Fidelio Dog Works

Donovan has helped our boarding school dropout dog (well he actually got kicked out for aggressive behavior), into a well-behaved dog who listens, is no longer aggressive and impresses others with his great attitude. Donovan has patience for dog's people, who often need more training themselves. He educates without judging and always has the dog's best interest at heart. We appreciate all the work with our big dummy Henry and how much better he is for spending time with Donovan.

Great experience working with Donovan and the team. Super responsive when it comes to scheduling and the home visit was really productive. He clearly cares and knows his stuff

Great experience, Donovan brings a lot of expertise and is an excellent communicator. We have 2 year old Aussie Doodle with dog aggression and have seen great progress and leaned a lot

We are so thankful that we found Fidelio, specifically Donovan, a little over a year ago. He has guided (and trained!) us probably just as much as he has trained our goldendoodle, Hamilton. From basic leash skills and commands and now to off leash training, I don't know where we'd be without Donovan's expertise. Our dog is only a year and half old, but we get compliments on his behavior everywhere we go. I could not recommend using Donovan and Fidelio enough!

Absolutely game changing training from Donovan at Fidelio Dog Works. My Great Dane is a very large pup and began his life very stubborn. We introduced him to Donovan at an early age and Donovan was able to instill basic training and obedience into his life. As you can imagine, walking a 175lb. great dane can be very challenging if he is not behaved.

We saw a complete turnaround in walking on leash, "placing" when he is told, "healing" when we need his attention, and other basic commands that have made our life much easier. I have always loved bringing him everywhere with me, but before our training it was VERY hard to do. Obviously great dane's get a ton of attention from random people, and he used to lose his mind in public and all training flew out the window. Post training I can now take him to coffee shops, hardware stores, farmer's markets, and other places and have zero fear of him losing control. Highly recommend!

Donovan has been our guide and teacher from the very start of getting our sweet puppy. He is extremely knowledgeable and, more importantly, is able to share that knowledge with all of our family members (adults and kids) in a way that promotes positive learning and experiences. He is encouraging and really cares about our progress and that of our puppy. We highly recommend his services. Don't wait.call him today. You will be amazed by the growth that will follow.

Donovan worked miracles with our toy Australian Shepherd. Our little guy has turned into a delightful companion, and we give Donovan all the credit.

We were referred to Donovan to help tame our crazy Goldendoodle, Lady Bird. We were wanting basic obedience and help with her jumping and running out the front door. Our house is full of kiddos/craziness and Donovan understood that. He placed Lady Bird in situations that would be familiar to help her succeed in our everyday life. He's extremely patient and it only took a few sessions to get her obeying, not jumping, and even placing. Highly recommend Fidelio and Donovan!

We have had an amazing experience with Fidelio Dog Works, and our trainer, Donovan. After our calm and easy female golden retriever passed away, we got a very beautiful but VERY high energy male golden. The more he grew, the harder he was for me to handle. Donovan has seriously worked miracles with him. My pup used to drag me through the neighborhood and now walks right by my side and sits when I stop. Donovan uses positive training and is very loving with my dog. He is patient and kind and is truly a dog whisperer. It IS expensive, but well worth the price! I highly recommend Donovan!

Wow, what an amazing experience! Donovan worked with our pup, Ruby, for just one week, and it made all the difference in the world. When she first went to him, she was a wild pup who would not listen at all. After a week, she is now a very well behaved young dog who I can take just about anywhere on a leash. She will walk right next to me and then sit whenever I stop. Donovan is extremely calm when working with the dogs.

He must train both the dog and the dog owner on how to do things the right way. He taught us the right way to teach the dog and then reinforce that teaching. He never, ever raises his voice, but instead uses very simple and effective techniques to teach the dog the right way. I feel very confident that I can teach Ruby more using the techniques that he taught me. I am very grateful to have found him and would highly recommend him to anyone who wants a well behaved and loving pet.

Donovan is a master with dogs. Our pound puppy was nearly grown when we adopted her and she weighed north of 60 lbs. Needless to say she had the manners of a convict. In just a few sessions, Donovan had her working like a champ. Honestly, I think he spent more time teaching us than the dog. Bottom line is we finished the first round of training and our dog is amazing.

We are now working off-leash walking and commands for our next sessions. He will also take your dog into his house for the weekend to work on bothersome issues that only show up with time spent with the dog. His services are worth the money AND much more.

I am so grateful to have found Donovan. From the day I met him, you could tell he had an incredible presence with dogs and I immediately knew he was the trainer who would be able to help take my rescue dog Duke and train him for service level work. After working closely with Donovan for several months, Duke and I have made incredible progress! I would highly recommend Fidelio Dog Works to anyone looking for service level dog training. Donovan goes above and beyond and really takes time to specialize in your specific training needs. I can honestly say Donovan's training transformed my dog and my life.

I found Fidelio through researching dog trainers in Austin and am so glad I took the plunge. My dog's separation anxiety was leading her to be extremely destructive every time I left the house. Donovan worked with me and my dog and I've seen a 180-degree change through consistent practice of the techniques he taught me. Fidelio is worth every penny -- can't recommend enough!

There are a lot of wonderful things I can say about working with Steve, but I can put it simply: He has high expectations, clear guidelines and no bullshit. This is exactly what we needed to put a plan in place to help get our one year old heeler/lab mix under control. He's a true professional and we're so glad to work with him.

We have worked with Candace on many occasions to help us train our lab puppy and she is simply fantastic--as much a "human" whisperer as dog whisperer! She has tailored each session to our specific family and dog needs. While it is fun to have a dog who knows how to shake and roll over (which we do), Candace has taught us the more important skills of mannered walking and place commands so that our puppy can manage her energy (and manners) as and when needed.

We are often complimented by others for our well-behaved and smart pup, but more importantly, our entire family operates more smoothly and is happier as a result of Candace's training. We still schedule "touch ups" to keep us on our game! To say we recommend Candace and Fidelio is an understatement.we consider her a necessity. P.S. Lana is fantastic in the front office with scheduling, etc.!

Steve Haynes (Fidelio) was AMAZING. I cannot believe the MAJOR difference he made with our 4-5 month old Labradors Retrievers. Yes, I have TWO puppies. :) I was very skeptical that just a few training sessions would have such a HUGE impact on my dogs. Mind Blown. I have completely different puppies now. Could not be more ecstatic about where we are in training.

I also now have the tools I needed as an owner to continue to raise them with some structure. He took me from being overwhelmed and kicking myself for bringing home two puppies, to being totally in love with them and glad I did! (Never again LOL) Seriously, call Steve if you need a dog trainer! My neighbors also used him, that's how I found him. They loved him too! My husband thought he was awesome too! Sharil Turner

I can't say enough good things about this company! The owner is so kind and organized, my trainer was fantastic with training me AND my dog and the coordinator is so sweet. This is the ONLY company I will ever use for dog training! Highly recommend!

We hired Steve/Fidelio 8 years ago so he could train us to handle our the high energy pooch. Guess what? We did the homework Steve assigned; it worked then; and it's still working today. Our girl will never win an obedience contest, but she always comes when we call; jumping up to greet guests is long gone; she's wonderful on walks; she waits patiently for dinner every night; she stopped pulling during walks; and she still bolts to her assigned spot every time the doorbell rings.

The only thing we didn't do was take her off the leash-training rope loop when it was time. When she sees that loop, she knows it's time for a walk. All we do is drop the loop in front of her and she sticks her head right in! Thanks Steve and Fidelio for your long term positive approach to human training and humane canine care.

Steve is a miracle worker. We'd taken our newly adopted dog to a couple of group training courses, and while we were making progress on the basics (sit, lay down, stay), we were continuing to experience behaviors with her that simply didn't seem to be changing no matter how hard we tried, especially things like jumping on people, recall, and tugging on the leash during walks.

We decided to give Fidelio a try based on the great reviews, and I think it was the best decision we've ever made! Steve came over, and gave us all the tools and tricks we needed. He even taught us commands we hadn't even realized we'd need, but have been invaluable. Of course, he was great with our dog, but he was great with us, too.

He really listened to our concerns, gave us lots of opportunities to practice, and was just an all around lovely guy. We saw an immediate change, especially on our walks. Our friends saw it, too. After Steve's visit, they all commented that it was like she was a different dog!

When I got my pup from the breeder this past May, he was pretty undersocialized. He was scared of almost everything and I was waaay over my head. I had heard great things about Fidelio and immediately set up a session. Lisa was the trainer that helped me and she was just incredible! We covered all the basics, like I expected, but she also helped me with basic pet care concerns as well.

She was patient with me and LOVED on my dog. A couple months after our sessions were done, I had an additional question about Indy barking. I emailed Lisa and she got right back to me with an extensive plan of action. Indy is now 1 year old and doing amazing. He is currently excelling in an Agility class, is very outgoing and such a great dog. Some of this was just his personality, but a lot was how he first experienced training with Fidelio Dog Works.

We adopted Clyde from Austin Boxer Rescue last August. While he wasn't badly behaved, he certainly had room for improvement and our own training wasn't getting it done, so we had Steve come out and give him some training a couple months ago. It made a big difference. Last night, we had about a dozen people over for a party and everyone remarked at how well-behaved Clyde was. A few people asked, "Can you come over and train my dog to be that good?" "No, but Fidelio Dog Works can."

I've had dogs my whole life. Some were pretty well trained. When my wife and I got OUR first dog - she suggested we get a trainer to help us train our Avery. I was initially offended that my experience wasn't good enough for her but I got over it and it was the a great move. We hired Steve, who came out and trained us to train Avery starting at 8 weeks old. (who knew you could start so early?) It was still a lot of work but she is now 2 years old and is the happiest well trained dog I've ever had. Thanks Steve!

My husband and I got a dog from the Williamson County Humane Society at the end of December 2006. His name is Dexter (see pictures) and he is the coolest dog ever. I have never had a dog before and it only took me a short while to become one of those annoying dog people who oogles at every dog and talks to my friends incessantly about the cute things he does (hey, I am 33 with no kids, so I figure I can share a few dog stories for the the hundreds of kid stories I have listened to intently over the years). Anyway, Dexter came to us pretty well behaved at about a year old, but he also had a few quirks.

He couldn't walk on the leash all that well; he is part hound dog and just wanted to yank me down the street for every scent he caught. I did a bunch of online searching and found Fidelio, with trainer Steve Haynes. They have several training package options. I chose the one-hour appointment for three consecutive weeks. Steve comes out to your house.

He works with you to create a specialized training plan for you and your dog. There is a lot of homework each week. The best thing is that YOU train your dog, and he teaches you how to do it. He is kind and patient. Dexter loved him right away. We could tell him if something wasn't working--and he would watch us do it and tell us if we could do it differently.

Or he just gave us different ways to do it instead. We have a whole new dog. There are still issues and we understand it will take time, but I can walk my dog on a loose leash--and sometimes off leash. If you are willing to invest your time in your dog--you won't believe the results!