By D. B. Harrison

The beginning!

When a new dog owner enters the word of dog training, things get easier for them and their pet. It isn’t my first time owning a dog, but the new dog, “Seraphina,” that I rescued from the Williamson County Regional Animal shelter, has been a handful and a challenge. Right away, I called Ashley & Steven at ATX K9 dog training in Austin, TX, to schedule some training. I’d been doing some website work for them and knew a little about their background already. Steven was kind enough to give me some pretraining tips to help me start getting a handle on Seraphina’s behavior. 

Seraphina is like a hurricane.

Seraphina is like many other-year-old pups. She jumps on, chews, sits on, runs, hides, and all the other things that a dog this age does. She was more than I expected. Not even a week passed, and she chewed the corner of a coffee table, pulled the stuffing from a futon, and destroyed pillows. She ripped apart a flower arrangement and chewed the Roku remote control dismantling it. She also chased and caught one of my chickens, and fortunately, she didn’t kill it. She brought it back to me. I urgently called Ashley and Steven. Steven called back right away. “Help,” I said. I hoped that Seraphina wouldn’t have trouble learning better behavior.

Steven told me to calm down. He explained that the first thing we want to do with the dog is don’t create more excitement. More excitement keeps the dog in that hypertensive mode. Next, he taught me the basic commands of OFF and CALM. He gave me other tips such as making mealtime a reward and kindly withhold treats for disobedience. These things motivate a dog to learn the desired behavior. So I tried them with her, and they work. 

Time for the session. 

I mentioned to Steven that I wanted some solid training for Seraphina and me to learn how to interact. Most people don’t get it because the dog trainer also has to train the dog owner, and people are more challenging to train than animals. It isn’t a hand your dog over and says, “here, train my dog.” In many cases, the dog is more willing to train than the human because it doesn’t have any preconceived notions of what training is. I urge every dog owner new to training to give their trainer all the room they need to train the canine and you. 

Be courteous. Dog trainers are very busy people, and their job requires a lot of time spent with their clients (dogs) and owners. Show up on time, and if you need to cancel, don’t wait until the last minute to do so. 

One of the most important things a dog owner can do is to take notes and take the time to use the training lessons at home. Depending only on the dog training session doesn’t help you or your dog.

Back to Seraphina.

With the tips working for Seraphina, Steven agreed to some training sessions with me included. Seraphina is not only a pet, but she’s going to be a working dog too. We have chickens on the farm, and they produce free-range eggs. With chickens comes coyotes and bobcats, predators out to get chickens and eggs. She is to guard and alert when such animals are around. 

Her biggest job is keeping me company. She’s an excellent fetcher, and she loves a good cuddle and hugs. So breaking the undesirable habits is going to take some training. I’ve worked with Ashley and Steven long enough to feel comfortable about Seraphina being in good hands. With a bit of practice, she will turn out to be an excellent farm dog and part of our family. 

Where is this all going?

There are a lot of questions that dog owners have when it comes to dog training. How long will it take? Is it expensive? Will my dog have to stay for several days? Is it difficult? Most dog training companies cater to what the needs and the demands of the dog owners are. Seraphina and I will take this journey together to answer these questions as we continue this with a series of blogs about her progress. After many conversations with Ashley and Steven, I feel confident that they operate one of the best dog training companies in the Austin area.

The best thing is that Seraphina, already a great dog, will get even more incredible with learning new things and taking on new challenges, while we portray ATX K9 and their methods of dog training. We want to tell the story of Seraphina and ATX K9 so people can see what a great dog and excellent dog training company is all about. So begins our journey with a series of blogs.

If you are interested in training for your dog check in with Ashley & Steven by visiting their website at atxk9.com. Check out the website before heading to the contact page or give them a call at (512) 508-8959.