Learning notes · Learning notes / markers
Define the response you are teaching, distinguish completion from approximation, and keep that standard appropriate to the dog and task.
Answer
A partial response can become the response that is repeatedly practiced. Bo’s follow-up makes that point about a recall that stops short: if coming all the way is the intended result, accepting less changes what counts as success. Dolce’s work separates taking longer from giving the wrong final position. Those are different dimensions of performance.
The record does not support turning this into perfection around the clock. Dutchess’s trainer distinguishes a position volunteered during another exercise from a sit deliberately requested. Stormie’s trainer accepts a useful position without policing every limb. Her record also shows a reset after an unsatisfactory repetition. The standard is chosen for the task and the dog; it is not an excuse to keep an exhausted or confused dog working indefinitely.
The handler therefore needs to say what counts before judging the result. Is the goal arriving within reach, completing the down, maintaining a particular position, or merely demonstrating the first approximation in a learning stage? A changed criterion can be a deliberate teaching decision. Quietly paying an incomplete version while expecting a finished version later creates a different problem. This concept is about that distinction, not a prohibition on shaping a new skill.
One provenance correction is essential: the dossier combined March and summer Zeus material. Those are different dogs. The March examples remain separate below and are not treated as earlier stages of the summer dog’s training.
Owner takeaway
Agree with the trainer on the endpoint for each cue and the stage your dog is in. Separate a deliberate approximation from accidentally accepting an unfinished response; keep the reset and recovery plan clear.
Across the cases
bo
The owner instruction explicitly ties the recall standard to arriving all the way. It makes the endpoint, rather than apparent effort, the stated criterion.
if you want it to like look correct and you want him to do it right and come all the way to you, you can't accept less.
Watch at 42:42 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
Zeus — March record
The March recording discusses whether an offered down is the requested response. It belongs to the separately identified March Zeus and supplies no earlier history for summer Zeus.
here all right that's it good boy no you cannot down hey what's up zeus down oh look at that
Watch at 18:24 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
Zeus
The summer down session repeatedly asks for the complete position. It is a separate dog’s example of holding a completion criterion.
Zeus. Down. Down. No. We've practiced this so much. Down. Come on. All the way. All the way, Zeus. All the way. All the way. We're going to keep doing it until you go.
Watch at 04:51 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
Dolce
The handler distinguishes an acceptable sit from immediately sliding into a down. The record’s broader point is that speed and final position are separate judgments.
So, um now if she like sat and immediately went down, no, I wouldn't allow that. But she's doing good right now.
Watch at 05:31 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
stormie
Stormie’s working standard allows a functional position rather than exact limb placement. The handler also interrupts an unsuccessful sequence to restore engagement.
just like I just need that kind of that position position let's go one more time
Watch at 13:37 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
Didn't look too pretty I don't like that.
Watch at 09:48 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
all right so I'm gonna let her like kind of reset stormy let's go good job yeah they get that tail wagging again she'll be in a good mood
Watch at 10:11 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
Dutchess
The trainer says he would treat a deliberately requested sit differently from an incidental position during a recall. This limits how broadly the strictness should be applied.
okay I'll allow it if I had actually put her into a legitimate like sit then I would have
Watch at 08:37 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
i'm taking her out duchess come sit because it's the recall i'll allow that if i had specifically
Watch at 08:10 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
But you do too many reps and you'll shut a dog down.
Watch at 07:07 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
Source excerpts
if you want it to like look correct and you want him to do it right and come all the way to you, you can't accept less.
Watch at 42:42 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
here all right that's it good boy no you cannot down hey what's up zeus down oh look at that
Watch at 18:24 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
Zeus. Down. Down. No. We've practiced this so much. Down. Come on. All the way. All the way, Zeus. All the way. All the way. We're going to keep doing it until you go.
Watch at 04:51 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
So, um now if she like sat and immediately went down, no, I wouldn't allow that. But she's doing good right now.
Watch at 05:31 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
just like I just need that kind of that position position let's go one more time
Watch at 13:37 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
Didn't look too pretty I don't like that.
Watch at 09:48 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
all right so I'm gonna let her like kind of reset stormy let's go good job yeah they get that tail wagging again she'll be in a good mood
Watch at 10:11 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
okay I'll allow it if I had actually put her into a legitimate like sit then I would have
Watch at 08:37 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
i'm taking her out duchess come sit because it's the recall i'll allow that if i had specifically
Watch at 08:10 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
But you do too many reps and you'll shut a dog down.
Watch at 07:07 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
How the trainers explain it
The trainers explain the accepted endpoint as information about what behavior is worth repeating. The inference is that consistent criteria can reduce ambiguity. These cases also show different tolerances for incidental positions and precision, so the mechanism is not an all-or-nothing demand for perfect form.
if you want it to like look correct and you want him to do it right and come all the way to you, you can't accept less.
Watch at 42:42 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
So, um now if she like sat and immediately went down, no, I wouldn't allow that. But she's doing good right now.
Watch at 05:31 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
okay I'll allow it if I had actually put her into a legitimate like sit then I would have
Watch at 08:37 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
all right so I'm gonna let her like kind of reset stormy let's go good job yeah they get that tail wagging again she'll be in a good mood
Watch at 10:11 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
This is a synthesis of the cited training record, not a controlled comparison or a measurement of the dog’s internal state.
Differences to review
Completed response versus practical precision
Bo’s lesson insists on the full recall, whereas Stormie’s trainer does not require exact limb placement. The tasks and standards differ; neither should silently redefine the other.
if you want it to like look correct and you want him to do it right and come all the way to you, you can't accept less.
Watch at 42:42 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
just like I just need that kind of that position position let's go one more time
Watch at 13:37 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
Questions and answers
Does this mean every movement needs correction?
Dutchess’s lesson makes a distinction between an intentionally requested position and something incidental to a different task. Set the criterion for the actual request.
okay I'll allow it if I had actually put her into a legitimate like sit then I would have
Watch at 08:37 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
Should I keep repeating until the dog is perfect?
That is not what the combined record supports. Stormie is reset after a difficult sequence, and Dutchess’s trainer warns about excessive repetitions.
all right so I'm gonna let her like kind of reset stormy let's go good job yeah they get that tail wagging again she'll be in a good mood
Watch at 10:11 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
But you do too many reps and you'll shut a dog down.
Watch at 07:07 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
Teaching outline
Define the response you are teaching, distinguish completion from approximation, and keep that standard appropriate to the dog and task.
Compare one recall and one position exercise. Write the intended endpoint before watching the release, then identify whether the handler paid completion, an explicit approximation, or an incidental behavior.
if you want it to like look correct and you want him to do it right and come all the way to you, you can't accept less.
Watch at 42:42 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
So, um now if she like sat and immediately went down, no, I wouldn't allow that. But she's doing good right now.
Watch at 05:31 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
okay I'll allow it if I had actually put her into a legitimate like sit then I would have
Watch at 08:37 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
all right so I'm gonna let her like kind of reset stormy let's go good job yeah they get that tail wagging again she'll be in a good mood
Watch at 10:11 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
Was the standard deliberately chosen, and did the response meet that particular standard?
Trainer notes
The trainers explain the accepted endpoint as information about what behavior is worth repeating. The inference is that consistent criteria can reduce ambiguity. These cases also show different tolerances for incidental positions and precision, so the mechanism is not an all-or-nothing demand for perfect form.
if you want it to like look correct and you want him to do it right and come all the way to you, you can't accept less.
Watch at 42:42 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
So, um now if she like sat and immediately went down, no, I wouldn't allow that. But she's doing good right now.
Watch at 05:31 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
okay I'll allow it if I had actually put her into a legitimate like sit then I would have
Watch at 08:37 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
all right so I'm gonna let her like kind of reset stormy let's go good job yeah they get that tail wagging again she'll be in a good mood
Watch at 10:11 ↗ · Current transcript match · Audio confirmation pending
Source moments
Still to establish
What owner-facing wording best distinguishes early shaping from accepting an incomplete established cue?
Source limitations
The Louie halfway-compliance passage in the older dossier does not currently provide a verified substantive cue, so it is not quoted. March Zeus is explicitly split from summer Zeus.
Quotations are copied verbatim from the current local transcript, including transcription errors. Exact text matching does not independently verify the audio or identify a speaker.
The dossier is derived from existing Tier 1 and Tier 2 research; its broad-concept sighting cap may omit further examples. Dogs covered records reviewed dossier context, not a claim that every dog supplies equally strong evidence.
Equipment levels, inferred motives and outcome claims describe the cited case; they are not universal settings, diagnoses or independently established results.
Connected library collections
These links follow eligible video assignments in the reviewed library. A source can feature more than one animal; the older research-folder name is not used to merge identities.