Fron tiny Chihuahua mixes to a hulking Great Dane, trainer and Hancock newcomer Haeleigh Hyatt teaches each of her dogs an impressive repertoire of tricks and stunts, which they perform nationwide as Aim High Canines, her one-woman (and ten dog) enterprise.
During a performance, a quietly spoken cue sends Hyatt’s dogs racing into action, snapping Frisbees out of the air, turning flips, banking turns off Hyatt herself, and weaving between her legs as she takes them through varied routines that incorporate competitive canine disc, dock, and agility elements. Any dog has the potential for greatness, Hyatt tells her audience, a lesson she’s learned over her past decade of training them.
Growing up in Concord, Hyatt trained the family dogs to do little tricks, she said. In her teens she got two Chihuahua mixes of her own. They were just pets, she said, until she took a canine agility class through her college job at a kennel. “Then it all kind of spiraled out of control,” she said. Agility training transformed one of her dogs, from “being terrified of the world” to a confident and happy animal, she said. Soon after, a guest instructor introduced Hyatt to the world of freestyle Frisbee tricks, and she spent a couple years in the competition circuit. In 2015, she took a week off from work to help a colleague at her first professional gig, at a fair in Vermont. “By the end of it, I said I can’t see myself doing anything else,” she said. Currently, Aim High Canines is her full-time job.
Hyatt and her fiance moved to Hancock in July, where the dogs play in two quarter-acre yards. Every day, Hyatt takes each dog aside for short one-on-one training sessions while the others play. “It actually doesn’t take much time,” she said. “Dogs learn better if you teach them in shorter, more frequent training sessions. Three five-minute training sessions are more effective than a half hour session,” she said.
Every dog requires an individually-tailored training program. The star of the show, a six-year-old border collie named Sage, has epilepsy and requires special precautions, Hyatt said. Another of her dogs has a soft palate issue that makes it difficult to swallow, which means training is based on toy rewards rather than treats. Aiko the Great Dane is not particularly interested in Frisbee, so she’s learning a different series of tricks, Hyatt said. “Its really important to me that they enjoy what they’re doing, so I play to their strengths,” she said.
Hyatt takes trick and training ideas from all over, but some of her early mentors were founding freestyle disc competitors, and a woman who had previously worked with dogs in the Barnum and Bailey circus. “She has some really fun tricks,” Hyatt said. She learned lots early on from the breeder who provided Hyatt with three of her dogs: about how the canine mind worked, and how to think about what she as a trainer was doing, she said.
Many of Hyatt’s dogs are herding breeds. It’s no coincidence that those breeds are commonplace in shelters, she said, or that some of her own dogs came to her from families unable to care for such an energetic dog. One of her border collies lost its job on a farm by being too overzealous with the sheep, and Aiko was too much for her previous family to handle. That energy is perfect for what they do with Hyatt, however. “I make sure to tell people: ‘What you see here may be incredible, but it is not for your average household. It’s a lot of work. They’re really fun dogs, but a lot of energy,’” she said. It’s not uncommon for an audience member to ask her to train their dog after a show, Hyatt said, but it’s not something she regularly does. “I find it more beneficial to teach the person than to teach the dog,” she said.
Hyatt and her dogs have traveled the country for different performances and events. What’s it like driving for days with a van full of dogs? “It’s a trip,” she said, since accommodations willing to accept that many dogs aren’t always the ones she’d prefer to stay at. Big county fairs are a favorite for Hyatt, for their large, enthusiastic crowds. Another special performance came last November, when she and the dogs performed between games at the kickoff of the college basketball season at Madison Square Garden. Recently, the Hancock Town Library sponsored a performance in Moose Brook Park.
Do the dogs get stage fright in front of large crowds? Not in the way that people do, Hyatt said, but some dogs are more sensitive to the environmental stressors of those big venues. “I have one dog that… I would have never put in that situation,” at one point in their training, she said, due to a fear of loud noises they’ve since worked hard to overcome. “It’s important to know the dog so you can set them up for success,” she said.
Business is down this year, since many of the events Hyatt performs at have been canceled. “It’s unfortunate, but it has given me the time to work on some new material,” she said. It’s her hope to take on more work in New England, with more familiar audiences and communities.