The answer
Yes, on film, and the trainers hold themselves to it too. At Titan's second owner lesson Connor warns the family that the one thing that voids his help is mixing his advice with another trainer's: 'then you start blending things and the dogs like I don't know what you're saying'. At go-home the second owner handles Titan so the dog learns the markers 'work with her too'. Inside the company, a handler walking Peque says she is switching her own cue words to Kelton's because they share dogs, and a staff member walking Oscar catches herself using 'here' on a dog whose trainer taught him 'come'.
Sofia shows the same rule at the level of language. Indoors, her apparent stubbornness turned out to be a language gap: she did not know what she was being asked, because her family speaks Spanish to her. From then on her cues were Spanish - the words that went home were bájate, junto and cama - with the release 'ok' kept the same in both languages, and Kelton narrated her park work in (self-admittedly imperfect) Spanish.
What is stated is the rule and the reason: the dog is confused by mixed words. Not on film: how long a dog takes to adapt to a second word, or whether a dog can hold two words for one behaviour; Sofia was trained in both languages, Kelton later said, which suggests it can.
What to do
If your family speaks another language to the dog at home, tell the trainer at intake so the cues match (watch 08:09).
What the trainers say
that it's ever void is if I give you a piece of advice and I have reason to
of his like his ideas with your guys ideas that's problematic then you start
blending things and the dogs like I don't know what you're saying okay good
probably won't and then you're gonna do the marker and he's gonna feel the e
go nope this way i'm trying to um um i'm switching my commands over to what kelton
is saying now because we work together a lot and sometimes i have to train his dogs and i
has come and uh and so that just rolls me off when i have to train or hold one of his dogs
She didn't know what you were asking her.
Her commands are all gonna be in Spanish
demos el mando que se puede salir que es ok sería ok en inglés y ok en español
How it looks, dog by dog
Titan
The family rule. Connor, who says follow-up visits cost him hours of driving, says the only thing that voids his help is an owner blending his advice with another trainer's, because the dog then does not know what is being said. At go-home the second owner runs the marker-and-collar chain herself so Titan learns it works with her too.
On film
blending things and the dogs like I don't know what you're saying okay good
collar and be like oh crap it works with her too
Peque (PK)
The staff rule. On a solo walk the handler says she is changing her own cue words to Kelton's, because they work together and she sometimes trains his dogs.
On film
go nope this way i'm trying to um um i'm switching my commands over to what kelton
Oscar
The same problem caught in the act: a staff member holding Oscar for his trainer says 'here' out of habit where Oscar was trained on 'come', and says it throws her off when she has to handle the other trainer's dogs.
On film
has come and uh and so that just rolls me off when i have to train or hold one of his dogs
Sofia
The language case. Indoors, Sofia's slow responses were found to be a language gap: her family speaks Spanish to her. Gemma, who speaks Spanish, explained it to the family; Claudia's indoor cues were written down in Spanish; Kelton worked her outdoors in Spanish. The release 'ok' is kept the same in both languages.
On film
She's over here like, I have no idea what you're saying.
Her commands are all gonna be in Spanish
demos el mando que se puede salir que es ok sería ok en inglés y ok en español
Why it works
Inferred, not stated: a cue is a specific sound the dog has been conditioned to, so a synonym is, to the dog, a new and untrained word.
Common owner mistakes
- Blending the trainer's method and words with another trainer's advice.
On film
like oh I yeah we like what you said but I thought another course I'm using some
Watch at 33:33 ↗
Questions owners ask
My partner says 'come' and I say 'here'. Does it matter?
The trainers treat it as mattering even among themselves: one handler switched her words to match Kelton's, and another caught herself saying 'here' to a dog trained on 'come'. Use the word the dog was trained on.
On film
is saying now because we work together a lot and sometimes i have to train his dogs and i
We speak Spanish at home. Can the dog be trained in Spanish?
Sofia was. Once the staff realised she did not understand English cues, her commands were switched to Spanish, with the release 'ok' the same in both.
On film
Her commands are all gonna be in Spanish
The lesson
The goal
Fix one set of words per dog and hold every handler to it.
Learn first
The drill
At Titan's go-home, the second owner walks the dog, cues the down, marks, and lets the collar follow, so the dog learns the chain works with her too (watch 10:44).
Watch out for
- Each family member using their own word
- Mixing in another trainer's method
Check yourself
Why would a dog 'ignore' one family member who uses a perfectly sensible word?