The answer
Four things, stated on different dogs, fit together. First, the equipment is the scoreboard. Reaper Wolf, a Cane Corso Kelton took on for aggression, was handled in suits at the start; by September Kelton says "We're to the point where I'm just wearing the gloves, and that's it, not the whole suit. And he's not trying to redirect to us or anything like that at this point." Ten days later: he doesn't try to bite me anymore. On Bo, the ladder is climbed down inside one crate session: after one good repetition the senior trainer tells the handler to take the sleeve off because the gloves already protect the hands. Louie's handler opens a public session with bike gloves on "just in case" and the compliment in the same breath - he seems pretty sweet now, a big improvement. Taking the gear off is also what opens the world up: at Reaper's first owner lesson his trainer says the first hurdle was that "he needs to not want to eat me first", and that once it was safe to take the protective gear off and start taking him places, progress went much faster.
Second, the level is set by what the dog could do, not only by what he has done. Zeus's family are given a bite-force figure in the first minute - over 700 psi, enough to snap an arm - with the trainer's own expectation, in the same sentence, that the dog will not go full force. The equipment prices a mistake; it does not predict one. And the price is stated: hospital, not pain. Kelton (Reaper's trainer) says a full bite on the hand would still leave him badly bruised - the gloves are there so he is not ripped open: "but i won't have to go to the ER that's my only goal with hands". Zeus's trainer says the same of his own hands: crazy bruising, but no emergency room.
Third, how hard a dog may be worked is decided by one behavioural fact: whether he redirects onto the person holding him. Zeus does not, and his trainer names it as an asset of the case - "when a dog redirects back onto whoever's holding him then that becomes a problem" - with his own scars from a Rottweiler that did as the counter-example. At Reaper's lesson the trainer describes redirection from the receiving end: a Rottweiler he punished while it was worked up at people it could not reach "took all that energy he was putting over there that he couldn't get to and put it all on me". Samson does: Kelton tells his owner that when Samson is ramped up at something and a person puts pressure on him, he turns on that person, so the rule is never to correct him while he is ramped up. Louie's file logs a smaller, specific flag the next handler needs: he fixates a little and does not like hand movement.
Fourth, the behaviour around a bite case is deliberately ordinary: "treat him like a normal dog just interact with him normally" (Zeus). And where nobody was hurt, the trainers say whose credit it was: Deuce's family are told their small dog should be glad it lives with Deuce, because a Rottweiler with a little more sass in the wrong way would probably have bitten him by now - temperament, not handling.
Said on film: all of the above. Inferred: the four as a system; nobody sets them out together.
Angier K9 is a family-owned, play-based Board & Train serving Angier, Raleigh and the Triangle, with three full owner lessons.
What to do
If your dog has bitten, ask the trainer two questions: what could he do if it went wrong, and does he turn on the person holding him when he is corrected while worked up? The answers decide how he is handled. Never correct him while he is ramped up at something else - pull him away first. Tell anyone new about his specific triggers, such as hands near his face. Otherwise, live with him normally; ceremony and tiptoeing are not the plan.
What the trainers say
All right, so I'm going to suit up, at least partially, and I'm going to go get Reaper out and just walk him around a little bit here and see if we can get him comfortable with me.
We're to the point where I'm just wearing the gloves, and that's it, not the whole suit.
And he's not trying to redirect to us or anything like that at this point.
uh we get a lot long a lot better than we than we used to he doesn't try to bite me anymore
just open it up if he growls just don't move that's much better all right i I think you can take the sleeve off.
So in that case, I would take the sleeve off just because you're protected by the hands
You said I'm going to have to lift him? Yeah, you're going to have to lift him. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, don't act weird about it. Just treat him like a normal dog.
i got my bike gloves on just in case i don't think he seems pretty sweet now which is a big improvement where he was
so see he kind of fixates a little bit he doesn't like hand movement very much
kind of course those have the second strongest bite force in the world next to Kangals something like 760 psi or close enough it's over 700 psi which could snap my arm in half right so if he decided to go full force which I don't think that he will
he just snapped at my hand so what we're trying to do is treat him like a normal dog just interact with him normally
So he doesn't seem to have like this bully intent where he wants to like come at me, right? Otherwise, I'd be wearing a full bite suit, to be frank.
is a positive is he does not redirect um because when a dog redirects back onto whoever's holding him then that becomes a problem
just have a leash on pull him back and punish it right because he doesn't redirect it he he won't he won't come after you
and i go and like tell him when you knock it off um and he's all ramped up like that he feels
with an e-collar and he could flip because of that right so he feels that
No worries. You Polo should be glad that Deuce is living with him cuz if if Deuce had more of that like if he had a little more like sass in the wrong way, he'd probably get bit.
So like the hurdle to get over initially was like, but he needs to not want to eat me first.
as soon as we got over that hump and it was safe and i could take protective gear off and start taking him places then progress has gone much faster
the main goal from the gloves is like that i don't get ripped open really bad and have to go to the hospital that's what the gloves are for
but i won't have to go to the ER that's my only goal with hands
he just took all that energy he was putting over there that he couldn't get to and put it all on me and just attacked me
How it looks, dog by dog
Reaper
The dog the concept is named from, and the whole ladder in one case. Kelton partially suits up for Reaper's first outing, to walk him and get him comfortable. By the start of September: gloves only, not the whole suit, and he is not trying to redirect - engaging with different members of the team, doing quiet stays, being proofed with distractions. Ten days later: he doesn't try to bite me anymore. The gloves are tied explicitly to the absence of redirection. At his first in-program owner lesson (19 Sep) the trainer - not named on that recording - gives the owners the same ladder from the inside: the hurdle at the start was that Reaper needed 'to not want to eat me first'; once that was past and it was safe to take the protective gear off and start taking him places, progress went much faster. He also says what the gloves are for: a hard bite on the hand would still bruise him badly; the gloves are there so he is not ripped open and does not end up in the ER. And he defines the risk the gear is priced against from his own worst bite, a Rottweiler that redirected onto him.
On film
All right, so I'm going to suit up, at least partially, and I'm going to go get Reaper out and just walk him around a little bit here and see if we can get him comfortable with me.
We're to the point where I'm just wearing the gloves, and that's it, not the whole suit.
And he's not trying to redirect to us or anything like that at this point.
uh we get a lot long a lot better than we than we used to he doesn't try to bite me anymore
So like the hurdle to get over initially was like, but he needs to not want to eat me first.
as soon as we got over that hump and it was safe and i could take protective gear off and start taking him places then progress has gone much faster
the main goal from the gloves is like that i don't get ripped open really bad and have to go to the hospital that's what the gloves are for
but i won't have to go to the ER that's my only goal with hands
he just took all that energy he was putting over there that he couldn't get to and put it all on me and just attacked me
Zeus
The capability standard and the redirect gate. The bite-force figure comes before any behaviour, with the trainer's expectation that the dog will not go full force; the equipment prices a mistake. He reads the dog's intent live - no bully intent to come at him, otherwise he would be in a full bite suit. At the second owner lesson he names the gate: Zeus does not redirect onto whoever is holding him, and that is a positive, set against a Rottweiler that did and left him scarred. At handover it becomes the owner's instruction: pull him back and punish it, because he won't come after you. Around all of it: treat him like a normal dog.
On film
kind of course those have the second strongest bite force in the world next to Kangals something like 760 psi or close enough it's over 700 psi which could snap my arm in half right so if he decided to go full force which I don't think that he will
So he doesn't seem to have like this bully intent where he wants to like come at me, right? Otherwise, I'd be wearing a full bite suit, to be frank.
is a positive is he does not redirect um because when a dog redirects back onto whoever's holding him then that becomes a problem
just have a leash on pull him back and punish it right because he doesn't redirect it he he won't he won't come after you
Samson
The counter-case: a dog who does redirect. At the go-home, before Samson leaves the car, Kelton briefs the owner: when Samson is ramped up at something - another dog through a fence - and a person puts pressure on him, he turns on that person; an e-collar is pressure too, so he could flip because of it. The practical rules follow: do not correct him while he is ramped up, and deal with aggression toward a person only when he cannot reach them. He can still be worked with the collar on commands out in public.
On film
and i go and like tell him when you knock it off um and he's all ramped up like that he feels
with an e-collar and he could flip because of that right so he feels that
Bo
The ladder climbed down live on a handler's judgement. At the crate, one good repetition; the senior trainer tells the handler to take the sleeve off because the gloves already cover the hands. The handler distinguishes reluctance from guarding out loud. In the same session: don't act weird about it, treat him like a normal dog - pick him up and put him in.
On film
just open it up if he growls just don't move that's much better all right i I think you can take the sleeve off.
So in that case, I would take the sleeve off just because you're protected by the hands
You said I'm going to have to lift him? Yeah, you're going to have to lift him. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, don't act weird about it. Just treat him like a normal dog.
Louie
Gloves that record where he was rather than what he is doing - bike gloves just in case, and he seems pretty sweet now. And a specific handling flag logged separately from general nervousness: he fixates a little and does not like hand movement. A handler working him alongside another dog keeps his hand clear because he nips.
On film
i got my bike gloves on just in case i don't think he seems pretty sweet now which is a big improvement where he was
so see he kind of fixates a little bit he doesn't like hand movement very much
is he a nipper, yeah he'll bite you
Deuce
No protective equipment appears in Deuce's sessions. At a go-home lesson, unprompted, the trainer tells the family their small dog should be glad it lives with Deuce: a Rottweiler with a little more sass in the wrong way would probably have bitten him by now. Temperament, not handling, is credited.
On film
No worries. You Polo should be glad that Deuce is living with him cuz if if Deuce had more of that like if he had a little more like sass in the wrong way, he'd probably get bit.
Why it works
Stated: protection is sized to what the dog could do (watch 00:48, 07:07) and removed as the dog shows he will not redirect (watch 04:25; watch 01:15). A dog aroused at something else can turn on the person who applies pressure, and an e-collar is pressure (watch 04:14, 14:04); whether he does decides how hard he can be corrected and how the owner intervenes (watch 41:18; watch 65:04). Ordinary interaction keeps the dog's experience ordinary (watch 00:38; watch 03:14). Some outcomes are the dog's temperament, not the handling (watch 01:50). The protection standard is stated as staying out of hospital, not avoiding pain (watch 69:59; watch 07:07), and taking it off is what lets the dog be taken places, after which progress speeds up (watch 67:55). Redirection is described from the receiving end as the dog putting the energy it cannot spend on its target onto the handler (watch 76:37). Inferred: the system; and that 'treat him normally' works because it removes the ceremony a guarding dog could react to - not stated.
Where the trainers differ
Does treating a bite case normally sit with suiting up for him?
One view
Treat him like a normal dog.
On film
he just snapped at my hand so what we're trying to do is treat him like a normal dog just interact with him normally
Another view
Suit or sleeve until the dog earns it off.
On film
All right, so I'm going to suit up, at least partially, and I'm going to go get Reaper out and just walk him around a little bit here and see if we can get him comfortable with me.
How to read it
Compatible in practice - the behaviour is ordinary, the equipment quietly acknowledges risk - but a family may read them as opposites.
Can a redirecting dog be worked with pressure at all?
One view
Redirection is the gate; a dog that does not redirect can be corrected harder.
On film
is a positive is he does not redirect um because when a dog redirects back onto whoever's holding him then that becomes a problem
Another view
A redirecting dog is still worked with the collar on commands, just never while ramped up.
On film
with an e-collar and he could flip because of that right so he feels that
Common owner mistakes
- Correcting a dog while he is ramped up at something else.
On film
and i go and like tell him when you knock it off um and he's all ramped up like that he feels
Samson · Watch at 4:14 ↗ - Acting strange around a dog with a bite history.
On film
You said I'm going to have to lift him? Yeah, you're going to have to lift him. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, don't act weird about it. Just treat him like a normal dog.
Bo · Watch at 3:14 ↗ - Not telling a new handler about a specific trigger like hand movement.
On film
so see he kind of fixates a little bit he doesn't like hand movement very much
Louie · Watch at 1:18 ↗ - Crediting your handling for an incident that the dog's temperament prevented.
On film
No worries. You Polo should be glad that Deuce is living with him cuz if if Deuce had more of that like if he had a little more like sass in the wrong way, he'd probably get bit.
Deuce · Watch at 1:50 ↗
Questions owners ask
Do trainers wear bite suits for aggressive dogs?
Sometimes, sized to the dog and removed as he earns it. Kelton suited up partially for Reaper Wolf's first outing and was down to gloves by September because the dog had stopped redirecting. Zeus's trainer says he would be in a full bite suit if the dog showed intent to come at him. What the gear is for is said plainly at Reaper's first owner lesson: not to stop a bite hurting, but so the trainer does not end up in the ER.
On film
We're to the point where I'm just wearing the gloves, and that's it, not the whole suit.
So he doesn't seem to have like this bully intent where he wants to like come at me, right? Otherwise, I'd be wearing a full bite suit, to be frank.
but i won't have to go to the ER that's my only goal with hands
Is it safe to grab my dog when he's going after another dog?
Depends on whether he redirects. Zeus doesn't, so his owner is told to pull him back and then correct. Samson does, so Kelton's rule is never to correct him while he is ramped up.
On film
just have a leash on pull him back and punish it right because he doesn't redirect it he he won't he won't come after you
and i go and like tell him when you knock it off um and he's all ramped up like that he feels
Should I tiptoe around a dog who has bitten?
No. 'Treat him like a normal dog, just interact with him normally' (Zeus); 'don't act weird about it' (Bo).
On film
he just snapped at my hand so what we're trying to do is treat him like a normal dog just interact with him normally