Who Sage is
Trainers words
On film
90% of the time she's very mellow. Um the main thing that I uh saw was one she just didn't know any commands um to any real level of fluency um where where she could do them uh with verbal only and then without like breaking the command um like she couldn't stand them for like duration, right? Um, and then the other major one was um like uh if there was any kind of distraction or anything like that, then she'd get off. Um, but the other uh bigger one that's scarier was um she uh got scared of loud noises like randomly. Um and then she wouldn't you couldn't call her back if she got scared of something.
is her default response to pressure, either from me or this person, is she just goes, and she just freezes up, like she just kind of panics a little bit. She doesn't normally take off running, she just kind of freezes up.
she's probably one of those dogs that she always sits near her threshold but you can't tell because she never actually gets it and we just tipped it over just a little bit
she's more likely to like kind of like freeze up a little bit, be a little hyper vigilant, like kind of like, she's more like an anxious case dog
She's a nervous dog, so sometimes when something's new, we get a little nervous about what to do, but we want to guide them into the right path.
any dog if you push them hard enough we'll do one of three things they'll either freeze they'll flee or they'll fight
she lacks confidence sometimes yeah she feels like she's in in trouble yeah she does everything to avoid it actually yeah yeah she wants no smoke at all
Sage is going to come to you and be like, "Did I do good?" Like that's how she thinks, right? So like she's going to come over to you and be like, "Can I did I do good?" And then like you got to confirm like you did the right thing.
She has never showed any aggressiveness whatsoever. Not even food. Not even food aggressive. Not even possessing.
she's only been with us for almost a week, and she was a little bit shy at first, she's really sweet
she's very sensitive to the verbal correction now because it got backed up by the e-collar.
towards the end of every one of them she'd be like i'm not doing anything else because like i am hot beat up like i need to go inside because she gets hot quick
that seems to be like a temperamental thing because we exposed her to lots of stuff and she's still kind of that response has gotten a lot less extreme but it's still like in there
our other trainer over there she's working with a dog named sage she's got some interesting uh i don't want to say problems but interesting challenges to say the least that dog will just like stare at you but we're working with her she's made a lot of improvements
Family words
On film
because she did take off on the the last adoption and was gone for like two weeks holy um so i didn't know that she was gone for two weeks that's a long time so we were like holy cow what sparked you know that and was gone for two weeks not coming back but just you know gone somebody else found her and then they scanned her and then took her back to the rescue yeah but and that was during her trial period with that with that family
We did find one instance where she used to like to go in the pond when she was with her foster. Yeah. But we've yet to take her to a body of water
I really went so she didn't do it she didn't do it to me but she would to my wife yeah I think part you know part of it was a mutual okay I want you to do this thing or whatever yeah but my biggest fear was when she does get the zoomies yeah he is a much more athletic dog than our dogs in the past we went from we still have a Yorkie only having your keys to a little a little muscle
Yeah, so it's just the loud noises. Loud noises are sometimes, yeah, she gets weirded out. Yeah, and we don't, that's like partially why we We sent her to y'all just because we didn't know. Yeah, what to do with that.
my biggest thing is I just want to take her out I go out I travel a lot I go to farmers markets a lot so she should be okay with me yes yeah she should be fine
I gave her her new toy. You got her a new toy? Yes. She loves toys. Yeah. I saw you trying to get her to play with toys. I tried so hard. Yeah, she didn't want to do it. I was so shocked. If you, she's a missile. If you throw a ball out in that backyard, she would step away. Yeah. Because she's going to run in circles in my backyard. Well, good. Use that.
I was like, oh, I was her mama, so it was hard to let her go. But I saw how much love you gave her while she was with you, so that made me comfortable with her.
The program, stage by stage
1. Place and early skill teachingTurning point
The place recording explains going to the cot on the word and adding duration. The trainer describes Sage's responses and plans to discuss them with her family. A heel recording is introduced as possibly her first heel work. Two sparsely narrated place uploads and a coached cot session address related practice; their exact order is unresolved. The coached recording is particularly useful for studying preparation before a request and interaction after release. Similar teaching content does not prove that these were filmed on the same day or at the beginning of the program.
The trainer explains the responses he is watching and how they influence the next request; the recording does not establish a day-one milestone.
On film
she knows the word but she's not confident that she knows the word she still needs escape yeah to get on she's not in an avoidance paradigm yet where she just gets on without any pressure she still needs a little bit of pressure to move on to the place
Do not release during whining, circling, barking, or, what's the last one? Anxious staring.
she's probably one of those dogs that she always sits near her threshold but you can't tell because she never actually gets it and we just tipped it over just a little bit
So, um, I like to just hype them up a little bit so they're in a good mental state.
right now she's doing the anxious staring as soon as that's gone and she settles down and chills as soon as she like calms down and lays down then get her off
2. Down practice, radius and store workTurning point
The group trail recording discusses guiding Sage into down and reducing assistance in stages. The trainer proposes trying another setting. In the park recording with Louie, the handlers discuss Sage's walking radius and repeat a dog pass-by during sit practice. Agri Supply recordings describe store practice, close walking and a break. Two uploads carry a Part 2 title; their relationship is not yet established. The long home-context recording may be related to the quiet practice discussed in owner lessons, but duration and setting alone do not identify it. A short on-leash park walk (watch, uploaded 2026-07-03) tests the radius against a stated 6-12 foot standard and a heel with speed changes; the narrator is not yet trusting her off leash.
The recordings show teaching questions about position, assistance and setting, with later comparisons needed to establish lasting change.
On film
So you can kind of use just like, yeah, a little guidance cause you can kind of feel like the, you can, you can kind of feel like how they're built and then find the right
Sage is not really doing it with me. She's not letting you get down yet. She'll always want to sit, but I'm like...
Nice sit from Sage. Louie, come. Go ahead and walk past her. I wanna see if she'll stay sad. All right, let's walk past. Nope. She broke her.
she can go out the radius whenever, I don't know, and then I'll correct her for that, but she hasn't given me a chance
Let's just walk for a bit. I don't want to get you shut down already
we want to make sure that they don't go too far ahead or lag too far behind but they always stay within you know roughly 6 to 12 feet of the person
I'm not trusting her just yet off-leash
3. Home context, the couch and activity breaksTurning point
These recordings provide different views of home and yard practice. The couch conversation describes a response to a garbage truck that occurred before filming and explains the trainer's use of session records. Other indoor recordings contain cue clusters separated by little speech; they cannot establish continuous body position or emotional state. Pool and heel recordings offer further contexts, and Tractor Supply supplies a short store example. They are grouped here by subject, not assigned to an early-to-mid-July interval. Neither shows what the dog did between cues.
The trainer explains why he spaces attempts and tracks context. Quiet intervals and second-hand activity reports remain distinct from direct observation.
On film
safe, come, place, place, safe, place, eh eh, place, place, eh, place, come on, place,
And that's why we have the emotional state that we track across every session because if we track the emotional state across every session, when I'm running the data and looking through and doing the data reports and the weekly reports, I can see if a dog's probably progress is being held back because of scenery, context, emotional state, like what's their block or what's blocking their progress.
the only one I have not worked with is this dog here because apparently she tapped out earlier and was just like yeah she was down earlier yeah so I don't know if I should take her out she's been chilling for a while now
That was actually really good. Good job, Sage. It looks like she's doing really well. We'll probably, little by little, add different distractions, maybe make it a little bit more difficult, but at least right now, she's got it down really well.
sage is pretty chill she's not thrilled she's a little nervous that's okay
You did so good, Sagey. You did so good. You're so smart, Sagey Pooh.
You're sleepy. You're sleepy.
We're going to get it much smoother.
4. Owner explanation and reducing assistanceTurning point
The yard session describes remaining help for down and the choice to leave time between attempts. The park warm-up is titled as preparation for the first owner lesson. That lesson explains the program's skill grades and emotional-state categories, with brief demonstrations. These are internal assessment descriptions, not independently validated measures. A separate long-line recording reports a down without leash or electronic assistance on that attempt, discusses recall and heel, and coaches sit/down discrimination. The publication dates do not establish that the recordings occurred on consecutive days. The long-line session has a second camera: Ramsey's handler filmed the same outing (watch, uploaded 2026-07-17), and the coaching on sit/down reset, clarity, the recall finish and long lines is heard on both. That makes it one event, not two, and her remark 'that's kelton running oh my god sage is doing so good' makes Kelton the probable long-line trainer.
Down reaches the word alone and the trainer sees her 'a lot more upbeat', the second thing he was checking.
On film
What I'm trying to get out of it is like you can see I'm sticking my finger in the collar and it's kind of going like this. This is a very light
good girl okay oh I'm so proud of her that's her best down so far Wow good job
for sit it's verbal and it's it's reliable with down she's at a four right now she still needs light help
making it clear to her that that just does nothing right that doesn't work it doesn't help it doesn't get her out of it at all and then the pro with the e-collar is that you can take that understanding from the leash to off the leash
Come on Sage come here You can't freeze up come on That's not gonna work no freezes come on come on there you go that's better. Thank you
She tried down twice, and I let her do it. She got it wrong both times. Yeah. And then I said sit again, and she got it right, and boom, she got released. Yeah. Right? But I didn't have to put a lot of pressure or, like, make her do it, because she knows both.
she tried down twice and i let her do it and then like she got it wrong both times
I'm sticking my finger in the collar and just kind of going like this. So, it's just a very light light uh like little help. Um so, she's on like really really light help needed for the for the DM now. And I do that very soon. She'll just go. She'll do it all the way. We'll do it verbal only.
5. Store and park practiceTurning point
The Lowe's recording explains the trainer's interest in Sage's response to the setting and his plan for further visits. The park recording refers to a previous Lowe's outing, includes a segment introduced as off leash, and discusses a passing jogger, noise and possible next venues. Off leash describes the leash condition, not the absence of all equipment or assistance; a planned busier outing is not a completed test.
The trainer uses store and park work to assess responses and plan the next setting; the footage should be read at the level of the particular task and moment.
On film
right now she starts to shut her brain off and she hears that kind of stuff
So I have to allow enough freedom for prediction errors to occur for management to be out of the way for her to start feeling differently about what's going on.
emotional state change is the key to actually making progress in these kinds of areas not just oh look I can make her sit and make her down
I don't think she's going to take off running and get her, but if she takes off running on that thing in the it's over. She's gone. Come on, girly. Ain't no way I'm catching her. Sage, let's go. Come on. Good girl. But, I just have to rely on the recall.
Uh-uh. Down. So, Sage just got up cuz she heard the dump truck. Come here. I know that was scary. Come here. Sage down. Eh. Down. Good reset.
So, you can see like when she stopped and was kind of like weirded out by that machinery, I just told her to like it like you know like let's go and that way she had some kind of direction. She had something to do with with that. Instead of being like uh
6. Reported second lesson and the go-homeTurning point
The go-home lesson reports an earlier second lesson with Connor, revisits starting concerns and progress, and uses park footage while explaining the work. It then includes coached owner practice, the order of cues and release, and guidance tailored to Sage. Kelton discusses differences between settings and promises a personalised checklist. The short client film combines material from this handover and the first owner lesson; it is not another visit. The filmed handover shows supported practice, while an independent home follow-up and the delivered checklist would be separate evidence.
The handover: the family are given the freeze rule and the spook routine, and the gap 'she listens to you, not me' is named in their own words.
On film
he was like well you didn't tell her to do anything right so you're correcting her on something you didn't tell her to do now you're gonna confuse her
Yeah she knows sit, she knows down, she knows steal, she knows place. You knew no commands. She didn't know nothing from what I could tell
her down is good or sits good or places her place is the one that's like the the one that was the the hardest for her funnily enough
I stand there and she like goes to retreat and then like I just kind of like lock the leash and have her come back to me and like I don't like push her into doing a bunch of commands ends because that's a band-aid if you band-aid it over with just like putting her down you are addressing the physical state of her body we're like okay she's stationary now but what's happening in here that's the question
Yeah. Now you know what I feel like. Yeah. When I try to tell her to do something, she listens to you, not me. Yeah.
going harder might not be the best route with Sage. It might just be like, all right, lady,
Skills
Place (go to the cot, then settle)
How it was taught
The narrated place recording explains reducing assistance before adding duration and describes a settle-and-release criterion. The coached recording adds preparation before the request, an instruction not to use leash assistance, space during the wait and interaction after release. Not using the leash is distinct from detaching it. Owner lessons describe spacing repetitions to allow recovery; those are trainer accounts rather than a measurement of baseline state. Another park recording practices place on a rock. Filming order remains unresolved.
On film
Right now, she's at the point where she knows the word place. She'll get up there without me having to pull the leash or use the e-collar, right? because I already did the leash and I did the e-collar. And now she'll get up there without me telling her anything. All I have to do is just say the word.
that's when you add duration right and then you just wait and if she's whining circling barking anxious staring and standing there looking at you whatever it is that's when you just wait and if they try to get off you put them back up there and then you wait and as soon as they settle you tell them to get off
All right, and now wait for the settle. back up a little bit. Don't sit yet because she's going to get up. Come towards me and make this like a little bit of space and see what she does. All right, now you can go sit. And don't tell her anything. Just wait. If she goes to get up, just use pressure. But for now, we release pressure on the leash. So let it out. Lock it and just wait.
in the training room, in that living room setting, she resists it more and doesn't want to do it. So it's like, probably, yeah, she loves the couch.
she's got a lot better with it where she's now getting up on the place to throw in the cord I'm having to like push it so hard on it right and she's gotten that figured out and and she's gotten much better at settling there
sometimes that's the only option right you've got to do what you got to do and that is to just have longer gaps in between the reps
Let's go over to the rock. Come on. Stay. Place. Up here. Come on. Place. Come on. Up here. Place. Come on.
Sit
How it was taught
Sit is used to explain different levels of assistance. The long-line lesson explains resetting sit/down confusion and includes a reported successful sit after retries. That attempt does not establish a permanent resolution of the confusion. The yard session explicitly links a sit with release to free time.
On film
if I wanted her to sit, Sage, sit, that's no help, right? No help is required, it's verbal only.
We're using you as a tester. Testing the stage.
I want to make sure she doesn't turn every sit, every down into a sit, or sorry, every sit into a down.
as soon as his butt hits the ground before he has a chance to lay down as soon as his butt hits the ground release right because then what you're getting is you say sit he completes the position properly and gets released instead of him getting just pulled up from the down he you you reset the whole picture you make it clear hey that was wrong
It's free time. Now you can do whatever you want. You don't have to follow me. You don't have to do nothing. You can go anywhere. Go, Sniffy. Go Snippies. Go, go, go. Good girl. Go Snippies. You just gained freedom.
Down
How it was taught
The group recording describes a progression from leash and hand assistance toward the word. Other recordings show or describe repeated cues, light collar guidance and attention to completing the position. The long-line trainer reports a response without leash or electronic assistance on that attempt. At the park, a down is interrupted by noise and then reset; it should not be described as holding through that interruption. During owner practice the trainer offers further help and explains the timing of another request. These are comparisons across records, not a dated week-by-week sequence.
On film
probably her first time using doing down at all so don't even stay down okay just guide her into the position and then say okay and release it but start it out start it with the tub
So you can kind of use just like, yeah, a little guidance cause you can kind of feel like the, you can, you can kind of feel like how they're built and then find the right
Good. Sage, down. Down. Down. Down. Down. Down. Good girl. Good girl. Good girl, Sagey.
sage down almost come on down good girl all the way
She's a little slow and a little freezy on them sometimes.
Sage down good girl so you can see the health is really light health now so she's in that four for most of the time because she knows it
let's go Sage down okay you did so good come here mama come here you did so
Her down gotten really good. So, she goes right into a down now. And I can walk pretty far away. This um you'll see she gets up. It's because she heard a super loud noise from like across the lake
Alright, point to the ground, kind of help her out a little bit.
I did actually, earlier, while we were walking around, I got the first lung where I said down and she got it. And I was pumped about that.
Heel and the heel entry
How it was taught
Taken easy on first exposure with freedom between short reps; a stop tested; the plan to raise difficulty only after success (longer, abrupt stops, speed changes, then distractions). In the long-line session heel windows are short, corrected with 'ah ah', helped by picking up the line, and ended with 'All done'; the trainer concedes she finds it annoying. In the store it is added late in the visit. Off leash at the park an 'eh' brings her back when she drifts and 'okay' releases. On leash at a park (watch) a narrator tests heel with speed changes and turns and finds it 'better than i was expecting'. Owners are not drilled on heel at either lesson.
On film
Sage heeled the other side. We want them to go on the other side when you command it.
Enjoy a little freedom until we do another session with that, and if she seems that she's doing good each time, then we can up the kites for you, maybe do a little longer, do abrupt That stops, go fast, slow, just to really improve it.
Sage, heel. Heel. Heel. Heel. Sage, come on. It's annoying. I know it's annoying. There you go.
Good girl. You're doing really good. That's a nice off-leash heel.
So, she's got a nice heel entry where I can call her into the heel. Okay. Um from a like cuz she was walking ahead and all I had to do is say heal and she can come into it. And she's got a nice offley heel now.
okay all right well that was very good it was actually better than i was expecting good job sage
Recall - formal 'Sage, come' versus informal 'come here'
How it was taught
The trainer describes recall as an important response when Sage is startled. The long-line lesson explains arrival, waiting nearby and release; the owner lesson discusses sometimes calling her for relaxed interaction. Prediction error is the trainer's explanation, not a measured mechanism in these recordings. The handover distinguishes a formal cue from an informal invitation and includes coached owner practice. A complete owner-handled startled recall would be a separate evidence question.
On film
and like tried to like run a little bit from it and being able to get her like snapped out of that and like have her have like a reliable response where you can be like, "Hey, like Sage, dude, like come." And she's like, "Oh, okay. I'll just come and then I'm safe."
at worst they have to come to you and just wait for further instruction and then like if you said come even if they like 45 seconds later you're still standing there they should stay there yeah they shouldn't like leave the area they should be right in here yeah they should be right in this area and then you use the release command so you say okay and then they're ready they're they're good to go they know they can leave
so then you have to cause a prediction error and just call them over and then like what I just did there was no good yeah and like we just chill together after that
And then in the yard I've been letting her do things without the leash on and she's coming coming back pretty reliably without having to use the leash. She's not trying to run to the corner or anything stupid.
If you're going to say a formal command like calm down, say whatever it is, you got to reinforce it afterwards. So like if she doesn't do it, you got to like make sure she does it somehow, right?
Say come and just clap your hands or something. Sage, come. All right, now encourage. Come on, Sage. There we go. Yeah. So, that's another little like uh uh quirky thing with her.
Off leash and the radius
How it was taught
The two-dog park recording explains the radius while Louie is being handled and separately discusses Sage. It should not assign Louie's automatic check-in demonstration to Sage. The records include reported yard practice, a long-line session and a park segment announced as off leash; these do not establish a complete dated equipment progression. The long-line lesson explains avoiding a dragging line at roads, and the handover discusses a lead that permits movement on release.
On film
So you want to build a radius that they don't go outside of on the walks, makes it a lot easier for people to navigate walks with their dogs, and a lot less management is required. And so you can see he checked in automatically on his own that time. And then he ends up just staying within the set distance from me, and he starts checking back in within that set distance.
each time she turns to like to like walk towards them, I like stop to cut the leash once and just like barely gives her a tug. And so she like ultimately just stood on my human right here
Stay with me. You're about to push the radius.
It's either light help or a verbal cue and I'm getting pretty close where I'm getting confident that I could start to use a long line out in public
Good job. All right, Sage is off leash.
Now, she's probably going to do the I'm going to run to the car thing as fast as I can. Because dogs that have her kind of temperament do that a lot. So, I want to make sure that I can recall her off of that. So, I'm prepping to negatively reinforce it if I need to.
one really important thing that you make sure of with long lines is that you never walk through a road and let the long line drag on the ground yeah car runs over it oh yeah I can snap their neck
we want to make sure that they don't go too far ahead or lag too far behind but they always stay within you know roughly 6 to 12 feet of the person
Settle at liberty (home context)
How it was taught
Loose in a house while the trainer lives around her; long stretches with the camera off; a few downs or place reps spaced far apart; the couch as her reward and resting spot. The trainers name this a scene ('the living-room set-up', 'settling at liberty') rather than a command.
On film
You a sleepy girl? Sleepy, sleepy mo-mo. She's a sleepy mo-mo. Good sleepy girl. She's a sleepy girl.
we've been hanging out for like 15 20 minutes i had the camera off it's on now yeah but like i had the camera off and we were just like chilling in between like doing some play stuff
settle is not on place right it's like they may settle in the living room and be good even though other stuff's happening right and they're free right there
we tracked the emotional state across every session to see how their emotional state is in each session and that was one of the things I noticed in the data was that the emotional state was lower inside than outside she was more likely to freeze up or get kind of like scared inside than she was outside
Public access and field trips
How it was taught
The store recordings discuss allowing time to acclimate, practicing familiar requests and watching the dog's response. The Lowe's trainer proposes further visits after noticing a response to part of the environment. A proposed return is not a filmed completed exposure, and prediction error remains his explanation of the intended learning. Each store record needs to retain its own handler, task and context.
On film
and then public neutrality that's a big thing for her she doesn't have an issue where she's super reactive that I see right she has an issue where she freezes up and get scared stuff
Definitely a little bit freaked out, but this is good exposure for her, as long as she doesn't go into a bad emotional state here.
So I'm just going to kind of let her acclimate first, and then once she's acclimated a little bit, then maybe I'll try and command her to...
I keep forgetting she's here with me, because she's, like, not there.
my biggest thing is I just want to take her out I go out I travel a lot I go to farmers markets a lot so she should be okay with me yes yeah she should be fine
The spook routine (loud noise)
How it was taught
Two handlings appear on film. At the park: walk her toward the noise to look at it, ask if she is all right, then 'let's go' so she has something to do with the feeling; reset a broken down with a marker. At the go-home the rule for the owners is the stand-still version: stand there, lock the leash when she goes to retreat, have her come back, do not stack commands over the fear, let her cope, and when she stands calm say 'okay' and leave, so that standing calm becomes the thing that works instead of hiding. Whether these are two stages or two trainers' choices is an open question.
On film
What is that? Want to go check it out? Let's go. Sage, come on. Let's go see what's making all that noise.
And then when she does, like, the response that you want, where she comes and she's just, like, okay, and she's just standing there. Then you go, okay, and remove her from whatever the thing is that was freaking her out. And you actually say, okay. You say, okay, and then you just, like, leave.
the reason that dogs go hide like that like in her mind why did she go hide in the kennel it works she got out of the scenario she felt better when she got in the kennel that's why she kept doing it right yeah um so if you make that not the thing that works and instead the thing that works is just to kind of like stand there and chill she'll do that instead
that seems to be like a temperamental thing because we exposed her to lots of stuff and she's still kind of that response has gotten a lot less extreme but it's still like in there
Leave it
How it was taught
Cue 'leave it' when she looks at something; the marker backed by the e-collar carries it.
On film
come on we are working on leave it so if she sees something she gets distracted
Leave it, I haven't had an issue with that at all because she's very sensitive to the verbal correction now because it got backed up by the e-collar.
Off leash and the radius
On film
her and we were going for a walk uh we went around a bend she thought she got lost side of me for
considerate of her of course these behaviors are not consistent all the time with everything
Recall - formal 'Sage, come' versus informal 'come here'
On film
Sage, come, come, good girl, Sage, sit, sit, good girl, so yeah, she's sitting good, okay, she's walking good,
Down
On film
alright Sage, down, Sage, down, uh uh, uh uh, getting better, okay, good girl, she's getting there, she's learning
And it went a little bit smooth a little bit cleaner. She she finished more of it on her own
Public access and field trips
On film
we're with our other trainer Evan he's working with a pretty fresh dog we just got named Sage
From the Shorts
Short clips posted from Sage's training. They are undated, so they sit beside the program rather than inside it.
Keen to say hello, not always sure up close
On a walk past people and dogs, a trainer explains how Sage meets them: she is very excited to go and visit, but up close she sometimes shows no interest, sometimes is friendly, and sometimes is a little standoffish and nervous. He says the nerves never seem to dampen her wish to say hello, calling her 'an optimistic sort'. He recalls that when he first put the leash on her she lost sight of him at a bend and tried to run off; since then she wanders out and stops to wait for him, though not every time. The plan, he says, is to make the good behaviours regular and discourage the rest.
On film
She's very actually interested in checking other people out and dogs. She's very excited to go and
she will just want to go and sniff them and be excited and friendly. And sometimes she'll
be a little standoffish, showing some fear and nervousness around them.
and say hello to other dogs and people which is good she's an optimistic sort
the time when going for a walk she did try running off um when i was when i first put the leash on
of course being on a leash she didn't get so far but um since then she'll wander about as far away
as she is now and then she'll actually stop and wait for me to catch up with her
thing and that's what we want to do is highlight those good behaviors and make
An early outing as the passing dog
On a trip out with Daisy's trainer, the trainer Evan walks Sage - described as 'a pretty fresh dog we just got' - past Daisy, so that Daisy can practise letting another dog go by. Sage is the helper here; how she took it is not described.
On film
we're with our other trainer Evan he's working with a pretty fresh dog we just got named Sage we're gonna be using him to help out with our pass by
The down, getting cleaner
Straight after her first in-program lesson, the handler says she did so well and asks for a down: it still takes an 'uh uh' or two, and the handler says she is getting better and learning. At the end of another session a handler reports that her last down went a little smoother and cleaner, and that she finished more of it on her own.
On film
First in program lesson, program lesson number one, she did so good, she's so smart
alright Sage, down, Sage, down, uh uh, uh uh, getting better, okay, good girl, she's getting there, she's learning
I got in a nice last like last rep with down
And it went a little bit smooth a little bit cleaner. She she finished more of it on her own
How the method adapted
The trainer describes fewer repetitions with longer gaps, intended to allow recovery before another request.
On film
So we end up having to spend a longer time period for her, even though we're doing less total reps. But that's okay, because you can learn as long as those repetitions are quality. And quality is mostly determined by how clear the communication is with it.
I would rather get fewer reps done but have her in a good emotional stage time then try to like push through. Pushing through doesn't always do much much good.
sometimes the best way to get them like better on something like that is to it just takes longer so it takes more my day but sometimes that's the only option right you've got to do what you got to do and that is to just have longer gaps in between the reps yeah so that they can fully decompress from like a little bit of pressure they felt
The trainer describes using less assistance in some situations and resetting or asking again when Sage pauses. Device numbers belong to the particular dog, equipment and setting; they are not interchangeable measurements of intensity.
On film
I'm finding that doing it lower and make making sure that it's really clear and waiting longer she also takes a little longer sometimes to do it so stopping giving space keeps her from freezing
she's not like super tough with it she's more likely to freeze up so I'm more likely to reset and ask her to do it again then I am to go hard on it
a good starter level for her for a lot of stuff like just like if it's low distractions at 15 20 she responds well to that um if there's a lot of distractions and like she's kind of thinking about other stuff and like it's blowing you off then go up from there I don't think that I've used it with her higher than like a 50
The handover includes encouragement and a suggested pause before repeating a cue. This is individual coaching for Sage and her owners, not a universal response-time standard.
On film
Come on Sage come here You can't freeze up come on That's not gonna work no freezes come on come on there you go that's better. Thank you
with Sage in particular if if she doesn't comply with that kind of like with something right away sometimes she just feels unsure so if you like say and then she still doesn't do it and just like encourage it just encourage kind of cheerlead a little bit and she'll do it
I'm finding that doing it lower and make making sure that it's really clear and waiting longer she also takes a little longer sometimes to do it
The coached place and store recordings describe preparation and acclimation before requests.
On film
And then once you think she seems like in a good place, they can guide her, keep signs that the dog is in a good place. Tail wagging, uh, feels a lot more relaxed.
Yeah, before duration, you can take a break before that so she just feels more comfortable.
So I'm just going to kind of let her acclimate first, and then once she's acclimated a little bit, then maybe I'll try and command her to...
The trainer encourages interaction after release and interprets Sage as seeking confirmation. The interaction is observable; the account of what she is thinking remains his interpretation.
On film
for Sage, that's important. For some dogs, like they don't give uh two fudges about that. Like it doesn't matter to them. They're just like, "Sick, I'm done." Like, and they'll just run around. Sage is going to come to you and be like, "Did I do good?" Like that's how she thinks,
that's why the positive reinforcement on the other end of it's really useful, like always be like, yeah, you go with Sage, you know.
The trainer explains calling Sage over sometimes for relaxed interaction to change what recall predicts. This is his stated purpose, not a demonstrated causal mechanism or measured change in wariness.
On film
every time I call her to me I make her do something that's hard for
so then you have to cause a prediction error and just call them over
The Lowe's trainer explains leaving room for responses and discusses prediction error. At handover, Kelton distinguishes holding a body position from a change in emotional response. These are teaching explanations; the recordings do not measure the proposed internal mechanism.
On film
If I restrict her options too tightly, she'll panic if she's not restricted. That kind of tight management doesn't allow for any kind of learning.
that's a band-aid if you band-aid it over with just like putting her down you are addressing the physical state of her body we're like okay she's stationary now but what's happening in here that's the question what's happening in there may not have changed at all
The handover describes most outdoor sessions as roughly thirty minutes or less, with exceptions, because of heat. Other records mention shade, water, surface checks and rest. This is not a universal time cap, and a staff question about whether to work Sage again does not establish the final decision.
On film
most of the outdoor sessions don't take a lot of more longer than like 30 minutes i think there's like two that were longer than 30 minutes they were outdoors that's because of the heat
so I don't know if I should take her out she's been chilling for a while now
I know it's pretty hot out out here. Get into the shade ASAP.
It's not that hot, I already tested it.
The trainer discusses choosing rewards from Sage's behavior, including couch access, personal interaction and free time.
On film
she's telling you she's telling you what her reward is right now Yeah, she likes to sit up there, yeah. The couch is her reward. No, she likes to cuddle. And she likes cuddling and she likes personal play. She's telling you right there, so like, use the couch every time you break.
And figuring out how to motivate them, what's rewarding to them, and what their hang-ups are, and then working with those.
Oh, she's interested in the tug. That's good.
The group lesson proposes indoor practice and the Lowe's session proposes further store visits. These passages establish planned adjustments; identifying the later recordings is necessary before describing those plans as completed.
On film
This might be also a context thing. So later on, I think we do have a session plan for her inside. side so maybe she'll be more amenable to it there
So I'm gonna recreate that We're gonna run through something like this a few more times. So I'm gonna be coming back to more home improvement stores again
The trainer promises a personalised checklist and explains why some guidance is specific to Sage. The recording does not establish delivery or the final contents of that document.
On film
there's some things that are specific to Sage that like, if I just gave you like the generic generic idea, it would probably be counterproductive.
A home-context conversation describes staff preferences for different kinds of dogs. It does not establish a documented assignment policy or a particular reassignment.
On film
I've found that different people like working with different kinds of dogs. So Connor doesn't plan on working with a dog like Sage at all, and Evan doesn't all the time either.
What the family was told
In the family's own words
Throw the rope, she'll go after it, she'll do that, but she'll never touch the rope inside her airplane. She might bring it inside to what we call, squirrel away, because she will hide stuff in the back of her kennel.
but my biggest fear was when she does get the zoomies yeah he is a much more athletic dog than our dogs in the past
because she did take off on the the last adoption and was gone for like two weeks
Yeah, so it's just the loud noises.
she's a missile. If you throw a ball out in that backyard, she would step away.
Yeah, we see it. I'm I'm sure she uh she's going to do great when she comes home. And I can't wait for for the finished product.
he said you're gonna leave us maybe some notes because we were like yeah we realized that we need probably need training all of the all of the commands the commands and the workflow of the commands
When I try to tell her to do something, she listens to you, not me.
I'm not doing the eh eh That's really my downfall
I was like, oh, I was her mama, so it was hard to let her go. But I saw how much love you gave her while she was with you, so that made me comfortable with her.
Any final questions for me while I'm still here?
Outcomes
What the trainers reported
She now knows sit, down, heel and place, from knowing no commands.
Kelton, go-home
Yeah she knows sit, she knows down, she knows steal, she knows place. You knew no commands. She didn't know nothing from what I could tell
A heel entry on the word from ahead, and an off-leash heel.
Kelton, go-home
she's got a nice heel entry where i can call her into the heel okay um from a plate because she was walking ahead and all i had to do was say heel and she can come into it and she's got a nice off leash heel now
A recall that snaps her out of a spook.
Kelton, go-home
being able to get her like snapped out of that and like have her have like a reliable response where you can be like, "Hey, like Sage, dude, like come." And she's like, "Oh, okay. I'll just come and then I'm safe."
Grades at the in-program lesson: sit 6; down 4; come 4-5; place 4-5; heel 3-4, sometimes 5; leave it no issue.
Kelton, in-program lesson
for sit it's verbal and it's it's reliable with down she's at a four right now she still needs light help
The retreat response is less extreme but still present.
Kelton, go-home
that seems to be like a temperamental thing because we exposed her to lots of stuff and she's still kind of that response has gotten a lot less extreme but it's still like in there
She had started choosing the calm option more.
she already started getting better where she was starting to choose that option more
She got better inside after being more nervous inside than outside.
Kelton, go-home
she did better outside than inside with the the training originally she's gotten much better inside now but it was easier
She looks 'a lot more upbeat' doing a verbal-only down.
the long-line trainer, 2026-07-16
that was it so I didn't have to use the e-collar I didn't have to test the leash or do anything else she did perfectly fine she she looks a lot more upbeat is what I wanted to see
She is ready for a busier venue.
the park trainer
Definitely like to take Sage to a little bit busier spot than this. I'll probably swing by a store and take her off-leash there cuz she's um she's doing great and I think she's plenty ready for it, so probably take her into Home Depot or something like that. Maybe Lowe's.
No health issues; food finished; weight maintained.
Kelton, go-home
i haven't seen any health issues like we talked about before she seems to be totally fine
She should be fine at farmers markets.
Kelton, go-home
so she should be okay with me yes yeah she should be fine
What the footage shows
The trainer reports a down without leash or electronic assistance on that attempt, with a verbal marker. A long line and collar remain present; absence of use is not absence of equipment.
That was a verbal only down with only, all she needed was a little bit of a, just a verbal condition punishes for verbal reinforce for the AH AH that was it
The trainer demonstrates a sit and describes it as requiring no help while explaining the skill to the owners. This moment is not an owner-handled performance test.
if I wanted her to sit, Sage, sit, that's no help, right? No help is required, it's verbal only.
A park segment is announced as off leash. The trainer discusses a reset following noise and reports that Sage did well as a jogger passed. The anticipated dash to the car does not occur, so it is not a completed runaway-recall test.
Okay. Good girl. She did fine with him running by, though.
A recall away from another dog on the long line.
Good girl. There you go. You did good. You did good. You didn't let him bother you at all. That's so smart and so good.
The Lowe's trainer describes Sage's response to part of the store environment and what he hopes to see change. Agri Supply and Tractor Supply are separate records; this timestamp does not show all three stores or continuous calm walking.
So I just want to see that light kind of switch on where she starts to process information and stop it freezing off.
A coached place recording explains a settling criterion and ends with release and celebration. The exact body-state transition requires visual review; sparse narration in other recordings does not establish an absence of other settling.
All right, and now wait for the settle.
In the owners' hands at the go-home she is slow, freezes a little on down and come, goes to Kelton instead of the caller once, and complies after 'eh eh', a clap and encouragement.
Tell her again. That's what she does. She freezes up a little bit sometimes. Tell her Sage down.
During the long-line session the trainer uses encouragement and comments on a pause during recall.
Come on Sage come here You can't freeze up come on That's not gonna work no freezes come on come on there you go that's better. Thank you
The trainer recounts Sage leaving the couch after a garbage truck passed before recording. This is reported history within the film, not the event shown happening on camera.
went over there and hid behind a house. She was like, oh god, oh god, it's a monster!
On leash at a park she mostly stays within the narrator's 6-12 foot radius and keeps a heel through speed changes and a turn; the narrator's verdict is his, not a measurement.
okay all right well that was very good it was actually better than i was expecting good job sage
The ideas Sage's case runs on
- 'Let's go' is not 'Come' - and the recall has an ending
- A raised texture, and never a punishment
- 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 poison the command
- False reps: the dog reads the chain, not the word
- Fit before level: check the tool before you judge the dog
- Freedom is given in measured steps
- Freeze, flee or fight
- Go and look at the scary thing
- Heat is a stop sign
- Heel entry versus heel in motion
- Hidden help
- Honest limits, and reliability is not permission
- Internal emotional change, not repression
- Keep the marker charged
- Meaningful release
- Pick the place for what it contains - life is the training ground
- Prediction error
- Pressure, release, reward
- Reading the dog
- Space to retreat, obligation to return
- Start with freedom
- Stop before you shut him down
- Swapped commands: keep sit and down distinct
- Teach the move, then the word
- The board, the scenes and the grades - and every trainer works every dog
- The correction that did not work
- The dog tells you the reward
- The dose of a session
- The flight-risk protocol, and the one command that matters
- The handler wears the collar
- The leash is a prop
- The level is not a number
- The radius
- The settle criterion
- The three Ds, and the variables nobody counts
- Thinking is what makes it better
- Two events, not one - and what the handler does in between