Good Neighbor Podcast: Fort Collins

Unleashing Potential: The Dog Wizard Way

• Nick George • Season 1 • Episode 106

Share episode

Ever wondered what it takes to transform a challenging canine into a well-behaved companion? Meet Ro Romain, the Dog Wizard of Fort Collins, who's dedicated his life to strengthening the bonds between dogs and their owners through balanced training techniques.

Contrary to popular belief, proper dog training doesn't change your pet's personality or damage your relationship. As Ro explains, "Training should not change your dog, it should just make them better and your relationship should get better." His approach focuses on establishing clear expectations, which creates the foundation of trust and respect essential for any healthy relationship. Whether you're struggling with a new puppy or dealing with aggression in an older dog, The Dog Wizard offers customized solutions for pets of all ages and temperaments.

What truly sets Ro's business apart is the ongoing support provided long after the formal training concludes. "It's not about the money," he emphasizes, "it's about you guys being successful in whatever achievement or training that you have, and then having support after it's done." This commitment to building a lasting community—or as Ro calls it, a "family or pack"—ensures clients never feel abandoned once their program ends. With locations in Fort Collins, Denver, and Indiana, The Dog Wizard has expanded while maintaining its personalized approach to canine behavior modification.

Ro's passion extends far beyond business hours—when asked what he does for fun, his answer is simply "dogs." With eight of his own representing various breeds, he participates in protection sports, detection training, and hunting work. This immersive lifestyle reflects his genuine dedication to understanding canine behavior at the deepest level. Ready to transform your relationship with your four-legged friend? Contact The Dog Wizard Fort Collins at 970-632-2363 or visit thedogwizard.com to learn how clear communication can create harmony between you and your canine companion.

Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Nick George.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a dog wizard, somebody who's excellent in behavioral modification for your pup or large dog? Well, one might be closer than you think. Today I have the great pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Ro Romain, the dog wizard of Fort Collins. Ro, how's it going?

Speaker 3:

I'm good, how are?

Speaker 2:

you Good. We're excited to learn all about your practice. Tell us about it.

Speaker 3:

Basically, we're just a group of balance trainers here in Fort Collins. It is like an independently owned franchise, so it is something that is specific to the neighborhood and things that we do in our culture with dogs, but we train dog from puppies all the way up to older dogs with aggression and dog activity things like that. But the main goal is to build a better relationship between the owner and the dog how did you get into this business in the first place?

Speaker 3:

uh, I had a very interesting dog, to be honest, um, and it kind of sparked a passion, found a mentor, like what you should and usually do, and she taught me some stuff. To work for somebody else for a couple years, they taught me some stuff. And then I found a franchise. I was going between should I go to franchise route or just independently, but I found a franchise that kind of fit what I did and how I did it, um, and then from there it just became easy, you know. And then I have another location, one in Denver and then one in Indiana. Indiana was the first one, and then I got the opportunity to get this one, which was great because this is where I started training dogs. So it was a beautiful experience for me.

Speaker 2:

Awesome. What are some myths or misconceptions in your industry?

Speaker 3:

I think people have a huge misconception that training kind of breaks the relationship or changes the dog. I don't believe that good training should do that. I think it should just make your bond stronger and you guys are now on the same page in terms of expectations. Because of any good relationship whether it be like animal, human or human, human, animal, animal, like there needs to be a level of like, trust and respect there and expectations. And I think the clearer the expectations, the easier it is for you guys to get along, you know. So training should not change your dog, it should just make them better and your relationship should get better.

Speaker 2:

We know that marketing is the heart of every business. So who are your target customers and how do you attract them? Now, I mean, we talked about this before we started recording and you made it sound like you're not training attack dogs.

Speaker 3:

So go ahead. Yeah, so target customer wise I'd say everybody. Like we don't have a specific group. We do also do some working dog stuff. So even working dog people and people with detection and stuff like that, so everyone. If you want to do detection protection, pet dogs, like you, have a place to do that here in Fort Collins.

Speaker 2:

Awesome. Have you ever thought about doing your own podcast? No, should I? I don't know. Is there anybody else in your industry that's owning it like that?

Speaker 3:

There are a couple of people I don't think here in Colorado there are, but I know a couple of people, a couple of my friends, that do their own podcasts and stuff like that.

Speaker 2:

Sometimes. You know, the old wisdom in any trade is not to overeducate the customer. I mean, I came from the car business and they definitely don't like that is not to over educate the customer. I mean, I came from the car business and they definitely don't like that. But I find that podcasting is a way for people to give samples of what they do in a way that makes people want to come back after they've gotten some free wisdom. So just throwing that out there, Please tell her outside of work, what do you do for fun?

Speaker 3:

Honestly, dogs, to be honest with you, like it's my life which is weird for people to hear, to talk about burn and all these things.

Speaker 2:

But if I'm not training other people's dogs.

Speaker 3:

I'm training my own dogs. I have like a pack of eight, a bunch of different breeds in there and we do sports stuff. So again, I do the protection stuff. So we take part in this club or association called PSA it's Protection, sports Association so we do that. We have a couple of detection dogs we're getting into hunting dogs and then we have like hiking pets, like just that's just how our life goes, but it is pretty fun, ro.

Speaker 2:

Please tell our listeners one thing they should absolutely take away from our podcast today about Dog Wizard, fort Collins.

Speaker 3:

I think the one thing is like we care about people and their dogs. Um, it's not about the money, it's about you guys being successful in whatever like achievement or training that you have, and then having support after it's done. I think that's what set us apart from most people like it's not just like, okay, cool, your program's done, we're done. It's like you build a family or a pack forever. You have places to go to, you have people to ask questions to, things like that, where again, you're supported after the program itself is completed.

Speaker 2:

And Ro, please tell our listeners one thing that or how they can learn more about your company online, through social media and the old-fashioned way by phone.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so by phone you can give us a call at 970-632-2363, that would be one of our lines. And then our social media, both on facebook and instagram, is the dog wizard fort collins or the dog wizard foco um, and then our website, the dog wizardcom. You're going to enter a zip code and it's going to take you where you need to go and we can just kind of go from there.

Speaker 2:

Well, roe, we really appreciate you being on our show and we wish you and dog wizard Fort Collins the very best moving forward. Thank you.

Speaker 3:

I appreciate it, you guys as well.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to the good neighbor podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNP Fort Collinscom that. Go to gnpfortcollinscom. That's gnpfortcollinscom, or call 970-438-0825.