“He just goes off.”
The handler feels blindsided because the obvious behavior is loud — but the earlier body signals were quiet.
Field Lessons Live Workshop
From Doing to Being
You’re having a beautiful walk. Calm. Connected. Easy.
And then — out of nowhere — your dog explodes at the end of the leash.
Maybe it’s a 10-pound dog that suddenly feels impossible to control. Maybe it’s a powerful dog that physically pulls you off balance.
Either way, the moment doesn’t feel random. It feels like you missed something.
And you did — just not what you think.
Ask questions, explore fit, or join the waiting list. Small group. Dogs attend the field labs.
“It didn’t come out of nowhere. You just couldn’t see it yet.”
01
The real problem
It’s not unpredictable. It’s invisible.
That reaction you call “out of nowhere” actually began earlier: in the stare, the weight shift, the leash change, the breath you didn’t know you held.
Dogs respond to what happens before you act.
Which means that by the time you try to fix the moment, your dog is already responding to something that already happened.
Field Lessons trains the moment before the behavior: the half-second where your body moves before your mind has chosen.
Old belief
“It came out of nowhere.”
New awareness
“I missed the build.”
New skill
“Now I can see it — and guide it.”
Why size does not matter
Unpredictable
Overpowering
Small dog. Powerful dog. Same hidden pattern.
One person feels embarrassed by a tiny dog who erupts at the end of the leash. Another feels physically unsafe when a powerful dog launches toward movement down the road.
The surface looks different. The training problem is the same: the person is meeting the moment too late.
“I can’t hold him.”
The handler feels unsafe because strength takes over before they recognize the build and choose a cleaner response.
“He used to react out of nowhere. Now I can see it building — and he can move through it with me.”
How this actually works
A beginning, a field, and a bridge home.
The workshop is built as an arc: prepare before arrival, practice under real pressure, then continue for 30 days until the work becomes the walk.
Orientation Zoom
Participants receive the language of the work before the live weekend: state, congruence, urgency, regulation, completion, and leash states. The goal is not mastery — it is arrival.
Two live field days
Each day pairs interactive teaching with dog-inclusive field labs: observation, body-first handling, space vs. direction, pressure walks, and minimal intervention practice.
30-day integration
You leave with your Field Lessons Protocol, pocket reference, walk cards, and a 30-day practice structure. The workshop does not end in the room. It begins on the next walk.
The standing ritual
The State Scan Protocol
At the center of the workshop is a portable self-check you return to before the walk, mid-walk, and whenever the moment begins to get ahead of you.
It is not another task to perform correctly. It is the first layer of Field Lessons practice: notice what changed before you try to change the dog.
Try this now: soften one finger. Drop one shoulder. Let your breath leave before your next thought arrives.
That layer is where this work begins.
- 01Notice What just shifted in my dog?
- 02Check Body Where am I holding: shoulders, breath, weight, grip?
- 03Breathe One smooth 5-in / 5-out breath through the nose.
- 04Choose Space or direction. Release, Carry, or Neutral. Not hovering.
- 05Stay Two seconds longer than feels comfortable.
- 06Release Let the moment complete before adding more.
A new way to see the leash
Three leash states. One conversation.
The leash is not just something you hold. It is something your dog feels. Field Lessons trains you to stop leaking mixed signals through the line and begin choosing your leash state with intention.
Release
Free line. Dog moves, sniffs, gathers, and processes. Use when the moment is safe and your dog needs room to organize.
Carry
Present but not pulling. Steady, directional, and committed. Use when movement or clarity is needed.
Neutral
Quiet contact. No extra input. Use when your dog is already organized and nothing needs adjustment.
The order matters: Your body leads → the leash supports → the cue confirms.
A couple of weeks before
Ask About Dates
90-minute Orientation Zoom
We prime the vocabulary, explain how the two days will work, answer questions, and help participants arrive curious rather than over-prepared. This is where the nervous system begins to make room for the weekend.
What the workshop actually looks like.
Both live days are built around the same rhythm: interactive morning teaching, decompression, then hands-on field application with your dog. This is where concepts become felt choices.
Day 1 · Perception → Body → Beliefs
“You are earlier than you think.”Morning · 2 hours
The state beneath the action
Opening attention, gallery walk, perception block, body block, belief reframes, and installation of the operating system: Notice → Check Body → Breathe → Choose.
Afternoon · field lab
Observation, body first, space vs. direction
Silent walks, no-cue drills, partner observation, and live decision practice. Lorrie interrupts handlers more than dogs — because the handler’s nervous system is the field.
Day 2 · Decision → Leash → Integration
“Clarity replaces effort.”Morning · 2 hours
Hesitation, urgency, and leash states
Experience recap, forced decision drills, the three leash states, timing, two seconds longer, and the Collaborative Wall: your relationship architecture begins to appear.
Afternoon · pressure lab
The walk that carries itself
Real-world simulation, minimal intervention rounds, clean leadership under pressure, integration walk, personal protocol creation, and closing circle.
What you leave with
A protocol. Not just an experience.
By the end of Day 2, you create your own Field Lessons Protocol — a one-page practice plan that names your archetype, beliefs, State Scan, pattern interrupts, and 30-day walk commitment.
You also leave with vocabulary, body-based practice, leash-state clarity, walk cards, and a way to compare your Before and After assessment at the 30-day mark.
Bridge to measurable work
Where this connects to CRI™
This workshop is not the full 90-day CRI program. But it prepares the exact capacities that later make the Canine Resilience Index™ meaningful: incident awareness, recovery tracking, handler regulation, and belief-language change.
Dog behaviorobserved
Recovery timenoticed
Handler statenamed
Belief languageshifted
Walk practicecontinued
Who this is for
This is not obedience class.
Field Lessons is for people who have enough skill to know that skill is not the whole story.
This may be right for you if…
- You already know many training techniques, but they stop working when pressure rises.
- Your dog can do well in private but loses access in real environments.
- You notice yourself rushing, freezing, or over-managing even when you know better.
- You want to understand what your dog is reading in you before you act.
- You are willing to be observed, not judged — and to let the work get honest.
This is probably not right if…
- You are looking for basic obedience fundamentals only.
- You want quick fixes, performance tricks, or guaranteed outcomes.
- You are not comfortable slowing down enough to examine your own state.
- Your dog currently requires a private safety plan before entering shared field space.
- You want someone to train the dog without changing the handler side of the equation.
Good questions
Frequently asked questions.
Do I need to read the Field Lessons book first?
No. Reading ahead deepens the experience, but the workshop teaches the core concepts from the ground up. Orientation Zoom helps prepare the language before the live days.
Can reactive dogs attend?
Often, yes — but fit matters. This is not flooding. We work with state, space, timing, and load. If your dog needs a safety-specific private plan first, Lorrie will tell you plainly.
What happens in partner observation?
A partner watches your body, not your dog. They describe what they saw: the breath hold, the shoulder lift, the moment your hands moved before your decision formed.
What is the installation point?
The moment you feel yourself about to rush, freeze, or over-manage — and catch it before it completes. That is where the workshop becomes embodied.
What do I bring?
Comfortable clothes, your dog’s rest needs, water, a pen, curiosity, and a willingness to be surprised. Practical dog-specific instructions are covered before the workshop.
What if the workshop is full?
Reach out anyway. You can ask questions, discuss fit, or join the waiting list for the next small-group opening.
Limited enrollment
The work begins before you act.
The work does not begin with your dog. It begins with one pause, one scan, one honest look at what was already happening before you tried to guide the moment.
If you are ready to stop working downstream of the problem — and start working where real change begins — start here.
Ask questions, explore fit, or join the waiting list.