Magic Results.... We now have 2 completely different dogs than this time last week! 1 session w Donovan has changed things dramatically: Lucy is calm & let's you pick her up; sits still when you put on her leash; stays off furniture (w some policing); no barking and Wyeth is not on furniture (w some coaching) as his default... they both go sleep in the crate we have in Den. I'm pretty sure Donovan will have taught them to talk & do calculus by the end of their 3 weeks training we have set up! read more

Rico my basset was resource guarding and aggressive. I tried everything but nothing worked until I sent him to Fidelio for training for a month. Rico now is no longer aggressive and is very calm and obeys commands. We are so happy and now our family, other dogs and friends get to enjoy Rico! I'm sending my puppy next! I now see why Fidelio is best in class for dog training! read more

Fidelio Dog Works - Pet Training Near Me - Austin, Texas

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great experience! very knowledgeable and helpful in teaching us the nuances of training. Trent specifically is excellent with kids and teaching them how to be with the dog. really impressed with the skills our pup learned while there! read more

We loved working with the Fidelio team! Our 6 month old puppy had some anxiety issues (pooping in her kennel, etc) so we met with Donovan. He tried to help us solve the issues at home before even suggesting board and train. After trying things at home with little success, we then decided to board and train. She spent 3 weeks at Fidelio and came back a new puppy. So much calmer and bonus she has all these new commands she knows. And she is so good on walks now. She still has things to work on but Fidelio offers continued support (text and calls) as part of the board and train. read more

Amazing trainers who love animals. Has to be number one in Austin! Our dog needed their love, professionalism and expertise! read more

We recently had our 5 month old mini bernedoodle stay with Fidelio for the 3 week board and train. It was the best decision we ever made. The process started with Donovan (owner and head trainer) visiting our home to meet our dog and our family. He took the time to meet our family and learn our lifestyle. With this, he developed a plan for us. We opted for the three week plan, and we couldn't be more happy. Our dogs transformation was incredible. She returned to us with an incredible foundation. Donovan spent a great deal of time with us showing how to best interact with our dog so we could continue the progress and even made several trips to our house after to help us reinforce. When Fidelio advertises lifetime support it is absolutely what they provide. I regularly test Donovan with questions and he is quick to respond and eager to support in any fashion. I would 100% choose Fidelio again and would not consider using anyone else. Thank you Fidelio. read more

excellent training facility/ Trainers! I can't stress enough how incredible our experience was. we rescued a dog (puppy German Shepard mix) off the streets. he didnt integrate well with our 5 year old lab due to behavioral issues. Donovan took him for a 4 week board and train, and Bodhi is a new dog! it's amazing!! Donovan, Rebecca and the rest of the training team were so communicative and wonderful to work with. having worked with a different training facility for our lab, this experience was night and day in favor of Fidelio. one of the best parts is that the training support doesn't stop once your pup comes home. Donovan is available for calls/texts and does a home visit a few days after the homecoming. we will be friends for life. Fidelio was a god sent and made the difference between Bodhi becoming a part of our family or not. forever grateful. read more

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! read more

Fidelio Dog Works - Little Guy - Pet Training Near Me - Austin, Texas

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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 read 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. read more

Fidelio Dog Works - Duke - Pet Training Near Me - Austin, Texas

Easy 5 star review. From the get go it was clear that Donovan had command over the training session with my head-strong Mastiff and was able to quickly produce results where I struggled within minutes. But from my perspective, the real value of working with Donovan was his seemingly effortless ability to relate his techniques to me. He brought pulled me into his session and trained me (equally head-strong) so that I could easily reproduce his results on my own. I highly recommend Fidelio Dog works whether you need transformative training or just a top up. read more

Fidelio Dog Works - Pet Training Near Me - Austin, Texas

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! read more

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. read more

My family has a wonderful, super sweet dog named Birdie who really loves to bolt out of the front door and have a grand time chasing deer in the neighborhood. After getting desperate with her behavior, we reached out to Donovan. He did an amazing job in training her to stay in place, sit by the door when opened, and come back to us when we call her. Donovan is truly an amazing trainer- he was patient, kind, and direct with Birdie. We are so grateful his talent and instruction! read more

When our big dummy got kicked out of boarding for being an aggressive jerk, we were overwhelmed and didn't know what to do with him. Luckily when we reached out to Donovan, he had a spot open and immediately took Henry in. When we picked him up a few days later, he was a different dog. I'd say that Donovan did a great job training him..... but he really did a great job of training us. We learned that a lot of our behaviors were impacting Henry's life, and once we made some changes, he changed right along with us. With Donovan's guidance & training for us all, Henry is excelling. He is no longer aggressive, he knows boundaries and he is becoming the dog we always hoped for. During the training process, we had a couple slips in our behavior that we saw immediate impacts to Henry anyhow he acted. Now us people listen and behave so that our dog does too. Kudos to Donovan and Fidelio Dog Works! read more

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! read more

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! read more

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." read more

When we picked up 2.5-year-old Georgia (pit/retriever/other mix) from Austin Pets Alive! we had no idea what we were in for. Our beloved and well-behaved elderly Cowgirl had recently gone where good dogs go. She had been so easy that it didn't prepare us for what we were about to get. Having a dog for twelve years made me believe I was an expert. I now know that I am not, but the people at Fidelio Dog Works are. Our vet's office recommended Fidelio, and I looked at Yelp reviews to decide on whom to go with. We didn't want to spend a whole lot of money, but we figured we'd spend more on headaches and lawsuits if we didn't do something and quick. I contacted Fidelio Dog Works by e-mail and they responded immediately with professionalism and courtesy. They are up front about their rates and what they can do. I got an appointment with Stephen Haynes quickly, even though I live way far south. Stephen also checks back from time to time to see how things are going (I'm going to e-mail him after this!). We had a one-time session (base rate $170) with Stephen to focus on specific behavioral issues: people aggression, answering the door without utter dog craziness, and going for a walk without dislocating body parts. Note: this is not the place to go if you're afraid your dog will actually bite someone. It was like Stephen knew Georgia already. He worked with both of us to get her to back off when answering the door, how to deal with visitors, and we went for a walk using a gentle leader (which I couldn't get on her before and just using the leash was not an option). He discussed her various behaviors and gave good advice on how to fix them. He showed me step-by-step what to do to be effective with her and it's worked ever since. It's about three months later now and we no longer talk about the drastic measure of bringing her back to the pound. We are not that kind of people, but honestly, that's how bad it was and how much fear we had that she was going to hurt someone. She's not a "perfect" dog, but we've only worked on the issues of the greatest concern. Stephen will be completely honest with you (without being unkind). You have to do your part during the training and afterwards, because the training is for the owners as much as the dogs. I highly recommend Fidelio Dog Works. read more

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 read more

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. read more

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! read more

Wow. Just finished my first session with Lisa, and I am floored by how much of a difference she made. To truly give you the scope of how incredible this woman is, I feel the need to give you the whole backstory. So buckle up, cause it's about to get wordy. My darling pup Marnie is a pretty shy and fearful little girl. At 1 year old, she's so frightened of most people and things that we hadn't been able to even go on a walk without her planting or yanking me back home. The worst part was that she seemed to get more and more fearful by the day. I tried absolutely everything I could think of, exhausted google searches for "shy dog training," but it wasn't helping. It got to the point that I was dreading walks, because I knew how uncomfortable and unhappy Marnie would be, and how unfairly frustrated I'd get at her. I really felt like I was at my wit's end. So I scheduled appointments with Fidelio and another training service, hoping to see the two in action and choose the better fit. The other trainer's appointment was first, and she came over and tried some tactics that seemed to make things _even worse_. (They were more negative reinforcement than positive.) I was heartbroken when the training session was over, and I looked over at Marnie only to see even more fear and sadness in her eyes! I felt like weeks of progress had gone down the drain in one hour, and I had let it happen to her. (And if that wasn't enough, I paid for it too. Sheesh.) Distraught and utterly miserable, I fired off an email to Lisa asking for more information about her training methods, saying something like "if they're the same or even similar to what I experienced today, please cancel my appointment." Pretty rude. But how did Lisa respond? She gave me a call and kindly walked me through her methods, being very careful to say that she understood if I felt more comfortable canceling. No pressure, just letting me know how she does things. She also answered all of my questions, and told me to feel free to call her if I had any other questions or concerns. I got off the phone with a very good feeling about her, very excited to have her work with Marnie. The day before my appointment with Lisa, I hit a low point with Marnie. Things had devolved so far that I couldn't seem to even get her to go outside to pee. I was so sad for my dog, and so stressed out about not being able to provide her with a feeling of safety that I called Lisa. Lisa picked up the phone, listened, talked to me, calmed me down, and gave me some wonderful advice that got me through the rest of the day with ease. Then, our first session finally arrived! From the second she walked in, I could tell Lisa was a trained, certified and compassionate professional. And she continued to proved it over and over again by how she interacted with Marnie. I was so impressed to see how gracefully she handled Marnie's fear, and how quickly she was able to overcome it. Before long, she was even petting Marnie! I'm so happy to say that after one session with Lisa and her gentle, confident and positive training, not only was I able to boost Marnie's confidence with basic obedience (and my own, mind you), but we were able to go on our first long walk in a week. After ONE session! I can't say enough good things about Lisa. I'm so thrilled to have her in me and Marnie's life, and am seriously thanking God over and over again for helping me find her. I'll be singing Lisa and Fidelio's praises till the end of time! read more

Donovan is an amazing trainer! We picked up our pup from Austin Animal Shelter and she had pretty bad manners. I guess that's expected from a 2-time loser. In no time, Donovan had us confident and our pup was confident we were benevolent Alpha's. He's not cheap, but great isn't cheap! Pay the man and you will not regret it. We are now working on off-leash training and I never thought we would get close to where we are with her. The training truly works and Donovan is a patient, resourceful, professional, and talented trainer. We would recommend him for any pooch project. read more

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! read more

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. read more

Found Fidelio via a certified animal behaviorist that I had worked with in the past, Lauren Hays at Austin Canine Consulting, a highly professional, competent and pleasant behaviorist. When I contacted her again for training my two dogs, I learned that she was now at Fidelio, but only training aggressive dogs. Thus we worked with the trainer Candace Nolte for additional training for our two mixed breed rescues. I was not disappointed. Candace is the consummate professional, who is extremely competent at training us and our dogs. She was a pleasure to work with, had a calm demeanor and offered us many helpful suggestions as well.. We would not hesitate to work with Candace and Fidelio in the future and highly recommend them. It was a thoroughly satisfying and beneficial experience. read more

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.! read more

Steve Hayne's is what I call a dog magician. He worked miracles with all 3 of our dogs, one of whom has severe anxiety issues. He has improved our lives and the lives we have with our dogs by training our dogs and teaching us to manage our dogs better. I can't say enough good things about Steve Haynes! read more

Steve is amazing! He is truly the 'dog whisperer'. Our puppy was biting and chewing up rugs, our clothes, etc... After one hour with her she really no longer bites unless provoked by my 4 year old. He also worked on 'Leave it' which helped tremendously with her hanging on our pant legs and chewing up our rug. She remembered the leave it command so well that when my husband came home and I tried to show him the 'trick' by putting treats on the rug - she still wouldn't take them STILL! Amazing! Smart dog and GREAT trainer. Today was our 2nd one hour session and we worked on getting her to stay on her bed and I am amazed at the results there, too. So glad I searched for him as I was ready to send her away for a 10-day puppy boot camp and all she really needed was an hour. I would recommend Steve to anyone! read more

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! read more

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. read more

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. read more

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! read more

OMG! Fidelio dog works and owner/trainer - Steve Haynes is god sent gift! My dog had become aggressive to people and out of control and I did't know where to turn! I have noticed major differences in my dog with just 1 session and can't wait for Steve to come back in a month for follow up work! read more

Candace from Fidelio helped us teach good manners to our VERY active and stubborn 7-month-old wheaten terrier. After just a few lessons, I'm pretty certain the Fidelio folks are certified Dog Whisperers. Our puppy used to totally ignore us when we called her, but now comes eagerly. She used to pull on her leash forcefully, but is learning how to walk very nicely and pay attention to us during walks. And my personal favorite, she has learned how to sit in place (her bed) while I cook dinner, wash dishes or do anything that requires her to keep her sniffing nose away. The best part is that Candace has given me tools / information to keep the training going on my own time, so there's even more to come! read more

We just had our first training session with Steve today and I wanted to write a review right away in case anyone is looking for a dog trainer. I did quite a bit of research before deciding to work with him. Steve is the real deal (think Robert Redford in the Horse Whisperer)- He is amazing. My fiance and I were amazed how quickly he was able to get our German Shepherd puppy, Kai, to behave and start following commands. His approach is extremely positive and our dog responded very well. We are looking forward to our next sessions. I would give Steve the highest recommendation - he is the greatest thing since buttons on a shirt. read more

I cannot say enough about Candace with Fidelio! We have two three-month old Vizsla puppies and wanted to get them off to a good start. Two puppies is a bit more complex than one but Candace made excellent suggestions and broke out our sessions to accommodate both of my little girls. Literally after the first session, they could both sit! Amazing! Candace is extremely kind, gifted and very at ease. We love our sessions with her and cannot wait to continue our training. If you are looking for a trainer, do not hesitate! Fidelio is the best and training at home makes a huge difference! read more

Donovan worked miracles with our toy Australian Shepherd. We've had lots of dogs in the past, and we always took them to puppy classes for socialization and basics. However, the instructor this time chastised us for saying, "No." Literally. We were to reward him for being good, which we'd always done with other puppies. However, when he did something wrong, we could only ignore him or try to distract him. It just didn't work. We live in an apartment building, and it's impossible to ignore barking. It's impossible to ignore aggressive behavior towards other dogs. We hired a private trainer, and, sadly, the trainer was just like the puppy class instructor. Don't say, "No." Our puppy was a terror. Our vet could not let him sit in the reception area, because he was so aggressive. We were desperate. The vet said, "Try Donovan." What a relief! Donovan helped us relearn what we'd known for years. Training dogs can be fun, kind and effective. You reward good behavior, but you can also let your puppy know what he's not allowed to do. Our little guy has turned into a delightful companion, and we give Donovan all the credit. read more

Steve and team are awesome! Definitely recommend and would obtain his service should we get another puppy. It is money well spent! I always mention it to my friends and family when they ask why our puppy is so well mannered. If definitely makes having a large puppy a joy! read more