What You’ll Learn

By the end of this course, you will have the knowledge, tools, and frameworks to confidently raise, train, and deploy dogs with strong grips, emotional stability, and reliable control behaviors — whether in sport, police, or military applications. This course is designed for a wide range of dedicated professionals and enthusiasts in the working dog world. It’s ideal for police and military K9 handlers who need reliable, operationally strong dogs they can trust in the field. Decoys will benefit from sharpening their ability to read dogs accurately and apply pressure with purpose, improving the quality of their work. Sport trainers in PSA, IGP, and Ring will gain deeper insights into foundational development and advanced concepts that elevate performance and stability. And for serious enthusiasts, this program offers a complete, step-by-step system for building confident, powerful, and controllable dogs that can excel in both training and real-world scenarios.

  • Drive Theory Simplified – Understand prey, defense, and social drives, and how they interact to shape behavior.

  • Building Foundation – Establish strong grips, pushing behaviors, and emotional resilience from the start.

  • Drive Channeling – Move dogs smoothly between prey and defense to build stability and problem-solving ability.

  • Video-Based Learning – Watch real training sessions broken down with commentary on what to look for and how to adjust.

  • Control Work & Call-Offs – Develop reliable outs, redirects, recalls, and stopped attacks using progression-based methods.

  • Capping & Emotional Regulation – Teach dogs to internalize drive, toggle between expressive and quiet states, and regulate under stress.

  • Muzzle Work – Build neutrality, deliver powerful strikes, and manage frustration safely and effectively.

  • Decoy Reading Skills – Recognize pre-avoidance behaviors, conflict signals, and how to respond in real time.

Course curriculum

    1. Why Foundation Matters More Than Skills

    1. Prey, Defense, and Social Drives in Working Dogs

    2. Drive Channeling and the Dynamics of Building Confidence

    3. Balancing Prey and Defense: Drive Channeling in Control Work

    1. Harnessing Prey for Strikes, Grips, and Control

    2. From Leather Straps to Bungee Tables: Building Full, Firm, Hard Grips

    3. Drive Channeling: From Prey to Defense and Back Again

    4. Channeling Defense Into Prey for Long-Term Stability

    5. Raising Thresholds, Building Resilience

    1. Early Grip and Civil Development in Young Dogs

    2. Grip Development on the Bungee Table

    3. Defense-to-Prey Channeling with Green Dogs

    4. Teaching Emotional Regulation Through Drive Channeling

    5. Maximizing Dead Time: Layering Skills in Early Training

    6. Coaching New Handlers and Decoys in Civil Work

    7. Managing Thresholds: Avoidance, Pre-Avoidance, and Confidence Building

    1. Redirects, Out-and-Guards, and Recall Foundations

    2. From Redirects to Stop Attacks: Layering Control Behaviors

    3. Layering Complexity in Recall Training

    4. Neutrality, Reward Events, and Avoiding Call-Off Pitfalls

    5. Stopped Attack Progressions and Capping Work

    6. Harnessing Anticipation: From Expression to Quiet Control

    1. Back to Foundation: Grip, Channeling, and Avoidance Thresholds

    2. Balancing Motivation, Compulsion, and Marker Use in Training

About this course

  • Free
  • 26 lessons
  • 7.5 hours of video content
  • Real-world video reviews with analysis of young, green, and advanced dogs. A step-by-step progression for outs, recalls, redirects, capping, and muzzle work. Lifetime access to course materials. Ongoing updates and refinements as the program expands.

Get Lifetime Access to Proven Methods

Join the Course