was off leash with them we were walking around
They recall about 95 percent of the time without the collar.
On film
of the time even 95% of time without the collar it's just the 5% that I worry
What the footage shows
A recall away from a helper, completed without any stimulation, after which the collar was taken off.
On film
oh that was so good and josie did not have to feel anything she got she avoided everything
A 15-minute place hold in a quiet yard, timed, with one break before the timer and none reported during it. Long stretches of the timed hold have no speech, so a silent break cannot be ruled out.
On film
She's been good. She's been up there for five and a half minutes
A place hold on a cot on pavement while the handler walks away with Milo and a car passes.
On film
A car cometh, a car goeth. Josie has stayed.
One tap at about 18 speeds up a slow recall in front of the owner; the owner's next call needs none.
On film
now yeah good girl good okay so go ahead and call her okay i didn't have to do it at all
Recalls with leashes and lines off and collars on, in a busy spring park. No stimulation on Josi is reported. A 'fake sit' near a football game.
On film
there they go milo josie come yeah beautiful that's good all right
She stops at the yard boundary on her own, at more than one entry point, before the collar is used there.
On film
walk across that whole area good and so you see there she stopped on her own
The ideas Josi's case runs on
- A border taught to the ground
- Another dog as helper, tester or draw
- Breed is a checklist, not a verdict
- Don't poison the command
- Drilling is what represses a dog
- Fit before level: check the tool before you judge the dog
- Freedom is given in measured steps
- He has to be allowed to get it wrong
- Help it or press it - read which
- Pick the place for what it contains - life is the training ground
- Pressure, release, reward
- Release to freedom
- Say the criterion out loud before the rep
- Sticking close is not attachment
- Swapped commands: keep sit and down distinct
- The camera is part of the method
- The correction that did not work
- The flight-risk protocol, and the one command that matters
- The pair is the unit of training
- The three Ds, and the variables nobody counts
- You have to be able to reward him at all
Milo
Who Milo is
As the trainers describe him
Small, and treated as small in every decision - equipment, leash length, walking pace and which dogs he may meet.
On film
he's he's a little guy so like say you got a big dog like that yeah you might want to you know tell
make sure there's not any tension on leash because he's just a little guy
So it's a micro educator. It's made for little tiny doggies
On normal cues the same trainer says he does not expect Milo to go at a dog.
On film
hard enough for it to be a problem he's got that big dog attitude that's a beautiful dog
then punish that i don't think he'll do it right to be honest i don't think he'll do it um but it's
Milo is okay. He makes friends
Fine with people - said in November, shown in December stores, and repeated in 2026.
On film
i wouldn't let them meet each other yet i'm not sure if he's ready for it he's fine with people
Oh yeah, he loves the pets.
lovers she's a little bitey bite they love hugs they love hugs yeah that's
Somewhat nervous and physically sensitive: 'a little nervous' at the first 2026 session, shaking in a cold store, a panic at a low e-collar level, and 'very dramatic' at another. One speaker calls him fear reactive and is answered with 'A little bit. Maybe.'
On film
little nervous good boy come on so i think i'm just gonna play with him a little bit milo
You are just shaking.
I can tell he's fear reactive. Fear reactive? Yeah. A little bit. Maybe.
low down okay good boy good job very dramatic on this tiny micro educator
Velcro. In 2026 his defining training problem is that he will not leave the trainer, which makes recall practice impossible until something is found that he wants to leave.
On film
as an opportunity to use a recall on Milo. Because if I was just out here by myself with
him and we didn't have Josie or Major, he wouldn't go anywhere.
sometimes gets a little stuck on me when I recall him
Not food-driven; affection, face contact and later play are what work. Food is refused twice on camera.
On film
Milo here good boy come on yeah yes good good boy and giving him access to my
that honestly right now for them the biggest reinforcer for them is to just
interact with somebody and get petted and like jump up on somebody and be like
Changed by the second period in ways the trainer remarks on unprompted: bigger, and more open on walks.
On film
He grew a foot.
fortunately I've got him he's opened up a lot on the walks you can see he's got it like a happy
As his family describe him
The dog who goes after small dogs - Toby at a friend's apartment for 'the whole 20 minutes' - and who, when Josie clamped on him, pinned her and stopped. The owner's accounts are the source of the whole November lesson.
On film
down i was like short leash um hold on to him and he it did not matter where toby went walked
whatever um he it was like that the whole 20 minutes
He pinned her and said, don't ever do that again.
At the go-home lesson: the one of the pair who engages passing dogs negatively; and, at a later meeting with a new dog, the one who reacted, was corrected and then let the dog approach.
On film
to like engage them in a negative way which is always him doing that
yeah the smaller dog um but this time milo reacted a lot better right well or initially he reacted
bad but we corrected and then um and then after about like five or ten minutes he let him approach
In 2026: so small off leash that the owner loses sight of him.
On film
oh there you are they freak me out though when i'm when i have them off leash um not because
i'm worried they're going to run off but because they're so small i can't tell where they're at
The program, stage by stage
Before the program: at home with Josie
Up to 2025-11-14.
A dachshund living with an older-trained sister, Josie, a cat and a family. Josie had already been through the company's program; the owner says so in November. By the owner's accounts, Milo pinned Josie when she clamped on him during play, and then went after a small dog, Toby, on a short leash in a friend's apartment for twenty minutes - the first time she had seen it. That incident is the reason for the November lesson.
On film
whatever um he it was like that the whole 20 minutes
but he flung Josie and like it stood on top of her and everybody was still you know you know
The behaviour-modification lesson - one visit in three uploadsTurning point
Published 2025-11-14 and 2025-11-15.
The owner's own story of Milo pinning Josie becomes the model: stop, still, release, relationship intact. Part 2 moves to the walk (do not stop for passing dogs; say 'let's go') and to the implied stay the owner asks about, with Milo creeping forward 'red light green light' and taken back to his spot each time. Part 3 brings Josie in, fits her prong, recaps, advises against meeting Toby yet, and sets homework: don't pause for barking dogs, don't repeat commands, film practice on a tripod.
On film
how it goes cuz I kind of want to like have a little bit of pressure I want an
opportunity for him to kind of react to it
supposed to nope nope nope no now he stopped yeah yeah okay and so then you
another choice point and you saw in that choice point he made the right decision right he decided
start back there and now he's over here it's kind of like red light green light
i wouldn't let them meet each other yet i'm not sure if he's ready for it he's fine with people
The correction becomes a teaching video
On film
every dog she sees right so she came up and sold oxen Milo's his name was like
and then immediately launched trying to try to bite her right so what I do in
The down, built from zero
Up to 2025-12-10 (dated uploads 2025-12-07 to 2025-12-10; watch and watch placed here by content).
The down is built from zero: first shaped with help and no word, then cued with small pops and 'nope', with a recurring problem - he curves his back and will not flatten - and a handler who says he is not hard on Milo while he is trying. The same day the handler recalls him off leash without the e-collar, saying he would not usually do so. In two stores he walks, heels, downs and is petted by shoppers; his e-collar is too big for him and comes off, and the handler says a Micro Educator would suit him better. Josi is on the same trips.
On film
job good job okay good boy success of approximations we're getting there with
But he's been putting the front paws down a lot better.
That's a nice greeting.
okay down Milo down you go nope down okay it's gotten significantly easier
on right now but his recall has been really good so far um typically i wouldn't do this but
good job Milo you know what we're gonna take that off because it's so loose on you
The December go-home lesson - one visit in three uploadsTurning point
A public place, both dogs, one owner. The owner's worries are excitement, darting, pulling toward people and dogs, and two leashes tangling. The trainer's rule: excitement is fine, inappropriate expression is corrected until the dog visibly cares, then 'okay' and everything is good; he almost always lets people greet. On dogs he turns the owner's worry around: judge the other dog, because these dogs are small; keep the leash slack; if a pushy dog pesters Milo, move it off rather than punish Milo, and punish Milo only if he goes. The owner reports a recent meeting where Milo reacted, was corrected and then let the dog approach. The down is coached on both dogs (pop forward and down, not up; 'nope' once before any pop; a handful of reps spread over an outing), with the trainer letting Milo's not-quite-flat down stand because he is trying. The recall is put at 80 to 90 percent in the trainer's hands. It ends with the discharge paperwork.
On film
had to do until i saw that she cared right because that's all it is is if if you see she doesn't care
know like a situation that um I would encourage you to think more about the other dog yeah and
right so um uh with that greeting the most important thing is not to pressurize it
come on yeah give him some space yeah and that's all that needs to happen if milo goes
What you don't want to end up having is that down means getting popped
they seem to confused because they normally know like it's about 80 to 90
The gap
Mid-December 2025 to early March 2026.
The 2026 footage opens with recall and off-leash work.
Session 1 of the 2026 run
A trainer assesses Milo from scratch in a quiet setting: three loose-leash phases with a longer leash and slower pace for his short legs; a duck toy from home he will not hunt, so running together instead; place introduced with help, on a long line to keep tension off a little dog; and a first duration hold with a 15-minute cap and a stated goal of full relaxation. Milo is 'a little nervous', refuses food, and prefers the trainer's chair to the cot. He sits at about 21 minutes into the file and is released from the chair near the 15-minute mark of the hold.
On film
So he's following me on the u-turns no problem. So that's phase one just the u-turns he passed
all right well he's not really doing the duck hunting right now so we're just going to do a
And so what I'm looking for is full relaxation. I'd like to see him actually fully lay down.
March: the velcro problem and the backyard recall sessionTurning point
Every March session is shaped by one problem: the dogs will not leave the trainer, so there is nothing to recall them from. He lets them roam with other dogs as distraction, makes himself boring, pesters them until they go, walks them on flexis in a new neighbourhood, and substitutes place-cot stays on pavement when they still will not leave. The breakthrough is the backyard session: a helper, Hema, holds Milo in her lap as the spot he does not want to leave. On one recall Milo panics at a level the trainer says was a quarter of what he had taken before; the trainer names it sensitisation, turns the level down further, waits for him to return to baseline so he does not 'turn into velcro', and explains the escape-then-avoid logic and the need for the leash to give direction. The next recall is faster and he is finished for the day 'because he figured it out'. Four days later the trainer says that one session 'clarified things in their head a lot'; a colleague walking Callie hears that Milo's recall is 'getting a lot better'. In the same fortnight Milo is used as a distraction dog for Major and is told to 'be nice'.
On film
good so the important thing is that the lesson i don't want them to get is that they just have to
So it's a sensitization thing, you know?
return to normal before i can run another trial like another repetition because i don't want him
but this is a spot that he does not want to leave which is ideal for this
we're finished with Milo today because he figured it out he did it because he's
i think that session just that one session i think it clarified things in their head a lot
We're going on a walk. Let's go guys! Let's go! My goal is that they walk away from me a few times.
jesse and milo's recall is getting a lot better
The 2026-03-31 owner lesson - 'handler skills'Turning point
2026-03-31; published as parts 1 (watch) and 2 (watch).
A long, structured lesson whose stated aim is an owner confident enough not to make mistakes. Micro educator and micro prongs, a light 50-foot line, the four behavioural levers, markers ('nope' as punishment, 'ah-ah' as a prompt), and the rule 'always verbal first'. Then Milo in a busy park: threshold manners, a loose-leash warm-up he passes easily, and recall on a long line, with the rule that only 'come' is the recall word and that you do not recall from every distraction or you get a velcro dog. The trainer says Milo's recall 'looks a lot more reliable' and that he is very close to trusting him off the line. With the owner cueing, Milo's down 'looks a lot better'; the trainer explains he counts Milo's lowest squat as a sit and is weighing whether a flatter down is worth pursuing. Part 2 is Josi's, and records only an anecdote about Milo: a perfect recall rep accidentally punished when Christian stepped on the line.
On film
good yeah because see that's not a recall right that's not a recall what you just did right
and then recall them away from them but i try not to recall them away from every distraction
so that's starting to get to the point where I'm I'm really close right now to
into the down and it looks a little milo-ish like how much do i care i don't know like um
that looks a lot better actually that looks like what i want yeah that's a nice down
yeah and and he was less likely to do after that and then he left major alone
one of the videos recently where christian accidentally stepped on it when i had recalled
Off-leash proofing with the owner
2026-04-02.
'Off leash' here means leashes and lines removed one dog at a time while both micro educators stay on; the trainer checks Milo's collar works before taking his line off. In a spring park with people, children and a football game, Milo recalls away from the owner, from kids running and from the football without the collar. Once he looks back at 'come' and turns away; the trainer taps at 25 - 'a little Yelp and then he ran back' - calls that the response he wants, and asks the owner to rewatch the moment. He also gives her the radius idea: she can decide how far they range, by voice, backed by the collar.
On film
So Milo's off now.
see it yeah and I didn't have to use e-collar for it oh there he goes
okay yeah so he recalled off the football
but he was like this and then turned his head back he heard me right so then I
on 25 right and that's why you got a little Yelp and then he ran back right
Private Lesson #2 at home: borders and the road
Undated; after 2026-03-31. Order relative to 2026-04-02 unsettled.
At the family's house the trainer tightens both collars a notch and teaches the yard border with Milo first: throw a treat across the line, block, walk back, praise, until he stops on his own and walks off without a release. Then, stated as an exception to normal practice, the e-collar is used so the ground itself becomes the thing to avoid, because leaving the property is life or death. At the front, where the dogs must cross the drive to walk, a different rule: no road-like surface without 'okay', for life, while taking care that Milo still fetches treats elsewhere so he does not learn the wrong lesson. The owner takes Milo on the road rule at the end with the collar at 20.
On film
figuring out like oh like even if there's something i want over there i don't go over there
did you see he was like he stopped on his own so let's see if he did it again come on buddy let's
they're listening to me i want it to be like a thing where it's like associated with the ground
go get it go go go right because what i don't want him to learn is don't go get the treats that he
but that's okay that's kind of the point is they need to wait and get permission
Skills
Behaviour around other dogs (the presenting problem)
How it was taught
A deliberately arranged meeting with a neutral helper dog, a correction ('nope' and prong pops) continued until he stops and is still, then warmth, decompression and a fresh unforced meeting as the test. Afterwards, management of size risk (no big dogs, judge the other dog, slack leash, move a pesky dog off) rather than further correction of Milo, and habituation walks with other dogs in 2026.
On film
Nope! Nope! Nope!
another choice point and you saw in that choice point he made the right decision right he decided
Milo is okay. He makes friends
bad but we corrected and then um and then after about like five or ten minutes he let him approach
yeah and and he was less likely to do after that and then he left major alone
cute good job he's just a cute little baby and he's letting callie sniff him that's good milo
Down
How it was taught
Successive approximations with physical help, the word added once the position was forming; then leash pops and 'nope' for misses; position prompts ('all the way', 'flatten the legs', 'get the leg'); release the instant the second paw folds. The owner is taught to pop forward and down, not up, and to say 'nope' once before any pop so 'down' never predicts a pop. In 2026 the micro educator level for the down is dropped from about 15 to about 5 after a 'very dramatic' response.
On film
Just working on getting him to flatten out his back
I don't know, he just curves his back a little bit sometimes.
trying. That's why I'm not being super hard on him right now. Because he is trying. That's
if you pop up,
dude down that's a ghetto down yeah over here here down down
He'll because he he'll do it without the leash pressure
From like a it was like on like a 15. I turned it down like a five
down and fold one paw but not the other so i'm just trying to show them as soon as he holds that
that looks a lot better actually that looks like what i want yeah that's a nice down
the way down down there we go all the way down like it's supposed to look good
Recall
How it was taught
December: 'here' with e-collar taps and affection. 2026: first make recall possible at all (other dogs as distraction, a boring handler, a human helper as the place he does not want to leave); then cue, a second's chance, repeat, low taps with the long line for direction, pressure off the instant he heads in, cheerleading all the way, and a return to baseline between trials. Only 'come' is a recall word; informal calls when the handler is not ready to back it up. Line dragged before it is removed, one dog at a time, collars kept on. Repeat 'come' if he did not look back; tap at once if he looked and chose not to.
On film
there you go good boy give him a couple of e-collar taps there good job come on
So pressure was on. I said the recall. I gave him a second. I said the recall again.
the long line so he would know where to go and then after that as soon as he started running
come come Milo come good job oh he figured it out faster that time good boy Milo he figured it out
um i think you can probably see that his recall looks a lot more reliable than it did
okay yeah so he recalled off the football
of the time even 95% of time without the collar it's just the 5% that I worry
Sit, implied stay and place
How it was taught
Implied stay: one 'nope', small prong pops, no repeated 'sit', back to the same spot each time, release only on 'okay'/'break', practised at every door and the car. Place: introduced with help on a long line, a duration hold with a cap and full relaxation as the goal, later cots on pavement with the handler walking off.
On film
very quickly get the idea that they can't get up until you say okay because that's all you do once
right now he's making progress does that make sense so in his mind where did he
we're going to wait. I'm not going to go past 15 minutes, but I'm hoping that in that 15 minutes
come on please good place come on Josie Milo's on place now he's on the place
if he stands fully up but if he squats like down as far as like he can then like that i'll count
Walking, heel and passing things
How it was taught
Keep walking and say 'let's go' rather than stop for a passing dog. Three-phase loose-leash walking adjusted for short legs. Heel taught only after pulling is gone.
On film
sense that loads him up yeah so we don't want to load him up we want him to think nothing's
a little bit of help on this one do need to take into account that he's a little shorter so I have
leash and so you can see he gives to it really easily he's not going to pull on it and so i'll
heel is like this Milo heel you see he stops when I stop
Property border and the road rule
How it was taught
Temptation across the line, body block, walk back, praise; criterion is that he stops and walks off without a release; then e-collar at the border so the ground carries the lesson. Road: permission only on 'okay', and treats thrown elsewhere so he keeps fetching.
On film
we can do is um we can just give them a temptation across it basically so you give them a reason
did you see he was like he stopped on his own so let's see if he did it again come on buddy let's
and then I have the e-collar for you I'll trade you the e-collar and leash
Play
How it was taught
Repeated throws only when he is looking; tug where he is allowed to win; built deliberately because play would beat petting as a reinforcer.
On film
all right well he's not really doing the duck hunting right now so we're just going to do a
you've got it he looks so proud when he carries it he looks so proud
hug on the other end of the rope and go like a big dog you know when he's
Down
On film
Milo down all the way all the way down
little bit of duration Josie Milo down Josie all the way down Milo down down all the way
so I can create some distance and for some duration good job guys and they do really well
Walking, heel and passing things
On film
Milo, heel. Heel. Nope. Come on. Heel. Nope. Milo, heel. Right here. Good job.
i did tap the car a couple of times there good boy
Behaviour around other dogs (the presenting problem)
Sit, implied stay and place
On film
NOPE which is the no no marker so yeah and they know place their duration is good
Recall
On film
Let's go with Josie for this time Josie's the one that needs a little bit more work on her recall than Milo does
Behaviour around other dogs (the presenting problem)
On film
josie and milo are running all around
look at little baby milo little baby milo hi hi major you're so handsome you're so handsome yes you are
From the Shorts
Short clips posted from Milo's training. They are undated, so they sit beside the program rather than inside it.
Off leash with his sister, past lots of dogs
A handler tests Milo and Josi together, off the leash and wearing e-collars, walking past an area with lots of dogs: both are asked by name to sit, lie down, heel and 'let's go', and Milo needs several 'all the way' prompts before his down is complete. They then both hold a down while the handler steps away to add distance and time. The handler lists what they know (come, heel, sit, down, let's go, 'okay' to release, 'nope' as the no-marker, and place), says 'they do really well', and ends 'very happy'.
On film
I'm gonna walk by an area with lots of dogs
You know the proper response to the e-collars much more active off the leash
Milo down all the way all the way down
so you can see they know come they know heel they know sit they know down
NOPE which is the no no marker so yeah and they know place their duration is good
so I can create some distance and for some duration good job guys and they do really well
So I'm very happy.
A heel on a night walk
On a walk at night Milo is asked to sit, then to heel, and leaves the position several times; each time he hears 'nope', is called back with 'right here', and is praised when he is in place. The handler then ends the session for the night because Milo 'did real good'.
On film
Milo, heel. Heel. Nope. Come on. Heel. Nope. Milo, heel. Right here. Good job.
i did tap the car a couple of times there good boy
probably gonna hang on my hat with milo for tonight but he did real good
Who wears the e-collar on a walk
Setting out on a walk away from the facility with Milo and his sister Josi, the trainer decides that Josi wears the e-collar this time, because her recall 'needs a little bit more work' than Milo's.
On film
Who is getting an e-collar for now?
Let's go with Josie for this time Josie's the one that needs a little bit more work on her recall than Milo does
A trail walk with his sister
Milo and Josi walk a riverside trail on retractable leads. Because it is getting hot, the trainer offers them water before setting out; at a steep, rocky drop-off by a boat launch the trainer locks both leads short 'just in case'.
On film
starting to get a little hot out here so i'll see if they want a little bit of water
Yeah, you can see we got the river here.
yep it's paved like you said it would be line curve ahead steep rocky drop off i see it
make sure nobody falls off of there might lock your flexes up i'll lock those flexes up just in case
How a training collar should fit
Before the walk, the trainer explains to camera how the collar should sit: on the left side of the neck, making contact, neither too tight nor too loose, and never choking. The collar type is not named, and the dog being fitted is a 'her', most likely Josi.
On film
Make sure it sits on the left side of her neck
Milo, thank you. They both want the hugs. Make sure it's fitting correctly. It's making contact.
Make sure it's not too tight or too loose. It'd be just right
Make contact but not be choking them should be right there.
Free time with Josi and Major
In three short clips Milo is let out with Josi and Major, another dog in training. A handler says Josi and Milo are 'running all around' and that the dogs are 'having the time of their lives'. Nothing is asked of them, and how Milo and Major got on is not described.
On film
josie and milo are running all around
they are having the time of their lives
what's going on major what's going on buddy what's going on hi milo hi good morning good morning
How the method adapted
Milo is a small, sensitive dog whose real problem changed between the two periods - from a dog who went after other dogs to a dog who would not leave his handler.
The reaction was provoked on purpose, with a dog chosen so nobody got hurt.
The trainer needed to see the behaviour to stop it, and needed a helper who would neither be harmed nor frightened. The same logic rules out small dogs as future testers.
On film
care she's friendly and pretty neutral she she likes being around other dogs um and people so
that's not the right dog i would use my personal dog for that that's my tester she's an anatolean
Size became a safety rule in both directions: protect him from big dogs, and do not let him meet the wrong dog at all.
A dog this small can be killed by one bad meeting, so the owner is told to worry more about the other dog than about Milo.
On film
he's he's a little guy so like say you got a big dog like that yeah you might want to you know tell
know like a situation that um I would encourage you to think more about the other dog yeah and
Equipment scaled down: a Micro Educator instead of a collar too big to make contact, micro prongs, a light long line, a longer leash and slower pace for short legs.
In December his collar was so loose it 'is not gonna do anything'; in 2026 the trainer explains the micro educator is about 30% weaker and made for tiny dogs.
On film
good job Milo you know what we're gonna take that off because it's so loose on you
And so this micro-educator is 30% less strong than the mini-educator, right?
the leash out just slightly longer for him and then also I'm not gonna move quite as fast in
After a panic the level went down, not up, and the next trial waited for him to settle.
The trainer read the panic at a quarter of an earlier level as sensitisation, and a stressed Milo turns 'velcro', which ends recall practice.
On film
than it was. I'm going to go down to like even half of that. All right. Now we just need him
return to normal before i can run another trial like another repetition because i don't want him
The collar level was set per command, not per dog.
What was fine for recall was 'too much for him for the for the down command'.
On film
On the micro educator because it also depends on like the what command it is
I think the 15 might have just been too much for him for the for the down command
Because he would not leave, the trainer manufactured reasons to leave - and something to leave from.
A dog who sticks to you gives you no recall reps. A helper's lap, other dogs, a colleague making himself interesting, and a deliberately boring handler all create the distance.
On film
I'm gonna be as boring as possible going to ignore you to leave must go I'll do
but this is a spot that he does not want to leave which is ideal for this
His imperfect positions were accepted where the cost of perfection looked too high.
He is trying, and he is built low. The squat counts as a sit; the flatter down is openly weighed and partly let go.
On film
he's obviously trying to down properly
into the down and it looks a little milo-ish like how much do i care i don't know like um
Food was dropped in favour of faces, petting and built-up play.
He refused treats; access to the handler's face was 'a great reward for him', and petting beat any treat tried.
On film
Milo here good boy come on yeah yes good good boy and giving him access to my
whoo that's a much bigger reinforcer than them for any treat that I've tried
What the family was told
Stopping the reaction to other dogs, and repairing afterwards
that's all i would do and then i would just go nope and pop it nope and pop it and i'd pop it
you want him to recover afterwards right so now like we don't want to give him a
where you go over to your friend's house again with toby and you put a leash and the prong on
Walking past dogs
continues like nope and then jerk a little harder or so here's what i would do um don't stop at all
oh, Milo, let's go.
Dog-to-dog greetings for a small dog
right so um uh with that greeting the most important thing is not to pressurize it
just step in but without panicking if that makes sense so don't go
come on yeah give him some space yeah and that's all that needs to happen if milo goes
The implied stay and the release
right I always make them sit and wait right every time or I will put them in
start back there and now he's over here it's kind of like red light green light
Corrections: 'nope' first, and only if the dog cares
well then you didn't correct her it's just that simple it's just like if you if you give them a
nope then if they don't then you can start yeah yeah say nope once you don't have to keep saying
you help them it's always verbal first at least by a little bit right by like a second or so or more
How many reps, and how hard
So it allows for decompression and learning to happen in the gaps.
make it worse right um and the better a dog knows something the worse you make it when they don't
Recall
like that and i'm like oh that's a release to get away from me not to come towards me
is almost identical is you give the recall you give them a chance to come to you and then if
okay so have them come over to you just don't uh do the recall just do like an informal thing
with with normally with just your voice um and then you back it up with the e-collar if you need
Tools at home
wandering around the house or something like that because he doesn't or going to bed like
the e-collar on them and it but then also have the front collar on them because uh little known
yeah so like one thing to remember is i think both of their e-collars they're about one notch
Borders and roads
but that's okay that's kind of the point is they need to wait and get permission
not already on the gravel because if i was already on the concrete and i say come on he thinks i'm
Filming practice
however much you work with them and then send it to me okay right because then i can be like all
In the family's own words
The owner supplies the two stories the November lesson is built on - Toby, and Milo pinning Josie - and describes her own attempts (turning his face, a deep voice) as not changing what he did next.
On film
whatever um he it was like that the whole 20 minutes
So, he stopped everything.
At the go-home lesson she says the earlier owner meetings gave her too little practice, singles out one meeting at a park as helpful, and names Evan in the complaint.
On film
uh evan gets to yapping and then and then not enough dog training talk happens so we never
and down yeah um because meeting with you guys at the the beach place at beach bluff at the park
In 2026 her concerns are excitement with people, especially small children, and losing sight of two small dogs off leash.
On film
a little bit yeah or they might nip them a little bit yeah yeah because they're excited yeah and so
because I know that was one of the things that you wanted to to try to have. If anybody wanted
Outcomes
What the trainers reported
Reacted better to a new dog after the program - corrected once, then accepted him.
The owner, at the December go-home lesson
On film
yeah the smaller dog um but this time milo reacted a lot better right well or initially he reacted
Tapped recall about 80 to 90 percent reliable in the trainer's hands.
The go-home trainer, December 2025
On film
they seem to confused because they normally know like it's about 80 to 90
Recall much more reliable, close to being trusted off the long line; down duration now good.
The 2026 trainer to the owner, 2026-03-31
On film
um i think you can probably see that his recall looks a lot more reliable than it did
he does really well with that now
They come about 95 percent of the time without the collar.
On film
of the time even 95% of time without the collar it's just the 5% that I worry
The border holds: he will not cross the spot.
The 2026 trainer at the home lesson
On film
now he won't go across that spot
What the footage shows
The November reaction and its interruption are on the audio as events: the setup, the speakers' 'there it is', the 'Nope!' sequence and 'now he stopped'.
On film
opportunity for him to kind of react to it that's not what he did to tubby yeah there it is perfect
supposed to nope nope nope no now he stopped yeah yeah okay and so then you
Within one session the recall went from a panic to a faster response after the level was lowered and he was let settle - the clearest before-and-after in his file.
On film
come come come come good job that was so dramatic buddy you good boy why did you so dramatic you're
come come Milo come good job oh he figured it out faster that time good boy Milo he figured it out
Off lines in a busy park with collars on, he recalled off children and a football game without stimulation, and after one ignored cue came back on a single tap.
On film
see it yeah and I didn't have to use e-collar for it oh there he goes
on 25 right and that's why you got a little Yelp and then he ran back right
The down moved from a shaped position with no cue (late 2025) to a cued down without leash pressure and a nice down under the owner's cue (spring 2026), without ever being called finished.
On film
here come on milo down i'm starting to add the word to it because he's going into it way better
that looks a lot better actually that looks like what i want yeah that's a nice down
The ideas Milo's case runs on
- 'Let's go' is not 'Come' - and the recall has an ending
- A border taught to the ground
- A life that gets smaller, and the bargain
- Aggression read as insecurity
- Another dog as helper, tester or draw
- Breed is a checklist, not a verdict
- Build the handler's timing while it is easy
- Clarity is the kindness
- Collar awareness: the collar is a paperweight
- Command, marker, collar - in that order
- Contingent, avoidable, and the right size
- Control is not obedience
- Don't accept the almost
- Don't poison the command
- Drilling is what represses a dog
- Fit before level: check the tool before you judge the dog
- Freedom is given in measured steps
- Generalisation is the whole job
- Genetic versus environmental nerves
- Give him time to answer
- He has to be allowed to get it wrong
- Heat is a stop sign
- Help it or press it - read which
- Hidden help
- Maintenance is use, not practice
- Meaningful release
- Never punish the return
- Nobody is at fault; it isn't personal
- Pick the place for what it contains - life is the training ground
- Play becomes the reward - and play is a contest
- Play is a capacity you can grow
- Prediction error
- Pressure, release, reward
- Reading the dog
- Release to freedom
- Reliability is what you have not tested
- Restraint manufactures the reaction
- Say the criterion out loud before the rep
- Show what not to do, allow everything else
- Sticking close is not attachment
- Stop before you shut him down
- 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 flight-risk protocol, and the one command that matters
- The four behavioural levers
- The four windows, and calm liberty
- The handler is a variable: nerves, tension, voice and energy
- The handler wears the collar
- The pair is the unit of training
- The radius
- The settle criterion
- 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