The Dog Blog

It’s been a while since we discussed the deaf dog training but it looks as though i’ve somehow become some sort of an expert on it.  I’ve gotten calls and emails from all over the country from people that want help working with these dogs and I’ve done my best to steer them in the right direction.

This week though I have an old dog trainer friend coming to town to learn some of the finer details of training these hearing impaired dogs.  She’s got a client that has never been able to work with her dog and we think this type of training will help.

I’ll keep everyone posted on the progress.

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

The NYTimes reported today that Gov. Schwarzenegger passed quite a bit of pet related legislation this week to protect our dog and feathered friends.

The legislation is quite similar to some that the Austin City Council is contemplating and with which we at Fidelio strongly support. Dogs should never be left tethered to an object for any longer than one hour and that shouldn’t even happen if the temperature is about 90 degrees.

So, take a look at the Times article above and shoot an email to the city council members to remind them to support the ordinance against tethering dogs.

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

A couple of months ago I got a call to work with a client that had a particular dilemma. He is a hunter and last year a deer that he had wounded managed to escape and he wasn’t able to find it. Now for hunters this is a VERY bad thing. It’s not managing the wildlife correctly and it’s wasteful.

So, Ken, being the good, responsible hunter that he is decided that he would never let that happen again so he wanted to train his new Patterdale Terrier pup to track wounded deer so that he would never loose another one.

I won’t go into detail of how we did all this tracking work (lots of time out in the cactus studded woods gives you some idea) but this little dog was a natural born tracker.

Zada, the pup, has the true traits of all great Patterdales, she is VERY TENACIOUS. That means that if the trail of the deer went over a cactus, so did Zada. It just didn’t matter what she had to go through to find the deer, she would do it!

Imagine my surprise last night when Ken sent me some pictures of little Miss Zada tracking a Squirrel. Well, now, I’ve never exactly taught a dog to track squirrels but it looks like Ken’s been working on this and, as expected, Zada is doing her dogged best to find whatever she’s told to look for.

So, take a look at the pictures below of Zada tracking her quarry and know that she is only the second dog I’ve ever seen that can literally climb trees!

And, by the way, Zada doesn’t need the fire department to come help her down from 20 feet up in the trees.

Enjoy!

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

Technorati Tags: puppy, Tracking dog

A lot of people wonder how I keep up with running a dog training business, there’s quite a bit more to it on the technology side than most would think. Overall, we are pretty sophisticated at Fidelio Dog Works. We’re exclusively Macintosh computer based around here. I learned how to use Macs in the beginning and continue to think they’re the easiest for small businesses like us to maintain and keep working. All of our Accounting software, contact management software, video conferencing software (for remote client visits and meetings), and everything else that keeps us close to customers technologically is done with Macintoshes.

On a daily basis I’ll use a Macintosh Mac Book in the car to take notes on client meetings and the progress of the dogs during lessons, In the office I have a large Macintosh desktop to answer e-mails, prepare invoices, and do our blog entries. Also, I use a micro cassette recorder while driving between clients to quickly jot down thoughts and ideas for blog reports so I don’t forget them. When I get back to the office I connect this tiny recorder to a computer and have the sound files converted into text so that we can quickly edit it and post to the blog.

Most dog trainers I know aren’t quite into using technology the way we do. But, over the last serveral years, we’ve found it makes us more efficient, helps our customers get more out of the training, and helps us get our message out in a much more timely manner, and makes the business run as seamlessly as possible.

One thing that many of our clients don’t realize is that Edye, my assistant, isn’t here in Austin at all. She actually lives in rural Kentucky. With the help of the Macs and fast DSL lines she manages to keep track of all my appointments, and works with all of our wonderful customers remotely. The only clue that gives her way is the return address on the thank you cards, and the area code on the phone that she dials from.

There’s so much technology behind the scene of our little business that sometimes it boggles the mind. I often wonder how my competitors and Associates managed to keep it all together using the limited tools that many of them have.

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

This post is a little delayed but I had so much fun at this lesson I just had to get it in here.

Last week I was working with a fantastic client who has a six month old Great Dane named Lola. Lola is a wonderful 106 pound puppy that is very well trained and walks around Town Lake with her owner off leash.

The thing is, the owner wanted Lola to tell her when she wanted to go out. So, off we went to dog training work. Lola had a small bell like the kind you see in movies on the hotel counter. The kind you slam down and the little bellhop jumps up from behind the desk. We though we would do the same thing with Lola and her owner.

Initially, I started teaching Lola to touch the little ringer with the tip of her nose, and while she was doing very well at that she had other more efficient ideas. Very soon (within about 15 minutes of working) Lola figured out that she could hit that bell A LOT harder using her foot, and once she really put together that ringing the bell with her foot got more treats and tons more excited laughter out of myself and her owner she started doing it repeatedly. Over and over and over and over again. Montana, the owner and I were just laying on the floor rolling in laughter and Lola’s new found skill and understanding of what we were asking us to do. At one point neither of us could talk we were laughing so hard while the bell went DING, DING, DING.

Loads of fun and a new skill for Lola the very large puppy.

Steve Haynes
Austin Dog Trainer
Fidelio Dog Works

I’ve been spending a LOT of time down at Town Lake the last few days. Several of my clients have made it to the point in their training where we have to start practicing with LOTS of distractions and craziness going on and there’s no place better than under the Mo-Pac bridge at town lake.

Last night I had a rare and wonderful pleasure. A client that I had worked with several months ago wanted to meet me down there to work with her six month old Golden named Friday. The last time I saw Friday he was tiny pup of 10 weeks that was doing well with his training but he was still a pup. Well, last night, Friday heeled with his owner right up to me and sat down like a perfectly behaved dog and waited for me to pat him. Even being a trainer is still amazes me when one of my client’s dogs shows such skill and good manners! I was thrilled.

Friday heeled around the lake with us, fetched some sticks in the water and generally was a fantastic dog. The only thing the owner was concerned about was his biting the leash after he got out of the water and was bouncing around in an excited state. We worked on that for a bit and then Friday heeled back to the cars like the perfect gentleman.

So, I’ll miss working with Friday but I’m sure I’ll see him down at the lake with his owner while I’m working with other clients trying to get them to his level.

So, if you see me down at Town Lake working with clients come on over and say “Hello”. We’ll use you as a distraction for the pup we’re working with!

Steve Haynes
Austin Dog Trainer
Fidelio Dog Works

Sometimes the work I do really turns out well. I’ve been training the deaf boxer dog Ginger for the last few weeks and I’m happy to say that I got a call from Austin Boxer Rescue today. It looks like she’s being adopted by a family that has committed to continued training for her! All of us are so happy that these folks found her.

Take care Ginger and enjoy your new Family!

Steve Haynes
Austin Dog Trainer
Fidelio Dog Works

I get to meet the most fantastic people and dogs being a trainer in Austin.

Jenn and Sara from Austin Boxer Rescue contacted me a few weeks ago asking if I had worked with deaf dogs before. I guess they had been reading the blog, about the other pup I worked with a couple of months ago with such great success. It seems they had spoken with several other trainers here that just didn’t have experience with these deaf dogs, and thats a shame.

So, the next several Sunday afternoons are donated to the folks at Austin Boxer Rescue and Ginger their latest hearing impaired addition.

Ginger started using my favorite tool for working with deaf dogs, a Dogtra collar with a vibration feature. We use the vibration feature of these collars to “call” the dog and to get it’s attention so that we can give it other commands such as Sit, Down, Come, Heel… It’s kind of a slow process in the beginning but by the second session with Ginger she was starting to sit when we “buzzed” her twice with the vibrating collar and started doing a down when we gave her three short buzzes with it. I honestly believe that if she keep us this pace of work she’ll be well trained in the basic obedience commands within the next month or so.

That means, if you are looking for a boxer that is well trained you should contact the Austin Boxer people and go take a look at Miss Ginger. She’s a great dog that needs a good home and it won’t matter one whit that she’s hearing impaired once we get her training finished.

All of Austin Boxer Rescue’s contact info is here:

Steve Haynes
Austin Dog Trainer
Fidelio Dog Works

Yesterday was just full of interesting activities for the old Austin Dog Trainer.

My first client of the day is moving to Japan so we worked on what was going to be necessary to get the dog moved and then what we needed to do once the pup was in quarantine in the country for three months. It seems that Japan has cancelled their “fast entry” program for dogs that they had and now every incoming pet must be quarantined for three months. Luckily the quarantine facilities there are supposed to be fantastic but still….it’s at least an hour away from her new home in Tokyo and that’s with no traffic!

Second dog of the day was a pup I visited for the good folks at Austin Cocker Rescue. This pup had recently gone deaf and the new owner needed some help because the cocker had begun barking at strangers on their walks. I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on with this guy (he didn’t want to bark at anyone with me around) but we worked on a few basic behavior things that I noticed and hopefully we got that under control.

Third dog of the day was my most recent Rock Star client. Can’t tell their name (privacy you know) but I can tell you that this person is an amazingly good dog trainer, and I believe it’s because of their innate laid back attitude. Lots of fun training with this person and their dog is just a fantastically smart little pup.

There were a couple of other clients in there that just needed some basic obedience work and then my fun lesson of the day with a Senior VP of Dell and his wife. We had a great time working with their lab puppy. The weather at 7 last night was perfect for dog training and nothing could have been better than teaching this pup to heel off leash and to start doing recall, down, sits, and drops as the sun went down over the hills.

As I finished with my final client at 8:45 last night, I drove home thinking “I’m the luckiest guy in the world” I have wonderful clients that love their dogs, and I get to spend all day with these people and the pups. What could be better than that?

Steve Haynes
Austin Dog Trainer
Fidelio Dog Works

A few weeks ago I was working with a client’s cattle dog which had just TONS of energy. To the owner this was kind of a pain, but to a Dog Trainer a dog like this is FUN. I look at it as something different than the average dog I train each day.

In any case, this guy did great during his first session and I was astonished when I arrived for his second. He was waiting for me on his dog bed, a little excited to be sure, but doing his job the way her should and not jumping off the bed ever other second. As we started working outside he was attentive to his owners and was watching where they were and what they were doing, basically, he was doing what he should.

The lesson was a breeze. We worked with a long line on Bleu’s recall and by the end of the session he was coming back to them every time they called.

So, for all of you out there with a wound up bundle of energy dog, there is hope and with training you can even get that guy to come back every time you call.

I can’t wait to see Bleu’s progress at his next session in a month or so!

Steve Haynes
Austin Dog Trainer
Fidelio Dog Works

But this is certainly something I haven’t encountered before.

I was visiting with someone tonight and in the course of the conversation they told me they had a dog that could climb trees. Well, I thought it would run out and kind of bounce up and down next to the trunk or something but when Kelly let his dog Dolly out she ran straight for the tree and actually started CLIMBING. Dolly used her head and neck to brace herself between branches so that she could go higher. Amazing. She was at least 15 feet up in the tree before she slowed down!

Kelly said that when he’s out hiking with her she’s always looking for trees to climb and any of them that look possible she’s off and climbing.

Never ceases to amaze me what the little four legged critters can do.

Steve Haynes
Austin Dog Trainer
Fidelio Dog Works

Dog trainers have exceptionally good days sometimes. Today was one of those.

My last client this evening was a couple that had a three year old Golden Retriever that they had adopted from the Austin Golden Rescue. They’ve been having a bit of trouble with this girl on Recall, or more commonly known to those that aren’t dog trainers, COME.

In any case we started to work with this gal and within about 30 minutes we had a very reliable long line recall going. The long line recall is the first step to an off leash COME and is an exceedingly important training step. It’s sort of a “you can’t get there from here” unless you use a long line situation.

By the end of the session, the owners were pleasantly surprised at how well their gal did and I got to finish the day with two very happy people and a proud dog that better understood what was expected of her.

A good day all around.

Steve Haynes
Austin Dog Trainer
Fidelio Dog Works

Technorati Tags: Dog Trainer, dog training, Dog Recall

Well, what do dog trainers train their own dogs to do? Most of the time we train them to do things that save us time or effort……mostly effort. For instance, one of my dogs has the job of counting all the other dogs and closing the front door after they all come inside. I trained her to do that out of self preservation or at least preservation of my love of sleeping in.

Recently though I’ve had another need for training.

My wife and I go on hikes with the three dogs on a regular basis. Usually one good hike a weekend at least. We’ve never had any problems with the dogs on these hikes until recently. My oldest dog, a 14 year old schnauzer named Halloween, has recently lost her hearing and her eyesight isn’t doing so well either. Now, this hasn’t really slowed Hallie down much, she still likes to go on hikes with us and roam around in the woods but it has made calling her back to us a bit more difficult lately. That’s a problem. Because when she wanders off she wanders into the type of brush I just don’t like walking through (prickly, low limbs smacking me, mud……you get the idea). So, what’s a lazy dog trainer to do?

I read an article a while back about dogs that were used in WW I. They patrolled the battle field after an action, and if they found a wounded man they would grab a ribbon off their chest or shoulder and run it back to the medical officers, then lead medics back to the person. I figured I could adapt that for my old deaf dog.

So this weekend we started working with Gwen, my springer spaniel getting her to go and grab a tab leash with her mouth and pull on it. We started by just dangling this thing on a string off my belt and telling her to “go get Hallie” and grabbing the leash for a treat. After she got pretty good at that, I started moving the tab closer to Hallie and getting her accustomed to having Gwen run up to her at a good clip. Then, I hooked the leash to Hallie and sent Gwen to go grab it. At this point, that’s all the training I’ve accomplished but by the end of the weekend, I should have Gwen so that she’ll grab the tab leash and lead Hallie back to me! Is that cool or what? It’s a great job for Gwennie and it keeps me from having to wade through the stickers to get my old dog every time she wanders off the path.

Now, if you ever wonder what a dog trainer trains his own dogs for, thing laziness and you’ll be close to correct.

Steve Haynes
Austin Dog Trainer
Fidelio Dog Works

Technorati Tags: Dog Trainer, dog training, Deaf Dog

Being a dog trainer, I’m always on the lookout for places your dog can visit with you. I also keep an eye out for places you CAN’T take your dog, and I make it my mission to convince those places otherwise.

Early every Saturday morning my wife and I go to an organic farm here in Austin to grab our veggies for the week. For the past several years I’ve noticed that they had a subtle but noticeable no dogs sign flying. I’ve meant to several times but something has always come up and I never got around to it. Well today I got my answer.

On the farm they have a nice flock, herd, kettle, whatever you call it, of chickens that lay the eggs we buy every weekend. Many times some of the chickens are out roaming around the farmstead scrounging for veggies that careless shoppers have dropped. Well, come to find out, the owner Carol Ann told me that chickens can literally die of fright and nothing scares them like a dog (a bit overly fox like I guess). Hence the no dog sign.

Well, being a good open minded dog trainer, and loving the fresh eggs from the farm, I guess I’m not going to try to convince her to let the pups show up.

Steve Haynes
Austin Dog Trainer
Fidelio Dog Works

Technorati Tags: Organic Farm

I get this one all the time…..You Train Dogs for a living?? Are you serious?

What exactly does that mean? Well, I kind of thought today would be a good day to just run through what I did with clients all day long. It was an average day though a little short for most, this one was only eight hours long (just like the old office job). But, I tell all my clients and friends, it sure beats the heck out of working in a cube all day long.

So, here goes:

First Client:

A 16 week old labrador retriever puppy from very fine blood lines. Her parents were field trial champions so we can assume that she’s a pretty high strung and ACTIVE puppy.

In any case, her owners have done a remarkable job on working with her on the basic obedience stuff (sit, down, come…) but they were having a problem with the crate training. This little girl just didn’t want to go in the crate and certainly didn’t want to stay in the crate. She was also showing some signs of separation anxiety in the mix.

Off we go to the crate. We work for almost a solid hour on getting her to run in the crate, sit down, lay down in there and basically calm down in the crate. We used several little dog trainer tricks (Treats!!!!) to accomplish this, but we also showed her that we weren’t going to leave her in there forever. She started getting the idea and her owner called later in the afternoon to tell me that the pup had actually taken a nap in the crate which was a first.

The we started working on the Bed command where we teach her to stay on a dog bed until released. This worked like a charm in the lesson and it’s the tool of choice for initial and low level work on separation anxiety. Great command for all dogs to learn but particularly with this girl.

Off to the next client:

Second Client:

Young Corgi that was about 1 year old and showing pretty pronounced fear symptoms. This dog had been subjected to another trainer that tried to yank it into doing stuff with a choke collar. Not the way to go with a scared dog and I would love to get that choke collar on the previous trainer but that’s another story.

Anyway, we spent the better part of an hour building up trust with the pup so that the owners could even catch her. We started playing some very calm training games using treats to get her to come to us and allow us to reach out and touch her collar. She did great and her two young owners (age 9 and 10) were fantastically patient. By the end of the session we had her outside and she would come to us from several feet away. Another first for the owner.

Off to the next client:

Third client:

A one year old Chesapeake Bay Retriever with a counter surfing habit and the turbocharged desire to jump in the pool every time the back door to the house was opened.

First we worked on the “snatch the food” habit.

Interesting story here. The kids that own this dog go to a school that send home bread with them every Friday. So every Friday this dog knocks the five year old down when he comes through the door and snatches the bread. Not a very good habit in a dog if you ask me.

I appropriated the loaf of bread in question, which didn’t get snatched this week, and we started to work. I unceremoniously dropped the Challah bread on the floor ( I hope that didn’t horribly violate some sacred Jewish tradition) and started to teach this guy that he just wasn’t going to get that lovely Jewish delicacy ever again. It worked. By the end of the session I could hold the Challah up and our old bread snatching buddy would move away from it as I held it closer to him.

Next we went to the pool. This one is a hard one. Chesapeake Bay’s are bred, born, selected, and ordained to jump in any body of water that presents itself. Anything from a thimble to a water bowl to the backyard pool. I mean, we’re working with genetics here, I’m not the dog Whisperer or anything.

After a bit of modifying how this guy approached the pool we managed to get him to sit unattended at the edge of the pool and actually turn away from it as the owners walked up to him. I kind of took it as all in a days work but the owners said they wouldn’t have believed it if I told them it could happen.

Now for the hard part:

Just because I worked with all those people today and got their dogs to DO what they wanted, those dogs are still not trained. It’s going to take hundreds and hundreds of repetitions for all of these folks to get where they want to go with their dogs. It’s grunt hard work.

The beautiful thing about what I do though is I get to come in, show them how to accomplish it, and usually get their dog to a better place. They they get to do all the hard work!

Thats a day in my life.

Steve Haynes
Austin Dog Trainer
Fidelio Dog Works

Technorati Tags: dog training, Dog Trainer