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Word takes a trip quickly in the close quarters of a major league clubhouse. It’s not unusual for gamers to sling suggestions and recommendations throughout the room, from dining establishments to holiday locations … and even dog fitness instructors.
That’s how Wesley Dawe, owner of Good DaweG, wound up with a growing contingent of World Series champs in his customers.
For Astros stars Yordan Alvarez, Mauricio Dubón, Jose Altuve and Martín Maldonado, Dawe is the go-to when it concerns looking after their dogs. The hectic life of an expert baseball gamer indicates they spend half of the routine season far from their cherished animals — though there will be dogs aplenty at Minute Maid Park on Sunday — so it takes a bargain of trust to leave their furry pals with another person.
If you ask, Dawe has actually made it in spades.
“Wesley has something that provides me self-confidence and convenience when I’m away and I leave them,” Dubón said. “That’s something I constantly search for, since those 2 people are basically my life today. It’s something that I trust him a lot with, and I do not leave my dogs with [just] any person.”
Dawe’s journey to where he is now hasn’t been direct. Before beginning Good DaweG, he had previous experience training bird dogs however had not operated in the field because the mid-2010s.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Dawe started moonlighting in dog training occasionally — and after that chose to pursue his enthusiasm full-time in July 2020. Dawe stopped his day job, opened Good DaweG and took as much space as possible in his 750-square-foot house to make it occur.
He was living, in his words, in a dog kennel.
“All of this blood, sweat, tears, and long nights and compromising a lot, has actually settled,” Dawe said. “I had kennels all over. I had 2 kennels in my room. The room beside my room had upwards of 7 kennels in it sometimes, and I would have kennels in my cooking area.”
Good DaweG was a one-man program up until just recently, and 3 years later on, Dawe’s effort has actually paid dividends. He’s handled to upgrade his space and broaden his operations — a lot so that when Alvarez started looking for someplace to board his dogs late last October, he was directed to Good DaweG.
As Houston’s 2022 World Series run was nearing a victorious close, Dawe was called by Alvarez’s better half, Monica, about looking after their 2 dogs — Milo, a Frenchie, and Luka, a King Charles spaniel. What began as boarding became periodic training sessions and even some cross-country travel when the Alvarezes employed Dawe’s help in transferring the dogs to Florida throughout the offseason.
Satisfied clients normally result in more. When Dubón started asking around the clubhouse about somebody to see his dogs – Marcelo, a Pug, and Cash, a Frenchie, in April, Alvarez advised Dawe.
And with Alvarez’s recommendation in hand, it was a no-brainer for Dubón to do the same.
“He’s extremely choosy,” Dubón said. “Alvarez is extremely choosy … so I understood my 2 people remained in good hands.”
Then came Altuve and his Cavapoo, Brunello, in June. His sibling, Carlos, likewise utilizes Good DaweG’s services — he and Dawe occurred to satisfy while playing leisure softball.
“[Alvarez and Dubón] truly like him, and they trust him,” Altuve said. “Obviously, my sibling and I, we’re extremely close, too, and he trusts him, too. So I’m like, this is sufficient for me to trust him, too.”
Maldonado and his Australian Labradoodle puppy, Venus, complete the group for the time being. The Astros’ backstop had actually heard appealing aspects of Dawe’s deal with his colleagues’ dogs prior to choosing to connect.
“That’s what I was searching for,” Maldonado said. “They said he’s really good at taking care of the dogs and all that things, so that’s excellent.”
For Dawe, it’s definitely a plume in his cap to have the support of 4 huge leaguers. But he discovers fulfillment in his work no matter whose dog he’s training. Drawing contrasts to the work his most widely known customers need to put in day in and day out, Dawe said he sees his deal with dogs as a craft that does not end as soon as he closes up purchase the day.
“Altuve will not improve at fielding grounders unless he practices fielding grounders, right? He’s not going to get stronger unless he goes to the gym and he works out and he puts in the reps over and over and over,” Dawe said. “People don’t really understand how consistent and how many reps you have to put into this until they get into it, and they’re like, ‘Holy smokes.'”
It may require a bounty of effort, but it’s rewarding for trainer and owner alike when the results begin to show. For Dawe, it’s a labor of love.
“I love dogs. I’ve always been around dogs. I never for once thought that I was going to be a dog trainer as my professional career,” he said. “It is the most gratifying feeling in the world when I’m able to take a dog that bites people and bites other dogs and is just completely chaotic, and turn them into a civilized dog in society.”
Dubón, in particular, said his dogs have been behaving noticeably much better after working with Dawe for a short time.
“We were in L.A., and actually my dad saw the difference, like, ‘Oh, he’s behaving. He’s here, sitting down. He’s chilling,'” Dubón said. “But I think we got the trainer because of me. I spoil them so much.”
Dawe’s skill with correcting their dogs’ behaviors is a plus, however for the quartet of Astros that use his services, it all goes back to how he treats them. Dogs are not simply animals, they’re long-lasting buddies, and they imply a bargain to the gamers and their households.
After all, the dog days of summer season aren’t so bad when man’s friend exists every action of the method.
“They become part of our family,” Maldonado said.
MLB.com Astros beat press reporter Brian McTaggart added to this story.
