The answer
On film the trainers separate two questions. Samson's trainer puts them to the owner at go-home: "can you do training with the dogs right and the dog learns things does everything but then is it". Then the second: "can the dog live in this circumstance can they live in this situation are they going to be safe." A dog can pass the first and fail the second. Samson's yard is judged a place that can work, "because not everybody does." And the trainer says what the alternative usually is for a dog with a bite history: a shelter that will not rehome him.
The fullest case is Louie, a rescue with a bite history who was facing euthanasia. Nothing is trained on his placement day. The work is the match. He is an Australian Shepherd, a herding dog, and the new home has goats that keep wandering onto a neighbour's land. The handler tells the family that dogs like him "a lot of times already know a lot of it", and the household sums it up in Spanish: "Porque este es un perro que tiene trabajo" (because this is a dog that has a job).
Then the new home is taught to him. The handler's advice is to show him the boundaries, walk him around them and show him where everything is, then reward him for going toward the goats. On the day, the owner walks the edges marking the lines out loud, and the trainer narrates: "he's telling him where he can and cannot go. That's good. He's like, all of this is yours." The herding comes after: "Once he understands that he likes to move them, he lets them go." Asked whether Louie will miss the people who brought him, the trainer says a little, but "He'll figure out that he lives here and he'll like it." The proof is a filmed family meal with Louie loose among them (see untested-dog).
For rescues without a home yet, the program builds the placement itself. Jack's trainer says the whole point is "get him into a good family". Jack's placement is never filmed.
The rest are stated plans and adoption outreach. Whether the matches held is not on film.
Angier K9 is a family-owned, play-based Board & Train serving Angier, Raleigh and the Triangle, with three full owner lessons.
What to do
Ask two questions about your dog, not one: can he learn, and can he live safely in your home as it is. If the second answer is no, talk to your trainer about management or a different placement. If you take on a relocated dog, walk the boundaries of your land with him and show him where everything is before you give him freedom.
What the trainers say
can you do training with the dogs right and the dog learns things does everything but then is it
the secondary thing is like all right can the dog live in this circumstance can they live in
Yeah, I mean, so they a lot of times already know a lot of it.
Exacto. You just show him the boundaries. And you walk him around them and you show him this is where everything is.
Yeah, he's telling him where he can and cannot go. That's good. He's like, all of this is yours.
Once he understands that he likes to move them, he lets them go.
Probably a little bit, but not that much. He'll figure out that he lives here and he'll like it.
and then normally we do two sessions afterwards yeah after you guys take him home
a couple of sessions with you to show you like how his training works yeah so we include that most places can't include any of it but we include it so that people can have success
how we try to take the dogs out to public parks to hardware stores anywhere and everywhere we can so they get generalized with their obedience understanding that the things they're learning is not specific to a location
great he's going to be great in somebody's house super great he's going to be a really great family dog
How it looks, dog by dog
Louie
Louie is a rescue with a bite history who was headed for euthanasia. He is an Australian Shepherd, placed at a rural smallholding whose goats keep straying toward a neighbour. Nothing is trained that day. The handler tells the household that dogs like him already know much of the job; the plan is to show him the boundaries, walk him around them, and reward him for going toward the goats. On the first afternoon he is called out to the stock: come see your work. Then the owner walks the edges of the land with him, marking the lines, and the handler narrates it as a gift: all of this is yours. The herding comes later, once Louie finds he likes moving the stock. Asked whether Louie will miss his people, the handler says a little, but he will work out that he lives here.
On film
Yeah, I mean, so they a lot of times already know a lot of it.
Exacto. You just show him the boundaries. And you walk him around them and you show him this is where everything is.
Luis, ven a ver tu trabajo, tu trabajo.
Yeah, he's telling him where he can and cannot go. That's good. He's like, all of this is yours.
Once he understands that he likes to move them, he lets them go.
Probably a little bit, but not that much. He'll figure out that he lives here and he'll like it.
Samson
Samson is a serious dog who has bitten his trainer. At the go-home the trainer tells the owner there are two questions: can the dog learn, and can he live safely in this home. Samson's yard and household are judged a place that can work, which not every home is. For a dog like him the alternative is stark: a shelter would not rehome him. The handover pairs training with management: no public greetings, no strangers' hands through the fence.
On film
you have a place that can work for a dog like this you have a situation that can
can you do training with the dogs right and the dog learns things does everything but then is it
Like Samson, if they took Samson to shelter, euthanized within three days because they see a dog like that, they see a dog that has some potential for aggression, that's bitten people, and they go, we can't rehome this dog.
But he still is a dog, he's still a serious dog
Egg
Egg is a dog newly taken in by carers on a rural property.
On film
when we do the meet and greet we take them out there on a walk with the dog you guys go we go
Hattie
Hattie is being made adoptable. Her handler takes her to parks and hardware stores so her obedience is not tied to one place, and the same outings put her in front of the public. In a long home-context session, filmed with the title 'Adopt her', the handler says outright that he would adopt her himself if he had space.
On film
how we try to take the dogs out to public parks to hardware stores anywhere and everywhere we can so they get generalized with their obedience understanding that the things they're learning is not specific to a location
Please adopt this dog, man, come on. If I had space, I'd adopt her.
Jack
Jack is essentially feral. His trainer spends the first days on quiet walks so Jack can learn about him and start acting like a dog. The stated end of all of it is a family: get him into a good home. The placement is never filmed, and Kelton has ruled his outcome open.
On film
gonna learn about me I'm gonna learn more about him I want to see him act like a dog and be happy
Teddy
His trainer recites his skills to camera and says, while working an implied stay, that Teddy will be a great family dog in somebody's house.
On film
great he's going to be great in somebody's house super great he's going to be a really great family dog
doing so good yeah you're gonna be somebody's family yes you are
Why it works
As the trainers explain it: training changes what a dog can do, but whether he is safe depends on the circumstances he lives in, so the two are assessed separately (Samson). A working dog's instinct can solve a home's real problem, and then the work is its own reward and need not be installed - the dog 'already knows a lot of it' (Louie). A relocated dog settles by learning the place, which is taught by walking its boundaries with him; attachment to a place, not to his old people, is offered as why he settles (Louie).
On film
the secondary thing is like all right can the dog live in this circumstance can they live in
Yeah, I mean, so they a lot of times already know a lot of it.
Exacto. You just show him the boundaries. And you walk him around them and you show him this is where everything is.
when we do the meet and greet we take them out there on a walk with the dog you guys go we go
Inferred
The boundary walk and the handler's advice are on clean cues (watch, watch). Whether Louie's placement held is not on film.
Where the trainers differ
Fix the dog, or change the home?
One view
Training plus management can make the current home work
On film
you have a place that can work for a dog like this you have a situation that can
Another view
The intervention is a different home whose needs fit the dog
On film
Porque este es un perro que tiene trabajo.
How to read it
Not a disagreement between trainers but the fork every case in this concept reaches. The film shows the question asked; it does not give a rule for when the answer is placement.
Common owner mistakes
- Giving a relocated dog the run of the land before he has been shown where home is.
On film
Exacto. You just show him the boundaries. And you walk him around them and you show him this is where everything is.
Watch at 17:47 ↗
Questions owners ask
My dog is trained but still not safe at home. Is training failing?
Samson's trainer separates the two questions: can the dog learn, and can he live safely in this situation. A dog can pass the first and not the second; the answer may be management, or a different home.
On film
can you do training with the dogs right and the dog learns things does everything but then is it
the secondary thing is like all right can the dog live in this circumstance can they live in
How do you settle a dog into a new home?
For Louie: his new person walks the boundaries with him, marking the lines, before any freedom. The handler frames it as a gift - all of this is yours - and says he will settle once he works out that he lives there.
On film
Yeah, he's telling him where he can and cannot go. That's good. He's like, all of this is yours.
Probably a little bit, but not that much. He'll figure out that he lives here and he'll like it.
The lesson
Learn first
The drill
The boundary walk, as carried out at Louie's placement: the new owner walks the dog around the perimeter of the land, marking the lines aloud ('Esta linea aqui'), before any off-lead freedom; herding direction is taught only after the dog finds he likes moving the stock.
Watch out for
- Treating a placement problem as a training problem.
- Giving a newly placed dog the run of the land on day one.
Check yourself
What are the two questions the trainers ask before deciding a dog can go home?