Before your lesson · Training history
“She knows sit.” What does that look like?
Your trainer can do more with a recent example than a long list of commands. “She knows sit” might mean she sits when one person lifts a treat, responds to a word in the kitchen, or holds the position while someone walks away. Tell us which version you have seen.
Begin with the last ordinary time you saw it.
Choose an interaction you remember clearly. Who was with the dog? Where were you? What happened just before the request? Describe that one example before deciding how often it happens.
If your answer is “usually,” add where and with whom. If you are unsure, say so. You can still bring a useful history without assigning a percentage or staging a test.
Constructed example: “Yesterday evening in the kitchen, I said ‘sit’ once while holding a treat near my waist. She sat, I gave her the treat and we moved on.”
This tells the trainer more than “sit: yes.” It also leaves a clear next question: what happens when the person, food or setting differs?
Write what the person actually does.
Include the word, gesture and movement. “I ask her to sit” can hide a hand rising, a step toward the dog or several repetitions. Those details belong in the description.
Keep a request, praise and permission to move separate. If your household uses different words, list them rather than choosing one word to make the account look tidy. The cue-and-marker guide explains the questions to clarify with your trainer.
A family member may describe the dog differently because they have a different interaction with her. Keep each person’s example attached to that person instead of averaging the accounts into one yes/no answer.
Include food and other assistance.
Say when food appears. Is it visible before the request, used to guide movement, or delivered afterward? Include a gesture, line guidance or other help if it was part of the attempt. A helped response is useful information; removing the help from the account changes what the trainer is being told.
Two different constructed reports: “I move food in front of her nose to guide the sit.” “I say the word with my hands still, then reach for food after she sits.”
These reports describe different sequences. Your trainer can help you identify what matters for your dog and which part you should practise next. Do not change equipment or add a difficult test just to complete a training-history answer.
When you bring an existing video, keep enough of the lead-in to show the person’s hands and movement. Watch the handler, too offers a source-based way to follow the sequence.
Name the place where the response happens.
Kitchen and pavement are different descriptions. So are a quiet room and a room where another dog is moving. Record the surface, distance, surrounding activity and anything you remember changing.
In Shadow’s go-home lesson around 16:37, the trainer compares the family’s floor bed with the cots used during training. The explanation and repeated assistance make the surface part of the lesson. From about 17:28, he allows three paws on this particular smaller bed.
That is a specific teaching exchange. It shows why “she knows place” leaves the trainer with more questions: which surface, what boundary, what help and which ending? Follow the complete exchange through 18:09, or read the home-bed guide before deciding what the selected moment establishes.
Describe more than the first posture.
What happened after the initial response? Did the dog remain there, move as you reached for food, lie down, follow you, or leave after a word? Include what you did next and how the interaction ended.
For a household skill, your practical question may concern the whole routine. “She sits at the door” and “she waits while we open it” are different observations. Ask your trainer which response belongs to the routine you want to build.
Use the owner-lesson record for the response, duration and ending agreed during your lesson. A history describes what you have seen; that agreement supplies your next practice.
“Not tried” is a useful answer.
Keep a skill you have not requested separate from one you requested and did not obtain. Keep a family report separate from an interaction your trainer directly observed. Both can help the conversation when their source is clear.
If you have only seen the response with one person, record that. If you cannot recall whether food was visible, leave the detail unknown. There is no benefit in filling the gap with what you think probably happened.
For an existing recording or assessment discussion, Field Notes’ starting-observation card helps you retain a starting reference. Later, use its session comparison when you have a second bounded observation. These records support a conversation; they do not decide readiness for harder conditions.
Bring one sentence your trainer can unpack.
In [setting], [person] used [word/gesture], with [food/help]. The dog [response], then [ending]. I have seen this [recent examples]. I have not tried [unknown condition].
Start with one skill that matters in your day. Add an ordinary example of a difficulty and one question you want answered. If several dogs are involved, write a separate example for each.
For your scheduled consultation or onboarding, send the account through the channel your Angier K9 team has supplied. For an owner lesson, bring it with your questions.
Prepare for your owner lesson · Browse all Academy resources · Watch Shadow’s source path