The answer
The trainers start from a rule: "any dog if you push them hard enough we'll do one of three things they'll either freeze they'll flee or they'll fight" (Kelton, at Sage's go-home). Which one a dog reaches for first is a property of the dog, and they predict it: Sage freezes first and hides if she can. In panic, Kelton says of Finn, the dog "has an inability to process the inputs and produce an output that makes any sense" - he will do everything fine until he panics, and then he freezes and won't sit, won't down, won't do anything. Ozzy's trainer says the same about bolting: "it's not like an impulse I don't want to listen thing" - he hits his threshold and he is out. Luna's trainer adds that no amount of e-collar will override a flight impulse once it is strong enough.
So the first job is to lower where the dog lives relative to that threshold. Two Ozzy sessions say it with the same picture: nervous dogs sit pretty close to their threshold, and the goal is how low you can get it, so ordinary pressure no longer tips them over. Max's case shows what happens next: his first response to obligation was panic, and once he was shown what to do instead - "once I showed him hey do this instead, he actually coped with pressure really well" - later hesitation was read as confusion and answered with clarity. Stormy's trainer gives the same order as a rule: if a dog doesn't know why the pressure is happening or how to escape it, 'that just sends them into a panic', so the way out is taught first with less pressure (watch 14:21).
The second job is to tell the freezes apart, because they need opposite answers. Sage's freeze is read as uncertainty: she knows what to do and gets unsure whether everything is cool, so going harder is the wrong route - encourage, and she does it. Finn's freeze in the training yard is read the other way: he is capable of coping and has learned that freezing gets him out of things, so the freeze itself is what gets worked - pressure closes it off as an option and ends the instant he acts; "when pressure hits don't panic ... think first". King's coaching session names the two questions behind the choice: what is the dog's emotional state, and how clear was it to him - and never default to more pressure.
Said on film: all of the above.
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What to do
When your frightened dog stops listening, stop treating it as disobedience. First ask how scared he is: if he is at his limit, more pressure will not get through - lower the stress and make the ask easier. Then ask what the freeze is: if he knows the cue and is just unsure, encourage him through; if freezing has become his way out of things, the trainer may work the freeze itself - that is a trainer's call, not a home experiment. Either way, make the way out obvious: show him what turns the pressure off.
What the trainers say
any dog if you push them hard enough we'll do one of three things they'll either freeze they'll flee or they'll fight
just encourage and then she'll do it is what I've found. Because she knows what to do.
example, like if she hasn't done it yet, going harder,
So like a core concept as an example is how a dog responds to pressure in a command bleeds over into how they respond to pressure overall.
So he's panicking and then has an inability to process the inputs and produce an output that makes any sense.
that because of that panic, because of that panic it produces the inability to
implied stay where it's just the release command okay but he will do that all of
he's totally capable of coping with the problem he's just being allowed to to freeze up and that's dictating um whether he's going to do things or not and so he's learned he could just get out of it if he just goes and just freezes up like that so i'm just not allowing that
the concept is that when pressure hits don't panic right do a thing that like do like something like think first
like an impulse I don't want to listen thing it's like I just like you know hit
spot in that threshold so right now obviously he's sitting up there like he's pretty close
and so same thing with the nervous dogs they have a threshold unfortunately they sit pretty close to
But what I learned is that once I showed him hey do this instead, he actually coped with
that there needs to be like a small clarification because he's kind of like looking for what to do
happens it doesn't matter if you have somebody yelling at you if you feel like
Which you gotta learn even in that window.
cuz if a dog doesn't know what to do the adrenaline hits they panic. They're not in there anymore. It's just like a dog running off instinct being like I'm out of here
the reason that that repetition was so much worse than the one prior isn't because he forgot how to heal right isn't because he forgot the like progress he's made on the heel even though we haven't done it that much right it's because those dogs barked at him
There's normally an emotional component, so like what's the dog's emotional state, and then there is a clarity response. So how clear was it to them, and what's their emotional state like?
never default to like, okay I'm gonna put more pressure, default to be like, alright I'm gonna suspect a play with this dog
it's happening and they don't know how to escape it that just sends them into a panic right so you teach them okay with a little bit less pressure over this
How it looks, dog by dog
Sage
The case where freeze-flee-fight is the thesis and the freeze is read as uncertainty. Kelton states the rule at the go-home; Sage freezes first and would flee before she fought. The trainers say how a dog handles pressure inside a command bleeds over into how it handles pressure everywhere, so her obedience is a route to changing that response. Her freeze on a known cue is uncertainty about the handler's motive - is everything cool? - and the family is told that going harder may be the wrong route; if she freezes, encourage, and she'll do it. A generic approach, the trainer says, would be counterproductive for her.
On film
any dog if you push them hard enough we'll do one of three things they'll either freeze they'll flee or they'll fight
So like a core concept as an example is how a dog responds to pressure in a command bleeds over into how they respond to pressure overall.
some things that are specific to Sage that like if I just gave you like the
just encourage and then she'll do it is what I've found. Because she knows what to do.
Finn
Two readings of one dog. In panic, Kelton says, Finn cannot process inputs or choose a good option - which is why he will not let him practise the panic without a consequence that makes it clear what to do. In the training yard a trainer reads the freeze as a learned exit: he knows sit, he is capable of coping, and freezing has been getting him out of things - so the freeze itself is worked, with pressure closing the option and ending the moment he acts. Finn is highly context-specific: a different dog in the park, locked up in the yard - which is why the work is done where he freezes.
On film
So he's panicking and then has an inability to process the inputs and produce an output that makes any sense.
choose a good option. So that's why I can't let him practice the panic without some
he's totally capable of coping with the problem he's just being allowed to to freeze up and that's dictating um whether he's going to do things or not and so he's learned he could just get out of it if he just goes and just freezes up like that so i'm just not allowing that
because he knows sit he can do it like this no problem he can do it lots of times he understands the word he understands the command and he's freezing up
Ozzy
The threshold picture. Two handlers independently describe it with their hands: a nervous dog's resting stress sits just under the point where he panics, so any correction tips him over; the work before obedience is to lower where he sits, so the same pressure later stays under the line - which is why his heel waits. Bolting is read as threshold, not defiance: when his nerves kick up he is out.
On film
spot in that threshold so right now obviously he's sitting up there like he's pretty close
and so same thing with the nervous dogs they have a threshold unfortunately they sit pretty close to
like an impulse I don't want to listen thing it's like I just like you know hit
Max (Goldendoodle)
The clean chain. Max's first response to obligation was panic. Once the trainer showed him what to do instead - go into the down and stay, and the pressure goes away - he coped with pressure really well. Later hesitation is read as looking for what to do, and answered with a small clarification rather than more pressure.
On film
But what I learned is that once I showed him hey do this instead, he actually coped with
that there needs to be like a small clarification because he's kind of like looking for what to do
Dolce
A three-way discrimination made live while coaching a second handler: not shut down (she is active), not panicking, still trying things - so the answer is a smaller, clearer ask, not more pressure.
On film
but do like put a little bit like what I did
Luna, Lola, Kodak, King
Luna: a strong enough flight impulse is not overridden by any amount of e-collar; the level rises because her nerves are higher, and the lesson is not to lock up even in that window. Lola: when a dog does not know what to do, adrenaline hits and 'they're not in there anymore'. Kodak: a worse repetition is blamed on barking dogs, not forgetting. King: ask about emotional state and clarity, and never default to more pressure.
On film
Which you gotta learn even in that window.
cuz if a dog doesn't know what to do the adrenaline hits they panic.
There's normally an emotional component, so like what's the dog's emotional state, and then there is a clarity response.
Hattie
The freeze that comes before a bolt, described in a Hattie clip: a dog who has never been far from her person realises she got away, stands there 'deer in the headlights', and then takes off. The trainer's answer is not more control but experience of distance, so the moment is not new when it comes.
On film
not just like standing there doing that deer in the headlights thing like, oh my gosh,
And then they take off.
The only cure for that is experience.
Louie
The fight end of the rule, in the words of the man taking Louie on, speaking Spanish: the dog doesn't like being cornered ('el perro no le gusta que lo acorralen'), and he only bites when he is afraid ('solo muerde cuando tiene miedo'). An English line a moment later puts it as pressure when he can't get away. A non-trainer's reading; Louie's bite history is as the family describe it.
On film
el perro no le gusta que lo acorralen así que en él porque después de los
es que esto solo muerde cuando tiene miedo yo de ver este perro yo digo ese
but it's more like when there's pressure on him because if he can't get away but
Stormy
At a Stormy lesson the trainer explains the order of the work: first teach, with little pressure, how the dog can escape it, because pressure that a dog doesn't understand and can't escape 'just sends them into a panic'. Only once she knows the way out does the grace shrink and the pressure rise.
On film
doesn't even know how she can escape it that's a problem if they don't know why
it's happening and they don't know how to escape it that just sends them into a
panic right so you teach them okay with a little bit less pressure over this
Why it works
Stated: under enough pressure every dog freezes, flees or fights (watch 26:31). In panic, the dog cannot process inputs or choose (watch 24:23); bolting at threshold is not wilful (watch 13:51). Nervous dogs live close to threshold, so lowering the resting level is the first work (watch 05:23; watch 11:29). Pressure with a clear way out produces coping; without one, panic (watch 19:05). How a dog handles pressure in a command transfers to how it handles pressure in general (watch 07:45). A freeze that has been paying off becomes a learned exit and is worked directly (watch 07:35); a freeze of uncertainty is met with encouragement (watch 13:43). Inferred: the observable that tells the two freezes apart is not given; the trainers know their own dogs.
Where the trainers differ
Is the freeze a learned exit to close, or uncertainty to encourage through?
One view
A learned exit: take the option away, then show the way out.
On film
he's totally capable of coping with the problem he's just being allowed to to freeze up and that's dictating um whether he's going to do things or not and so he's learned he could just get out of it if he just goes and just freezes up like that so i'm just not allowing that
Another view
Uncertainty: encourage, do not escalate.
On film
just encourage and then she'll do it is what I've found. Because she knows what to do.
Common owner mistakes
- Treating a frightened dog's refusal as disobedience.
On film
like an impulse I don't want to listen thing it's like I just like you know hit
Ozzy · Watch at 13:51 ↗ - Going harder when the dog is merely unsure.
On film
example, like if she hasn't done it yet, going harder,
Sage · Watch at 13:43 ↗ - Adding pressure before the dog has been shown the way out.
On film
But what I learned is that once I showed him hey do this instead, he actually coped with
Max (Goldendoodle) · Watch at 19:05 ↗ - Assuming a repetition failed because the dog forgot, when the environment changed.
On film
the reason that that repetition was so much worse than the one prior isn't because he forgot how to heal right
Kodak · Watch at 31:26 ↗
Questions owners ask
Why does my dog freeze when I ask him to do something he knows?
The trainers give two different readings. For Sage, it is uncertainty - she knows what to do and is unsure whether everything is cool - so encourage her through. For Finn, freezing had become a way out of things, so the trainer worked the freeze itself. Which applies to your dog is a question for the trainer.
On film
just encourage and then she'll do it is what I've found. Because she knows what to do.
he's totally capable of coping with the problem he's just being allowed to to freeze up and that's dictating um whether he's going to do things or not and so he's learned he could just get out of it if he just goes and just freezes up like that so i'm just not allowing that
Why won't he listen when he's scared?
Because in panic he can't. Kelton: Finn panics and then cannot process the inputs or produce an output that makes sense. Ozzy's trainer: bolting is not 'I don't want to listen', it is hitting the threshold.
On film
So he's panicking and then has an inability to process the inputs and produce an output that makes any sense.
like an impulse I don't want to listen thing it's like I just like you know hit
So should I never put pressure on a nervous dog?
Not what the trainers say. They lower the dog's resting stress first, and then use pressure with a clear way out - Max coped with pressure well once he was shown what to do instead.
On film
and so same thing with the nervous dogs they have a threshold unfortunately they sit pretty close to
But what I learned is that once I showed him hey do this instead, he actually coped with