The Dog Blog

Dog training is all about repetition. Simple enough right?? Well, not really. The problem is that hardly any of us with any semblance of a modern lifestyle have enough disposable hours to do the large numbers of repetitions needed to get the dogs up to speed quickly. Repetition, repetition, repetition is the key.

How many reps are we talking about: well, on average it takes around 2,000 repetitions for a dog to actually learn and process a behavior. 2,000!! Most clients melt when they hear that, but it’s not an impossible task, and there are lots of tricks to get to that number quickly. One shortcut is to use Fidelio’s Fast Track program jump start things. Fast Track is essentially a “doggie boot camp” for your pup without having to send him/her away. We show up at your home two or three times a week for a month, train with lots of repetitions in your neighborhood, and give your dog a fantastic grounding and excellent foundation for the obedient life.

Fast Track isn’t the only way to speed things along though. We have lots of tricks to help with getting those repetitions in even if you decide to train with us for just a few session.

If you need a jump start on getting Fido up to speed take a look at our Fast Track program and give us a shout if it looks like we could help.

Pats to your dog for us!

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

They are cute

Yeah, You’re right, they are cute but that’s only half the story. I’m going to preface the rest of this post with the full disclosure that I had a Yorkie for 18 years. It went to college with me, and one summer went to all my classes with me in my backpack. I loved that dog a lot but, I too was unprepared for the other side of the breed. You really do need to know what you are getting into when you bring a Yorkie home.

In dog training everything comes in cycles, and for some reason this month I’ve gotten a ton of calls from clients, and potential clients, that have a new Yorkie puppy, and the calls all go like this:

“when will it be potty trained? This is driving me nuts!”

“When will it quit biting and nipping at me? THIS is driving me nuts”

“When will it stop BARKING at me? THIS IS DRIVING ME NUTS”

It’s almost the same drill with every call.

Well, Yorkies have a few bad traits to go along with their cuteness.

First, the majority of them take FOREVER to potty train. I’ve got some clients that have been working on this for 2 years diligently and still are not there. You’re going to need to be very patient and understand housebreaking is not generally going to happen like other breeds of dogs. These guys take longer…..a lot longer to come around to the idea of going outside.

Second, they mouth and nip a lot. Part of this is their energy level. Pound for pound Yorkies are some of the most energetic pups out there. In a lot of cases they are sort of like an amphetamine enhanced hairy bouncy ball but with really sharp teeth. Starting to work early with them to show them biting isn’t a good idea is essential. And, while I would love to give you a quick one off on how to fix this, the truth is that every puppy is different and we’ll need to approach the nipping issue individually according to each dogs personality.

So, once again, Get used to it. They are going to nip at you and the best we can hope to do is curb it somewhat.

Third, they bark. A lot. Enough said.
If you can’t handle this then you probably shouldn’t be thinking about a Yorkie.

Now, that was a downer kind of a post, and I’m sorry about that, but WAY to many people go out and grab one of these dogs thinking they are the perfect size and they are SO CUTE. But be ready for the other side of the coin, they are a ton of work. It’s not a bad idea to get your dog trainer lined up before you bring the puppy home as well. They can help you get a good start on all the work you’ll have to do to make these little guys a good household citizen.

all my best,

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

We work with kids all the time around here at Fidleio Dog Works. Almost every family wants their children to be involved in working with the dog and that’s a great thing. The more the kids work with puppies and older dogs, the more the relationship becomes cemented and the stronger the bonds become.

There is a downside though. Kids have short attention spans, and puppies have shorter attention spans. Sometimes this can cause a bit of friction in the house. When working with your kids, remember to keep the sessions very short, usually 2-3 minutes works great for this. These short sessions are fantastic for the dogs as well.

With puppies, it’s always better to train more times per day for shorter segments. We would much rather have you do 10 sessions of 2 minutes than to sit there and try to get the puppy to work with you for 20 straight minutes. It’s just to much for their little minds to take in most cases.

Along these lines, I’m posting a link to a video of my daughter and me working with a schnauzer pup on the “Place” command.

You’ll notice that the puppy and the daughter have roughly the same attention span on this. Still, I’m proud of both of them. The puppy learned the place command perfectly and my Daughter isn’t bad on the command either! Now, if she’ll just do that when she turns 16…..

All my best,

Steve Haynes
Fidelio Dog Works
www.fideliodogs.com

THIS is why you need a dog trainer!

This past week I had a client meeting that shocked me.  When I arrived at the client I was told that she had never been able to get her dog into her car.  NEVER in 12 YEARS.  When she moved to Austin she had to sedate her dog to the point of comatose for the ride and that was the ONLY time it had ever ridden in a car in it’s adult life.  Things were starting to get a bit dire because the dog was starting to have some health issues and needed to go to the vet on a regular basis.

A situation like that one is really sad to me.  That dog had never been able to enjoy a dog park, go for a walk outside it’s neighborhood or even have the convenience of  being able to take it to the vet.  That is so upsetting to me.

It turns out she had used 6 other trainers in the last 12 years to try to rectify the situation and none of them had been successful,  which is also a sad state.  Now, I don’t want to brag or seem like Supertrainer, but this is a pretty simple thing, and suffice it to say that within 10 minutes of my arriving we had the dog in the car and were headed for the local dog park for a walk.  All went well at the park and the dog jumped in the car for the ride home with no issues at all. 

A few days later, I got an email from the client:

"Just some positive feedback. My dog, Belle, is now a ‘car dog.’ She may hesitate and get balky when asked to get in the car, but it never takes more than a minute and a little gentle coaxing to get her in. What a difference! Thanks so much."

Now THAT is why you need a dog trainer.  If your dog is doing something that has been hampering your life, you should do something about it.  It will improve your quality of life as well as your dogs.

Steve Haynes

Austin Dog Trainer

Fidelio Dog Works

www.fideliodogs.com

Well, I’ve worked with quite a number of upcoming and new parents over the years but this week I had a wonderful experience of working with a client that is having twins AT ANY MOMENT.

 This family was a bit nervous about getting their dog ready as he’d had a history of "being loud" and chasing after moving kids.  The long and the short of it was that we worked on three different things that all dogs need to learn with babies in the house.

 But, I’ll leave it to you to read in her own words.  Here is her Blog Post! 

 Steve Haynes

 Austin Dog Trainer

 Fidelio Dog Works

 www.fideliodogs.com

Working on the place command