By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — He’s not going to say that your dog’s incessant yipping is due to past life neglect and he’s certainly not going to tell you to negatively “correct” your animal’s barking with shock therapy or rubbing the animal’s nose in it.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Dave Nadeau of Nadeau’s Dog Training praises one of his pups after she successfully performed a series of tricks. Nadeau always had a knack for training dogs; now a certified trainer, he’s helping central Aroostook pet owners connect with their canines and correct problem behaviors.
Dave Nadeau of Nadeau’s Dog Training has been successfully helping central Aroostook’s pet owners maximize the “good dog” potential in their beloved canines for over a year by bringing educated insight to otherwise chaotically dog-ruled scenarios.
Whenever he arrives at a new case, Nadeau’s frequently greeted by an out-of-control dog and an exasperated owner, but he takes pride in knowing that after one session for (on average) six weeks, the dog becomes much more obedient and the owner becomes much more happy — and the shoes remain unchewed, the garbage stays unforaged and no one’s met with a jumping paws-in-the-face greeting from an excited large dog.
“Some dogs are harder to train than others, but all dogs can be trained,” Nadeau said.
Personality variations in animals — much like people — can determine how long it takes for an animal to be trained, but Nadeau uses positive reinforcement to help owners resolve problem pet issues, whether they stem from basic obedience (learning commands like sit, stay, and being able to walk with a loose leash); problem solving (chewing, nipping, biting, barking, getting into the trash) or behavior modification (aggression, socialization and phobias).
From dainty small dogs to huge hounds, Nadeau’s had over 20 successful cases since becoming a certified dog trainer, which he does part-time. (Many know Nadeau as a full-time employee of Reno’s Restaurant).
When he has the time, Nadeau enjoys walking shelter-dogs. While many canines get placed in shelters for having “problems,” Nadeau hardly has issues taking the “problem dogs” out for a walk and teaching them simple tricks.
As Nadeau explained, these “problem dogs” get brought to the shelters for problems that are easily rectifiable, like barking for instance. If a dog is barking all the time and the owner can’t figure it out, Nadeau visits the home to identify why the dogs is barking, then teaches the owner to solve the problem. There’s more than one type of barking and teaching owners to identify the cause of the disturbance aids in properly correcting the animal’s behavior.
That’s why Nadeau says “I’m not training the dog, I’m training the owner.”
“It’s just like kids, you have to be a leader with them or they won’t respect you,” he explained, emphasizing the importance leadership has in dog training.
That’s why owners need to be active participants during the canine’s transition from unholy-terror to well-behaved terrier; pending the owner adheres to training instructions, everyone’s much happier by the time training is complete.
Nadeau’s Dog Training is currently accepting new clients. Additional information regarding the business can be obtained by calling 227-1497.