A trainer stands in the doorway of a kennel while a husky who has always got people to leave barks and bluffs at him. He does nothing the dog expects. He admits on camera that he flinched once and calls it a mistake. Then, twelve minutes in, the dog sniffs him for the first time.
sniffed me until right now he's finally starting to sniff you saw the tail go a little bit
The chapter in one paragraph
A dog does what he expects to work. When a growl, a scream, a pull, a bite or a flop into a down has always ended the pressure or got him what he wanted, it keeps coming, and no amount of asking harder changes that until the strategy stops paying. The trainers call the moment it stops paying a prediction error, and on film it is more often a no-show than a punishment: the person does not leave, the handling does not stop, the walk does not move on. Then the thing he wanted is paid for the opposite behaviour. A dog who answers a command with something else is usually testing an exit, and the trainers close the exit rather than simply pushing harder. A dog who seems not to care about a correction may be panicking, may not feel it, may need it repeated, or may be avoiding on purpose, and the trainers find out which before changing anything, starting with themselves and the equipment. And because a dog cannot learn that a choice is wrong if he is never allowed to make it, the mistake is allowed where it can be answered, with the dangerous ones staged by staff.
Principles
A behaviour that gets the dog what he wants will keep coming back, so it has to stop working, and the thing he wanted becomes the payment for the opposite behaviour.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
but he hasn't tried to do that yet I don't think that he's serious about it fully yet in this scenario so he's kind of doing bluffing behaviors that work for him it makes the person go away it gives him the output the outcome that he wants so when we make it not work he has to change strategies
to maintain it you just can't allow it right so ideally the first time you have someone else put him in a crate um and i would run some practice with you with it is you be there also and if he goes to growl and don't do that right you tell him and then you don't let the other person back off. Because if they leave, what does that tell him? Yeah, tell them it worked. That strategy worked.
Well, think about it like this, what does she want?
Right all too often dogs learn that lesson, and we don't want Drago to learn that we want him to learn instead. Oh, okay Wait, I sat and then all of a sudden everything was gone
But it's worked for him for a long time. He's not a puppy. It's worked for him for a couple of years at least, right? Right. So we have to backtrack that and make it where he sees that doesn't work. But cooperating with me works and then we're going to have lots of fun together. We're buddies.
when does it go away when they get to the thing right so the pulling is reinforced yeah they got positively reinforced because they got to the thing and they also got negatively reinforced because the pressure turned off when they pulled
Concepts: If it works, it stays: the strategy has to stop paying
Exceptions
- The handler does not withdraw during the display; Astro's trainer counts his own flinch as the session's mistake (watch 07:16).
- Once the right answer has landed, Drago's trainer asks for nothing more that walk, so the lesson can settle (watch 16:50). Whether to press on or stop after the right answer is an open question (see conflicts).
- The owner's part is not to reward the strategy; the files never show an owner told to provoke a growl or a bite at home. The hard versions are run by staff, sometimes in protective gear.
The learning happens in the surprise. When the result the dog predicted does not come, he has to rethink; after that event he is let return to normal before the next try, and he is expected to try the old move a few more times before he gives it up.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
um when they first come to us they're like oh when i pull my owner's like stop and just keeps pulling but does i don't have a consequence so i can pull as much as i want there's no problem they come with me and they pull and they feel the e-collar and they go that's weird that's not what was supposed to happen prediction error
return to baseline that's a super super super important part of our dog training philosophy and what it is that we do because all learning happens through prediction error and when you have a prediction error on the first trial you need um to allow for a return to baseline in order for any learning to occur if the event just continues and never goes away then they don't have a chance to learn from the event because the event's ongoing it never goes away in their mind
going to fight them right you know what they don't expect nothing they don't expect neutrality they don't expect you to go oh hey buddy like what's going on man why are you why are you doing that why are you upset confusion and then that leads them to rethink their actions the next time and the next time after that and the next time after that
that we call it a prediction error in his mind he goes he predicts that I'm going to react a certain way because maybe 10 people did it that way yeah right i didn't react that way so all of a sudden there's an error in my prediction or his prediction does not come and he goes that didn't work why didn't that work
different and when you give a prediction error correctly you see the dog kind of do this like shaking motion right and that's like the body language is i'm learning something like i'm processing so that's like half how they learn the other half is conditioning
Concepts: Prediction error
Exceptions
- Most filmed uses are a no-show, not a correction: the expected result simply does not arrive (Samson in bite gear, Reaper's kennel, Kali's leash pick-up, Bo's crate, Louie's owner walk, Jack, Sage's recall). Three dogs show it as an unexpected consequence (Stormie, Dutchess, Dolce).
- When a dog predicts pressure or the next command from the handler's routine, the prediction is broken on purpose rather than built (Piglet watch 07:14; Kali watch 08:11).
- How long the return to normal takes is what each dog needed: seconds at Bo's crate, minutes on Samson's and Finn's walks (see conflicts).
A dog who answers a known command with something else (lying down, climbing on the handler, going to his bed or the truck, submitting) is usually testing an exit from the pressure; the trainers close that exit so the asked-for behaviour is the only way out, most often by arranging the situation rather than by adding force.
Shown, not saidOn film
of has a tendency where she'll just kind of try to blow me off or run away from the e-collar pressure, right? Um It does not mean that the e-collar pressure is hurting her, but her reaction to it is that I can get out of it if I run away. So, we're teaching her that it's not really a viable option.
seeing if if there's an alternative to actually going into the position um seeing if like you know just like refusing to do it um or getting up and like you know circling see if any of those things work you know which i don't blame her for trying them right because if those things immediately get her out of pressure or have immediately gotten her out of pressure in the past then i mean i would try them too
right like because he's like he's quick with it so we're making the appeasement behavior impossible he can't he can't go and like do all of that mess that he's doing
And then just don't let the sit happen?
I know your option that you're taking there is just to lay down and see if i let you do it okay little boy we'll come out better for it
But he learned one thing that was a mistake on my part that I did not want him to learn.
Concepts: Close the other door: the escape hatch
Exceptions
- The trainers say each exit is a tested strategy; that the fix is to close the exit rather than raise the pressure is the pattern across the Stormie, Rocky, Bullet and Dolce files, not a sentence anyone says. Penny's truck habit and Kodak's extinction burst show pressure being added as well, so the record supports 'not more pressure alone', not 'never more pressure'.
- Dolce's exit to her place bed was answered with a smaller ask and a tug to rebuild her mood (watch 09:58, Kelton coaching the trainer).
- One uncontrolled escape can install the habit (Drago's run to the truck, owned by his trainer as his own mistake).
A dog who seems not to care about a correction may be panicking, may not feel it, may need it repeated rather than raised, or may know the answer and be avoiding it on purpose; the trainers find out which before changing anything.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
Yeah, because I can do lots of other stuff through, like, concepts, because one of the things that he struggles with is, um, is that when he freezes and panics like that, all of the thoughts go out the window, and so then I'm asking him to do a thing, and at first he would just eat whatever the penalty was.
Resilience of like you can take one and not really care. I Give her a couple inches like all right fine
arbitrary rule where i like they must always do what i say like sometimes they're not ready for it and if you discern that you need to lay off um but if they know it and they just don't want to do it then that's a completely different story
like avoidance is kind of but the funny thing is she she panic avoids as opposed to like double down avoids
is that if it surprises the dog they may have a bigger reaction even though it's not an increased level of pain or anything like that
i don't love doing this part it's not my jam but it's what it is so in this case i'm not gonna start with the collar i'm just gonna grab her out of the avoidance part
don't worry about doing that. Like because who decides how high the e-collar is, you every time. Yep. The dog. That makes me happy that you said the dog.
Concepts: Eating the correction, and avoidance as a tactic
Exceptions
- A dog who answers correction by escalating into a fight is outside this whole chapter's logic (Deuce's lesson, told about another dog, watch 09:24).
- A panicking or frozen dog is not avoiding; the answer there is to stop and make it easier (Finn; Phoebe watch 09:48).
A correction is defined by its effect on the dog: if he did not care, it was not a correction. When one fails, the trainers look at the handler, the equipment, the timing and whether the dog understood before reaching for harder, and a 'no' word keeps its power only while something backs it.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
well then you didn't correct her it's just that simple it's just like if you if you give them a reward and they don't want it you didn't actually give them a reward at all
Um, essentially, if you want to know, all right, was the dog penalized or not, you need to think uh about only one factor. Does it look like it?
I was reviewing some of my own video footage and I found that I was not giving enough latency
so I don't I don't want to turn up the collar too high because if you don't get a command you're turning it up higher is not gonna get you what you want
It's called a condition punisher. You've got to have it.
not good enough no okay not good enough if he's still amped up and like still like
Concepts: The correction that did not work, The handler is the first suspect, Fit before level: check the tool before you judge the dog
Exceptions
- The e-collar is the easiest, most nuanced and arguably most humane backing, but many kinds of aversive can work depending on the dog.
- Surprise and novelty matter as well as intensity (Kodak watch 14:41; Roman watch 05:16); King's trainer frames it as charging the word as often as the dog requires (watch 28:25). No house view on which is the active ingredient is recorded.
- Fixing one fault can produce its opposite: Bullet's forging was corrected out and a later session finds him lagging (watch 18:02).
A dog cannot learn that a choice is wrong if he is never allowed to make it, so in training the mistake is made possible and answered, and the dangerous mistakes are staged by professionals rather than awaited at home.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
um a major correction because he needs to make the choice the bad choice in order for me to punish it i can't punish it if he doesn't make it that's a mistake that a lot of people make
then I then I have to figure out some way for them to I need dogs to blow me off when I'm training they have to if they don't blow me off ever I can't make make a reliable command because I can't ever have an opportunity to obligate it
in order for me to proof it, I need him to be motivated to go somewhere else other than me and I need him to blow me off.
I hope that he at least a few times doesn't listen to you right now I'm hoping for it because that's the most instructive thing
I'm always happy like I want that to happen with us not at home yes you have to do it you have to try it because if it happens at home could be a big disaster if it happens here we can mitigate the disaster
you don't need to do it too many times in a row otherwise you end up with problems
Concepts: He has to be allowed to get it wrong
Exceptions
- Do not run the error setup too many times in a row; no number is given.
- Kelton's 'errorless learning is fake' is labelled on film as his opinion (watch 05:12).
Control is not obedience. The trainers give real choice points on a loose leash, put the consequence on the behaviour rather than on a command, mark the wrong choice before any recall, and leave lawful choices (looking, moving away, sniffing, walking on) alone.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
good control of their dogs but at least they're on the leaf so they do technically have control over them it's not obedience
sweet that was cool right yeah but giving them the freedom to make that choice I call them choice points right gotta get choice points so find those choice points allow them to make the choice and then either reward or make make some kind of penalty
instead of saying come first is because I want them to think that running over to that dog is bad. Mhm. Not just that they need to recall.
They followed every command, but they end up going back to the thing that was the reason you gave them the command in the first place. every time in their mind they followed every command and then you released them to freedom and then they went and did the thing they want to do
alone right he didn't do anything he did nothing he did zero things and that is acceptable that's a lawful response to that, right? So it would be unfair of me to punish his hackled being raised
So if she chooses to avoid instead of attack, that's a perfectly acceptable choice. It's a lawful choice And she can look at it all day, that's not a problem either
problem there which is fine most of the time but it's management right instead i want him to make a good choice on his own without me having to say anything
Concepts: Control is not obedience
Exceptions
- It is hard to tell when looking becomes fixating, but you can tell by the dog's body language if you are paying attention.
- Once a direct command is in play, the choice is whether to obey it: after 'let's go' a dog may circle back, after 'come' he may not (King watch 03:49).
- Have a way to obligate before you allow the choice (Lucy's evaluation); the leash must be really loose at the moment of choice or the dog did not choose.
What owners are told
Find out what the behaviour gets him, and stop letting it get that. Do not back away, apologise, take the equipment off or move on while he growls, screams, mouths or whines; finish what you asked, then give him what he wanted the moment he is quiet or does it right. If someone new has to handle or crate him, be there the first time and do not let them back off. Judge a correction by whether it looks like it landed, not by what you pressed; if it did not, check the collar is on and fitted and your timing before anything else. Back up your 'no' or it stops meaning anything. In practice, stop blocking the mistake with the leash or your body, so the good choice can be praised and the bad one answered, but do not stage bites, bolts or fights at home: those are done with the trainer. If a scream sounds like real pain, check the equipment and ask the trainer before carrying on.
On film
leave because he growled, if he like gets to go home or doesn't have to go in the crate or doesn't have to do something because he growled or bared his teeth or did something like that, then he'll do it over and over and over again.
you just rewarded that behavior for him you just said oh when you yell and scream I'm gonna pick you up oh so he's gonna do it again
If it does, success. If it does not, it it didn't work. Right. So, if you go, don't you ever do and and Roxy's like, right? while you're holding her by the collar. Yeah, it didn't work at all.
all right, like let me like manage her with the leash or with other things or with my body and like make sure it doesn't happen, let it happen because either number one will happen, which is she won't do it, and you go, "Oh, good job." Right? um or they will do it, right? And then if she does it, then you have an opportunity to give a consequence for the choice she made and then she'll make a better choice next time, right?
So, let's see what they're gonna do. Let them make a choice. If they make the wrong choice, go the e-collar. If they make the right choice, good job. You did good. And then they go back to freedom.
Owner words
On film
I think it's really easy to conflate, like, you know, the dog doing a screech because, you know, they don't want to do this thing with, like, this dog is truly, like, under duress.
What trainers know
Name the strategy and what it used to get before choosing a fix. Release criteria on film: quiet (Stormy, Whiskey), a sniff or a look-away (Bo; a look-away was accepted with Connor where silence was not coming), the asked-for position (Drago, Astro); the release is complete and leads to freedom or play. Do not withdraw during a display; wear protection so you can stay still. At the crate the marker is disappointed, not authoritative, so the exchange does not become the fight the dog expects. After a trial, let the dog return to normal; the criterion is the dog, not the clock. Name the exit before closing it: flopping down (Kodak, Chunk, Piglet), closing onto the handler (Bullet, Rocky), a known command used as a refuge (Dolce's place), submission (Mazi), leaving (Dutchess, Penny, Drago, Whiskey). Geometric fixes: a helper holding the line with no slide and no verbal (Bullet), two taut lines or a back-tie (Rocky), blocking the intermediate position (Stormie). Before deciding a dog does not care: fit and contact, surprise versus level, noticing versus conceding, panic versus double-down. For avoidance remove the exit by hand before reaching for the collar. Warn families in advance that a crier will cry, and teach them the body tells. Keep the leash on until the recall is proven so the vehicle cannot become a refuge. Troubleshoot a failed correction in the handler before the dial: collar on and fitted, latency between cue and consequence, whether the dog understands. Never let the cue itself carry the pop. Choice points arrive on their own; saying the dog's name first is management.
On film
hand a little bit there it is and then just do like a like uh instead of um like an authoritative thing just do like a like just kind of disappointed like dude why are you doing that
this time you may have noticed I made a mistake it's a natural thing where when a dog you know kind of like any creature it looks like they're going to potentially attempt violence you draw your hand away which is not the point in this exercise, so that was a mistake. But that time I didn't and it had a better effect.
What you don't want to end up having is that down means getting popped
it's too high for that moment right yeah it can change from day to day right there's no set number it's just how the dog reacts right
In the dogs
Astro
A husky whose barking and bluffing had always made people leave. Kelton stands in the kennel doorway doing nothing Astro expects, flinches once and calls it a mistake on camera, and twelve minutes in gets the first sniff. When Astro bites during a prong fitting, Kelton, in protective gloves, neither retaliates nor moves. At the owner update he sums it up: the bite did not work, so Astro no longer thinks much about biting him.
Bo
At the crate of a dog who had sent handlers away, Kelton directs Christian and Connor: hand in and held there, a disappointed marker rather than an authoritative one, a sit, then out, with a short return to normal between handlers. The same trainer, in a store and at the handover, says a growl at people who pressure him must not get him out of anything, and tells the family to be there the first time someone new crates him.
Major
Days after going home he screamed on a correction and his owner took the collar off and held him. His follow-up trainer tells her kindly and plainly that he got exactly what he wanted and will do it again. The same episode involved a prong with an extra link, which is why the chapter leaves the protest-or-pain question open.
Samson
A dog whose bullying had always worked meets a man in bite gear who neither runs nor fights, only asks what is wrong; the dog starts sniffing and trying to make friends. At the go-home Kelton tells the owner the aggression was punished and prediction errors were run alongside.
Jack
On a later trail walk Jack startles and comes straight back, and the trainer names it: he predicted danger and none came. His story ends where the footage ends.
Stormie
Days without a down, until one handler closes off the sit she was bracing from and the down arrives. Connor reads her tactics as a list (pretend not to know, go slow, yelp, roll over) and at the go-home asks the family to look at her relaxed ears while she whines.
Rocky
At the go-home the trainer warns that the appeasement will be milked forever if it ever works, then rigs two lines so it is impossible, and the down comes within a few reps.
Drago
A pressure standoff in a park ends only on the sit, and then no more commands that walk. At his go-home the trainer owns one habit as his own mistake: after a single long-line escape Drago learned to answer 'come' by running to the truck.
Zeus
At an owner lesson Kelton says he hopes Zeus will ignore her a few times in front of him, because that is the most instructive thing that could happen; it does.
Reaper
Staff ran no-shows in the kennel and penalised bullying before any obedience began. On a public trail Reaper raises his hackles at a group, circles away and does nothing, and the trainer declines to punish him: it was a lawful response.
Roxy
Kelton explains the dog who obeys every command and still goes back to the thing, and puts the consequence on the behaviour, marking the wrong choice before the recall.
King
The collar seemed not to register; his trainer reviewed his own footage and found he was not leaving enough latency between cue and consequence.
Piglet
A dog who had attacked cats lies near one on a slack line; the trainer says she still wants to eat it but is making better choices. When she began offering the down before the cue, Kelton mismatched the cue to break the prediction.
Where the trainers differ
Position
Read the scream as protest by default and do not stop; apologising and stopping is what keeps the noise coming.
On film
he could be like right it's not aggression it's not fear it's not pain it's just he's irritated
that was good that was a good correction on mom's part yesterday she was um she was reluctant about using the prong collar and it's because um she went to correct him over the weekend and he freaked out and she thought she she was hurting him but what he was really doing is not wanting to accept a correction
Position
The same files carry the qualifications: Louie's trainer has seen people go too far; Mazi's trainer says the dog might not be dramatic and changes his approach minutes later; Major's episode happened with an extra link on the prong. No trainer lists the signs that separate protest from distress.
On film
That's, I mean, if he, gosh, he might be being dramatic too, but, you know, he also might not be.
his urge was to pull when i like pull back so we don't want to actually negatively reinforce for something. So changing my approach where I'm going to let her freak out.
Position
Keep repeating until the dog reliably complies: Whiskey's stops are repeated and lengthened; Major does not have a choice.
On film
just we just have to keep repeating so that the dogs learn that the behavior does not get what they want we're not going to just move forward and move out of the area and stop like standing just because she's being pushy about it
and it's like no you don't have a choice but to listen to what i have to say you're not hurting
Position
Once the right answer has come, stop asking so the lesson can settle: no more commands for Drago that walk; Stormy's pick-ups end because she is tired.
On film
and the reason for that is because the last thing I want to do is overwhelm him overwhelm his capacity I want him to learn that lesson and have time to put it together mentally
tired now good girl so I wouldn't push that right because then you're like pushing for no reason
Position
At the go-home lesson: stop managing the jump with the leash or your body; let it happen and answer it.
On film
all right, like let me like manage her with the leash or with other things or with my body and like make sure it doesn't happen, let it happen because either number one will happen, which is she won't do it, and you go, "Oh, good job." Right? um or they will do it, right? And then if she does it, then you have an opportunity to give a consequence for the choice she made and then she'll make a better choice next time, right?
Position
At the second owner lesson: put the dog in a down a little back from the door so the door can close on the attempt and she never completes it.
On film
If the door opens and they you can't like put them back. They were already gone. But if you put them in a down a little bit away from the door, you can close on them, right?
Position
Build it: say 'let's go' every single time you pass a dog until she predicts it.
On film
go and then she immediately unfixates and follows along and it's the same thing with the dogs if i say let's go every single time we walk by a dog her brain starts to go well every time we walk by a dog he says let's go i'm going to predict it this time
Position
Break it: a dog anticipating the command or the pressure from the routine is not working off the word; vary the antecedent.
On film
and um like anticipation like that is just always based on prediction so the only way to get rid of the anticipation is to remove the antecedent right in the arrangement um make it not predict that every time
Position
Seconds, after a short, mild event at the crate.
On film
it's not as severe as yesterday yeah let's look into the prediction area we just let them return to normal in a second yeah yeah you can go ahead
Position
Minutes, after pressure: two to six minutes of freedom on Samson's walk.
On film
of time to return to neutral right so like if I did another recall and try to make him sit again right this moment there wouldn't be enough time for him to return to baseline and learn from what we just did right so I might end up going two three four five six minutes before I ask him to do anything else
Position
All learning happens through prediction error (given as the philosophy).
On film
all i'm doing is doing a little bit of like the way all learning happens it's just uh she's predicting that if she feels like that little bit of leash tension she needs to come off of it which is correct in most cases but she's taking that as a relief signal and I'm giving her that a prediction error there where it's like she's getting an unexpected consequence which is that I'm telling her that she's wrong by saying AH AH and so then from there it becomes relatively simple I give her the real signal which is the okay command
Position
Half of it; conditioning is the other half, and the owner curriculum teaches them as a pair.
On film
so that's the other way is when a dog predicts that something's gonna happen and that goes oh i was wrong then they adjust their behavior accordingly
As a course unit
Read any recurring unwanted behaviour as a strategy: name what it gets the dog, what the handler on film does so it gets nothing, what the dog receives for the opposite, and which of panic, not feeling it, needing a repeat, or avoidance is in front of you before anything is raised.
Lessons, in order
- Prediction error
- If it works, it stays: the strategy has to stop paying
- Control is not obedience
- He has to be allowed to get it wrong
- Close the other door: the escape hatch
- Eating the correction, and avoidance as a tactic
- The correction that did not work
Drills
- The store stop, as run for Whiskey (watch 03:14): stop, wait without moving on while she whines, move on when she is calm, lengthen the stops as she improves.
- The no-show recall, as run for Kali (watch 15:39): after a long break, call her over and ask for nothing; scratches, the release word, send her off. A couple of these before the next rep that asks for something.
- Choice-point walk, as run with Bo, Zeus, Josephine and Peque: long retractable unlocked, no staged trigger, no name said in advance; lawful choices get quiet or freedom back; the act gets the verbal marker then the agreed consequence, marked before any recall.
- Footage-reading: for each demonstration in make-it-stop-working and why-does-he-do-something-else-when-i-correct-him, write down the dog's strategy or exit, what it used to get, what the handler does instead, the release criterion, and where the handler eases off and why. Handling a dog who may bite is the trainer's work, not an owner drill.
Assessment
Given a clip the student has not seen, the student names the dog's strategy or exit and what it had been getting; says whether the dog looks panicked, unaware, slow to concede or avoiding, citing the body signs; lists the handler-side checks (fit, timing, understanding) before any change in level; and identifies whether the handler used a no-show, a consequence, or a closed exit. Passing requires that the student does not recommend raising pressure on a dog showing panic signs.