For weeks the footage of Zeus shows a man doing chores in a dog's run and asking for nothing. Zeus snaps at hands, and a leash, a slip lead and an e-collar all need a hand near his neck, so nothing else can start until a person can be in his space without anything happening. It is the first step of the whole method, and it has no command in it.
I'm not doing any obedience with Zeus right now but he is learning that I can be in his area and nothing happens to him he doesn't have to protect himself and he doesn't have to protect his space
The chapter in one paragraph
Nothing is asked of a dog until the trainers know what they are dealing with. The first sessions are a test, not a lesson: what does this dog already know, what sets him off, how does he answer pressure, what will he work for? Alongside the test they build the relationship: play, walks, time spent together with nothing asked. Authority is added last, inside that relationship. The case belongs to a team rather than to one trainer, and a daily board carries it from hand to hand. The method itself is fitted to the case. The stakes, what the owner actually wants, what the owner can physically keep doing and what the dog can take all decide it, and the trainers say out loud when a different case would have got a different program.
Principles
Day one is for the trainer to learn the dog. Each command is asked once, without help, to see what is there. The session is not yet a lesson.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
it's very important that the first time you take a dog out you don't just start going all right sit down place
Well, we're here at the park with Roxy, and we're here just to test how much she does and does not know.
You try to catch their issues on camera and show they don't know anything.
Concepts: Assess before you ask
Exceptions
- A returning dog is tested as well. Reba's refresher opens with a check of what she remembers (watch 11:33). With Simba the trainer first asks whether the program he went through years earlier ever taught the command he is now missing (watch 10:35).
Judge the dog by what he does in the open, off tension. A kennel front, a fence or an owner's account is weaker evidence.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
So this is what we're doing now. We're evaluating the dog. We're saying, okay, what is this dog actually about? You let them do what they're actually going to do and not like an artificial thing, right?
I kind of want to have happen. The first thing is I want to, um, evaluate the dog. So I need evaluation, right? Part of that's talking to people and part of that's seeing it.
hand up through the glove um but yeah it might be good to know because i like because if i correct her first then we won't see what she's actually going to do
Yeah, because this seems like the biggest trigger, just stepping over the other.
Concepts: Assess before you ask
Exceptions
- A single trial gives one kind of information: either what the dog would do, or whether a correction stops it. Lucy's evaluator chooses which he needs before the staged doorbell test (watch 17:26).
Assessment does not stop at intake. When training shows something new, or shows the first picture was wrong, the trainers treat that as information.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
and you know like that's a continuous process throughout the whole thing you should always be paying attention to their behavior and evaluating it
Yeah, so I have overestimated how bad it was.
let's go there we go so deuce is definitely i'd see just something that i learned today just just because of that is do this let's go i'm gonna make sure you're not allowed to fixate
Concepts: Assess before you ask
Cooperation comes before authority. The trainers evaluate, then build cooperation (play, walks, time together), then socialisation and fulfilment. Authority comes last, and it is built inside the relationship, never used in place of it.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
you're going to start developing authority and you want to develop that authority within the cooperation mode right so you're going to want to be in a cooperation um like relationship first that you build
there's a kind of paradigm that I think about dog training within so the first thing is you need to evaluate so you need evaluations you need to know what you're dealing with the second thing you need is to establish some kind of cooperation
i normally like to try to do it sort of last in the order of operations is just establishing authority of some kind right
training why because ideally for a training scenario you need to have a relationship with the dog you need to have trust with the dog they need to like you and they need to know that you like them
Concepts: Evaluate, cooperate, socialise, fulfil - then authority
Exceptions
- Small doses of authority appear early, inside games that are already cooperative. Baxter's first lesson adds an 'out' into ball play (watch 03:03). The trainers never say on film how this fits 'authority last'. The likeliest reading is that the order describes the program as a whole, not each game.
- Authority is still needed. Zeus's trainer calls it the biggest part of the handover, because selective hearing is what happens when ignoring the handler has had no consequence (watch 30:48).
While the relationship is new, a nuisance is logged and put off. A correction for something annoying but not dangerous would land on the relationship, not on the behaviour.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
If I then go boom and nope nope nope right to a thing that is not dangerous
come over right and then I can introduce that negative reinforcement cue later right once
Concepts: Evaluate, cooperate, socialise, fulfil - then authority
Exceptions
- Danger is the stated limit. The postponement covers behaviours that are 'not dangerous'.
For some dogs the first phase has no obedience in it at all. The trainer is simply present, spends time with the dog and asks for nothing, until the dog can be handled and trusts the person handling him.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
I'm not doing any obedience with Zeus right now but he is learning that I can be in his area and nothing happens to him he doesn't have to protect himself and he doesn't have to protect his space
we'll start assigning the down and the heel and things like that we just had to get that base set first otherwise he won't understand and we would have made the nervousness even worse
has been talking this whole time, when is he actually going to train Reaper, right? I am training Reaper right now, right?
I like to actually just hang out with the dog because that makes a difference in how
Concepts: Evaluate, cooperate, socialise, fulfil - then authority
Exceptions
- The length of this phase is set by the dog.
Several trainers work each dog on purpose, so that obedience belongs to people in general and not to one person. The family are the last handlers in that line.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
Clearly, people like, you know, the setup we have is that it used to be that you just had one trainer per dog with us.
so then they learn like, hey, like this could be something that could be from a male or from a female or with a quiet voice or or a loud voice or it could be all kinds of different people with different mannerisms.
And then when it comes to the videos, too, it's important that every family member watches it and it's because we want him to not only listen to you but listen to everyone.
So working with multiple trainers gives her the opportunity to get used to multiple different handlers.
Concepts: The board, the scenes and the grades - and every trainer works every dog
Exceptions
- There is still 'an unwritten primary' trainer (Dutchess, watch 01:42).
- Each change of handler costs some trust, 'what the clients feel like when we give them a dog fully trained' (Daisy, watch 01:03).
- Some trainers describe being matched to dogs by temperament. This is carried under conflicts, because Kelton has tabled the question.
A shared daily board carries the case between hands. It records the trainer, the client scene the session serves, the skill grade, the environment and one of ten named emotional states.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
board and it's just like a dry race board and i make the board every day or connor makes the board every day one of those one of us makes the board and we put dogs and we give sessions to each of the few trainers that work with us
and when we put it there's a few different things we put we put the scene so we pick a specific client scene right so we organize our training around scenes that clients live
Cool, but can they do that in the places where it matters? And how do they behave when they're not in command, when it matters, right?
same yeah we pretty much we so we've kind of all got to the point where we all like use the same system we used to have like a little bit of differences but we've all pretty much gone to the same system because it's just easiest for like clients
Concepts: The board, the scenes and the grades - and every trainer works every dog
Exceptions
- The board itself, its grading rubric and the list of ten emotional states are described on film but never shown. Whether they exist as documents is an open question.
There is no single right method. The trainers choose it by the stakes, what the owner actually wants, what the owner can physically keep up and what the dog can take, and they say when a different case would have got a different program.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
One outcome is he learns to sit, to down, to place, to heel, to come, to do all the stuff on a leash, and he does really good, but he still panics like really horrifyingly, and does like really don't-stop-me panics. Or he kind of learns those things, but doesn't do a very good job, but he stops panicking.
it is not uh the uh commands that he needs to learn he's gonna learn those i mean that's that's not a big deal it's easy it's really really easy for me to teach commands
we got to think right it's it's about for me it's about friction if it's really hard
that's why i just took my time went really really slow on the down and um gave him time to choose it um instead of of forcing it or pushing him harder than necessary and then getting myself bit by that.
in several sets but just goes to show you that sometimes you know there's a way to do it that could be more efficient for certain dogs and like learning what moves them and motivates them the most
i could try to go in just like assert authority really quickly or something like that um and i would if it was necessary right if they were going to put him down right or um you know if he was in a shelter or something like that
Concepts: The method the case can afford
Exceptions
- Nothing here is a menu for owners. In every case the trainer makes the choice and explains it. Only in Finn's case is the owner asked to set the priority (watch 22:51).
- No case on film shows the fast route Bo's trainer describes actually being taken.
Two questions are asked of a case: can this dog learn, and can he live safely where he is? When the answer to the second is no, the fix may be a different home, not more training.
Said as a rule on filmOn 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
Concepts: Placement as the intervention
Exceptions
- The film shows the question being asked. It gives no rule for when the answer is placement.
Start before the habit. An older dog is harder because he has more rehearsed habits to undo, not because age slows learning.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
Yeah, it's always good to get them trained when they're young. You avoid a lot of bad habits.
And most of the time, people bring us their dog, and the dog's like 14 months old. And they've been practicing bad habits for like six, eight months. And we're like, that's going to be harder.
Concepts: Start before the habit is rehearsed
Exceptions
- The rule comes from a single source: one conversation, in which the figures are Kelton's rough estimates, not counts.
Every dog is filmed from the start. The before-video is part of the assessment, and the footage is how the family later learns the method and judges the training.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
You try to catch their issues on camera and show they don't know anything.
because I want to be as transparent and document as much of his training as possible and then commentate like tell you what I'm doing while I'm doing it so that you can watch those videos and know this is how he worked with the dog.
Concepts: The camera is part of the method
Exceptions
- Much of the work is unfilmed or does not look like training. Most of Reaper's early work happened in the kennel and was not recorded (watch 00:19).
What owners are told
Expect little obedience in the first days, and expect the plan to change. The trainer wants to see the problem, not only hear about it. Tell him what happens before, during and after, not 'he's bad, he doesn't listen'. The early days are spent on trust, play and walks, and that is training. Everyone in the household watches the videos and handles the dog, because he is being taught to listen to everyone. Tell the trainer what matters in your house and what you can physically do. For a frightened dog you may be asked to choose calm over a long list of commands. If you can, start before a habit has had months of practice.
On film
I kind of want to have happen. The first thing is I want to, um, evaluate the dog. So I need evaluation, right? Part of that's talking to people and part of that's seeing it.
And then when it comes to the videos, too, it's important that every family member watches it and it's because we want him to not only listen to you but listen to everyone.
One outcome is he learns to sit, to down, to place, to heel, to come, to do all the stuff on a leash, and he does really good, but he still panics like really horrifyingly, and does like really don't-stop-me panics.
Yeah, it's always good to get them trained when they're young. You avoid a lot of bad habits.
What trainers know
Day one: test before teaching. Ask each cue once without help and film it as the before-video. Separate what the dog knows from what he is willing to do. Evaluate outside the kennel and off tension. Map a trigger one component at a time, with a decoy if needed. Decide before each trial what it is for: seeing the behaviour, or testing the correction. Nerves and pressure tolerance are separate things to assess. On an unfamiliar dog or breed, start soft, because the failure to avoid is a dog who decides to fight. Before calling a returning dog's lapse testing, check what the program taught at the time. Settle a new arrival in company before kennelling him, and do not let the family leave while he watches from the kennel. The relationship comes first: presence, play, walks, time together with nothing asked. Log non-dangerous nuisances and postpone them. Small doses of authority can go inside a game that is already cooperative. Put the case on the board daily: trainer, client scene, graded skill, environment, emotional state. Flag flight risks on day one. A trainer new to a dog protects the progress others have made and expects some wariness. For a dog afraid of people, rotation is part of the treatment (Josephine, Ozzy). Fit the method to the stakes, the owner's priority, the owner's capacity and the dog's tolerance, and say out loud which of those set it.
On film
He knows it. He's just not a willing participant.
so i had the white gloves on because again i hadn't worked with those people i didn't know like how she responded to lots of pressure
That is why I don't want to see them leave while he's in the kennel because it might add stress.
oh dog over there i was like i cannot have a dog run up to him and just completely destroy any progress that's been made
He's uh, but he's kind of a group effort here
In the dogs
Roman
Roman's reputation came from behind a kennel fence. In an open field, with the leash dropped, the trainer's verdict is that there is nothing wrong with him. The case shows the assessment rule working against a dog's paper record. His story ends where the footage ends.
On film
this uh you have a great dog seriously roman's a great dog there's nothing wrong with him that i can see
Luna
The down, the command that takes the most pressure, is held back until the trainer knows how Luna takes pressure. The answer is the opposite of what her nerves predicted. She is skittish, and she takes pressure 'extremely well'. Nerves and pressure tolerance turn out to be separate things to measure.
On film
I don't start the down too early because I really need to know what the threshold of pressure is for a dog
type of brake she is, she handles pressure really well. Even though she's a little skittish, she does handle the pressure extremely well.
Zeus
Zeus snapped at hands, and every tool (leash, slip lead, e-collar) needs a hand near his neck. So the first phase is presence alone. At the owner lesson Kelton lays out the full five-part order and names authority as the biggest part of the handover.
On film
But that does present problems for us, right, in a training scenario, how would you get a leash on him?
Bo
In the first filmed session a nuisance behaviour is named on camera and postponed. On an early night walk the trainer names the faster, harder route he is not taking, because a committed owner gives the case time.
On film
evaluation we've spent some time together and now i'm in the cooperation phase right i'm
Finn
Finn shows both ends of the handler policy: 'nobody touch him' on the board on day one, and later a trainer he has never met explaining why every trainer now works every dog. At the first owner lesson his family is asked to choose between a dog who obeys but still panics and a calm dog who barely obeys. The owner chooses calm at once.
On film
so i put on their flight risk on the board and was like nobody touch him please
I'd pick the second one all day.
Kodak
Because of Kodak's nerves, play and cooperation are built before any obedience is folded in. Kelton later states the trade outright: he would rather Kodak went home without a heel or a down, though he must have a recall, as long as he can hear dogs bark without panicking.
On film
what I don't want to do is start right now at this moment I don't want to start immediately integrating like too much obedience into the play because of his like super crazy nerve starting point
Dutchess
Her first owner lesson doubles as the intake. The trainer finds the case is smaller than he had been told, and says so on camera to the family.
On film
Yeah, so I have overestimated how bad it was.
Lola
At the second in-program lesson Kelton explains why five or six staff work her. The owners then try it themselves and find she answers whoever calls her. In the same lesson a hand wave one owner had added without meaning to turns up as part of her cue.
On film
It seems like she responds to just from today responds to whoever says her name and then the whatever the command is. Yes.
Louie
The March Louie is a frightened dog. For the first week of his board-and-train he gets trust work only, and commands and the collar wait, because a command the dog does not trust would not be understood.
On film
the first week for sure was just completely trying to build trust
Samson
Samson has bitten this trainer before. Alone with him on a trail, the trainer drops the sit Samson is refusing and works the recall from a distance instead, and asks the placement question aloud: can this dog live in this circumstance?
On film
start forcing positions because i have done sit with him just fine but not in an area like this before so i'll work on the recall because it's a little bit more neutral because i'm farther away from him
Clark Kent
Kelton gives the start-young rule while holding the leash of a six-month-old Cane Corso in a store. Clark Kent's own record shows mouthing put down to teething and play rather than an ingrained habit, though the footage cannot show whether starting young is why.
On film
about six months give or take no mouthing nope nobody nope he's still teething
Where the trainers differ
On film
and then you need socialization and fulfillment, right?
so you evaluate first then you establish some kind of cooperation through play or through like personal play
On film
well then you need to establish um uh fulfillment and cooperation right so cooperation can happen in a variety of ways
there then I can get to the last one right so the next one socialization and then there's authority
On film
Clearly, people like, you know, the setup we have is that it used to be that you just had one trainer per dog with us.
On film
I kind of specialize in like really like I would say the two dogs that I train are dogs like him who are like really lovey and then nervous dogs
for me to work with so that there would be a an energy so usually there's not actually we do like to keep each trainer
On film
I don't start the down too early because I really need to know what the threshold of pressure is for a dog
so i had the white gloves on because again i hadn't worked with those people
On film
adding a little bit of pressure a little bit of like social pressure with that and stepping in
This is our first run he does have the e-collar on already
On film
if you will or if he genuinely just maybe didn't get taught to command because it was a couple years ago and we've since added commands to our contract
On film
but if he was in his training like you know i give him a second chance okay good job but he knows everything so we just gotta be real strict
As a course unit
The learner can say what the first sessions with a new dog are for, run a before-video and an open-field evaluation, name the stage a dog is in (evaluation, cooperation, and so on up to authority) and the change that would justify the next demand, and name the variables that set the method for a given case.
Lessons, in order
- Assess before you ask
- Evaluate, cooperate, socialise, fulfil - then authority
- The method the case can afford
- The board, the scenes and the grades - and every trainer works every dog
- The camera is part of the method
- Placement as the intervention
- Start before the habit is rehearsed
Drills
- The before-video, as run with Roxy and Bourbon: ask each command once, without help, and note what happens.
- The open-field read, as run with Roman: let the dog off tension in the open and watch what he does with no command given. Never read him from a kennel or a fence.
- Trigger mapping, as run with Bane: vary one element of the trigger at a time (the person, their back, the doorway) until you find the part that sets him off.
- The kennel sit-in, as run with Irwin: enter, sit five to ten minutes with scattered treats and ask for nothing. Pop in now and then and leave, so that a person entering predicts nothing bad.
- Every household member in turn, as at Lola's second lesson: each says the dog's name and the command, and everyone watches for private signals added without meaning to.
- The two-outcome question, as put to Finn's owners: describe an obedient dog who still panics and a calm dog who obeys loosely, and ask which they would take.
Assessment
- What does your dog do, off leash in an open space with no command given, when a stranger stands still near him?
- A new dog jumps up on you in the first session. It is annoying, not dangerous. What do the trainers do, and why? (Log it and postpone it; a correction now would land on the relationship, not the jump.)
- Why would a trainer deliberately hand your dog to a colleague who wears glasses?
- Two dogs with the same problem get different programs. Name two reasons the trainers give on film.
The ideas it draws on
- Assess before you ask
- Evaluate, cooperate, socialise, fulfil - then authority
- The board, the scenes and the grades - and every trainer works every dog
- The method the case can afford
- Start before the habit is rehearsed
- The dog tells you the reward
- Breed is a checklist, not a verdict
- The camera is part of the method
- Placement as the intervention