Head trainer Tom Kerwin's English mastiff, Chance, often keeps him company in the Saratoga School for Dogs front office. He might look sad, but he's actually very happy--especially when his girlfriend, Saratoga, is visiting.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Boarding School
Saratoga School for Dogs is a home away from home
By Shari Kaplan
Photographs by Kathy De La Torre
From the outside, it has all the makings of a "best-kept secret" of Saratoga. Located along a residential portion of woodsy Fruitvale Avenue with no sidewalks, the building looks just like someone's comfortable, ranch-style house.
That's no mere coincidence. The gravelly driveway down which students and boarders flock from throughout Saratoga, Los Gatos and beyond once did lead to a home--that of the Sylvias, a longtime Saratoga family. Off to the side, part of the property is still home to Kelly Sylvia and her younger son Gennaro, a student at Saratoga High School.
For over a decade, however--and steadily since 1989--the front door has welcomed family and friends of a different sort: those who are furry and frisky and walk on all-fours.
Although it may look like a well-kept secret, the Saratoga School for Dogs at 14451 Fruitvale Avenue is anything but, as testified to by the several obedience classes it offers each week just to keep up with client demand.
Its boarding facilities are a similar example of supply and demand. If clients want to go away over Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year, they need to make reservations to board their dogs before the summer is over--otherwise, they'll discover there's no room at the inn. There are waiting lists, however.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Becky Taylor, general manager at Saratoga School for Dogs, bathes her own dog, Saratoga. Every dog who boards at the kennel gets an oatmeal shampoo, coat conditioning and blow-dry before going home.
According to the local phone book, the South Bay area offers more than three dozen pet boarding facilities and some two dozen training schools. So what keeps Saratoga School for Dogs so busy all the time?
It's the humans working there, who see dogs not through people-eyes but, through the canines' own eyes. This is a tenet on which the business was founded in the 1950s, when the late Mary Sylvia started the first incarnation of Saratoga School for Dogs.
Her son, the late Arthur "Art" Sylvia, was a dog-lover since childhood, who worked as a police dog trainer and, later, as an officer with the Morgan Hill Police Department. Sylvia came back to the family business in 1989 and, with the help of his wife, Kelly, ran the business as Sylvian Resort Kennel/Saratoga School for Dogs. The business now goes by the second half of its name only, even though it also operates as a boarding kennel.
"Art was awesome; he had a gift for dogs," says general manager Becky Taylor. "That man could read a dog before he even talked to it," she says of Sylvia, who died in 1999.
"We believe in the humanization of dogs. We have a constant hands-on approach with dogs, not just 'here's your food, bye!' " Taylor says of the Sylvian philosophy. "If we've got someone who wants to work here, if they don't make any contact with the dogs as we show them around the place, it's bye-bye, before they even have an interview.
"These are people's babies--they need to have human contact. I pull up my sleeves and get in there with everyone else who works here," Taylor adds, smiling.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
A well-lit, enclosed outdoor arena allows dog owners to attend classes with their pets day or night.
Not all dogs feel the same way about people, however. The school has a safeguard in place to avoid incidents between them and its employees. The kennel portion has a mandatory--but complimentary--trial visit of two to four hours for all dogs whose owners are considering boarding them there.
"We'll turn down any dogs who seem aggressive, or stressed to be here. That's why we pre-screen them," says Taylor, explaining that boarding a dog who is unhappy about the experience can make for a difficult relationship for both the dogs and humans. Additionally, she says, aggravated dogs release a "stress scent" that other dogs can detect and be upset by, even if they were in a good mood initially.
Most dogs, however, are in good moods at the school. One reason for this is that each canine gets 30 minutes of one-on-one playtime in an enclosed outdoor play area with Taylor, head trainer Tom Kerwin or one of the school's other employees.
Saratogan Jody Sclavos, her husband and children travel frequently, so she likes the idea that she can leave her 3-year-old golden retriever, Samson, "among friends" when the family goes on vacation. "He feels like he's on a vacation when he goes there!" she says, verbalizing her fluffy companion's thoughts. She also appreciates the fact that all boarders--whether socialized with other dogs or not--get to play with the staff apart from other dogs.
"I think the potential for injury or illness at boarding kennels is greater when the dogs are allowed to run around together," Sclavos says.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Dave Klingler of Saratoga walks his 5-month-old golden retriever, Jazz, during one of the exercises led by Tom Kerwin at Saratoga School for Dogs' enclosed outdoor arena.
Each boarder gets to enjoy one of 50 outdoor runs that are disinfected daily; there's also an air-conditioned and radiant-heated indoor sleeping area and a micro-mist system that keeps the outdoor areas cool even during hot summer weather. Although the kennel provides bedding for all its boarders, clients are encouraged to bring their dogs' favorite pillows, blankets or toys. Boarding fees also include high-quality natural dog food, but, again, owners are welcome to bring any specific foods or treats that they wish their dogs to be served.
"I've had dogs as long as I've had kids, and that's a long time!" laughs Los Gatan Lois Schneer, who also owns a golden retriever. "At any other places I've boarded my dogs, they've come back crazy and upset. When Lance comes home, it's like he feels 'oh, I just came back from my other home!"
When Art Sylvia became ill toward the end of the 1990s, he wanted to train another generation to carry on his work, Taylor says. He found what he was looking for in Taylor, who also happens to be his daughter-in-law. This worked well for the family, as Kelly and Gennaro Sylvia were still helping out as well.
Sylvia also handed the position of head dog obedience trainer over to Kerwin of Los Altos--but not until Kerwin had proven himself by attending and assisting with many of the obedience classes that Sylvia lead.
"My whole life I've been involved with dogs as pets," says Kerwin, who worked in medical product sales for 20 years before he became acquainted with Art Sylvia--first, as a client and, then, as someone whom he came to regard as a loving older brother. Kerwin initially discovered the school about a decade ago, when he wanted to train his Irish setter and a friend recommended Sylvia's school.
Kerwin now owns a lumberingly lovable English mastiff--and Saratoga School for Dogs graduate--named Chance, who looks forward to coming to work with Kerwin because it's a chance to see his "girlfriend"--Taylor's golden retriever, Saratoga.
"As a salesman, you have to sell your product whether it's good or not. This is the first job where I realized that whatever I tell people about the 'product,' it's the truth!" says Kerwin with a chuckle, who estimates he's trained 5,000 to 6,000 dogs over the years--from miniature dachshunds to Great Danes, and everything in between.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Along with obedience classes, the Saratoga School for Dogs also offers 50 kennels and runs in which dogs are boarded. Every kennel is disinfected daily.
In response to the increasing public fear of large dogs and increased reporting of dog bites, following the January death of a San Francisco woman at the jaws of a Canary Island mastiff, Kerwin says he's had a significant increase in phone calls from people concerned about their dogs.
Either they're worried the dogs may have some aggressive tendencies, he says, or they're worried because their dogs have nipped a few times in the past. Something good that he says has come out of the attacks is that owners now pay closer attention to their dogs' behavior, and are more likely to notice and correct any problems.
"I tell people that if they have a dog, they should know how to control it," Kerwin says, adding that it's easy to teach dogs--or allow dogs--to be aggressive, but it's hard to teach them to stop. It comes down to the upbringing and training of the dog; owners must have their dogs' respect and must make it clear what behaviors are acceptable.
Less serious, but nonetheless unacceptable, behaviors Kerwin teaches his clients to tackle with their dogs include elimination problems and excessive digging, chewing, jumping or barking. His nine-week classes also cover commands--both via voice and silent hand signals--such as sit-stay, down-stay, heel and come. He also offers protection training and training that prepares dogs for exhibition in the show ring.
"We've never flunked a dog, but we've had owners who have flunked," Kerwin says. By this he means that owners must learn to take responsibility for their dogs' actions and must be able to get the dogs to obey them just as they obey Kerwin. "It's all about the owners. In the course, it takes about 1 1/2 hours to train the dogs and 6 1/2 hours to train the owners," he says, chuckling.
Neither Lois Schneer nor her dog, Lance, were among the flunkies.
"I believe anyone who has a dog owes it to the dog to have it trained properly," Schneer says. "Lance listens much better after going through the training. Tom's training is very practical, sensible and down-to-earth."
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Kim Fisher of Cupertino greets her Jack Russell terrier, Orbit, after kennel technician Arturo Flores brought Orbit to the lobby. Fisher boarded the dog for five days while her house was being remodeled.
Kerwin recalls that he was very complimented when Sylvia once told him he had a way with dogs similar to that of Sylvia's. "I tell clients that everybody has gifts in life, and mine is that I can communicate with dogs," Kerwin says. "I can do stuff no one else can do, just like other people can do things that I can't do."
"They're very much about off-leash training. I like that. Tom works from day one to do it off-leash. He's very strict, but very good, with the dogs," says Sclavos.
She and Samson attended basic obedience training classes at another school in the past, but she later decided he needed a "refresher course" and enrolled him in a beginning obedience class at the Saratoga School for Dogs. "I think what he liked best about that was showing off in front of the other dogs," she says, chuckling.
"When we go running, if I take Samson down Fruitvale, he just goes insane when we pass by there," Sclavos says of the school. "It's kind of like when you take your kids past the house of a babysitter or nanny whom they love."
For more information about the Saratoga School for Dogs, call 408.867.9223.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
