About Mr. Fuzzles
CPDT-KA, CCDT
James Aguero is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer - Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA), CATCH Certified Dog Trainer (CCDT), and a certified Fear Free Pets trainer. He has been a member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers since 2020.
Committed to providing the most effective and achievable solutions for his clients' dog training needs in the city, James is always pursuing ongoing continuing education and professional development by attending several seminars annually and keeping current on industry literature. Fuzzles Dog Training considers not only training needs but pawrent lifestyle, drawing on years of experience working closely with humans and dogs in downtown Denver to help them grow together while doing what they love.
Although I grew up in a household where we always had three dogs in our yard and house, I don't remember ever taking them on a walk! Our dogs were lucky enough to have an enriched environment that was always available to them, and my family was lucky that they fit right into our lifestyle. That was in the suburbs - city life with dogs is very different.
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I've walked and boarded all types of dogs and personalities over the years in downtown Denver, and it can take a village to meet their needs when we live in small apartments surrounded by concrete. What I've found works best is having regulated fun in their favorite ways to build respect and attentiveness in even the most exciting environments. My goal is to help people move closer to the life they want to live with their dogs in a way that works for everybody!
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Safe Space
Fuzzles Dog Training is a minority and LGBTQ+ owned and operated dog training business. We serve and support pet guardians of all races, colors, national origins, sex, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. Xenophobic speech is a choice and will not be tolerated.
Hello, I'm James! I also go by Mr. Fuzzles, a "pet name" from my partner that stuck. I am a dog enthusiast turned professional walker turned professional trainer, and am happy to be helping to improve the lives of pups and their humans!
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I grew up in Houston, went to college at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, graduated with Bachelors in Marketing and Management (entrepreneurship focus), and moved to Colorado in 2014. I tried working in a corporate environment for a couple of years but found it to be monotonous, then took some time off to travel and be with my mom, who was diagnosed with late stage cancer.
Nugget, a walk client I started seeing as a young puppy, was a valuable partner in my early training education
The Original Fuzzles Pet Care Logo
I started to work with dogs through WAG in early 2017 as a way to be near dogs again. Although I grew up in a 3 dog household, my perception about dogs quickly changed from “cute pets” to “fascinating creatures” as I encountered a variety of personalities and temperaments. I grew frustrated with how inconsistent the app was and created my dog walking business, Fuzzles Pet Care, later that year.
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I loved being a dog walker! I quickly had a full roster of dogs I'd see every weekday, and my goal was to make sure they got the most out of our time together. I started studying and implementing training methods to save my arms from being pulled off, but went even further when I saw how much the pups wanted to work while doing their favorite things. Just a ball toss? Boring. Perform a skill for a ball toss? Physically and mentally exciting! For years, I wore out dogs by teaching them through games, and my interests grew beyond just exercise and welfare.
When the pandemic hit, I lost my workload as people stopped going into the office and it became risky to enter the homes of others, so I took the opportunity to dive into training head-first. I signed up for CATCH Canine Trainers' Academy's Masters Program which linked me up with a local trainer to shadow and learn from, gave me weekly opportunities to pick the brain of a highly vetted trainer, and the course load, homework, and testing expected of a comprehensive educational course.
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This coincided with everybody getting "pandemic pups" in 2020, which gave me plenty of neighbors to practice with! I was thrilled to spend so much time with puppies, and thankful for the trainer I was linked with to plan and work through training plans for more difficult cases. By the time I graduated from CATCH, I had worked with plenty of dogs presenting every issue imaginable and felt confident I could help the majority of people looking for training. I took the CCPDT-KA Certification Exam, passed with flying colors, and have been happily helping pawrents ever since!
I'm so thankful for all the neighbors that trusted me to work with them! It's been amazing helping so many pups grow into trusting companions