The Real Problem
It's not unpredictable. It's invisible.
That reaction you call “out of nowhere” 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. By the time you try to fix the moment, your dog is already responding to something that already happened.
Field Lessons trains the half-second before the behavior: where your body moves before your mind has chosen, and where real guidance begins.
What's Included
A beginning, a field, and a bridge home.
Orientation Zoom
- 90 minutes before the live weekend
- Vocabulary: state, congruence, urgency, leash states
- Questions answered before you arrive
- Nervous system makes room for the weekend
Two Live Field Days
- Interactive morning teaching each day
- Dog-inclusive field labs each afternoon
- Body-first handling, space vs. direction
- Pressure walks & minimal intervention practice
30-Day Integration
- Your personalized Field Lessons Protocol
- Pocket reference & walk cards
- 30-day structured walk practice
- Before/after reflection at 30 days
The Two-Day Arc
What the workshop actually looks like.
Both live days follow the same rhythm: interactive morning teaching, decompression, then hands-on field application with your dog. This is where concepts become felt choices.
Perception → Body → Beliefs
“You are earlier than you think.”
The state beneath the action
Perception block, body block, belief reframes, and installation of the operating system: Notice → Check Body → Breathe → Choose.
Observation, body first, space vs. direction
Silent walks, no-cue drills, partner observation, and live decision practice. Lorrie interrupts handlers more than dogs.
Decision → Leash → Integration
“Clarity replaces effort.”
Hesitation, urgency, and leash states
Forced decision drills, the three leash states, timing, and the Collaborative Wall — your relationship architecture begins to appear.
The walk that carries itself
Real-world simulation, minimal intervention rounds, integration walk, personal protocol creation, and closing circle.
The Standing Ritual
The State Scan Protocol
A portable self-check you return to before the walk, mid-walk, and whenever the moment begins to get ahead of you. Not another task to perform correctly — the first layer of Field Lessons practice.
What just shifted in my dog? A stare, a weight change, a breath that changed the leash.
Where am I holding — shoulders, breath, weight, grip? What is my body already saying?
One smooth 5-in / 5-out breath through the nose. Not performance — just reset.
Space or direction. Release, Carry, or Neutral. One clear choice — not hovering.
Two seconds longer than feels comfortable. Completion matters as much as the choice.
Let the moment complete before adding more. The walk continues — cleaner than before.
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.
Free line. Dog moves, sniffs, gathers, and processes. Use when the moment is safe and your dog needs room to organize.
Present but not pulling. Steady, directional, committed. Use when movement or clarity is needed.
Quiet contact. No extra input. Use when your dog is already organized and nothing needs adjustment.
Who This Is For
This is not obedience class.
You’ve read the books. Done the courses. The techniques work at home and stop working the moment the environment changes.
You understand state management from your own professional world. You want a protocol that works, not a philosophy.
The dog’s reactivity is restricting your life. You can’t take a normal walk. You’re not looking for more information. You’re exhausted by it.
This may be right for you if…
- You know techniques, but they stop working under real pressure
- Your dog can do well privately but loses access in real environments
- You notice yourself rushing, freezing, or over-managing
- You want to understand what your dog is reading in you
- You are willing to be observed, not judged
This is probably not right if…
- You’re looking for basic obedience fundamentals only
- You want quick fixes or guaranteed outcomes
- You’re not comfortable examining your own state
- Your dog needs a private safety plan before shared field space
- You want someone to train the dog without changing the handler
The Field Lessons Diagnostic Triangle — coming soon — will map your Handler State, Leash Conversation, and Field Awareness in 3 minutes and tell you exactly where you are. In the meantime, start a conversation with Lorrie and she’ll tell you plainly.
Good Questions
Frequently asked.
You’re right that it’s two days. But what you’re investing in is not two days of information — it’s a shift in how you move, perceive, and respond in the field that carries into every walk you take afterward. If you’ve already spent money on programs that worked until they stopped working under pressure, that ceiling lives in the handler’s body awareness, not the dog’s memory. This is the investment that raises the ceiling. The $479 founding rate is also the lowest this will ever be offered — future cohorts run at $597–$697.
No. Reading ahead deepens the experience, but the workshop teaches core concepts from the ground up. The Orientation Zoom prepares the language before the live days begin.
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 during your initial conversation.
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. It’s one of the most revealing parts of the weekend.
Comfortable clothes for outdoor work, your dog’s supplies, water, a pen, and a willingness to be surprised. Practical dog-specific instructions are covered in the Orientation Zoom.
Reach out anyway. You can ask questions, discuss fit, and join the waiting list. Lorrie reads every inquiry personally.
Not the Same Thing
Workshop vs. 90-Day Program.
Field Lessons Live Workshop
You and your dog attend together. You are the focus — your body, timing, and beliefs about the walk. Two live days in North Kingstown, RI. You leave with a protocol and a 30-day practice structure.
90-Day Field Immersion
A separate program where Lorrie trains your dog over 90 structured days using the drop-off day training model. Different product, different focus — but the handler awareness from this workshop makes that work land faster.
Explore the 90-Day Program →See the Work
Watch what this looks and feels like.
Before you decide whether Field Lessons is for you — watch how Lorrie approaches the handler side of the equation. This is the foundation of what the two days will teach.
The Dog Knows the Way
Loose Leash Walking — The Leash as Language
More on Lorrie's YouTube channel →
Who Teaches This
Lorrie Harris, Field Lessons.
Lorrie Harris has spent years in the field with reactive, anxious, and fearful dogs — not in a classroom, not through a screen, but on the actual ground where these moments happen. The Field Lessons methodology grew directly from that field work: the patterns she kept seeing in handlers, the signals she kept watching dogs send that nobody around them was reading, and the specific moment where intervention was still possible and almost always missed.
Her approach is grounded in Polyvagal Theory, Attachment Theory, and Somatic Experiencing — not as academic frameworks, but as practical tools for understanding what is actually happening in the nervous system of both the dog and the handler on the other end of the leash.
Field Lessons is the distillation of that work into two days. The curriculum is not theoretical. It is built from the exact moments that keep going wrong on real walks with real dogs — and the specific changes in handler body awareness that make them go differently.
What Shifts
When the handler changes, the dog changes.
Bella was reacting within seconds of entering the field. By the afternoon lab of Day 1, Nancy had identified four pre-reaction signals she’d never seen before. Bella’s recovery time shortened visibly by the end of Day 2.
She used to react out of nowhere. Now I can see it building — and she moves through it with me.
Marc was freezing at 20-foot distance from passing dogs. After the Handler State block and the Silent Walk drill on Day 1, he held a relaxed line at 8 feet. That shift took 90 minutes.
I was afraid to walk my own dog. Now I look forward to our walks. I trust him — and myself.
From the Field Library
Related reading.
The Dog Knows the Way — True Companion Dog Training
Dogs mirror the tension we carry. Training stops; returning begins. The moment I brought my work into the field is when everything shifted.
Read on the blog →Using Systems for Loose Leash Walking Instead of Goals
Build a ritual, not a rule. When the breath links to the door, and the sniff links to the calm, the slack leash becomes the natural outcome.
Read on the blog →Free Guide
5 Signs Your Dog Is at the Edge of Their Window
Most handlers miss the first four. Learn to read the signals before the reaction — and what to do when you catch them.
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Next Cohort
Workshop full?
Join the interest list.
Field Lessons runs as a small-group intensive. When the current cohort is full, Lorrie reaches out personally to the interest list for the next dates.