The answer
Yes - that is exactly what 'easy' is for in four dogs' programs. The trainer says 'easy' while slowly rubbing the dog down, usually after activity, until the word predicts the massage and the calm that goes with it. Max's trainer does it on day one after a burst of play: 'then you can get what's called conditioned relaxation where you have uh the relaxation more or less on command'. Once it is conditioned, the word is used on its own: while Lucia watches another dog, while Drago is petted, and - Kelton tells Oscar's owner - when a collar goes on or comes off, instead of a wrestle that winds both of you up.
It sits inside the four-windows vocabulary. At Drago's go-home, 'enough' means stop and chill out (and is enforced), while 'easy' predicts 'oh, I'm gonna get a massage'; the family can use either to put the dog in the calm window. Drago's trainer adds the reason he values it: in some situations the relaxer can do the job a correction word used to do, which shrinks what 'nope' has to cover.
Stated on film: the pairing, the uses, and the claim it replaces some corrections. Not on film: how many pairings it takes, or a test showing the word working on a dog that had not just been rubbed. The trainers' own accounts are the evidence.
What to do
Use 'easy' with a slow rub-down on a regular basis, then say it before handling - collar on or off - or when the dog is getting worked up (watch 56:05). In the house, 'enough' or 'easy' with a rub-down are the two ways into calm (watch 12:53).
What the trainers say
rub down easy easy good boy easy good because then you can get what's called conditioned relaxation
where you have uh the relaxation more or less on command
easy cue and the purpose of it is a conditioned relaxer right so when you
realized is that you can use in certain circumstances the conditioned relaxer
or sorry, but easy predicts,
gonna relax when you're saying easy and so then if you do that on a regular basis which i recommend
just use a conditioned relaxer every time they'll get better and better at it and then you can just
baby. Good girl to see you. Easy. Easy. Easy. Do a little conditioning relaxation with the
And then establishing some lines of communication with let's go, when the recall come, and with
How it looks, dog by dog
Max (Goldendoodle)
The pairing being built, on day one: after heavy play the trainer does a slow rub-down to cool Max off and attaches 'easy' to it. On day two 'easy' is already being used to settle him during his first heel.
On film
bit right because that was a lot of activity oh boy easy and then i'm also attaching a cue to the
Drago
The fullest account. In a narrated clip the trainer explains the pairing and says the relaxer can stand in for the correction marker in some situations; in a later clip it is the alternative to redirection in low-stakes moments; in the go-home video and the go-home lesson it is one of the calm-window cues beside 'enough'.
On film
when you would have used the conditioned Punisher before right so that can be
chill out if you need to and the cue for that is enough or you can use the condition relaxer
oh, I'm gonna get a massage, sick.
Oscar
At go-home, for a family: 'enough' and 'easy' are the two calm cues, and 'easy' is what makes collar handling easy - use it regularly and he gets better and better at relaxing on the word.
On film
easy good and then i could take a collar on or off and so that means that instead of having a
Lucia
A rescue dog on a public trail. 'Easy' is used while she watches another dog - looking is allowed - and is listed with let's go, the recall and the release as one of her lines of communication.
On film
easy command. She sees that other dog, which is fine. You can look. She can look all she
conditioning and relaxation, which is easy, good girl, and teaching her a little bit about
Why it works
Stated: the word is attached to a rub-down until it predicts one, and the dog relaxes to the word (watch 01:52; watch 59:14). Stated: a handler's frustration during handling amps the dog, so a calming cue avoids the escalation (watch 56:50). Inferred: this is classical conditioning of a state, the counterpart of 'nope' as a conditioned punisher; Drago's trainer uses that pairing of terms himself.
Common owner mistakes
- Meeting a wriggling dog with frustration during handling, which amps him further.
On film
collar off and you're like you're getting frustrated and then he's like oh he gets more
Watch at 56:55 ↗
Questions owners ask
How do I teach it?
Say 'easy' while you give a slow rub-down, especially after activity, and do it regularly. The word comes to predict the massage.
On film
yeah that is kind of like a massage is what i'm doing it's a rub down yeah and so then they're
What's the difference between 'easy' and 'enough'?
At Drago's go-home: 'enough' means stop and chill out, and is enforced if needed; 'easy' predicts a massage and invites the dog to relax.
On film
And then, but enough predicts,
The lesson
The goal
Condition a calming word and use it in place of some corrections and handling struggles.
Learn first
The drill
After activity, slow rub-down while saying 'easy'; repeat regularly; then use 'easy' before collar on/off (watch 13:42; watch 56:05).
Watch out for
- Using the word only when the dog is already wound up, before it has been paired
- Confusing it with 'enough'
Check yourself
What must happen many times before 'easy' will relax a dog on its own?