Good Work Dog is the project of Cyrus Heiduska (he/him/they/them), CPDT-KA and Family Dog Mediator.
I got my first Portuguese Water Dog in 2006, and they are a working breed with a high level of drive. I quickly found myself in “the deep end” living with a very demanding dog who needed tremendous amounts of physical and mental stimulation. I now have my third and fourth PWDs.
With the first one, I took him to the highest-rated trainer in town, and at the time that meant a so-called “balanced” trainer, meaning they use both reinforcement and punishment. For example, they taught us that the way to keep a dog from eating your human food was to place a plate of steak dinner on the floor, and when the dog approaches, to bang pots and pans loudly while yelling “OFF!” On the one hand, it worked: my dog became afraid to go near our food. On the other hand, he was also mortally terrified of all metal clanging sounds for the entire rest of his life. He would panic while walking past anything like a metal gate closing, or someone dropping a wrench. Poor guy! But over the course of his life I learned a lot about how to do a better job with him.
At a certain point I seriously needed a career change away from retail. My friend, who had seen how engagingly I worked with his dog, said “you should be a dog trainer!” I began researching and found that Whole Dog Academy was starting a school year for new trainers, so I enrolled–and it absolutely changed my life. In addition to finding myself feeling totally at home and inspired in this field, the modern training industry has largely moved away from punishment methods, so it feels ethically a lot better than it would have in earlier decades.
Today I do training, boarding, and adventure hikes full time and as a way of life. You can see photos of my off leash hikes here! I do agility, rally, and scent work with my current pair of PWDs. I take regular continuing education to build my knowledge base and keep up with the latest developments. I work with many other trainers, each of whom have their own specialization, so we can refer clients to each other to best fit the needs of the dog and its owner. I am a member of the Pet Professional Guild, and I maintain CPDT-KA certification from the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers. I am proud to help you be able to say “Good Work, Dog!“
