Who Rocky is
As the trainers describe him
Happy, likes everyone, 'normal nervous' and not skittish - easy to teach in quiet places, harder when overstimulated. This is the trainer's opening portrait for the owner and it explains what the e-collar is for.
On film
He likes everybody he sees.
He's just normal nervous.
To be very honest, the vast majority of it is for proofing.
The environment is his currency. He cares more about sniffing than about treats or toys, so the reward is the release to go and sniff.
On film
a little bit of tug okay um although to be honest uh in most locations he's more interested in the
environment than he is in anything else he does not care about treats or toys nearly as much as
This is way more entertaining to him, so the release is a much bigger reward here than it was at the house because he has somewhere interesting to go and something interesting to sniff.
Vocal under pressure early on - loud enough that the trainer tells viewers on Day 1 it is not pain - and, by the owner meeting, no longer whining when he feels pressure.
On film
You can see he's very vocal when he has a little bit of pressure.
So if you see a little bit of stress there, it's not from any kind of physical pain, right?
when i am teaching him new things he tolerates feeling a little pressure without whining and
Impulse control named as the need on Day 3; 'absurdly friendly' and 'a little hyper' later on.
On film
And he needs impulse control more than anything else.
on there and he's uh very loving and he's a little hyper yeah um but not like terrible
Under pressure he reaches for appeasement - shoving between the handler's legs, squirming, lying on his stomach - 'especially with the down'. The go-home trainer calls it a typical shepherd behaviour and the single most important thing for the owner never to let work.
On film
they will instead of responding properly to like reinforce negative reinforcement
or punishment they will start doing what are called appeasement behaviors Rocky
right so he does it especially with the down for some reason
Not a shut-down dog. Said at the follow-up, after the hardest correction in his file, as the reason the level used was acceptable.
On film
with rocky he's not like an especially like shut down dog right he's gonna be recovered
Breed age and body
Lab x German Shepherd by the intake (source: intake), and every on-camera statement agrees: 'the shepherd is he mixed with anything lab' (watch 10:55), 'Shepard lab mix' (watch 19:54), 'a lab shepherd mix' (watch 11:02), 'a german shepherd mixed with a lab' (Kelton, watch 22:15). Male and intact by the intake (source: intake); the owner's remark at go-home that a day camp may not take him 'until he's fixed' and her question about 'the hormones thing' at the follow-up are consistent with that. Thick fur, which is why the trainer's collar has winged contacts. He grew out of a small flat collar into a medium during the first two weeks. Weight is 44 lb on the intake (source: intake); he was never weighed during the program.
On film
yeah that's how mine is yeah i like these better um they're wings especially because he has relatively like thick fur
haven't weighed him so i don't know
The program, stage by stage
Intake, off camera
Submitted 2026-03-25; pickup requested for 2026-03-26. Nothing filmed.
A five-month-old intact lab-shepherd, acquired from a friend six weeks earlier, whose owner works from home and walks him twice a day (source: intake). Friendly, loud, a puller, anxious when left, barking at cyclists, harder to settle since starting daycare, and sometimes reactive to new people and new dogs. Reliable on 'let's go', usually reliable on sit and come in quiet places, lured on down and stay, and nothing else. The priorities are that he listens when over-stimulated and learns the commands he lacks; the pictures are children, bikes, runners and other dogs (source: intake). There is no evaluation footage.
Days 1-3: the flat-collar down, the level test, and the first long holdTurning point
About 2026-03-26 to 03-29; three consecutive days by their own words. Uploaded 2026-04-05 to 2026-04-14.
Day 1 is an evening at the trainer's house with the TV on. The only real work is the down on a flat collar with light leash pressure, held until Rocky solves it; he is very vocal, the first rep takes minutes, the second is 'way faster', and the trainer stops rather than drilling. The talk between reps is the program's rationale for mild pressure in a puppy: resilience for the vet's table, prediction error, return to baseline, and 'Slow is fast'. Day 2 is a two-hour, five-and-a-half-mile state-park hike: an e-collar level test (ear perk at 18, a definite response at 25 only after refitting through thick fur, set to 20), recall taught first on the flat collar with a release to freedom, the recall criterion defined, heel entry and heel in motion started, place on a picnic table, the first down 'without any negative reinforcement', and the e-collar used 'maybe twice'. Day 3 is tug and short reps, then about forty-five minutes of silent place-cot duration (rule 13) ending with Rocky asleep on the cot.
On film
As soon as he bends his legs a little bit, it gets out of the pressure.
And trainers are not failing with their dog in training because they're not doing enough. It's because they're doing way too much. Do less. Do fewer reps. Slow is fast.
let me just make sure the collar is on where the contact is good because that can mess things up then you end up doing it too hard because they weren't feeling it
first down without any negative reinforcement okay he did not need any direction from the collar there he just downed without me needing to do anything i just said the word and he did it so
I think I've only used the e-collar maybe twice or something like that. Everything else has just been on the flat collar and then just like lots of like releases to freedom.
he's waking up he fell asleep on the cot which is incredibly cute and you guys got to witness it
The house evenings: place with Bernie and Akira, from breaking first to sleeping through the knockTurning point
Undated within the program; at least five or six evenings by the trainer's account at Bernie's handover. The recordings are watch + watch, watch + watch, watch (containing watch), watch and watch. Uploaded 2026-04-22 to 2026-05-01. The first lesson already mentions one of them.
The trainer's routine: cots in a living room with a TV or a video game, tab leashes, one dog off at a time for affection and a few reps while the others hold, and proofs - a colleague knocking and walking in, the trainer leaving the building and knocking before he returns, another dog being led out. The Bernie-and-Rocky evening is the one in which Rocky is the weak link: he breaks first, pulls Bernie up with him, and is re-placed repeatedly while Bernie is worked; in the second part he is taught to jump up only on 'up'. In the three-dog evening he holds while Bernie and Akira are worked ('takes a lot of impulse control for Rocky and for Akira'), holds while the trainer is out at his truck and knocks, visibly wants to get up and yawns, breaks once when Akira is led out and goes back on a verbal 'no' with no e-collar, and ends asleep with the trainer. In the video-game evenings he holds through a door knock and is asleep on the cot for most of an hour. The Hattie evening has a stated training plan and nothing recoverable after it.
On film
walking around doing stuff so rocky got up first and then that made bernie get up
So I did an uh-uh because I'm teaching him to jump up on command, not just randomly.
So this takes a lot of impulse control for Rocky and for Akira.
Rocky wants to get up really bad but he did good he stayed he yawned
See, I didn't have to use the e-collar or anything like that in this case. Just a no, right?
Oh, there's the knock test we asked for. Very nice. They didn't get up. That's good.
Are you sleeping? She's not sleeping. Rocky's sleeping. Bernie. He finally chilled out.
The first in-program lesson: the theory, delivered to the ownerTurning point
About two weeks in; roughly 2026-04-09 to 04-14. Uploaded 2026-04-30.
An hour on a public walkway, 'essentially just me explaining a bunch of stuff'. The owner explains why she enrolled him: she had been training him with treats on trails but wanted it done faster before family visits, and above all no jumping. The trainer covers the equipment (winged contacts, a flat collar instead of a prong, a 26-foot Flexi), the four quadrants and 'nepopo', the release as a reward paid in freedom, the leash as a prop, the Flexi test before off-leash, 'numbers mean nothing', no drills, recall as 100% and different from let's go, informal recalls, implied stays, choice points, and why locking a leash builds pulling. Two things happen live: Rocky blows off a recall, feels the e-collar, and is sent back to what he wanted; and he goes to jump on a child and is corrected, which becomes a worked example of an immediate, contingent correction held for a few seconds before reconciliation. The trainer also reports that the down still drifts toward him.
On film
i want him to be like used to like not jumping on people and all that so i wanted to like get it
i do what's called a flexi test okay i take them out on a 26 foot flexi and if i can make it through a 45 minute walk without locking the flexi ever
first time right good boy good job okay so then i can send him back out because he's interested
he did the thing it happened right away right um and then it was clear and contingent on his action so he can avoid it
down he likes to move towards me still instead of standing where i told him to
The owner meeting: cooperation, then authority - and daycare
Before Tuesday 2026-04-21, which it schedules. Uploaded 2026-05-01. Begins mid-sentence.
A short walk-and-talk. The trainer states the program's order - evaluate, establish cooperation through play and exploring together, socialization and fulfilment, then authority - and reports that authority has not been hard with Rocky: he now downs when asked and takes a little pressure without whining. He will not punish ordinary barking in a shepherd mix. The owner raises two home worries. Rocky holds it all night in the crate but needs out often when loose at home; the answer is 'we don't do potty training' and wait and see. And the only time Rocky stopped listening was after daycare; the trainer explains how staff who call a dog without making sure he comes damage recall, and the owner decides to avoid daycare except for boarding or travel. Heel entry and a front-entry middle are demonstrated.
On film
that's not like it hasn't been incredibly difficult to establish authority with rocky
is he as an like an easy example is are they asking him to come to them but not making sure
might be it because yeah he never the only time he started not listening to me is after i take
One late day: the light line and Neo in the morning, the third lesson in the afternoonTurning point
Days before the Sunday go-home, probably Tuesday 2026-04-21; after Neo's arrival. watch and watch, both uploaded 2026-05-04.
In the morning Rocky is put on a very light 14.5-foot line - 'He's recalling everything else' - which the trainer places between the 50-foot line and a dropped six-foot leash as a way to 'simulate doing off-leash'. Ball play works; tug is still weak. At the sight of Christian's dog Neo he blows off a recall that normally needs about a 25, comes at 50, and later, back on the heel, 50 is too much and the level comes down: 'context is everything'. He greets dogs and people, and a raised place is abandoned because he is six months old and awkward. In the afternoon lesson - the line now cut to about ten feet - the trainer turns to maintenance: fixing the owner's own e-collar (missing contact covers, longer contacts, a rubber strap, left side of the neck), no vibrate, a strong conditioned punisher for the visiting children, play as the way to keep training alive ('okay restarts the game'), walks on a tape Flexi without heel grinding, random real-life challenges instead of homework, never the crate as a punisher, and leash yielding when Rocky braces. He ends the lesson tired: 'No more commands'.
On film
I'm gonna use this because he's doing really good He's recalling everything else, so I want to stick him out I'm very close to off leash there
lightweight, because it's like the hollow braided thing, so he can't feel it very much, yeah, because that way I can kind of simulate doing off-leash without being a terrible person,
like slowly like i went up a little bit i ended up at like a 50 okay and then the 50 he was like
how quickly he responded to the okay he was like oh yeah that means the game's back right so okay restarts the game
on a 30. okay um i'm gonna turn it up slightly to just like a 40. okay because he did it two times in a row where he pulled through it
Go-home, Sunday 26 April: the appeasement problem and the two-line fixTurning point
2026-04-26 by the paperwork. Uploaded 2026-04-28.
In a nearly empty park the trainer reports that reactivity to people and dogs is 'pretty much gone', apart from occasional suspicion of new people, which she is to tap or pop. Then the item he has saved for the end of the program: appeasement - shoving between legs, squirming, lying on his stomach - 'especially with the down'. It must never be allowed to work. He admits he did not have time to fix it completely and demonstrates the fix on the spot: two taut lines, so Rocky cannot approach, and the down becomes the only way out; at home, a back-tie to the carport. The owner handles at 40 on a finger remote through heel, middle, security heel, sit, down, recall and place on a slippery bench, and is coached on a higher-pitched 'okay', stepping off on heel, and always giving a command before a correction. He admits the off-leash heel is under-practised. Then kennel advice for a dog who cannot stay loose in the house long, no need for a dog friend, flat-collar walking, 'watch the videos', and a health handover.
On film
he's supposed to be doing um so just make sure it doesn't work ever okay because if you like go
soft on that and go oh oh and like feel bad for him he'll milk it he'll milk it and he'll do it
those appealing behaviors when i ask them to down right so um the thing that i would need to do to
like fix it completely i did not do i didn't have time to do it um but it's relatively simple okay
tie it around something okay just back it's called back tying at the carport
Yeah, so I will say I didn't do as much with him off the leash. Oh, okay. Yeah, so he's used to a little bit of leash guidance still.
The follow-up: what went wrong at home, and the hardest corrections in the fileTurning point
After go-home; uploaded 2026-06-01.
The owner's report: he blows off recall for squirrels, joggers and bikes; he growled at every new dog 'the other day', which she dates to time with a dog she calls his brother; he tried to climb out of a moving car window that day; he wants to herd joggers. The trainer takes a second remote ('two sets of brakes'), watches a dog encounter with raised hair, and names the two things to fix: Rocky blowing her off, and the heel. He rewrites her recall sequence ('Rocky come', then 'ah' and the tap together, no vibrate, no second chance), splits the world into things with a time and place (squirrels, sniffing) and things with none (chasing joggers and bikes, corrected without a command at about 60-65), sends Rocky off to sniff after a hard correction so he does not become a 'glue dog', and argues from 'total welfare' for erring five levels high rather than five low. The file's highest number is here: 75, set before Rocky sprints at two dalmatians. The summary instruction is 'do way less'. At the dog park fence, released to look, Rocky looks, sniffs through the fence, barks once and comes away on recall; the owner says 'he didn't do what he did before', and the trainer tells her not to make other dogs 'a thing' and to decide in advance what counts as inappropriate.
On film
been blowing you off regularly the next time he does it it's rocky come and then when you say ah you're not given a chance you say ah and tap the e color at the same time
and with the jogger person so you did it right away i did it right away and i didn't ask him to do anything else first i didn't say let's go i didn't say come i didn't do anything because in that case i just want to extinguish it
so i just turned the e-collar up to like a 75 just in case right because then i can make a
you just do less okay do way less yeah do way less um so so use the leash way less and then do less corrections but make them more meaningful
and all right and that's fine now he didn't do what he did before yeah so i'm guessing maybe
letting him get near dogs right and it's kind of like you don't want it to become a thing so you
Skills
Down
How it was taught
Day 1: light flat-collar pressure held until he finds the position, approximations marked 'good', long breaks, one good rep then stop; the trainer's own summary is 'pop pop pop pop pop on the collar' and then five minutes of play. Day 2: the first verbal-only down on the trail. In the house rotations the down still needs 'all the way'. At the first lesson it drifts toward the handler. By the owner meeting he downs when asked without whining. At go-home the remaining problem is not the position but the exit he tries under pressure, and the fix is geometry: take away the approach and the down is the only way out.
On film
So, I just did an entrepreneur's thing where he bent his legs a little bit, and I just said, good, and let it go, right?
yeah so all i did to teach him down was just like pop pop pop pop pop on the collar and
Hey, I know you found a treat, but middle.
um and now he feels that like when i ask him to down he'll do it yeah he'll do it now and
tot a little tot there we go all right right there rocky yep tell him down down tell me down
Recall ('come')
How it was taught
Recall first, so he could be off leash within days. Flat-collar pop and a release to freedom; reinforcement only once he comes on the word. The criterion: come to the handler's area, stop, wait for 'okay'. Proofed against what he wants most and paid by sending him back to it. Later on the 26-foot Flexi and then a light line. At the follow-up the owner's own pattern - leading with 'ah', repeating 'come', vibrate first - is replaced with one cue and an immediate tap.
On film
it and then we're going to start to train the recall because getting a little bit of a recall first is very useful because then we can get him off leash right away within four or five days
going there good job wait wait he's gotta wait for me to release him the recall isn't just coming back and going but going past me or moving to my legs and then walking away again
got a little distracted okay gave him the release command but it gave me an opportunity to proof it because he blew me off and i tapped the eco and he came right back so
The other thing that's important about recall is it needs to be 100% of the time that he always comes back.
sure of is to make sure he finishes okay right he comes all the way yeah he's got to come all the way
Place and the implied stay
How it was taught
Duration after arousal on Day 3; then the house evenings with increasing proofs. Place need not be a sit, only elevated; if he comes off, put him back before releasing so it is not a failed rep. Every sit, down and place is an implied stay until the release.
On film
he's not afraid of the place caught at all
place and i've had him stay the longest i had him stay was about an hour
because i test the door um i just recently did one where another dog was in the room and i played with the other dog he got up twice right but that's the whole point you got to make it harder
them on the rock um you can put them on top of anything as the place got um as long as it's elevated he doesn't have to sit he just has to stay
Rocky got up.
Heel entry and heel in motion
How it was taught
Two separate skills from Day 2: entry (come and stand beside the handler) and motion (a box on the left, no sniffing). Heel in motion only as needed - past people - then release; heel grinding rejected.
On film
But his heel entry looked really, really great, and so did his heel in motion.
I'm really happy with his heel injury. It's starting to look really good because he knows where to go. He comes to me.
I still have to use a little bit of leash. Yeah. Yeah. That's okay. If there's distractions. If there's no distractions. Oh yeah. Then he can just come right in.
then uh they're less likely to wander this way but if i lock this leash then he starts to zigzag
Middle and security heel (extras)
How it was taught
From the front - come in, turn, sit - rather than pulled through from behind, which the trainer says is less clear and can frighten a dog.
On film
to teach it where I would have them go through the back and now I teach it where they come in the front and turn around and sit
He's getting pretty good at it now.
Yeah, my favorite one I taught him just recently is Rocky, middle.
Jumping on people
How it was taught
Invite it with 'up'; punish the uninvited jump as it starts with a collar pop, social pressure and a conditioned punisher - not the e-collar, which might teach him to avoid approaching people - and let him sit in it a few seconds before 'okay' and reconciliation.
On film
with the jumping it's relatively simple you teach them a command where they can jump onto you and if they jump onto you when you didn't ask them to you just punish it
I don't recommend using it for jumping. Because what you'll get is, if they jump on somebody or on you, then they'll be like, I don't want to approach that person again.
hey chill come on do chill chill good boy okay go say hi go say hi don't jump
Leash yielding and walking
How it was taught
Stop and let him feel the end of the line; a small pop if he does not come off. Walks on a long Flexi, never locked, with release to freedom; the leash as a prop and steering by voice.
On film
he's learned where that 26 foot ends. So he's staying off it for the most part.
leash yielding it's one of the first things we do so if he feels pressure on the leash he should come off of it
the other reason to be frank that he's not pulling me i've never locked it since i picked it up
Dogs, people, joggers and bikes
How it was taught
In program: heel with 'uh-uh' past dogs, sit before greeting and 'go say hi' as the release. After go-home: invited greetings allowed, sprinting not; joggers and bikes corrected without a command; in a confrontation tighten and pull off first, then 'ah' and tap; do not make dogs 'a thing'.
On film
Heel, uh, heel, uh-uh, heel, uh-uh, uh-uh, heel, leave them alone, heel, oh boy, smart
what i would do in that case is don't tap the e-collar right away okay um reason is because that can seem like an escalation from the other dog in their mind ah okay um i've made that mistake once and they like started fighting
scared of dogs now um but instead it's like hey dude like you can like look at them yeah and if
Leash yielding and walking
On film
um but instead of me telling him heal because if i tell him heal
right whatever it is let's go for a run whatever you say consistently
From the Shorts
Short clips posted from Rocky's training. They are undated, so they sit beside the program rather than inside it.
A separate cue for running together
At the follow-up the owner wants to run with Rocky. The trainer suggests a cue of its own, such as 'let's go run', rather than 'heel', praising Rocky when he is roughly beside her and tapping the leash back lightly when he gets ahead; he says Rocky started keeping pace during the demonstration.
On film
I think if you want to, like, run with him, you can make a separate cue.
And then you set the expectations for the cue by how you reinforce afterwards.
It doesn't have to be exact because you're running.
let's go run come on let's go run and you see how he started keeping pace
you know go ahead of me i just kind of like tapped the leash back a little bit that was it
How the follow-up began
The opening of the follow-up visit at a nature center. The trainer says that on follow-ups he wants to go somewhere the problem will actually happen, and the owner confirms that Rocky has been ignoring his recall when he sees squirrels.
On film
the only thing i ever worry about with like the follow-ups is i'm always just looking to make sure that we go a place where the thing's actually going to happen
And is he kind of like, is he blowing off the recall when he sees the squirrels?
Nature center.
How the method adapted
Rocky is not a fear case and not a bite case. The adaptations below are the moves that were made for him specifically, in roughly the order they were made.
Flat collar first, and the e-collar only after the level test - with the contacts changed for his coat.
Day 1 is stated to be on the flat collar only. When the e-collar arrives on Day 2, the first run through the levels produces almost nothing, and the trainer stops to check contact through thick fur rather than go higher. He later uses winged contacts for the same reason.
On film
Of course, with some flat collar, all of this training is going to be on the flat collar.
so let me put it on a little tighter that should be about right just make sure it's making contact always check the contacts
I don't need a jumpy jump right now because he doesn't know the command yet.
The reward was chosen from what he actually wants: the environment, delivered as the release.
He does not care about treats or toys nearly as much as sniffing, so almost all of Day 2 is flat collar and releases to freedom, and recalls are paid by sending him back to what he was investigating. Ball play is tested later and turns out to work; tug does not yet.
On film
sniffing bushes the environment is more rewarding in like 99 of cases and then i don't feel like a bank transaction
that ball he obsesses over it yeah Rocky likes the ball um it's not like he wouldn't jump off a cliff for it but he'll play with that
i haven't gotten him to play tug super hard yet but i wanted to try this one
For Rocky, social and spatial pressure is named as the strongest tool, stronger than the collar.
Stated at the first lesson and demonstrated: he suppresses slightly and sits to appease when the handler steps into him. It is the same appeasement that becomes the go-home problem.
On film
the e-collar obviously you can use that um for him the most potent one's actually social pressure
Appeasement was answered by removing the option, not by raising the pressure.
Rocky knows the down; what fails is that he tries to approach and squirm instead. Two taut lines - or at home a back-tie - make approach impossible, and the down becomes the only way out of the pressure. The trainer frames it as kinder as well as more effective, because the appeasement is itself a 'panic thing'.
On film
behavior impossible he can't he can't go and like do all of that mess that he's doing because
it's incredibly irritating um and and it's not good for the dog um because they're like going
into this appeasement panic thing instead of just getting rid of it like it's just gone and like
Jumping was put on cue rather than suppressed, and the e-collar was ruled out for it.
The owner had already taught 'up', and the dog's whole social currency is approaching people. An invited jump leaves the uninvited one clean to punish, and a collar correction for jumping might teach him not to approach people at all.
On film
So I did an uh-uh because I'm teaching him to jump up on command, not just randomly.
Extras (middle, security heel) were added because he was easy.
The trainer says so to the owner: extra commands get taught when training is going easily.
On film
because it's cool yeah and then it's really easy if there are way too many people around you just
Off-leash was approached through ever-lighter lines instead of a drop.
26-foot Flexi, then an eight-to-nine-foot drag line, then a hollow-braided 'petite dog tie out' at 14.5 and then 10 feet that he 'can't feel very much', so the trainer can rehearse off-leash where it is not legal.
On film
because it's like an in-between step between like the longer 50 foot and the six foot that's not a
After go-home, the method was aimed at the owner's patterns rather than the dog's.
The trainer's diagnosis at the follow-up is predictability: she leads with 'ah' before asking, repeats 'come', uses vibrate, pulls him away from dogs and bribes with treats. The fixes are a fixed word order, a second remote so he can back her up, fewer and more meaningful corrections, and not making dogs 'a thing'.
On film
squirrel when you were trying to get him to come back to you you led with ah right
of back it up if i need to thank you and it'll just make me slight it'll make it slightly easier
so like do the exact reverse um so instead of that don't make it a thing at all
After a hard correction, he is sent away rather than kept close.
So he does not become a 'glue dog' who stays near out of fear; seeing him sniff again is the sign he has recovered.
On film
noticed that he's like he doesn't want to leave yeah i'm going to encourage him to go okay right i want him to go go go go go go look at stuff go right i want him to go away now because i don't want to get him stuck where he's like the glue dog
What the family was told
What the e-collar is for, and how to wear it
To be very honest, the vast majority of it is for proofing.
one is because on the bottom of their neck like that's not the best place to get contact
uh just because it's a safety mechanism even if you don't use it for the entire thing
the vibrate vibrate serves kind of like no purpose in my mind um in these cases because it's not like
Levels depend on context; the dog sets the number
walkway sorry y'all yeah numbers don't mean anything um all that actually matters in any branch of psychology is what's the reaction of the person or of the dog
the context changed um that's why i said last week like don't worry about the number
I have to. Um, but who determines how much you got to do? He does.
Recall: 100%, finished, one cue, and never unenforced
Where either I can't make them come back in that scenario, and so then I don't try.
like right in this area he should basically just if he like kind of like sticks around here or something like that that's fine and then I can go okay good boy and then he's free to go that's the big difference between like something like come and then like let's go
him right because that's the maximum threshold like that's when he's like right at the edge and if he can recall off of that then he then he can recall off the other stuff
Corrections: command first, never let appeasement work, let him sit in it, then reconcile
is when you see them like going like oh like too far from you or going to like get into something um always give them a command before you give it
a mistake people have make they just kind of like we'll get on them and then immediately go but you're a good boy did you do and then that just blunts the whole thing
you normally don't want to see in your dog's face but you want to see it in that moment because that means okay the message got through it got through you want to see like he looks like a four-year-old that got in trouble
right um but the the real the real nice part about it is that it charges up the ah right so that one uh-uh that I did there now he hears uh-uh and it means more to him yeah right just from that one spot because it's kind of like a battery that goes dead over time
Walks: the Flexi, the leash as a prop, no heel grinding, never lock it
to think of the leash as a prop okay leash is a prop so steering happens with my voice
thing is i think short leashes are relatively evil in my opinion
allowing the choice points you can then see what he's actually going to do instead of preventing something that might not happen
Maintenance: play, and real-life challenges instead of homework
um so just treat it like normal play with one modification um and that's that every little bit kind of randomly you ask them to do something okay and then what you can think of it as is um the goal is that they learn that they can restart the game okay if they comply
restart the game um and the main thing is just like in the gym you make it progressively more difficult if you do that on a regular basis instead of his training atrophying it will will improve over time
Place at home
slippery for him okay there you go okay good boy yeah i just put him back up there so that i can release him properly okay that way um basically it's not that way it's not a failed rep
Um, and so then it becomes a little bit arbitrary and the grayer a command is, the harder it is.
Other dogs, joggers and bikes
to think about doing it because there's no purpose yeah right chasing a jogger there's no place for that like sniffing at the bushes and looking at wildlife there's a place for that
gets more aggressive yes he will instead tighten the leash and you like yank him off okay and then you tap the e-collar right you go ah you never do that and you tap the e-collar and then you kind of like let him sit in it
oh he is he definitely is and so what i'd what i want you to do is like when he goes up there don't correct him for going up there unless he does something dumb
Daycare, the crate and the house
he comes to them right well that can like mess up his recall
we don't do potty training
stuff for it but the roof cover is the one that i think is essential in north carolina yeah because
Why the owner is taught at all
adage like you know teach a man to fish yeah versus giving a man a fish like i give you a trained dog but if i don't teach you how to like do any dog training you're messed up
like i have one in the top five training tools of all time yeah like the tripod has improved my training immensely because I can see what I'm doing
In the family's own words
Why she enrolled him: she was making progress with treats on trails, including getting him to stop barking at dogs, but did not have the time before family visits, and wanted the jumping gone.
On film
time i feel like he would have been fine because there's times where i would get him on a trail
and i would get him to stop barking at the dogs yeah just kind of doing the reinforcement with
She ties his one lapse in listening to daycare, and decides to stop using it.
On film
So then I'll try and avoid it unless I'm just going to board him.
It matches the intake's separation anxiety and is the only on-film account of it.
After go-home: the growling, the car window, and the 'brother'.
On film
kind of stuff yeah because his brother hasn't been around him since that day so i'm hoping
And today, he tried to jump out the window of the car.
At the fence: the scare that made her keep him away from dogs, and her own observation that it did not recur.
On film
everybody and rocky just but did he bite her or anything like that no but i thought it's it felt
act worse yeah he's done it a couple of times to a few different dogs but it was like in the same
Outcomes
What the trainers reported
Reactivity to people and dogs 'pretty much gone', apart from occasional suspicion of new people.
The go-home trainer, 2026-04-26
On film
it out if that makes sense like it's mostly gone but uh he still will kind of like be just kind of
Recall 'looking fine'; the implied stay 'fine' at about two minutes on walks.
The go-home trainer, 2026-04-26
On film
that come out okay uh that have it so that's that's good um rocky come so his recall is
like the implied stay is fine um i think i've done like two minutes just like randomly on walks
'Very close to off leash'; 'recalling everything else'.
The trainer, the late day (probably 2026-04-21)
On film
I'm gonna use this because he's doing really good He's recalling everything else, so I want to stick him out I'm very close to off leash there
Authority 'not incredibly difficult'; he downs when asked and takes pressure without whining.
The trainer to the owner, before 2026-04-21
On film
that's not like it hasn't been incredibly difficult to establish authority with rocky
Sit, down and come verbal-only by the end of Day 2.
The trainer, Day 2
On film
first down without any negative reinforcement okay he did not need any direction from the collar there he just downed without me needing to do anything i just said the word and he did it so
'He got a lot chiller' with the collar, and at the fence 'maybe he's over it now'.
The owner, at the follow-up
On film
and all right and that's fine now he didn't do what he did before yeah so i'm guessing maybe
What the footage shows
Long place with other dogs and household noise, ending asleep, repeatedly; held through door knocks and the handler out of the building. He broke first in the earliest two-dog evening and broke once when another dog was led out; every break ended on a verbal re-place.
On film
Just to check to see what I'm walking into. They're all still in place, so I'm gonna toss in an extra bit of trouble here. Before I come in, I'm gonna knock on the door. Look at that, guys. None of them got up, even when I knocked on the door.
The down was obtained on Day 1 on a flat collar and was verbal by the end of Day 2, but appeasement on the down was still present at the handover and was addressed only by a demonstration.
On film
down down good job right so he's figuring it out and then just tell him okay that's what he's using
Recall holds in low-to-moderate distraction; against a new dog it failed at the ordinary level and needed 50. After go-home he came off wildlife and joggers with the trainer handling, and came away from the dog park fence for the owner.
On film
All right, now recall him. Rocky, come. Rocky, come, eh, eh. There we go. Very nice.
Heel entry needs a little leash near distractions; off-leash heel was under-practised by the trainer's own account.
On film
Yeah, so I will say I didn't do as much with him off the leash. Oh, okay. Yeah, so he's used to a little bit of leash guidance still.
After go-home, one dog encounter with raised hair, one sprint at two dogs, and one independent approach-look-and-return are on film; the growling the owner reports is not.
On film
it's like all right would a 65 have worked maybe yeah but i know that that right away yeah i don't
The ideas Rocky's case runs on
- 'Let's go' is not 'Come' - and the recall has an ending
- A correction has length as well as force
- A life that gets smaller, and the bargain
- Close the other door: the escape hatch
- Command, marker, collar - in that order
- Don't heel grind
- Evaluate, cooperate, socialise, fulfil - then authority
- False reps: the dog reads the chain, not the word
- Freedom is given in measured steps
- Keep the marker charged
- Play becomes the reward - and play is a contest
- Pressure, release, reward
- Proof place against what really happens at home
- Put the unwanted behaviour on cue
- Restraint manufactures the reaction
- Sticking close is not attachment
- The level is not a number
- You have to be able to reward him at all