The Dog Blog

Hi Steve,

Bailey, Ami and I just got back from a walk in a very busy neighborhood. Just want you to know that she was “perfect”. Hard to believe this is the same ” out of control” dog I used to walk.

thanks again, Sharon

In the world of all things dog training, service dogs rank up there as the most of the most. The people that work with them are incredible and the amount of effort, time, and patience that goes into making a capable service dog is simply mind boggling to the average human.

With that high praise for service dogs and their trainers a given, I ran across an article in the New York Times today that illustrated some new “Jobs” for these service dogs that have previously not been publicized as much as they should. These dogs in the article are doing wonderful work for their humans and the organizations that train them deserve any spare donations that you could provide.

So without further delay, the article is HERE You may have to sign into the Times for a free logon but it’s worth it.

Steve Haynes
Austin Dog Trainer
Fidelio Dog Works
www.fideliodogs.com

I’ve had a lot of people pay me a lot of ways over the years, but one of today’s clients did it up right!

Here’s the setup:

A great golden retriever puppy that is 14 weeks old.
A very cool client family with 2 kids which are fantastic and work a lot with the puppy.
A lot of hard work done over the last three weeks training with the puppy.

So, after the lesson today the Mrs. says “hey, we need to pay you for the lessons, let me get the checkbook” and walks inside the house. When she comes back outside Stella (the puppy) runs over to her on the front porch and waits while she writes the check. After she finishes signing everything she rips the check out, hands it to the puppy and yells at me to call Stella over. One quick “Here” command and Stella flashes across the yard to bring me the check! No chewing, no slobber, no running off with a multi-hundred dollar check, just straight to me in that wonderful Golden Retriever “I’m doing the right thing” way. Amazing.

Now, I ask you, is that a well trained puppy or not?

So, if I can have a wonderful ending to any Monday I think this would be it. A Golden puppy running across the yard bringing me a check. That makes today a VERY good day indeed.

Steve Haynes
A very PROUD Austin dog trainer
Fidelio Dog Works
www.fideliodogs.com

Steve,

It was a very effective and useful lesson we had yesterday, and I learned a lot from it, I really appreciate your service. Vocal & Skinpy are behaving much better now. I will keep practicing on all you’ve taught me and let you know how it goes in the near future.

Thank you and Vocal & Skinpy want to say thanks to you too!

Carol

Steve,

I was walking Niko last night when a loose dog ran up behind us - you should be so proud of us - I used my big dog voice and Niko went into a down without me saying anything to him and waited for me to deal with the other dog. He didn’t even woof! This morning he got up on the bed, after sleeping in his crate all night, for his early morning cuddle and gave me a “loving” ear nibble - I really love him.

I could email you all the time with these moments and I don’t think any of them would be possible without the help you gave us - thanks.

We adopted all three of our dogs from an animal rescue service. Ali, our first adoptee, came from a puppy mill environment. She used to go ballistic every time she saw another dog. She’d start foaming at the mouth and snarling, and I had trouble keeping her on a leash. She nipped the dog next door, and even threatened one of our neighbors. Then, when we adopted two more dogs, they all forgot they’d been house-trained. What a nightmare!

Not only did Steve solve the house-training issue and help the dogs accept each other in our home, he changed Ali from a maniac into a calm pet. Now, when other dogs come around, I can tell her to “sit” and she’ll obey me.

Steve knows his stuff inside-and-out. When one of our dogs started peeing in the house, he diagnosed that the problem wasn’t emotional – it was a bladder infection. He has a solution for everything. His methods are so creative, and they always emphasize positive reinforcement. His training is very gentle and loving. He helps me to think like my pets, and understands the psychological and emotional reasons for my dog’s behavior. I would recommend him to everyone who has a dog.

When he was in the house and with family, Cosmo was wonderful. But there were a lot of problems the minute I walked him out the door. He wouldn’t heel, he was aggressive toward other dogs, he cut himself on his leash, and he dragged me around my neighborhood for eighteen months – Cosmo weighs 55 pounds! I just couldn’t reconcile the two halves of his split-personality.

When Steve told me he could fix Cosmo’s problem in one session, I laughed. So did my friends and neighbors. I worked as a Humane Society officer for ten years. I’d trained dogs before. I even had the equipment – but I didn’t have the technique.

Steve was very confident dealing with Cosmo. He understood what my dog was thinking, knew exactly what to do, and fixed the problem in one session. The next time I walked my dog, my neighbors thought I’d put him on sedatives. I was so impressed with Steve’s training, I hired him for two more sessions. Now, I can walk Cosmo off the leash most of the time.

Rikki was donated to us by the animal shelter to serve as a friend and companion for over fifty teenagers at our drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility. She was very shy around the kids before Steve started his training program.

He worked so hard, not just with Rikki, but with all the kids and staff, to make everyone feel important and valued in the process. The patience, care, and enthusiasm he showed us was absolutely artful. I wore out before he did, and I work with these kids for a living!

Since Steve’s training, Rikki is much more sociable. The kids love her, and they can really communicate with her. Even our staff members who used to be afraid of dogs enjoy spending time with Rikki. She’s like a member of the family.

Before meeting with Steve, my husband and I thought we might have to do the unthinkable – find a new home for our dog Gloria. She and our older dog Dora began to fight on a regular basis. One time, my husband was bitten breaking them up. Gloria was always a sweet puppy but as she got older she wanted to stake her claim as alpha dog. She also had a hard time in public. She would become very nervous, almost frantic.

Steve came over for a visit to examine Gloria’s behavior both in and out of our home. He also examined our behavior and Dora’s. He gave us some very simple rules to follow and some new rules for the pups. Not even one week later, the change in Gloria was amazing. Four months later, my husband and I are very happy. There have been no fights, and for the first time ever we had a group of people to the house and Gloria behaved like a saint! She wasn’t uncomfortable or scared, and was quite happy with all the petting she was got.

Steve was wonderful and we have recommended him to many people, including our vet’s office. He makes it very easy for dog owners to take charge of their furry friends without upsetting the pups. Our cats even liked him!

Steve was great with both my dogs and me. I am an extensive reader and have read more dog training theories than I can even begin to count. Steve knew all of them and more. He was gentle-yet-firm with my dogs, and left every step of their training up to me and what I wanted. After three visits, Steve left me with enough information and guidance to keep me busy training the dogs on my own.

I will definitely use Steve’s services again, and would highly recommend him to anyone who wants a trained family member. Steve is the type of trainer for someone who wants a family member, complete with all their faults and idiosyncrasies. He trains family members, not automatons.

Steve’s been a real blessing to us and our Juliette. We knew we wanted to have a well-trained dog, and he has helped us to that goal. His loving gentleness and skill with both people and pets is a treasure to behold. I promote him with dog owners every chance I get. I think everyone should experience the pleasure of working with Steve and having a well-trained loving companion.

We sought out training because our oldest dog, Lucy, was misbehaving more and more often after the arrival of her brother Linus. As Lucy’s behavior worsened, she started acting more aggressively toward us. Linus picked up on Lucy’s methods, and began to mimic her. Lucy had been through a puppy head start class from a major chain, but she ended up forgetting more than she learned! Some family members told us too late that kennel training works fine – as long as you keep the dog at the kennel.

Steve was fantastic with our dogs. His methods focused primarily on helping us re-establish our position in the relationship with Lucy and Linus. He treated them just as we did and never tried to usurp our position, as was often the case with more conventional methods.

Steve visited three times, and already our home is much calmer. Lucy especially is more responsive to our commands, and taking her out is a pleasure rather than a chore. Before Steve, Lucy and Linus would jump on our guests, and Lucy would sit on the sofa next to them and stare. Now, they sit calmly when company enters, and Lucy only sits on the sofa when she’s invited. I know for a fact that we owe these changes to Steve and Fidelio Dog Works.

I unknowingly picked out a very active and aggressive puppy. Kona had an incredible drive for food, hunting “prey”, and playing rough. His eyes had a kind of frantic glaze; it seemed he couldn’t calm down enough to connect with me.

I took him to a PetSmart puppy class on the very day he was old enough to go. He weighed about four pounds, but was in a class with big breed puppies who were quite a bit older than he was. The classes were us humans listening and watching a few examples of how to train the basics, while really everyone was watching their dogs and wondering if they were going to hurt each other. After four classes, I asked the trainer if she thought Kona was a little too aggressive. The trainer rolled her eyes and kind of grimaced at me. I didn’t go to the fifth class.

At home, Kona was jumping up on people and play-biting just as if we were puppies also. One day, he jumped up and bit a friend’s lip. Between that and my experiences at PetSmart, I was at my wit’s end. I found Steve’s website and chose his three-lesson package.

He came to my home and in one hour I had a much better picture of Kona’s true temperament. He wasn’t really aggressive or mean, just very playful and rambunctious. Steve gave me about four PetSmart lessons rolled into one for us to practice during the first week. His lessons are 100% hands-on with the dog, while the pet store classes were mostly listening and practicing at home. He demonstrated his techniques over and over, then had me try them until I understood. My intense puppy and I really needed those one-on-one demonstrations and full-lesson focus.

I also had Steve help us with Kona’s fellow housedog, who is one year older. They have different personalities, and we were concerned about their interactions. Steve observed them at play two times and his evaluations and suggestions were extremely helpful – he saw the subtle behavior signals that told him our dogs were relating to each other appropriately.

I wouldn’t have gotten through the first six months owning this puppy without Steve! He has experience and a wealth of training methods that enable him to evaluate what approach will work best with each dog. The internet is full of horror stories of dogs with strong drives being mishandled. Kona was a real challenge, and I shudder to think what might have happened if I had called a less-knowledgeable trainer.

I work out of my home, and have a lot of people coming in and out of the house. Ike is your typical puppy – always jumping on people, mouthing on things, and wanting to play all the time. Walter is three-years-old, and can be very threatening to anyone who comes to our front door. I had a pet sitter who quit because she thought Walter was too aggressive.

Steve fixed these problems really fast. He came in the front door on the first day, and Walter had no problem with him. Ike was very responsive to the training, and Steve got him walking on a leash, sitting, and obeying me within a few sessions. The best thing he did was educate me on how to train them on my own. He showed me a lot of little tricks I can use to stop Ike from jumping and biting, and to keep Walter from scaring away customers and house guests.

Steve is a great guy – so positive and friendly. He’s a wonderful person to work with. Now, I know how to keep my dogs behaving the way I want. They’re a lot easier to manage, and I can take them out in public without worrying they’ll bother anyone.

I contacted Steve before I adopted my puppy Morgan, because I knew I’d need help with her. He answered a bajillion questions I had, and prepared me so I knew what to expect when Morgan arrived. What’s so great about Steve’s training is that he comes to my home and he’s able to work around my schedule. My career keeps me very busy, so that’s really important. Morgan’s training is an ongoing process – she’s still just a puppy – but Steve has already cured her of constantly jumping on me and other people. She knows her commands, knows how to behave on a leash, and acts like a little lady.