Who Nikki is
As the trainers describe her
Not, in the trainer's reading, aggressive: she has learned that barking, growling and planting make people stop - stop guiding her, stop taking things from her. The trainer says the pattern was learned with two different people and does not say who they were.
On film
I'm not seeing anything that's like full-on aggression.
the dog knows that there's a certain pattern and it's learned dealing with two different people
lead pressure or anything like that at all then she thinks if she barks and kind of plants herself
Reported to have bitten in some situations and to have bitten through leashes; with this trainer she tries to bite the leash when irritated, not him.
On film
of barked and but she wasn't lashing out for like an initial bite now she has from what I was told
and then like I was able to get her to kind of follow me and walk away and she did not try to
They did say that she bit through a couple of leashes because she got irritated and she wanted to, like, go do something else, so she flipped around and, like, bit off a few leashes.
Knows sit well; does not know place.
On film
Good place. As far as I know she doesn't know the place command so we're teaching that.
She does know sit pretty solid.
The program, stage by stage
Referral and the outdoor part of the evaluation (described, not in the library)
On or just before 2026-09-17.
A call reported aggression in specific situations. Outside, on a harness, she growled, barked, sat and planted whenever the trainer guided her against where she wanted to go, but did not try to bite him, and came round to verbal 'uh-uhs' and being asked to look, then followed him away.
On film
So we recorded the first part of this evaluation that we did outside and you are able to see
pressure to the harness and guide she would growl a little bit and bark and like sit down and not
want to leave. But she responded very well to just some verbal like uh-uhs and having her look
Indoors: the hypothesis, and place as the test
2026-09-17.
The trainer states his working hypothesis - a learned pattern, not aggression - and the goal: reset it so the behaviour stops working, before she is placed in a home. He introduces place with light leash guidance and 'eh' markers and adds a little social pressure by stepping in, as someone she does not know well. She handles the pressure, then twice tries to roll over and bite the leash, without growling or barking. He links that to the leash-biting report. She then takes place and is praised, and he plans to try different setups over the next sessions to see whether the reactions happen here or were about the environment.
On film
here is most likely we should be able to just kind of like reset those patterns
things that she may try to do in a home so we are working on that before she's placed
adding a little bit of pressure a little bit of like social pressure with that and stepping in
She was trying to roll over and bite the leash off, because she doesn't want me guiding her with the leash.
Oh, that's a good place.
Skills
Place
How it was taught
Light leash guidance, 'eh' markers, re-cue, praise on the place.
On film
So she's handling that pressure fine. We're just doing a little
Yeah, I don't care if it's like perfect right now,
Sit
How it was taught
Not taught; checked.
On film
Yeah, like I said, she knows sit really well.
How the method adapted
The session is the method's assessment step applied to a referral, rather than training proper.
The referral's word 'aggression' is not taken at face value; the pressure that produced it is recreated in small doses to see what she actually does.
To find her thresholds and to tell a learned escape pattern from aggression before deciding the work.
On film
right now, so we're still kind of in the evaluation part and just trying to figure out what those thresholds are.
testing and evaluation to see if she gives us any of those reactions in our area our environment
The target is the payoff, not the dog: the barking and planting must stop producing anything.
If the behaviour is learned because it works, it goes when it stops working.
On film
and teach her that, hey, that action doesn't work, doesn't result in anything.
Outcomes
What the trainers reported
No full-on aggression; a learned pattern.
The evaluating trainer
On film
I'm not seeing anything that's like full-on aggression.
What the footage shows
Accepts light guidance onto a place she does not know; when irritated, goes for the leash, not the handler, without growling or barking; later takes place without going for it.
On film
She was trying to bite the leash, though.
That time, but she didn't bite Felicia that time.