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Tag: dog fence

March 17, 2024

DogWatch Dog Story: Maggy

Maggy is a sweet, spunky English Springer Spaniel who has graduated from DogWatch hidden fence training. She’s so adorable and has such a fun personality, Jake and Afton with DogWatch are considering getting an English Springer puppy of their own. She lives in Mendota Heights where she loves running along as her parents and human siblings ride their bikes.

Before Maggy came into the picture, her family had a beloved Springer Spaniel named Angel. She was an affectionate and endearing girl who was so precious, her dad couldn’t imagine losing her. That’s when they called DogWatch to install a hidden fence. Angel was a little nervous at first and needed some coaxing to get her around the yard. But she learned her new boundaries and lived a long, happy life enjoying her freedom.

Maggy could never replace Angel, but she came into the house and revitalized the energy (and sometimes chaos). Unlike Angel, Maggy learned her boundaries very fast and never hesitated to use every inch of her yard. All dogs are a little different when it comes to acclimating to a dog fence and the new boundaries, even when being trained the same way. But in the end, they can all learn and enjoy the benefits.

March 12, 2024

DogWatch of the Twin Cities: a husband and wife team

Jake and Afton Steigauf are the owners and operators of DogWatch of the Twin Cities. They took over the business from Afton’s dad Guy, who started taking care of local dogs in 1991. Afton grew up around the business and learned all about the benefits of having a DogWatch hidden fence. She has been a dog lover since birth. Jake came in with a love of working outdoors and the ability to accomplish any physical task. He can install a dog fence wire in the most impossible places, and make a yard look better than when he arrived. He has become the biggest dog person in the family.

Jake and Afton have two small children. Who knows, maybe one day they’ll run the business! They also have a big Black Lab named Moose, and a small black and white cat named Murph. Both pets love the freedom of running around their yard in Chaska, and Jake and Afton love that they can’t get in trouble in the creek or on the road.

When he’s not working, Jake is a typical Minnesotan who loves snowmobiling, boating and fishing at the cabin, and deer hunting. Afton joins in on the outdoor sports, and also loves traveling, cooking, and paint by number. The whole family enjoys E-biking together all around Chaska and beyond.

The Steigaufs would love to work with you and your family.

March 19, 2019

DogWatch Dog Story: Mudge

Mudge the St. Bernard from Chanhassen is a DogWatch dog, but his family didn’t always work with DogWatch of the Twin Cities. With their previous dog, Mudge’s parents bought a dog fence from another company and it worked well to keep that dog in the yard. When they got Mudge, though, they decided to call us at DogWatch to help train him.

We put up boundary flags to show Mudge the boundaries of his yard and got to work. Mudge’s mom told us from the beginning: “He’s the sweetest puppy ever, but he doesn’t want to walk on the leash. He won’t try to pull you around, he’ll just lay down and not want to get back up.” And she was exactly right!

We had to get creative to train Mudge. Typically, we bring dogs around the yard on a leash over and over to help them learn where the boundary is and to stay inside the flag line. But if a huge St. Bernard doesn’t want to walk, that doesn’t quite work. Instead we focused on showing Mudge one flag at a time, we got his favorite toys involved, asked the neighbors to let their dogs out, and walked around with him off-leash (not usually recommended!).

After four days, we were happy and Mudge was happy. Finally, he was able to just take a nap in the yard. And his owners were able to trust that he wouldn’t walk off, even if they went to get the mail or went inside.

April 10, 2018

DogWatch Dog Story: Daisy

Daisy and her family moved to Eden Prairie from out of state, and they immediately had a DogWatch hidden fence installed. She learned about her new yard, her new neighbors, and her boundaries all at the same time, and she easily learned where she could and couldn’t go. She’s a sweet, loving girl. But like many dogs, she’s very attached to her owners.

The combination of that attachment and the new house caused Daisy to start getting into trouble when she was home alone. She would scratch at all the doors and ruin the frames. Eventually she learned how to open the sliding back door. When her family would come home Daisy was outside, and they were so confused! Luckily she stayed in the yard, but still it wasn’t ideal.

Indoor Boundaries were the solution for Daisy. We set up the IB-100 disc near the sliding door and put up some indoor flags keep Daisy away. She knew what the flags meant from her recent outdoor training. But if she felt brave and approached that door, she got a correction. She stopped letting herself outside and scratching at that door.

After she got used to her new house and got some new toys to keep her busy, Daisy and her family were settled and happy in Eden Prairie. They had to get some new doors, though.