Steve Miles has lived and worked all over the country but has spent most of his life in the San Francisco Bay Area. Born and raised in Palo Alto, California, Steve got his first dog at age 12 and has rarely been without a canine companion at his side since.
After a brief career playing professional football, Steve started his dog training career in Georgia. Working as an apprentice to a dog trainer in Georgia who used behavioral modification methods to train dogs at a large training facility, Steve soon realized that it did not take weeks or months to train dogs in five basic commands:
· Collection
· Sit
· Down
· Doorway behavior
· Recall
If done correctly and consistently the training could be completed in a matter of hours.
Upon returning to California, Steve found that his services were in demand. He was able to help people in their own homes in a short period of time to learn to train their own dogs...and Steve Miles One Day Dog Training was born.
When he is not training dogs, Steve is busy at Miles Ranch, the horse retirement ranch that he and his wife Tasha own in Corralitos, California. Steve and Tasha have their own ever-expanding dog pack as well as a variety of rescue animals including cats, birds, bunnies, goats, pot-belly pigs, miniature donkeys, cows, alpacas, sheep, goats and giant tortoises.
“I feel so lucky to be able to make a living doing what I love more than anything else. The reward is the gratification I get when I have helped someone understand and work with their dog in a way they did not think was possible.”
Please be aware that Steve has a significant visual impairment due to a progressive retinal disease. He does fine in mid-day outdoor lighting but has trouble adjusting to indoor lighting and working in heavily shaded or dark areas. He has managed to compensate for his limitations and still does as good a job as ever training but we like for people to be aware of this in advance. If you’re uncomfortable with this Steve would be happy to discuss it with you.
Please note that we don’t train intact male dogs over 12 months of age. The reason for this is that intact males tend to have an edge to them that makes the training more of a struggle for dominance than it needs to be. We like to encourage all owners to spay and neuter their dogs and have made the choice not to train intact males.
“Steve has saved my sanity, my marriage, and brought peace back into our home. Steve came to our home and I could not believe that right before my very eyes our now four year old, strong-willed, extremely high energy, Havanese female was transformed into a calm, obedient member of the family. 5-stars isn’t enough when you’re talking about a man who delivered on his promise and brought peace back into our home. ”
The Story of Hamish
Hamish died on 1/12/09 at the ripe old age of 16, but his legacy lives on. He will be sadly missed as he was loved in life. He taught Steve so much, and many dogs—and their people—reap the rewards.
In 1993 Steve was working as a dog trainer in Georgia. At that time he did not have a dog of his own, and was looking for one that could be both a pet and a demonstration dog to use during training sessions. When he heard through a friend about a dog who desperately needed a new home, he immediately went to take a look. This turned out to be Hamish, who was living outdoors on 100 acres of land in the backwoods of rural Georgia.
His owner "didn't like the looks of him" so Hamish had never been allowed inside the house, even during the freezing winter months. Not yet a year old, the little dog had already lived through a lifetime of tragedy. A few months before Steve met him, Hamish had been run over by a truck and had severely broken one of his rear legs. The owner had found him dragging his leg behind him, washed the blood off in the creek, and gave him three days to improve or be shot.
Amazingly, Hamish survived. But shortly afterward he was hit by a car, and in this accident his jaw was broken and severely displaced. The owner pushed his jaw back into place, and once again washed the dog off in the creek and gave him three days to improve or else.
Again, the dog's will to live overcame the odds. But this second accident gave him a permanent sneer that has become his trademark.
On the day that Steve first saw him, the young dog was lying under a tree on a bed of leaves, attempting to stay warm. He was matted, dirty, and thin. Steve decided on the spot that this was his dog. Since Hamish's owner was only too happy to give him away, Steve took Hamish that very day and neither one of them ever looked back.
At first Hamish was afraid to enter Steve's house because he had never been allowed in a house before. Gradually, with patience and love from Steve, he adjusted and learned to trust again.
Hamish and Steve eventually moved back to California where Hamish was able to spend the rest of his days as a ranch dog. He was joined by many other dogs and animals but always remained the head of the pack until his passing.
In the spring of 2000 Steve and his wife bought a 50 acre ranch in Corralitos where they retire horses and take care of their own 5 dogs and assortment of other animals.
