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Cases · Staff and resident dogs

Zuri-chan

Who Zuri-chan is

As the trainers describe her

Kelton's own dog, an Anatolian Shepherd female, got at about five months old. He names her himself in the one recording where he names himself.
On film

my dog's named zuri she's an anatolian shepherd

Watch at 44:35 ↗

she's getting close to three years old now i got her when she was five months old

Watch at 44:41 ↗

Zutty's mom. Also known as my wife because Zutty's my daughter.

Watch at 11:33 ↗
Taken in by accident as an abandoned five-month-old who was already about fifty pounds. The fullest account is told to a client, not to camera.
On film

i got her by accident um i just a client called me and said that uh their neighbor was giving up their dog

Watch at 31:09 ↗

it had been roaming the apartment complex for like five days they just put it outside but she was only five months old when

Watch at 31:21 ↗

she was like 50 pounds she was huge already

Watch at 31:28 ↗

picked her up off the streets

Watch at 1:28 ↗
Named for a word. The meaning is given twice, by two different speakers.
On film

I have a dog also that's very dog friendly. Her name is Zuri or Zudi Chan as we often call her. Zuti means goodness in Swahili.

Watch at 0:11 ↗
Very large. The weight is given as about a hundred pounds in most places, a little over a hundred in two, and 120 once. These are spoken estimates, not weighings.
On film

she weighs like a hundred pounds

Watch at 1:52 ↗

my dog's like 100 a little over 100 pounds she's an anatolean shepherd her name is zutty

Watch at 2:50 ↗

it's if there's a very large dog who's also very pushy like my dog she didn't like my dog at all but that's just because my dogs 120 pound Anatolian Shepherd that doesn't stop trying to push a dog to play

Watch at 24:11 ↗

she's over 100 pounds now

Watch at 31:41 ↗

Pushy with other dogs and relentless about play - not aggressive, not reactive, but a dog who does not take no for an answer. This is said of her more often than anything else, and it is said as the reason she is useful.

On film

like she's about 100 pounds um so and she she listens really good right but she's also annoying yeah to other dogs yeah she wants to play so bad and then she does do boneheaded things like tries to hump them or won't leave them alone even if they're like go away um she does that kind of stuff so it's a good test dog for me

Watch at 48:45 ↗

zutty is really pushy she's really big and she just wanted had to play with her like desperately and so she's like jumping on her and like pushing

Watch at 2:55 ↗

And honestly, Zuri's a little... little too big anyway she's pretty pushy but he seems he seems to do fine

Watch at 19:59 ↗

just stick her butt in his face yeah and she's been bossing him like that he doesn't enjoy it that much yet you don't take cues to go away do you zutty she's very persistent he's been trying to get her to go away

Watch at 38:48 ↗
And yet non-escalating: she pushes, but she does not fight back when a dog objects. This is the other half of the helper-dog case and it is stated as a property of her, not tested on camera in any clean way.
On film

because she doesn't escalate things right good good job boone she's not going to be the one to escalate she'll just stand there and be like dude what's up so she lets us take the lead she's a very neutral neutral dog she doesn't like go back at them

Watch at 6:51 ↗

my dog i use her as our help she's our helper dog um because she's big she's strong and she doesn't fight

Watch at 9:33 ↗

Rocco I have seen he does totally fine with With like Zutty as an example. Yeah, but that's because Zutty doesn't care If you're pushy

Watch at 9:09 ↗
Friendly with people to the point of wanting to reach everyone, and a jumper. Nobody on camera describes a single moment of wariness toward a person.
On film

You know, Judy-chan is just like, a friend, like, bro. You know she wants to go up to people all the time.

Watch at 17:48 ↗

we haven't refreshed on it yeah but i want her to do the watch watch but she's so dang old friendly i'd rather just be friendly

Watch at 52:32 ↗

she knows that she shouldn't jump on me and yet you let her so she thinks she can't but she don't play those games with me

Watch at 4:21 ↗
A homebody who lives outdoors on the property and does not get out much - which the household says repeatedly and wants to change.
On film

she she doesn't go out much but she loves being outside

Watch at 1:43 ↗

my dog basically my dog lives in a big 50 by 50 runs around all day so and she still listens

Watch at 48:20 ↗

I want to take her out more often though specifically with

Watch at 3:50 ↗

We do need to take her out more often.

Watch at 45:25 ↗

that's why today i took out zuri uh zuri chan because zuri chan hasn't gone out in a little while

Watch at 11:34 ↗
Loves the cats at home; the household's cats are said not to return it. Nothing on film tests her with a cat.
On film

She loves our cats.

Watch at 4:04 ↗

As her household describe her

The second handler - the trainer's wife by his own words - sees her obedience as slipping and her public manners as good. The two views are held at once and argued about good-humouredly on camera.
On film

Okay, I'm actually impressed. I told you. Look at you. And she's sad. Didn't I tell you? You're not so bad, huh? That's pretty good. No e-pellet or nothing.

Watch at 18:30 ↗

She loves the park because she gets to walk further out. Well, when she's out in public with people, she walks closer.

Watch at 1:37 ↗

The program, stage by stage

Before the camera: an abandoned puppy becomes a trainer's dog

About March 2024 to autumn 2025. Nothing filmed.

A five-month-old, already fifty pounds, is put out by a client's neighbours and ends up with a trainer - Kelton, by every detail given - who says she is the only Anatolian Shepherd he has ever seen in person. She is named for the Swahili word for goodness, lives outdoors on the property in a large run, and is trained by the household in the vocabulary it used then - the 'old commands' she is later switched off. By the autumn of 2025 she already has a job: she is the big dog who tells rough players to stop, and the dog Kelton reaches for when a client dog needs testing. All of this is told, in retrospect, in other dogs' sessions. None of it is on film.

On film

turns out she's an anatolian shepherd

Watch at 31:36 ↗

sometimes i've used zuri we've met up at the park um and let them especially if it's a bigger dog which like we had like an 85 pound doberman that like was friendly and everything like that but it just played too rough um and so like zuri told him to stop it

Watch at 19:39 ↗

Her own training, filmed twice

Uploaded 2025-12-28 and 2026-01-24; shoot dates unknown.

The only footage in which she is the dog being trained. On a park walk the handler asks for a sit in 'the old commands', stops herself - 'gotta switch her over' - and works heel and let's go; she heels Zuri past people and dogs for one stated reason, which is not the dog's behaviour but how a hundred-pound dog looks to strangers. The rest is sniffing and affection. Nothing is explained. What the two clips establish is small and real: she knows a vocabulary that includes middle, kisses and 'nope' as a no-reward marker, she is walked in public in a heel for the public's sake, and at this point her heel is not polished.

On film

So Zuri knows the old commands, which is Zuri sit

Watch at 0:20 ↗

Nope, gotta switch her over to

Watch at 0:44 ↗

heal her um when we're going past people or other dogs she's just too big you know

Watch at 5:33 ↗

people might be afraid of her or something i'm not trying to deal with that so i keep her close

Watch at 5:41 ↗

Zutty, middle.

Watch at 0:30 ↗

Nope. Middle.

Watch at 0:33 ↗

Heel. Sloppy finish.

Watch at 0:50 ↗

The pushy dog: stories told about her, spring 2026Turning point

Uploads of 2026-03-12 to 2026-06-04, plus Hattie's adoption meeting uploaded 2026-08-08 which looks back over months.

The spring material is mostly anecdote, and it is where her character is established by her failures rather than her uses. Two dogs object to her. Hattie, the rescue in the program, warns her off because Zuri would not stop pushing to play - which Kelton uses, twice, to explain to Hattie's adopters that a dog telling a pushy dog to go away is normal and is not aggression. Kelton tells it at a fair as an example of ordinary dog behaviour, not as an incident. In the same weeks she is used in the facility as a controlled distraction - Kalypso breaks a long down when Zuri walks through, which is 'exactly why we proof' - and is twice planned as a test dog for Fiona and twice not used. Her value as a tester is framed here in one line: she will listen, because she is their dog.

On film

she did it to my dog i think i have a video of it somewhere

Watch at 2:45 ↗

she got bit right in the face right through her lip it was it was with one of christian's dogs um echo who's a connie corso and um it was because zutty wouldn't leave her alone

Watch at 41:08 ↗

That's one of the reasons we use Zutty-chan because we know that she's going to listen and pay attention to us when we ask her to, because she's our dog.

Watch at 49:07 ↗

I was gonna bring Zuri-chan in, but then Simba and Cosmo showed up,

Watch at 18:39 ↗

Opener and play partner: Bullet, King, Finn

Uploads of 2026-06-03 to 2026-07-28.

The first filmed use of her on a client dog, and it is play rather than pressure. Bullet is suppressing when asked to work; Kelton brings Zuri in precisely because she is dog-friendly and 'opens dogs up', lets them play hard for eighteen minutes, then puts her in a down beside Bullet's place so the exercise is fair to him - she holds it, getting up a couple of times. Her humping of Bullet is corrected by voice throughout. On a later park walk with a second handler she is said to take the lead so that Bullet relaxes, and in the same walk Kelton notes that her own heel needs work. In one of King's first sessions she is a co-trainee in the room, re-cued into a down again and again. In July she is put in a room for an hour with Finn, a frightened dog who does not want her, because 'she's not going to give up': she play-bows, licks his mouth while he growls, puts her rear in his face and bosses him, and the only thing forbidden to her is humping, for which she has already been 'popped' in the face. The result recorded is Finn's, not hers - he stayed, and his tail wagged once.

On film

a lot of times if we want to open another dog up u, I will use Zuri to open them up.

Watch at 0:18 ↗

I'm going to leave Zutchan in the down here. That way it's a little bit more fair.

Watch at 21:27 ↗

Zuti did fine in her down. She got up a couple of times, but she did fine.

Watch at 35:56 ↗

because he's been a little suppressed he was he she's good friend cuz she like kind of takes a lead and he's like oh life is good I'm happy

Watch at 4:28 ↗

Judy Chan. Be a good girl and down. Uh-uh. Down.

Watch at 19:58 ↗

that's why I was like, well, let's give Boogie a shot, let's let her try, because she's not going to give up

Watch at 40:50 ↗

The only thing I've been making her not do is hump.

Watch at 41:22 ↗

The working dog of August: tester, helper, first friendTurning point

Uploads of 2026-08-10 to 2026-09-12, most of them 2026-08-18 to 2026-08-30.

In about four weeks she is on camera with six different client dogs, and the role is named out loud, repeatedly, in three forms. As a tester she is the dog Zeus is taken to meet in the big field at Dix Park: on the third pass, after two clean recalls off her, he sniffs, freezes, puts his head over her and jumps on her; he is pulled off and corrected hard, and the rest of the session is both dogs walking loose on their lines while he looks, avoids and ignores her. As a helper she walks with Bun - who goes at her head-on at the first greeting, later sniffs her rear while she is held, and on a downtown walk goes to grab her leg and is punished - and with Piglet on the Dix Park and Hillsborough Street walks her owner later hears about. She also demonstrates a breed at the Louie placement and walks with King on his last evening. Alongside the client work the household talks about her own training more than at any other time, and what they say is candid: her heel has not been worked in years and never had an entry, she is 99.99% reliable until a squirrel, cat or bird, she ignores the trainer when she is with his wife, she has just learned to scavenge on these very outings, and she has to be corrected for locking up on a let's-go. The trainer's summary is his own: dog trainers' dogs do not get trained as often as the dogs they are training.

On film

So we're out here mainly to see how Zeus does with our dog Zooty-Chan.

Watch at 1:22 ↗

at first you know like the interaction was fine they were sniffing each other right he was sniffing her she was sniffing him as soon as she turned back towards him and started looking at

Watch at 7:49 ↗

so that's that's why we use zutichan as a helper because she's very big right he's not going to accidentally kill her

Watch at 6:26 ↗

he went to grab her leg and then try to jump on her that's why i punished it

Watch at 24:20 ↗

Are you sniffing her butt Rocco? Good job buddy. That was very friendly.

Watch at 16:18 ↗

Well, and Zuri-chan does really good 99.99% of the time, but when she sees a squirrel or a cat or a bird, she's going after it.

Watch at 31:42 ↗

you know how it is dog trainers dogs don't get trained as often as

Watch at 31:58 ↗

Skills

Heel, and the heel entry

At the startKnown in some form in 2025 - the form rates it 'super reliable' (source: intake) - and used on film to keep her close past people.
By the endAdmittedly unfinished in August 2026: not worked for two to three years, never taught an entry. A goal is stated (an entry from any position, always on the left). A heel for the second handler without the collar impresses both handlers. No refresher is filmed.

How it was taught

Not shown. What is shown is its use: a heel past people for their comfort, a heel past distractions asked of her second handler on a downtown walk, and a heel alongside a client dog's heel. The entry method the trainer teaches using Piglet (excite the dog, step back so she comes forward into the left side, stop the moment she is there, release; teach entry and motion separately) is stated as what he wants for her.

On film

heal her um when we're going past people or other dogs she's just too big you know

Watch at 5:33 ↗

Zutty, heel. Nope.

Watch at 0:44 ↗

Put her in a heel when you walk by or something.

Watch at 32:44 ↗

Heel. She has to work on her entry.

Watch at 38:36 ↗

But I like the heel entry, and I want Zooty to be able to come into heel from anywhere.

Watch at 27:23 ↗

Okay, I'm actually impressed.

Watch at 18:30 ↗

Down, and holding it while another dog is worked

At the startKnown.
By the endHeld through a long place hold of Bullet's with a couple of breaks; re-cued repeatedly in King's first session; put in a down to pause her with Finn. On a downtown walk in late August the second handler says she had been correcting by hand and 'finally' pressed the button, and the reaction was strong.

How it was taught

Not shown. Used as the helper dog's parking position, and justified once as fairness to the dog being worked.

On film

I'm going to leave Zutchan in the down here. That way it's a little bit more fair.

Watch at 21:27 ↗

Zooty, I didn't think you could get up.

Watch at 44:52 ↗

What was it on? 25. On a purple beeper. Wow. Yeah, on purple that's like a 15. That's because lately I haven't been actually tapping it.

Watch at 49:00 ↗

Recall and off-leash reliability

At the startThe form rates come 'usually reliable if low distractions' and names recall as the focus (source: intake).
By the endOff leash on an e-collar at Dix Park in August 2026, called back and put on a leash when people appear; rated 99.99% by Kelton with a named exception for squirrels, cats and birds that he says is new. A follow-up lesson months earlier puts her at about 95% with the collar almost never needed.

How it was taught

By the trainer's account, the collar was used consistently for a while so that it could later be almost unused. Not shown.

On film

She's being a great girl off her leash.

Watch at 17:21 ↗

I'd put it on like a 50 on that e-collar.

Watch at 17:35 ↗

Well, and Zuri-chan does really good 99.99% of the time, but when she sees a squirrel or a cat or a bird, she's going after it.

Watch at 31:42 ↗

like because the the cool thing is that like my dog uh Zoody, she has the gear on some of the time and some of the time she doesn't, but she always listens.

Watch at 32:00 ↗

normally have to resort to this just because she normally listens, right? But the only reason that's true is because I used it for a while before.

Watch at 32:37 ↗

Not scavenging - a habit learned on the helper-dog outings

At the startNever picked things up, by the household's account.
By the endNow looks for food on the ground; grabbed a wrapper from bushes on a downtown walk; the trainer intends to correct it with the collar rather than keep her in a heel. No correction filmed.

How it was taught

Not yet. The stated plan is the house principle applied to his own dog: show her what not to do, then allow everything else.

On film

Well, I mean, recently she just started picking things off the ground.

Watch at 9:56 ↗

Well, it's because we started taking her places where she discovered things on the ground.

Watch at 10:02 ↗

When Zooty-chan went to go grab something something from the trees or the bushes.

Watch at 28:26 ↗

Place, middle, kisses and the rest of her vocabulary

At the startKnown.
By the endUsed without comment: 'middle' with a 'nope' then completion, 'kisses', 'up up up' into the truck crate and onto raised objects, 'place' at the facility, 'go home' into her crate with some help.

How it was taught

Not shown.

On film

Kisses.

Watch at 0:39 ↗

Zutty place place

Watch at 52:02 ↗

Zutty-chan, up, up, up.

Watch at 24:09 ↗

Manners with other dogs: humping and not taking no for an answer

At the startA known habit before any footage: 'loves humping other dogs' (source: intake).
By the endUnchanged across the footage, June to August 2026. Corrected by voice with Bullet, by a physical correction with Finn, stated as one of her 'boneheaded' traits in August. Mounted in turn by King and jumped on by Zeus. No attempt to train it out is recorded, and it is the trait that makes her useful as a tester.

How it was taught

Only the one rule is enforced: no humping. Everything else - pushing, bossing, licking, persistence - is allowed while she is working with a client dog.

On film

Don't hump him. Nasty. She's a girl.

Watch at 2:56 ↗

I popped her right in the face earlier.

Watch at 41:26 ↗

like she's about 100 pounds um so and she she listens really good right but she's also annoying yeah to other dogs yeah she wants to play so bad and then she does do boneheaded things like tries to hump them or won't leave them alone even if they're like go away

Watch at 48:45 ↗

Manners with other dogs: humping and not taking no for an answer

Update. Zuri escalates a little, play-bows, and is told not to mount. The handler controls only Zuri and backs her off when Hattie asks for space. It adds a handler stepping in for the other dog.
On film

Zooty escalated a little bit.

Watch at 0:55 ↗

don't do that zutty don't mount her leave her alone.

Watch at 1:37 ↗

She was trying to get Zooty to back off, and I backed Zooty off for her.

Watch at 2:53 ↗

Down, and holding it while another dog is worked

Update. The down is used as management during the Hattie introduction ('out, down'), and in a loose clip it needs one 'ah ah' before she does it.
On film

Zooty, out, down.

Watch at 0:30 ↗

Ah ah, down.

Watch at 1:31 ↗

Heel, and the heel entry

Update. 'Public Training pt 3' is heel in public drawing 'nope' and 'eh, eh' several times in under a minute. The clip is undated.
On film

Heel. Eh, eh, eh, eh, eh. Heel.

Watch at 1:13 ↗

Nope. Heel.

Watch at 1:31 ↗

Eh, eh.

Watch at 1:46 ↗

Place, middle, kisses and the rest of her vocabulary

Update. 'Middle' is said to be known ('she knows middle') and is used twice, and 'Okay' is the release. The release matches wave 1's report that it had been switched from 'break' to 'okay'.
On film

really she knows middle yeah zutty middle

Watch at 0:27 ↗

Middle.

Watch at 1:37 ↗

Place, middle, kisses and the rest of her vocabulary

Update. Her release word was changed from 'break' to 'okay', which the handler offers as one reason she lingered after a release; 'okay' is in use in a later public clip. 'Middle' is used again in public.
On film

want to leave my position, but she also, we also just switched her over to okay. She used to, we used to do break instead.

Watch at 0:32 ↗

Nope, gotta switch her over to

Watch at 0:44 ↗

Zuri middle

Watch at 0:31 ↗

Down, and holding it while another dog is worked

Update. One Short shows it being worked on her: next to a zooming Hattie and Callie she breaks it several times, each break gets 'nope' and a re-cue, she holds, and the handler says 'still working on it'. So near lively dogs her down was not yet solid at the time of this clip. Undated.
On film

Nope Zutty. Nope come come down

Watch at 0:22 ↗

Still working on it, good girl.

Watch at 0:57 ↗

Heel, and the heel entry

Update. Two new public heel moments: two 'nope's before she comes into heel at a park, and a heel on the evening walk after which she stays in position past the release.
On film

zuri zuri come here over here oh nope zuri heel nope heel

Watch at 1:01 ↗

Zutty. Heel. Heel. Good girl. I guess she doesn't

Watch at 0:00 ↗

Recall and off-leash reliability

Update. Recalls in new settings: a park while waiting for a client, a canoe put-in (called out of somewhere she had wandered), and a public clip with 'come' after 'let's go'. Whether she was on leash is not said in any of them.
On film

Zuri come!

Watch at 0:28 ↗

Zutty get out of there come here Zutty come come where you going crazy girl

Watch at 0:32 ↗

Come good girl. Look at Hattie

Watch at 1:19 ↗

Manners with other dogs: humping and not taking no for an answer

Update. Pushiness in play and neutrality on a walk are not in conflict; the Shorts show only the second.
On film

She ain't worried about no dogs. She's trying to sniff things and pee on things.

Watch at 0:58 ↗

From the Shorts

Short clips posted from Zuri-chan's training. They are undated, so they sit beside the program rather than inside it.

Meeting Hattie for the first time

Narrating Hattie's first introduction to Zuri, the handler says Hattie 'didn't do nothing' while Zuri 'escalated a little bit'; Zuri is told 'out, down', called away, and later told not to mount Hattie when she tries to start play. The handler's point is that if you have one dog you can control, you can make sure no bad interactions happen. At the end the handler says Hattie was asking Zuri to back off, and that Zuri was backed off for her.

Watch the Short at 0:00 ↗

On film

It's going to be Hattie's first introduction to Zooty.

Watch at 0:00 ↗

Zooty, out, down.

Watch at 0:30 ↗

And Hattie didn't do nothing.

Watch at 0:52 ↗

Zooty escalated a little bit.

Watch at 0:55 ↗

Zooty's trying to initiate a little bit of play.

Watch at 1:06 ↗

don't do that zutty don't mount her leave her alone.

Watch at 1:37 ↗

if you have one dog that you can control, then you can make sure no bad interactions happen.

Watch at 1:58 ↗

She was trying to get Zooty to back off, and I backed Zooty off for her.

Watch at 2:53 ↗

Good enough on words to leave the e-collar off

On a park walk the handler says Zuri is wearing only a prong collar and does not really need the e-collar, because she is good with verbal commands. The handler adds that Kelton likes to keep her on the e-collar all the time, but feels she is fine without it. The rest of the walk is sniffing, praise and 'let's go'.

Watch the Short at 0:44 ↗

On film

Zuri only has a prong collar on. I would put the e-collar on, but I feel like she doesn't really need it.

Watch at 0:44 ↗

she's good with verbal commands

Watch at 0:50 ↗

Kelton likes putting her on a Zuri let's go on a um on e-collar all the time but I feel like she's she's okay without it

Watch at 0:50 ↗

Zuri let's go good girl

Watch at 1:10 ↗

Her story, and a hello from a stranger

Out on a walk the handler tells her story: she is the family's own dog, found in the streets at about five months old after her owner put her out, and she 'turned out to be a great little baby'. A passer-by stops to say hi and is told she is about two years old, super friendly, and an Anatolian Shepherd. The handler also says she has learned that one particular sound means she is going out.

Watch the Short at 0:00 ↗

On film

Zuri-chan is our personal dog. Found her at six months out in the streets. Six, no five months.

Watch at 0:00 ↗

she turned out to be a great little baby

Watch at 0:29 ↗

She's about two years old now. Yeah, she's super friendly.

Watch at 0:40 ↗

that is her theme song anytime i hear she hears that she knows she's like oh i'm going out

Watch at 2:37 ↗

Play-fighting is her favourite game

In a loose clip Zuri is asked for 'middle' (standing between the handler's legs) and a down, which needs one 'ah ah', and is released with 'okay'. The handler says that earlier she had been play-bowing and grabbing the handler's arm hard in play, and that play-fighting is her preferred kind of play. A speaker adds that the problem is that the dog finds it fun, and starts to say what clients are told before the clip cuts off.

Watch the Short at 2:06 ↗

On film

really she knows middle yeah zutty middle

Watch at 0:27 ↗

Down.

Watch at 1:29 ↗

Ah ah, down.

Watch at 1:31 ↗

Well, before I had her launching into a play bow and then she was ripping my arm.

Watch at 1:46 ↗

yeah that's her preferred form of plays to play fight

Watch at 2:06 ↗

it's fun it's fun that's the problem

Watch at 2:39 ↗

Her job: teaching other dogs to play

On an evening walk the handler starts to introduce Zuri to viewers ('zuri chan is our...'; the rest of the sentence is lost in the cut) and then explains what she does: she helps the other dogs in the program learn how to play, and corrects their play if they are too rough.

Watch the Short at 0:00 ↗

On film

zuri chan is our

Watch at 0:23 ↗

other dogs in the program to know how to play um she corrects their play um if they're too rough

Watch at 0:00 ↗

A new release word

After heeling, Zuri stays at the handler's side even though she has been let go. The handler gives two possible reasons: she may not want to leave the position, and her release word (the word that tells her she is free) had just been changed from 'break' to 'okay'. In a later public clip she is released with 'okay'.

Watch the Short at 0:32 ↗

On film

Zutty. Heel. Heel. Good girl. I guess she doesn't

Watch at 0:00 ↗

want to leave my position, but she also, we also just switched her over to okay. She used to, we used to do break instead.

Watch at 0:32 ↗

Go, okay, okay, Zutty go, go, go, you're fine.

Watch at 1:26 ↗

Holding a down beside two lively dogs

In public, with Hattie 'getting the zoomies' and Callie nearby, Zuri is asked to lie down and keeps getting up. Each time she hears 'nope' (the word that means 'not that') and the cue again, once after being called in first; she then holds it, and the handler says they are 'still working on it' before releasing her.

Watch the Short at 0:02 ↗

On film

She gets the zoomies

Watch at 0:16 ↗

Nope Zutty. Nope come come down

Watch at 0:22 ↗

Down, down, down, there you go.

Watch at 0:31 ↗

Hi Callie, hello Hattie, hi Zutty.

Watch at 0:44 ↗

Still working on it, good girl.

Watch at 0:57 ↗

Working her own commands while waiting for a client

Waiting at a park to meet a client, the trainer lets Zuri sniff because 'she's pretty good', then runs a short sequence: come, 'middle' (standing between the handler's legs), down and heel. She misses the heel twice, hears 'nope' each time, and gets it on the third try.

Watch the Short at 0:18 ↗

On film

Waiting for somebody to come. Come see us. We need to meet up with a client.

Watch at 0:05 ↗

Zuri's awfully she's pretty good. So I just let her sniff

Watch at 0:18 ↗

Zuri middle

Watch at 0:31 ↗

zuri zuri come here over here oh nope zuri heel nope heel

Watch at 1:01 ↗

heel. There you go. Zooty down. Down. Yeah. Good girl.

Watch at 1:17 ↗

Unbothered by other dogs in a busy park

On the evening walk there are children, a small dog and many people with dogs about. Zuri is excited but is moved along with 'let's go', and the handler says she 'ain't worried about no dogs'; she is more interested in sniffing and marking.

Watch the Short at 0:58 ↗

On film

lots of kids over there lots of stuff going on zuri chan is excited

Watch at 0:08 ↗

there's a little dog over there little baby dog zuri let's go good girl

Watch at 0:23 ↗

There's a lot of people with their dogs today.

Watch at 0:23 ↗

She ain't worried about no dogs. She's trying to sniff things and pee on things.

Watch at 0:58 ↗

Moving on from ducks and smells

Zuri scares off some ducks and is called away with 'let's go' and praised; the handler jokes that nobody knows what she would do with one, because she has never had the chance. In a public-training clip she is moved off something she is sniffing ('Leave that skeleton alone') and called to come.

Watch the Short at 0:09 ↗

On film

Zutty, let's go.

Watch at 0:09 ↗

We don't know what you're capable of, because you've never done that.

Watch at 0:25 ↗

Zutty let's go

Watch at 0:13 ↗

Leave that skeleton alone.

Watch at 0:15 ↗

Walks for her own sake

The handler says the park walk is not just because she is a good dog: she also needs the enrichment (the outing and the smells). The rest of the clip is Zuri sniffing and being praised.

Watch the Short at 0:00 ↗

On film

because she's a good dog take her taking her on a walk because she she also needs this enrichment

Watch at 0:00 ↗

A canoe trip

Zuri comes along on a canoe trip. Before boarding she is called back twice, the second time out of somewhere she has wandered into; she also rides the shuttle up with other passengers, and nothing about her behaviour there is said.

Watch the Short at 0:20 ↗

On film

Zutty! Come.

Watch at 0:20 ↗

Zutty's getting on a canoe today.

Watch at 0:31 ↗

Zutty get out of there come here Zutty come come where you going crazy girl

Watch at 0:32 ↗

How the method adapted

She is not a case, so the method never adapts to a problem of hers. It adapts around her, twice over: the program's helper-dog practice is shaped by what she is (big, thick-skinned, pushy, non-escalating, and obedient to her owners), and her own training is shaped by being the trainer's dog, which in his words means it happens less. Each adaptation below is stated by a trainer; none is inferred from footage alone.

She is chosen for her body. Size and loose neck skin are named as the reason a client dog cannot seriously hurt her, which is what makes a real test possible.

The test has to let the client dog make a bad choice for real. That is only acceptable if the other dog is safe while the handler pulls him off.

On film

and also because she's got all the thick neck skin so just in case something does happen she's pretty well protected

Watch at 6:38 ↗

i don't worry that much about her getting hurt because she's an anatolian shepherd

Watch at 9:44 ↗

shepherd they'd have to they wouldn't be able to hurt her that bad

Watch at 9:05 ↗

Her pushiness is used, not trained out. The trait that gets her bitten by Echo and warned off by Hattie is the trait that makes her the right tester and the right partner for a dog who wins by outlasting.

A tester who does not provoke tells you nothing; a partner who gives up teaches a withdrawn dog that withdrawal works.

On film

to hump them or won't leave them alone even if they're like go away um she does that kind of stuff so it's a good test dog for me

Watch at 49:01 ↗

that's why I was like, well, let's give Boogie a shot, let's let her try, because she's not going to give up

Watch at 40:50 ↗

The encounter is staged so that she can be held and the client dog can be pulled straight back: a second handler on her lead, a line on the client dog, and the correction delivered only after he is off her.

Stated as the safety rule: a correction landed while he is still on her can be attributed to her and turn into a fight.

On film

I watch, I have a leash attached and then I have another handler there. And so I can pull back, he can pull back.

Watch at 8:37 ↗

we'll just kind of let them go where they're gonna go so you can unlock her leash and let her walk around and we'll just watch the body language

Watch at 8:51 ↗

The contact is graded to the client dog's readiness, not hers. She is kept away from Rocko until he is ready, held so that Bun meets only her rear, and allowed to be as pushy as she likes with Finn except for humping.

The session is for the other dog. Her enthusiasm is the variable the handlers turn up or down.

On film

let Zutty Sean come up to him yet. He's not ready for that.

Watch at 4:00 ↗

Just hold her, Collin. I don't want anything she does to freak him out.

Watch at 40:28 ↗

Leave him alone. Leave him alone. Give him a sec. Give him a second warm up.

Watch at 36:54 ↗

She is parked in a down while the client dog works, so that he is not asked to hold a position while she has her freedom.

Stated once, as fairness to the working dog.

On film

I'm going to leave Zutchan in the down here. That way it's a little bit more fair.

Watch at 21:27 ↗

Size sets a limit: she is not used with small dogs. The one planned exception, Fiona, is framed as trust in her specifically and is never carried out.

A hundred-pound dog can hurt a small one by accident; the trainer tells viewers not to copy the test.

On film

so normally i would not do this um and i recommend that you do not with a small dog and a big dog

Watch at 8:38 ↗

but um i i do happen to trust my big dog uh zuri chan

Watch at 8:56 ↗

Off leash is decided by the bystanders, not by her: loose in an empty park on the collar, put back on the line when people or children appear.

Stated as avoiding what people might say, not as a doubt about the dog.

On film

She's not going to do anything. It's more just... People saying stuff.

Watch at 18:05 ↗

Here, let me put Judy on the thing, because there's kids here.

Watch at 31:43 ↗

Her own training follows the house rule the trainer teaches clients: forbid a few things, allow everything else. He says so about her, and applies it to the new scavenging rather than keeping her in a heel.

So that a dog can be left uninstructed and trusted; he gives her as the example of a dog raised that way.

On film

that's what i did that's what was done with zutty we just like if there's things we didn't want her to do come on we just told her not to do it and then basically she just free roams and does whatever the she wants most of the time unless we ask her to do a command specifically

Watch at 21:33 ↗

but then she just doesn't do dumb stuff she just does it she makes good choices for the most part

Watch at 21:48 ↗

What the family was told

To client owners: why a helper dog, and why her

like i guess she was a little bit in his face uh because like leashes and he went to like grab her leg like bite her leg um nip at her and that's fine that's why i brought her with us right

Watch at 10:15 ↗

zutty is really pushy she's really big and she just wanted had to play with her like desperately and so she's like jumping on her and like pushing

Watch at 2:55 ↗

that's not the right dog i would use my personal dog for that that's my tester she's an anatolean

Watch at 9:00 ↗

To client owners: the Zeus test, retold

with my dog, her name's Zooty, she's like from the council, and he did the same thing to her that he would have culled, right, he wanted to like, at first they would sniff each other's, you know, butts, and then he froze up, like this, fixated, and then like tried to jump on her and grab her

Watch at 46:32 ↗

and then the last time that I gave the opportunity he didn't take it

Watch at 13:06 ↗

Between her owners: her obedience

booty down down yeah we gotta we gotta refresh your training we do i should refresh it

Watch at 29:18 ↗

Oh, she's with me, so she's not listening to your command.

Watch at 32:47 ↗

React is pretty strong to that.

Watch at 48:10 ↗

Between her owners: getting her out

I think we should take them out, I think we should take a different dog each time and take them out with Woodytown, like maybe like twice a week

Watch at 17:42 ↗

Yeah, we should do this like one evening a week.

Watch at 42:18 ↗
In the family's own words

The one outsider's report of the household's view: Piglet's owner, weeks after the Dix Park walks, says she kept hearing that Kelton's dog needed a refresher.

On film

I kept hearing your wife say, or your girlfriend say, that your dog needed a good refresher course.

Watch at 31:54 ↗

Affection, said to her on camera in a tester session, between Zeus's correction and the end of the walk.

On film

Hi Zutty. I love you mama. I love you. I love you, you're my dog.

Watch at 17:53 ↗

Outcomes

What the trainers reported

99.99% reliable, except for squirrels, cats and birds - an exception he says she did not used to have.

Kelton, on the King evening walk, August 2026

On film

Well, and Zuri-chan does really good 99.99% of the time, but when she sees a squirrel or a cat or a bird, she's going after it.

Watch at 31:42 ↗

About 95% compliance, the collar almost never used on an hour-and-a-half walk, because it was used consistently before.

The trainer to Bo's owner, in a follow-up uploaded 2026-01-11

On film

when she has it on, man, I almost never use it.

Watch at 32:15 ↗

She listens very well - and is annoying to other dogs.

The trainer to Zeus's owner, 2026-08-18 upload

On film

like she's about 100 pounds um so and she she listens really good right but she's also annoying

Watch at 48:45 ↗

She does not escalate: she will stand there and let the handler take the lead.

Kelton, to his wife, on Bun's new-park walk

On film

because she doesn't escalate things right good good job boone she's not going to be the one to escalate she'll just stand there and be like dude what's up

Watch at 6:51 ↗

She stops rough players: an 85-pound Doberman was told to stop by her.

The trainer, Milo's lesson, 2025-11-14 upload

On film

sometimes i've used zuri we've met up at the park um and let them especially if it's a bigger dog which like we had like an 85 pound doberman that like was friendly and everything like that but it just played too rough um and so like zuri told him to stop it

Watch at 19:39 ↗

What the footage shows

She held a down alongside a client dog's sixteen-minute place, getting up a couple of times, and was released straight into play with him.

On film

Zuti did fine in her down. She got up a couple of times, but she did fine.

Watch at 35:56 ↗

Zi is going to try to get you to play again.

Watch at 36:18 ↗

The client dogs' progress with her, in each handler's words. These are the other dogs' outcomes: Rocko sniffed her and was posed with her for a photograph; Bun went from going at her head-on to sniffing her while she was held and being 'a lot less bothered'; Finn stayed and wagged. They show what she was used for, not anything she learned.

On film

Thank you for being nice to my girl.

Watch at 16:25 ↗

he's a lot less bothered by zutichan now

Watch at 48:40 ↗

Much more comfortable, but still doesn't want to like have a head-on interaction.

Watch at 58:45 ↗

When Bun went for her leg, the handler corrected Bun and checked the timing with the second handler.

On film

he went to grab her leg and then try to jump on her that's why i punished it

Watch at 24:20 ↗

When Zeus jumped on her in the field, the jump falls in a silent gap. The trainer's comment on the outcome, recorded at Zeus's home, is that a dog that came back at him would have made it a fight, while a dog showing submissive body language probably would not; it is garbled enough that it cannot be read as a description of what she did.

On film

the language I saw was good for that if I like come in after him it would be a fight to be honest if you have a dog that goes and shows a bunch of submissive body language probably won't turn into a fight but still not good

Watch at 10:07 ↗

Her heel for the second handler without the collar, on a walk in late summer 2026, surprised both of them.

On film

Okay, I'm actually impressed. I told you. Look at you. And she's sad. Didn't I tell you? You're not so bad, huh? That's pretty good. No e-pellet or nothing.

Watch at 18:30 ↗

Mounting runs both ways: she mounts client dogs and is mounted by King, who is told off.

On film

See, he's trying to hump her. Don't do that.

Watch at 22:47 ↗

Well, because they're both, neither of them are neutered.

Watch at 22:50 ↗
How it ended. Zuri-chan is one of our staff dogs.

The ideas Zuri-chan's case runs on