The answer
Slowly, in stages, with the gates named in advance. The fullest record is Kodak and Rocko, two dogs who must share a household. On their first shared walk the trainer holds contact back - "Not nose to nose yet. No nose to nose. Not there yet." - and proposes simply walking near each other as a group. He tells the owners why the attempt should happen with the trainers rather than at home: if it goes wrong there it could be a big disaster; here they can mitigate it. He thinks aloud about putting them in adjacent kennels and is not sure whether that would help or wind them up.
Before full integration he counts off what he needs: a few more strong correction events for the more excitable dog (his estimate for Rocko, one to three), a reliable recall off leash, a heel good enough to walk past dogs for thirty or forty seconds, and the other dog's own training further along. The go decision is taken on breadth - "He's made so much progress all the way across the board He saw dogs. He didn't react." - and then the tests get harder: calm around a stationary dog is not accepted as proof, so Kodak is walked around to see whether movement sets Rocko off, while still leaving Kodak the option not to engage. The trainer also says which outcome he fears most: not a clear failure but an ambiguous event - "it wasn't that bad but it wasn't not good either" - because then it is hard to know whether, and what, to punish.
The second lesson is that the other dog is part of the result. Dutchess's owners report that she stops the instant a dog gives her a clear, confident signal and does not stop with dogs who act like victims; the two dogs she injured were the most meek. Zeus's trainer says the same about his dog: if another dog came back at him it would be a fight; a dog showing submissive body language probably would not, "but still not good". And the other dogs carry their own memory: returning to Dutchess's house, the trainer warns that one dog has the association of what happened before, and that he cannot train what another dog does. Lola's file supplies the pair version: walking her with Archie is when the excitement comes out.
The 30 Sep update adds two more plans with the same shape. At Chaparro's first evaluation the family hears the order in Spanish - both dogs trained, "primero separados y después juntos" (first separately and then together) - and then together under close watch, corrected in the moment. And after Hattie, an adopted dog, injured the family's cat, her trainer gates a dog-cat reintroduction the same way: the cat stays apart; the family first makes the verbal interrupter work on low-stakes moments while she is ramped up, and reports back; only then does the trainer stage a meeting himself, with a dragging leash and the collar on, and take the first correction himself if she goes after the cat.
A wider reading of the session record adds two short versions of the first gate. Major and another dog keep practising 'coming out on the line and just like smelling each other' before the handler will 'have them all together'; and at Apollo (the Bully)'s go-home lesson the household's big dog is 'not yet' - that relationship is to be done 'between the gate' first.
Said on film: all of the above. Inferred: that these are one procedure. Each set of gates is one trainer's plan for one household (Kodak and Rocko, Chaparro and the older dog, Hattie and the cat); the other cases supply the variable, not the steps.
Angier K9 is a family-owned, play-based Board & Train serving Angier, Raleigh and the Triangle, with three full owner lessons.
What to do
Do not stage the meeting yourself. Walk the dogs near each other, with a handler each, without letting them greet; let the trainer decide when contact happens and be there for it. Before that, each dog needs a recall and a heel you can rely on around other dogs. Expect the attempt to be tested in steps - both dogs still, then one moving. And watch the other dog too: how he answers changes what happens.
What the trainers say
Not nose to nose yet. No nose to nose. Not there yet.
I want that to happen with us not at home yes you have to do it you have to try it because if it happens at home could be a big disaster if it happens here we can mitigate the disaster
so maybe what we can do is like walk off that way and just like take like a maybe like 10-15 minute walk like into the thing and back and just have them walk near each other
i did think about maybe maybe putting them in like even though there's like a three or four foot gap putting them in adjacent kennel so they see each other but i'm not sure if that is actually helpful or if it could be potentially harmful because it could ramp them up towards each other
um honestly at this point to fully integrate them i need uh three things right so the first thing is um i need to get uh a couple more
and then i'd like to get his heel a little bit better so that if i take him off leash at a place like this, like where there's a trail, that I will be able to call him to my side and walk for at least 30 or 40 seconds
he was like a post program start for Rocco he was an addition to Rocco's program so we folded their two plans into a bundle which we often do if the same owner wants to do two dogs
He's made so much progress all the way across the board He saw dogs. He didn't react.
i'm going to try walking kodak on a leash i still want to let make sure that he has the option not to engage
the hardest one is when it's like well like i don't know like it wasn't that bad but it wasn't not good either it's very ambiguous and so it's like do you punish it or not
Don't let Zutty Sean come up to him yet. He's not ready for
And the two dogs that she's injured are the, like, most meek and submissive.
but when he gives her the signal
he's probably too, like, he's got that, the association of what happened before. With him, you're just going to have to, like, he's just got to be around
I can do all the training in the world but if a dog comes over and bites her starts attacking her
Yeah, and so then it kind of depends on what the other dog does at that point. I think if another dog reacted to that by like coming after him, it would be a fight, to be honest.
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
everything that i'm seeing there is just from like uh the combination of two things one feeling a little bit nervous right feeling a little a little bit fearful plus being restrained
Yeah. Well, cuz the thing is if if Archie's like riing her up, then that could be a problem
Pero para tener un mejor resultado, sería entrenarlos a los dos, primero separados y después juntos.
ya cuando uno los ha entrenado individualmente de obediencia, los ponemos juntos, los entrenamos juntos para asegurarnos que si ese le grita a este, este no le muerda,
Y entonces vigilamos bien y vemos lo que va a pasar y corregimos al momento, nos corregimos bien.
but definitely training them together because we need to fix his nervousness and his dominance all at the same time, and then we need to to make sure they can exist together off leash and stillness, right?
so you can use those lower stakes times for like until we do the cat thing we can use the lower stakes ones to prepare for the higher state one
what i want to do is have it where it's like a time where she's normally pretty ramped up and kind of have a similar thing happen
and then like just let her see the cat and see what she does okay if she goes after the cat i'll do it for you
yet that's the future of that relationship between the big dog we'll have to do it between the gate
we continue to practice um them coming out on the line and just like smelling each other and
How it looks, dog by dog
Kodak
With Rocko, the case in which the procedure is spelled out. First shared walk: no nose to nose, just walking near each other as a group, with the trainers present because an incident at home could be a disaster and here it can be mitigated. The trainer weighs and does not adopt adjacent kennels. Later sessions raise the test: Kodak is walked on leash around Rocko to see whether movement, not just presence, sets him off - with Kodak still given the option not to engage. The trainer names the outcome he fears most as the ambiguous one, where it is unclear whether and what to punish. The two dogs' plans were folded into one bundled program, and the deliverable is stated as the pair.
On film
Not nose to nose yet. No nose to nose. Not there yet.
I want that to happen with us not at home yes you have to do it you have to try it because if it happens at home could be a big disaster if it happens here we can mitigate the disaster
i'm going to try walking kodak on a leash i still want to let make sure that he has the option not to engage
the hardest one is when it's like well like i don't know like it wasn't that bad but it wasn't not good either it's very ambiguous and so it's like do you punish it or not
Rocko
The gates, counted off: a few more strong correction events (his estimate, one to three, because Rocko is so excitable), a reliable recall, a heel he can call Rocko into off leash and hold thirty or forty seconds past dogs, and the other dog's training further along. Earlier, on a shared walk with the business's stable dog, the approach is held back: not ready yet. The go decision is taken on breadth: progress across the board, dogs seen without reaction.
On film
um honestly at this point to fully integrate them i need uh three things right so the first thing is um i need to get uh a couple more
and then i'd like to get his heel a little bit better so that if i take him off leash at a place like this, like where there's a trail, that I will be able to call him to my side and walk for at least 30 or 40 seconds
Don't let Zutty Sean come up to him yet. He's not ready for
He's made so much progress all the way across the board He saw dogs. He didn't react.
Dutchess
Where the other dog's answer is the variable. The owners report that she stops the instant a dog gives her a clear signal and not with dogs who act like victims; the trainer notes the two dogs she injured were the most meek and submissive. At the return visit he warns that another household dog has the association of what happened before, and names the limit of his remit: he can do all the training in the world, but if another dog comes over and attacks her, that is outside it.
On film
but when he gives her the signal
because they act like victims
And the two dogs that she's injured are the, like, most meek and submissive.
I can do all the training in the world but if a dog comes over and bites her starts attacking her
Zeus
The same variable, stated by the trainer: how bad it gets depends on what the other dog does. A dog that comes back at Zeus makes it a fight; a dog showing submissive body language probably does not, though that is still not good. It is why the business uses its own stable tester dog: it removes one variable from the test.
On film
Yeah, and so then it kind of depends on what the other dog does at that point. I think if another dog reacted to that by like coming after him, it would be a fight, to be honest.
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
Lola
The second dog as the variable in a pair. Kelton says he has seen little of the reported reactivity when Lola is alone; walking her with Archie is when the excitement comes out, and he reads what the family sees as nervousness plus restraint. At the go-home the trainer notes the risk of sending both dogs together: if Archie winds her up, that could be a problem.
On film
do anything yeah yeah it's probably this it's walking the two of them together that look Archie gets excited
everything that i'm seeing there is just from like uh the combination of two things one feeling a little bit nervous right feeling a little a little bit fearful plus being restrained
Yeah. Well, cuz the thing is if if Archie's like riing her up, then that could be a problem
Chaparro
New in the 30 Sep update; not a map member (his case arc maps its entry 'Separately first, then together, watched and corrected' here). At Chaparro's first in-home evaluation the trouble is two male dogs in one household: a confident young newcomer and a nervous older dog. The evaluator's recommendation reaches the family in Spanish through a staff interpreter, and it is the gated order in one sentence: train both, 'primero separados y después juntos' (first separately and then together). The interpreter spells out the gates: each dog trained in obedience on its own, then the two put together and trained together so that if one growls the other does not bite, watched closely and corrected in the moment. The evaluator says why both dogs are enrolled: one dog's nervousness and the other's dominance have to be fixed at the same time, with the target that they can be together off leash and in stillness. Like Kodak and Rocko's, it is one trainer's plan for one pair, given at a first visit; nothing after the evaluation is on film.
On film
Pero para tener un mejor resultado, sería entrenarlos a los dos, primero separados y después juntos.
ya cuando uno los ha entrenado individualmente de obediencia, los ponemos juntos, los entrenamos juntos para asegurarnos que si ese le grita a este, este no le muerda,
Y entonces vigilamos bien y vemos lo que va a pasar y corregimos al momento, nos corregimos bien.
but definitely training them together because we need to fix his nervousness and his dominance all at the same time, and then we need to to make sure they can exist together off leash and stillness, right?
Hattie
New in the 30 Sep update; not a map member. The same procedure across species. After Hattie, an adopted dog, hurt the family's cat, the trainer's follow-up plan keeps the cat apart and gates the reintroduction. Stage one is the family's: use the low-stakes moments when she is most ramped up (evening zoomies, the couch rule) to make the verbal interrupter work, and text the trainer what level they used and what happened. Only then a set-up the trainer runs himself, at a time when she is normally ramped up: a leash left dragging so he can restrain her if he must, the e-collar on, the cat in view - and if she goes after the cat, he delivers the first correction. Looking is not the criterion; going after it is. The goal he sets elsewhere in the visit is that she leaves the cat alone, not that they become friends. The outcome is not on film.
On film
so you can use those lower stakes times for like until we do the cat thing we can use the lower stakes ones to prepare for the higher state one
what i want to do is have it where it's like a time where she's normally pretty ramped up and kind of have a similar thing happen
and then like just let her see the cat and see what she does okay if she goes after the cat i'll do it for you
you can't correct her for looking right yeah i mean she's not doing anything wrong
Apollo (the Bully)
The future of that relationship is to be worked through the gate first.
On film
i know you want to go out there but zeus is out there he's like how dare you we're not doing that
yet that's the future of that relationship between the big dog we'll have to do it between the gate
Major
In a short clip of Major meeting another dog (Jack on the clip), the handler sets the next step before any free meeting: keep practising the two coming out on the line and just smelling each other, and only at a later session have them all together.
On film
i know hi jack play with him yes i don't know what you think um i think it's a good idea if
we continue to practice um them coming out on the line and just like smelling each other and
i think maybe next session maybe monday tuesday i can come out and then we can have them all
Why it works
Stated: contact is where escalation happens, so proximity without contact comes first and contact is withheld until each dog meets standards that give the handler control (watch 02:59, 12:27; watch 05:45). The attempt is staged where trainers can intervene (watch 12:08). Tests step up by adding movement, because calm around a stationary dog is not proof (watch 11:48). A clear failure is easier to handle than an ambiguous one because it can be consequenced cleanly (watch 20:04). The 30 Sep cases add two stated pieces: each dog is trained on its own before the two are trained together, so both are under control before they meet (watch 07:18, 12:36); and a low-stakes proxy - the same interrupter made to work while the dog is ramped up over something that does not matter - comes before the high-stakes trigger (watch 48:14). Inferred: that a clean pass in a staged meeting is only partly a measure of the dog being tested; and that the Kodak/Rocko gates generalise - they are one trainer's plan for one pair.
Where the trainers differ
Engineer proximity, or keep the dogs apart?
One view
Engineer it, with trainers present, before it happens at home.
On film
I want that to happen with us not at home yes you have to do it you have to try it because if it happens at home could be a big disaster if it happens here we can mitigate the disaster
Another view
Be wary of passive proximity: adjacent kennels could ramp them up.
On film
i did think about maybe maybe putting them in like even though there's like a three or four foot gap putting them in adjacent kennel so they see each other but i'm not sure if that is actually helpful or if it could be potentially harmful because it could ramp them up towards each other
How to read it
Same trainer; supervised structured proximity versus unsupervised passive proximity.
Whose behaviour is the case about?
One view
The dog in training: gates are his recall, heel and correction history.
On film
um honestly at this point to fully integrate them i need uh three things right so the first thing is um i need to get uh a couple more
Another view
The pair: the other dog's signals, and memory, decide much of it.
On film
I can do all the training in the world but if a dog comes over and bites her starts attacking her
Does a second dog in the program help or complicate?
One view
Send both; it is better for them (advice attributed to Christian, as recounted by the owner).
On film
Yeah. So yeah, the initial plan was just to send Lola and Christian's like, "If you send both, it's whatever and it's better for them."
Another view
It can complicate: if Archie winds her up, that is a problem.
On film
Yeah. Well, cuz the thing is if if Archie's like riing her up, then that could be a problem
Common owner mistakes
- Letting the dogs greet nose to nose before they are ready.
On film
Not nose to nose yet. No nose to nose. Not there yet.
Kodak · Watch at 2:59 ↗ - Trying the first meeting at home, where an incident cannot be managed.
On film
I want that to happen with us not at home yes you have to do it you have to try it because if it happens at home could be a big disaster if it happens here we can mitigate the disaster
Kodak · Watch at 12:08 ↗ - Taking calm around a still dog as proof they are fine together.
On film
i'm going to try walking kodak on a leash i still want to let make sure that he has the option not to engage
Kodak · Watch at 11:48 ↗ - Expecting training the aggressive dog to control what the other dogs do.
On film
I can do all the training in the world but if a dog comes over and bites her starts attacking her
Dutchess · Watch at 7:24 ↗
Questions owners ask
Can I just let them meet and sort it out?
The first step for Kodak and Rocko is walking near each other with no nose-to-nose contact, and the first attempt at contact is made with the trainers present, not at home.
On film
Not nose to nose yet. No nose to nose. Not there yet.
I want that to happen with us not at home yes you have to do it you have to try it because if it happens at home could be a big disaster if it happens here we can mitigate the disaster
How do we know when they're ready to be together?
Kodak and Rocko's trainer names gates in advance: a reliable recall, a heel good enough to walk past dogs off leash, a few more correction events for the excitable dog, and the other dog's training further along. The go decision is on breadth - progress across the board, dogs seen without reaction. These are his gates for this pair.
On film
and then i'd like to get his heel a little bit better so that if i take him off leash at a place like this, like where there's a trail, that I will be able to call him to my side and walk for at least 30 or 40 seconds
He's made so much progress all the way across the board He saw dogs. He didn't react.
Why does my dog only go after certain dogs?
The trainers treat the other dog as part of it. Dutchess stops with dogs who give a clear signal and not with those who act like victims; Zeus's trainer says a dog who comes back at him makes it a fight.
On film
And the two dogs that she's injured are the, like, most meek and submissive.
Yeah, and so then it kind of depends on what the other dog does at that point.
Our dog hurt the cat. Can they ever be in the house together again?
The record does not promise it. Hattie's trainer gates it: the cat is kept apart; the family first makes the dog's verbal interrupter work in low-stakes moments when she is most ramped up and reports back; then the trainer stages a meeting himself - dragging leash, collar on, cat in view - and takes the first correction himself if she goes after the cat. The goal is that she leaves the cat alone, not that they become friends. Whether it worked is not on film.
On film
so you can use those lower stakes times for like until we do the cat thing we can use the lower stakes ones to prepare for the higher state one
and then like just let her see the cat and see what she does okay if she goes after the cat i'll do it for you