Who Thor is
As the trainers describe him
A young bully-type puppy, strong and muscular. The breed is guessed on film, and 'bully' is the word every speaker settles on.
On film
He's just a little staffy or a little pitty puppy.
thing is he's a bully he's young
because they have little tiny necks yeah yeah but thor has a big old huge thick muscly neck
He loves people more than toys, and wanting to greet them is the energy behind every problem in the case.
On film
He cares about the people.
want to hurt he doesn't want to hurt people or hurt other dogs or anything like that he doesn't
want to hurt anything um but he wants to play with them so badly he wants to greet them
Sharp and quick to learn. Several trainers say so, and one frames it in the same breath as calling him a doofus.
On film
he's a doofus but he's actually he's really sharp yeah yeah like teaching him heel was a lot of fun
it really quickly just like he does everything else
He's really strong.
Not correction-sensitive once aroused. The refresher pickup trainer's diagnosis is that the arousal overrides a cue Thor already knows, and this reading drives the highest e-collar levels discussed anywhere in the case.
On film
the second she greets chloe he's like yeah okay so so he he knows but like it's like
and the excitements all the way up here he's not exactly like the most sensitive dog with the
Mouthy and play-biting from the puppy lesson to the refresher. Every trainer names it, and two admit they enjoy it.
On film
He loves to chew, he loves to tug.
And his conditioned punisher works just fine. The reason I did that was because he grabbed my fingers.
It's hard for me because I like it
A face that works on handlers. Kelton says he said it on camera in one of the program videos, and he did, twice.
On film
Why did you send me this puppy?
I told his owners, I'm like, why did you send me this dog?
his face I actually said it in one of the videos I said that I was like why
As the family describe him
Wild with visitors and at the door, to the point where the family gated him in the kitchen. This is the presenting problem, stated at the go-home and again at the refresher pickup.
On film
right stop it yeah well that was a big thing like when christian was coming or anybody would come
actually gate him into the kitchen because it was just out of control so but he would be at the gate
He gets very excited.
Eager to work with people from his first weeks, which the owner says made him easy to motivate.
On film
the only way we got him stuff and it's like he like he wants to like work with me like he wants
A lover and a protector. The family value his alerting and want it switched off, not removed.
On film
it to he can sit and wait for me to get the door but i mean i still like the protection side i still
Yeah, no, he wants he's a lover but
And he's a protector
The program, stage by stage
A twelve-week-old puppy and a tug toy
Uploaded 2026-02-25. About twelve weeks old by the intake's date of birth (source: intake).
The only footage from before Angier K9 took him in. An unnamed trainer teaches a puppy called Thor, 'a bully' who loves to mouth, by threading recall, out, sit and a 'break' release into tug. The trainer explains each step to a listener. When a female in the room ('her', unnamed; the other household dog fits, but this is not stated) is too much of a distraction for a sit, she is removed rather than the puppy corrected. The family later say they had private lessons with Christian before the board-and-train and taught him early with 'a tiny little cookie on the floor and tap and break'. The title's '8-12 week' age is never spoken, though it agrees with the intake.
On film
so I start saying his name and saying come and then every time he comes I tug he starts learning
get confused it's better to take a step back remove the higher distraction for that command
I know you guys have already had some private lessons with, was it with Christian?
Intake, off camera
Form submitted 5/3/2026, preferred pickup 5/4/2026 (source: intake).
A five-month-old, 55-lb intact male pocket bully, living with an older female dog he jumps on and two cats who avoid him. The family ask for off-leash reliability, calm play at home and listening; the named problems are jumping and being out of control with visitors; the pictured future is off-leash hiking and preparation for protection training. He is reported reliable on sit, fairly reliable on place, come, let's go and out, and with no down, heel, middle, release or markers (all source: intake). None of this is on camera.
Day one: the evaluation
Between 4 and 12 May 2026. Uploaded 2026-05-22.
A walk at Beach Bluff Park, chosen as a moderate environment, with the stated purpose of learning about him. The reads, in the trainer's words: very adventurous, pulls, would take off; engages with tug but with a soft grip; toys lose to people. The e-collar is fitted for habituation and tested: nothing at 5, 10 or 20, a response at 35 on the boost button, and 'not shut down, not repressed'. The release command is set as the first priority because everything else depends on it. The trainer closes on 'a good day one solid performance'.
On film
We're just going to be going out for walkies, and I'm just going to be learning about him.
And then I ended up using the loose button for a 35
he's not shut down he's not repressed
So as soon as I have a really solid release command
did go buddy here's a good day one solid performance smart boy Thor sit and Thor
Days two to four: foundations outdoorsTurning point
Day two (watch), a morning session after day two (watch), and day three or four (the Walkies outing).
Three sessions in which most of the program's foundations appear. On day two, inside a tug and ball session, comes 'Thor's first down without me touching it', with no e-collar and not many reps. When a neighbouring dog barks, the trainer makes looking at it the reward for coming when called. The next session names a line rotation (a 50-foot line on day two, now about 14 feet, thinner lines to come), releases from place the moment Thor commits, and makes the release the word rather than the handler's stance. Heel starts, and a struggled down gets no duration added. On the walk the pulling is dealt with first and with 'strictly the e-collar': within minutes the trainer calls him cognizant of the end of the leash, and sniffing and running are the pay. By the end of the outing heel entries are praised and the trainer lists down, sit-stay and down-stay duration, place, leash yielding and heel as improving.
On film
down all right so you can see that was thor's first down without me touching it
We're just gonna use the distraction as the reward.
we're in the backyard good boy in day two i had a longer like yellow a 50 foot long line on
the release is the sound that i make with my mouth the okay and not the way that i'm standing
on it good boy and we're just using strictly the e-collar for the loose leash walking here
he's starting to be allergic to leash pressure right you punish the pulling you make sure that they don't do it again and then you reward when they're doing good
so good you can see his down is improving a lot his sit stay and his down stay duration are
About day five onwards: the cot he avoided, and home contextTurning point
watch ('let's call it day five'), then watch ('faster than last time'). watch belongs somewhere in this stretch.
The place cot is Thor's one early aversion. At the facility he 'sometimes doesn't want to get up there', and a picnic table he likes is used instead. Indoors on day five he is put on the cot and waited out: he stares at the trainer for what the trainer estimates at fifteen to twenty minutes, then settles and sleeps, and half an hour of near-silence follows (a duration place hold, rule 13). He is released into the 'calm liberty window', free to move but obliged to be calm. The next indoor session starts with him avoiding the cot again. The trainer wonders aloud whether something happened at home, takes pressure off the moment he gets on, and notes that negative reinforcement needs caution. Then a place hold over lunch: he settles faster than last time and stays on through a door knock and the trainer walking round, and the one break is fixed with social pressure and a flat-collar tap.
On film
picnic table so sometimes I place him on the picnic table.
like please say my release word so I can come sit with you on the couch and I want to say it so bad
that's what i like to see he's just chilling sleeping thor is doing really good
Good boy, so we're practicing the calm liberty window here.
Negative reinforcement you gotta use with caution.
and so he stood up, but he stayed on the place cot. So that's good.
Middle, the creeping down, and the move to avoidanceTurning point
The second week: watch, watch, the dusk session (watch with watch) and watch. Their order among themselves is only partly fixed.
The middle is started, routed in through the front so a leash cannot wrap the handler's leg, and drilled until he 'goes all the way in'. Kelton later says he put it on cue because Thor already stood between people's legs in the kitchen. The down, obtained on day two, develops a new fault: Thor creeps toward the handler as he goes down, which three sessions call submissive (a 'tendency', a 'submissive wiggle', crawling between the legs). A back tie or double line is proposed and never shown. The cot turns around: 'He loves his cot now', and he passes a re-entry test the trainer calls harder than leaving and knocking. At dusk the trainer names the phase change, 'more about avoidance now instead of escape', walks behind a down-stay for the first time, and then proofs it with his favourite ball, explaining that the dog must be allowed a mistake to get a prediction error. An e-collar recall off Jayden, after Thor ignores the first call, is narrated step by step. By watch there is an off-leash heel with an automatic sit, a down that 'has gotten really good', and a release that is perfect early in the session and not working by the end.
On film
him to come through the front back out through the middle Thor middle good because then the
submissive behavior we don't want that when he's going into the down we want him to this down where
he was still looking at what he wanted to look at so i tapped the e-collar a couple of times
he did everything he had to avoid getting on the cot.
because that's nope down so he likes to do this thing where he does this submissive wiggle he
Because the entrance is sometimes harder
It's more about avoidance now instead of escape.
Because they need to try something and get a prediction error.
Thor, heel. Heel. It's a very nice off-leash heel here. Very nice. And if I stop, he sits.
Off leash and out in public
The last days of the first program: watch, then watch on the day of the go-home.
The trainer's inventory: skills 'far beyond what they were when he first came', everything now off leash, the conditioned punisher working, middle being turned into a 'security heel'. Thor now offers place unasked because he is 'addicted' to the release marker, which the trainer calls ideal apart from the anticipation. The down is still a struggle to get into, even though he holds it well once there. At Bass Pro Shops the standard is set for a pet dog: a sit that folds into a down is fine. What is being proofed is that he still listens and yields to the leash, not that he is uninterested. He recalls away from people he badly wants to greet, heels past another dog, holds a down through a phone call, and needs 'a little bit of negative reinforcement, but not too much'.
On film
heel good boy good job so you can see that his skills have advanced far beyond what they were
but we are getting him to do everything off-leash now.
So he's still doing that kind of submissive thing.
work the duration here sit i'm okay he's a pet dog it's functional obedience here if he folds into a down it's fine
in places like this very few times in his life so this is crazy to him right so we don't expect a
He's listening to come. He's listening to heal. He's needed a little bit of negative reinforcement,
The go-home lessonTurning point
The same day as Bass Pro; between about 21 and 30 May 2026. Parts 1 and 2 uploaded 2026-06-06.
Kelton introduces himself and brings Thor home to the owner, who is alone in the house with the other dog. She lays out the problems that brought them here: the door, visitors (Christian included), a relative with luggage, the kitchen gate, going at the other dog in doorways, play-biting, yanking on walks, and a collar at 10 that did nothing when he was hyped. She wants a sit-and-wait at the door, and she likes his protectiveness. Kelton's lesson is that the sit-and-wait and the place cot are band-aids. What she wants is calm liberty, reached by punishing the specific unwanted act with the conditioned punisher 'ah', giving no command afterwards, letting him 'sit in it' and reconciling. Around that he teaches escape versus avoidance levels, duration as a second dial, the welfare case, come versus let's go, flexi walks with release to freedom, and an e-collar tap 'on a pretty high level' for any yank. He argues it is better to err slightly high than low, and tells the story of accidentally tapping Thor on the collar's maximum days earlier. Part 2 closes the visit: a door down-stay without the collar, 'eh eh' and no second cue, and on the second try 'He stayed.'
On film
I'm Kelton.
But what I'll say is all those are just band-aids.
you just punish the behavior you don't want but then you don't give any commands after that you don't allow you don't like disallow them now from an area you just say hey in a way they understand don't ever do that again
but yeah i mean his recall is good enough he can be off leash now but um i recommend using a long
on you at all yeah tap the e-collar on a pretty high level yeah um that was one other thing that
He stayed.
Home, off camera
Late May to mid-June 2026. Nothing filmed.
What happened at home is known only from what the family report at the refresher pickup. Place and sit held up, the down did not, and the e-collar was used little or at 50 depending on which answer is taken. With visitors he still jumps at the gate and at people, sometimes sits if told softly, sometimes cannot be stopped and is put outside. He holds a place until a visitor greets the other dog and then breaks. Nobody on film states why the refresher was booked.
On film
He doesn't want it down.
Sometimes he'll keep jumping though and we just have to get him away from the person.
But then once she comes in and goes to greet Chloe.
but he would release himself out of it.
The refresher pickupTurning point
On or before 23 June 2026.
The trainer (content points to Kelton; see people) checks the skills and finds the down gone when Thor is excited: 'This is why I wish I had an e-collar on him.' The diagnosis is that the arousal overwhelms a cue Thor knows, and that there is little defensive aggression in him. The ideal is restated as no command at the door at all. The plan is to let him choose, mark 'ah', and if he carries on, tap the e-collar at 75 to 90, 'somewhere in the 90s', because the visitor problem is predictable and a few very clear no's weigh less than years of frustration. The trainer says plainly that this is not a teaching level and that he has never needed a 90 to teach a down. He proposes staging a visitor arrival at drop-off with the collar on.
On film
Down. Down. No. Down. This is why I wish I had an e-collar on him.
where that comes from with like because like thor doesn't have any like there's not a ton of
setting right where it's very exciting there's another dog a person's coming in is you let him
75 90 90 something like that um and it's like is that like a teaching level not really that's not
to almost every dog on the planet,
The refresher: 'he knows everything', and the lesson that followed
Late June to 20 August 2026 at the latest. One filmed session, two untaped, and the lesson at drop-off.
A different trainer (not Kelton: he calls 'Kelson' mid-lesson) runs the refresher's one filmed session and the drop-off lesson. The session's premise is that Thor knows everything and needs it reinforced. He tests the end of the leash, the implied stay is 'kicked back in', and his working level is put at about 35. The heat cuts the session short. At drop-off the trainer does not demonstrate the staged visitor scenario proposed at pickup. Instead the lesson is about yanking: the flexi is locked short in the house and the black button is pressed, with no word, every time he hits the end, so the leash end and the stimulation become one thing. The collar is refitted after a twist test, and the trainer explains that a loose fit leads owners to crank the level. Then the chain of command, disobedience, marker, e-collar; one cue only; no shouting 'down' at a jumping dog; keep sit and down distinct. The family member says why they keep training: people are scared of him.
On film
Yeah, so really, he knows everything.
good job so the big thing is just getting him to exercise that implied stay which he's doing good
all right so we're gonna do here is the big issue is like he's yanking on you because he thinks so
So I'm gonna give Kelson a call really really quick while you're doing that
Like a chain of events the e-collar is always the last thing in the event. The disobedient behavior is is in the middle and the command is the first part.
And I want him to be in control because he is the type of dog he is and people are scared of him.
Skills
Down
How it was taught
Inside play first, with repeated cues and help, until the first unassisted down on day two ('didn't have to touch it... didn't have to use the e-collar'). Duration was withheld after a struggled rep. Then proofing: handler movement, walking behind, a thrown favourite ball, a play stance, all with the release as the only exit. The creeping was named as submissive and a back tie or double line proposed; neither is shown. At the refresher: one cue, marker then e-collar for a break, and the down must be a down.
On film
it didn't have to touch it didn't have to uh use the e-collar didn't have to do anything at all
boy good boy I'm not gonna try to put any duration on that when he struggled
you know down come on let me help you down
he's at um so i might have to do like a little bit of a back tie that's one easy way to do it
His down has gotten really good.
He doesn't want it down.
I, the down always has to be a down.
Place
How it was taught
A picnic table he liked as a stand-in. Waiting him out on the cot without release until he settled. Release on commitment. Minimal pressure for breaks (social pressure, a flat-collar tap). Distraction added in named steps: sitting on the couch, door knock, walking around, leaving and re-entering.
On film
place good good sometimes he doesn't want to get up there good good boy good
he has chilled out a little bit now you can see he's settled in the cot you can see his extremely
him there. That was mostly just social pressure and just kind of like tapped him with the flat
He did not like the cot at first.
he doesn't like place very much, Thor, come, place, oh, well, now he got right on it this
he was getting up and walking away.
Release ('okay')
How it was taught
Paid with contact and play. Released from different body positions so the word, not the stance, is the signal. Proofed against a happy face and a play stance.
On film
It'll be much easier for me to teach him everything else
i was going to release him so he started anticipating the release so this time i
Because I've gotten Thor addicted to the release marker, which is okay.
Okay. Come on. Okay. Thor. Thor. Come on. Okay. Okay. Come on. The release isn't working
Good boy. Yeah, he's also used to hearing it high-pitched by the way with the release command instead of okay
Loose-leash walking and leash yielding
How it was taught
E-collar paired with hitting the end of the leash, praise the moment he comes off it, freedom anywhere so long as the leash stays loose, sniffing as the reward. At the refresher it was taught to the family indoors on a short locked flexi, black button every time, no word.
On film
he's very cognizant of the end of the leash now he's very aware and so now we just need a distraction to continue to proof it
So I'm cool if he sniffs all around and does whatever else, just as long as when I do lock it and I put pressure on it, right, that he doesn't lean in the leash tension. He has to give to it immediately.
to need to get used to saying it right away yeah and i want to be able to walk him and like you
Yes, you can see he reacts each time he hits the end.
to do with the leash when he when he hits the end of the leash the idea is that he learns that the
Recall, and come versus let's go
How it was taught
Paid with play and with the distraction itself (go and look at the dog after coming). E-collar taps and more pressure when he stalled three-quarters of the way in. Released to go and look again afterwards. Called over sometimes just for play, so a call does not always mean work.
On film
He gets to go look at the dog if he listens.
he felt it started coming and then he got about three quarters of the way here and then he kind
you have to come okay very important we don't get hit by cars and stuff dude
when you say come he comes to you and waits for further instructions okay that's how they're different than let's go so come and let's go are very very distinct
Heel, and heel entry
How it was taught
Started on a 14-foot line. Entries worked separately. Releases to run so he does not auto-heel. Pace changes, turns and sidesteps. Never a 'perma heel'.
On film
heel. Good. That's a nice heel entry. Good. Get right into the heel. And he stops when I stop.
Thor sit good boy run run run good job that way I can get him where he's not trying to auto heal for no reason
Really good focus on me. He's looking up at me. He's following me on the turns.
Good, so he's proofing that heel under distractions. Heel, it's about duration and distraction. So he's gotta stay focused on the heel even though this is really distracting for him.
Middle ('security heel')
How it was taught
Put on cue because he already did it. Routed through the front so the leash cannot wrap, with 'all the way in' as the criterion. Walk forward to give him room to spin.
On film
middle just for fun for fun for funsies it's not normally included in the program but i just he
middle. Nope. You got to go all the way in. You got to go all the way in.
he's learned a middle command and i'm very i'm starting to transform that into a security heel
between your legs yeah cuz I didn't get to spend as much time on that one as I
Yeah, I wish I could get him to do it a little bit more consistently going through okay
Calm liberty at the door and with visitors
How it was taught
Practised as the 'calm liberty window' indoors at the facility: free shaping with punishment, where only inappropriate choices are marked. Given to the family as: no command, let him choose, 'ah', back it up. At the pickup, a high collar level for this one predictable scenario and a staged visitor arrival, which is never shown.
On film
to be teaching him in the calm liberty window. Namely, that he has freedom to walk around, to do
Right. So like the picture that you really would
was like i don't think so that's not actually ideal ideal would just be you say nothing and
Conditioned punisher ('ah', 'uh-uh', 'eh eh')
How it was taught
Introduced after Thor grabbed the trainer's fingers. For the family: mark, back it up until he looks punished, no command afterwards, let him sit in it, reconcile. At the refresher it is fixed as the third link in command, disobedience, marker, e-collar.
On film
super uncommon in my experience yeah um so uh the condition punisher word that i used was ah
because like if I send a dog home uh-huh without a conditioned punisher right but they knew like commands i didn't even come close to doing my job
How the method adapted
Thor was an easy dog to teach and a hard dog to stop. The adaptations sort accordingly. Early ones are about keeping a strong, mouthy puppy playing while he learned. Later ones are about how much consequence it takes to reach a dog who is 'not exactly the most sensitive' once aroused. The largest adaptation in the case, a collar level of 75 to 90s for one situation, comes at the refresher pickup, and nothing on film shows it being used.
The cot he avoided was replaced, then waited out, then barely pressured.
He did everything he could to avoid the cot, and the trainer wondered on camera whether something at home had put him off. So a picnic table he liked stood in for it. On the cot the trainer outlasted the stare instead of forcing him. When he broke, the fix was social pressure and a flat-collar tap, with the e-collar explicitly not needed, and a spoken caution about negative reinforcement.
On film
down, we've been working on the place cot over there. He likes to get up on the
collar to show him to get back up on the cot. No e-killer or anything like that is necessary in
and then it took a few days and then he started going on it he was sleeping on like like chloe
What he wanted most (people, other dogs, his favourite ball) was turned into the reward and the proof.
Toys lost to people on day one. So a barking neighbour dog, a passing staff member and his own ball became, in turn, the payment for coming and the test of the down.
On film
We're just gonna use the distraction as the reward.
up. It's because something exciting is happening. Throw his favorite ball. It's the one he likes
A habit of his own was put on cue.
He already stood between people's legs in the family kitchen. Kelton turned it into the middle 'just for fun', outside the normal program, because 'it's something they already want to do'.
On film
liked going between my legs so i told him to do it yeah in the kitchen he would just come right
where I was like he did it and I was like oh well I'm gonna teach you that
The creeping down was named three ways and treated as a submissive escape, not confusion. The tool proposed for it never appears.
The trainers read his wiggle toward the handler as submissive behaviour that becomes a way to get out of things if not corrected early. A back tie or double line was proposed twice.
On film
get him out of that tendency to move towards me and like kind of like pushing do some like that
wants to wiggle over i'm trying to break him of that habit it's a bad habit that's good
I am gonna end up back-tying him.
The standard was set by his life: a pet dog doing functional obedience. The refresher then tightened it.
At Bass Pro a sit that folds into a down is 'fine' because he is a pet dog. At the go-home Kelton corrects a down-for-sit without punishing it, as confusion. At the refresher the rule becomes 'the down always has to be a down', with a pull-up into the sit, because tolerating the fold can leave a dog who no longer sits. These are different trainers at different points in the case, and the change is recorded, not resolved.
On film
work the duration here sit i'm okay he's a pet dog it's functional obedience here if he folds into a down it's fine
so I just correct it I don't punish it because it's more just a confused thing other they're not like a rebellious thing when he lays down instead of sits
that's fine, but you can get it to where he won't sit anymore, he'll just down when you say sit.
Collar levels were set for a tough dog, and in one situation set very high on purpose.
Nothing below 35 registered on day one, the family's 10 did nothing when he was hyped, and the refresher pickup trainer read him as blowing off anything not meaningful once aroused. The recommendation of 75 to 90s is confined to the predictable visitor scenario, justified by total welfare, and explicitly called not a teaching level. The refresher trainers themselves worked him at 30 to 35.
On film
it yeah so we had to raise it when he got super hyped up like really hyped up we were just like
in the 90s and then just because you yeah because even if he yelps or something like that don't
or 35 excuse me it can be a big difference you sit on about a 35 on the
For leash pressure the marker was dropped and the leash itself made the signal.
Everything else in the refresher is taught marker-then-collar. For yanking, the family is told to use no word at all, so that the end of the leash and the stimulation become one thing, and to keep the remote out of sight because Thor had learned to watch for it.
On film
okay yeah and so i will say it with the with the leash you don't have to say any word everything
he started to learn what this was yeah he started to see it in my hand and then he started seeing
Sessions were cut for heat, in both stays.
A heavily muscled puppy in warm weather. Three sessions stop or rest early because of the heat.
On film
Can't let him get overheated, you know?
because as it starts getting hotter,
What the family was told
Punishment that lands: mark it, back it up, no command, reconcile
like okay right you kind of reconcile with them like you just like let them sit in it for a second right and then you go okay and then you like pet them and you let them go do their thing
you know you punish them properly like they the message was received not if they stopped doing it okay but if they look like they got punished
right right and i don't even tell him a command because then it switches okay right if i tell
day so yeah yeah if if he doesn't have this on you you still need to penalize him just do it a
Escape level versus avoidance level, and why a higher level is justified
But if you want him to avoid it in the future, you have to raise the level of the punishment.
why do something like that i'm looking at the total outcome okay what's the total outcome
Right. What's traumatizing is a lack of clarity. If you punish them and they can't make the
between you and then that's like discord right um and so then i'm you know weighing between all
The four windows: what the family want is calm liberty, not a command at the door
the third one though is calm liberty okay the most common place that that happens is the house
right? Sprinting around the house, running at people, jumping around the
make the choice you don't tell him anything yeah you let him go to do it and then you tell him
Come versus let's go, and a long line for the owner's comfort
right so there's a big difference between these two there is let's go and there's come let's go means he could like come with you and just like walk by you
line like that just so then it normally for your own comfort so you have something you can grab if
Walks: flexi, release to freedom, and no pulling ever
using negative reinforcement and you're using release to freedom okay that's all you need you don't need treats or anything else
leash pressure is never allowed right you're not allowed to pull on the leash
every time i want you to have like it locked and he's hitting the end of the leash so use the the
Maintenance: practise, play with commands in it, and rewatch the videos
with dogs we can give you a new engine but you got to learn how to drive it and you got to make sure that you're changing the oil
a couple times a week spend 10 minutes playing with them and putting commands in the play
much video footage is because I expect that you can you go back and watch all
The correction chain and one cue
because really the rule is you say it one time
jumping a lot of people will start yelling like down we're really down as its own command if they're jumping you should punish it
Don't tell him down again.
Equipment: collar fit, the remote, nights
but there's a second one okay um basically if you can fit your finger in the collar and twist like
the first week they're back just keep it in your pocket right first week right yeah
In the family's own words
At the go-home, the owner's picture of the door, and her liking for his protectiveness.
On film
it to he can sit and wait for me to get the door but i mean i still like the protection side i still
At the go-home, the other dog in the doorway.
On film
about or to cover anything like that like i said when they were going in and out the door he would
At the go-home, the owner's own discomfort with punishment, and her reason to go ahead anyway.
On film
But I don't want him to keep doing the stuff
At the refresher lesson, why they keep training, and the wish for occasional mini-trainings.
On film
And I want him to be in control because he is the type of dog he is and people are scared of him.
because i feel like if he starts to sway yeah just like get back right i mean because like if you were
Outcomes
What the trainers reported
His skills have advanced far beyond intake, and everything is done off leash.
The first-program trainer, late in the stay (watch)
On film
heel good boy good job so you can see that his skills have advanced far beyond what they were
but we are getting him to do everything off-leash now.
He knows all the commands, and his recall is good enough to be off leash. What remains is the family learning to drive.
Kelton, at the go-home
On film
just now he knows all the commands it's more going to be like learning to drive a car like
but yeah i mean his recall is good enough he can be off leash now but um i recommend using a long
Place and sit held up at home; the down did not.
The family, at the refresher pickup
At the refresher he knew everything; it only needed kicking back in.
The refresher trainer
On film
on um he already knew it we just had to kick it back in okay good job thor good job let's go
Calmer at drop-off than at pickup.
The refresher-lesson trainer
On film
oh or what's up buddy yeah but he's way more chilled out than when i picked him up so i you
What the footage shows
The first unassisted down, on day two, in play, and the trainer's account that it took few reps.
On film
down all right so you can see that was thor's first down without me touching it
A puppy who avoided the cot settles on it within about twenty minutes, sleeps, settles faster the next time, and stays on it through a door knock and a re-entry.
On film
that's what i like to see he's just chilling sleeping thor is doing really good
down faster than last time and so i'm gonna try a few drills here where i'm gonna walk around the
Oh, look at that cute boy, he stayed.
In a store on the day of the go-home: a recall away from people, a heel past another dog, and a down held through a phone call.
On film
thor come good and you see he wants to that's really hard for him because he wants to go see those people really badly so him recalling off of that is a really good sign that he's doing well
it is a spam call you can see he stays in the down just fine i'm gonna leave him there see if he stays he wants to get up really badly
The owner handles recalls and releases under coaching, and a door down-stay holds on the second try with no collar on.
On film
He stayed.
About a month after the go-home, the down fails repeatedly for a trainer when Thor is excited.
On film
Down, eh eh, down, ah ah, down, eh, down, eh eh, down.
The ideas Thor's case runs on
- A correction has length as well as force
- Collar awareness: the collar is a paperweight
- Command, marker, collar - in that order
- Don't accept the almost
- Escape before avoidance: the collar backs a word the dog already knows
- Fit before level: check the tool before you judge the dog
- Heat is a stop sign
- Heel entry versus heel in motion
- Maintenance is use, not practice
- Meaningful release
- Middle: the security heel
- Proof it against his own currency
- Proof place against what really happens at home
- The four windows, and calm liberty
- The lifetime pressure budget
- The standard is set by the job