My Arrow the Airedale, canine star of stage and screen, was 8 weeks old when we began training with Jay Andors of Perfect Behavior Dog Training. Initially, I had contacted Jay to help me with “hand stripping”, a particular technique for grooming wire coated dogs. He explained that the very first step in grooming, for any dog, is to train for obedience— such as tolerating standing still, lying down, sitting—  and wow, did that make sense! 

 

Jay was fatherly, kind, patient, and had a clear syllabus of graded challenges and behaviors with which to follow over the course of the weeks of sessions that we had with him. He took the time to understand what my goals were for both home life and  the dream of having my dog work alongside me either as an animal assisted therapy dog (I was an occupational therapist) or as a showbiz dog (my other career). Jay helped me develop these goals and dream both big and small.

 

And thus, our sessions extended way beyond grooming—  to loose-leash walking, developing Arrow’s attention and focus, targeting (we went from my puppy simply touching a target with his nose or paw, to opening handicap/ accessible doors when he was tall and strong enough!), and much more— all when he was just months old! By the time he was 13 months old, Arrow had acquired his first professional gig— as “Sandy” at the 92nd St Y’s production of “Annie”.

 

It has now been 8 years of non-stop love and success with my dream dog. He has been on the set of Law and Order, New Amsterdam, She’s Gotta Have it Too, among others. He even has had multiple theater critics mention his perfect behavior in reviews! This month, my Arrow performed in his 7th professional production of Annie. 

 

During one performance, there was a technical error that stopped the show for 20 minutes. Arrow and I were given permission to come on the stage and entertain the audience with tricks and stories of his “pawsome” career, as well as participate in a Q&A with the captivated audience. Many questions centered around “how did you get Arrow to do THAT!?” And I found myself responding by explaining, "Jay Andors helped us with that!”

 

Jay’s mentorship and ongoing support has provided a life-long foundation of success for Arrow and our family, and we can’t thank him enough!

 

My Arrow the Airedale, canine star of stage and screen, was 8 weeks old when we began training with Jay Andors of Perfect Behavior Dog Training. Initially, I had contacted Jay to help me with “hand stripping”, a particular technique for grooming wire coated dogs. He explained that the very first step in grooming, for any dog, is to train for obedience— such as tolerating standing still, lying down, sitting—  and wow, did that make sense! 

 

Jay was fatherly, kind, patient, and had a clear syllabus of graded challenges and behaviors with which to follow over the course of the weeks of sessions that we had with him. He took the time to understand what my goals were for both home life and  the dream of having my dog work alongside me either as an animal assisted therapy dog (I was an occupational therapist) or as a showbiz dog (my other career). Jay helped me develop these goals and dream both big and small.

 

And thus, our sessions extended way beyond grooming—  to loose-leash walking, developing Arrow’s attention and focus, targeting (we went from my puppy simply touching a target with his nose or paw, to opening handicap/ accessible doors when he was tall and strong enough!), and much more— all when he was just months old! By the time he was 13 months old, Arrow had acquired his first professional gig— as “Sandy” at the 92nd St Y’s production of “Annie”.

 

It has now been 8 years of non-stop love and success with my dream dog. He has been on the set of Law and Order, New Amsterdam, She’s Gotta Have it Too, among others. He even has had multiple theater critics mention his perfect behavior in reviews! This month, my Arrow performed in his 7th professional production of Annie. 

 

During one performance, there was a technical error that stopped the show for 20 minutes. Arrow and I were given permission to come on the stage and entertain the audience with tricks and stories of his “pawsome” career, as well as participate in a Q&A with the captivated audience. Many questions centered around “how did you get Arrow to do THAT!?” And I found myself responding by explaining, "Jay Andors helped us with that!”

 

Jay’s mentorship and ongoing support has provided a life-long foundation of success for Arrow and our family, and we can’t thank him enough!