When Marco Magiolo lost his longtime companion in 2018, despair engulfed him.
Flecha experienced been section of his existence for 14 years, and the pair had ventured throughout 3 continents as a devoted duo.
Flecha — “Arrow” in Portuguese — was a border collie. With Magiolo serving as handler, the pet experienced captured titles in agility competitions in the United States, South The usa and Europe.
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“That canine was every thing for me,” reported Magiolo, a Davenport resident. “We traveled the earth with each other. And it was very, really, quite difficult for me to offer with that. You know, it is really a pet that is not just a pet. You journey with her you earn, you get rid of. It’s a partnership. So I was extremely depressed. I was in bed for like three times.”
At the urging of a friend, Magiolo satisfied with a therapist. As a grief exercise, the therapist instructed that Magiolo publish some of his recollections of his time with Flecha.
The assignment assisted Magiolo cope with his grief, and his writings turned the foundation for a trilogy of books, the “Canine Legends” collection. Magiolo will maintain a book signing for the recently posted “Volume 3” on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Historic Ritz Theatre in Winter season Haven.
Magiolo, 45, is an animal behaviorist and canine coach affiliated with Orchid Springs Animal Hospital in Wintertime Haven. A indigenous of Sao Paolo, Brazil, he claimed that he fashioned close bonds with canines beginning in early childhood.
“Since I keep in mind I was alive, we had canine in our household,” he said. “My dad and mom had puppies. When I moved to my initially place by myself, I experienced canines. Usually. I grew up in a pack of dogs.”
Magiolo claimed he acquired a master’s diploma in animal habits and worked as a veterinarian in Brazil. Because shifting to the United States in 2012, he has shifted to serving as a behaviorist, accomplishing instruction sessions with canine to deal with challenges ranging from potty training to intense or destructive tendencies.
He operates two times a week at Orchid Springs Animal Hospital and on other times does dwelling periods for personal shoppers.
That job may deliver to mind the operate of Cesar Millan, the self-proclaimed “Dog Whisperer,” who received renown as a result of a Television display on the Nationwide Geographic channel.
“Sometimes men and women contact me that,” Magiolo stated. “I do not like that name that a great deal, to be straightforward with you. I will not see myself as a pet dog whisperer.”
He claimed he attracts upon his know-how to interpret the overall body language and facial expressions of the canine he trains.
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Melissa Hood, a veterinarian at Orchid Springs Animal Hospital, mentioned that Magiolo provides a valuable component to the apply. She mentioned most veterinarians don’t get a lot teaching in animal conduct.
“I do not know everyone else in the point out of Florida that I personally know has the qualifications that he does,” Hood claimed. “He really fills a niche for us due to the fact I can just pull him in a room, because a whole lot of veterinarians, we are not seriously taught a ton about conduct, to be honest. So, I definitely rely on his opinion.”
Hood, who has labored with Magiolo for eight a long time, mentioned she appreciates his solution towards handling dogs’ behavioral issues. She said he avoids applying shock collars, as some trainers do, and he just about never ever asks her to prescribe prescription drugs for dogs he is education.
“I you should not want to knock anybody’s education solutions, but I feel his schooling methods are extremely organic, really compassionate,” Hood stated. “So that is absolutely just one of the positives. He actually knows his stuff. And occasionally it is really irritating for me because he will make it search so straightforward. Even as an operator, with my personal dog with habits problems, we go to attempt to do it and we are not able to.”
Magiolo’s comprehension of pet dogs deepened all through the 16 yrs he put in routinely primary canines in agility competitions. In distinction to the “best in show” conformation functions dependent on look, agility contests include puppies racing via obstacle programs made up of hurdles, ramps and tunnels.
“I always had border collies,” he mentioned. “They’re really good with commands. They are incredibly smart. They are quite quickly. They have a organic aerodynamics on them. So if you go to a present, you are heading to see a large amount of border collies running.”
Magiolo competed 1st with Flecha and then with a border collie named Fox and a different named Brown. He stated he won the most titles with Brown, who died in 2021. His latest pack of canines at house contains Jack Bauer, the son of Brown and Flecha.
The impetus for turning his penned memories of pet dog competitions into a e book arrived in 2020 from a customer who occurred to be an author. Magiolo stated he mentioned his writings to the girl, who requested him to share some of the essays.
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“And I despatched it to her, she examine it and she said, ‘This is a e-book. This is awesome,’” Magiolo recalled. “I never had prepared a e book in advance of, and English is not my first language. It was a challenge. So, she served me to create the tale about that canine, and about the vacation and about the competition considering that the starting.”
He reported the consumer declined to be outlined as a co-author or in any other case credited, telling him he experienced carried out all of the creating, and still needs to be nameless.
Magiolo explained the guides as 70% autobiographical and 30% fiction, with the protagonist, Marquito, dependent on himself. Though the textbooks emphasize canine competitions, the tale has deeper dimensions.
“The guide is not just about competition,” Magiolo said. “Marquito needed to offer with some pretty rough own dramas, like the (imprisonment) of his father. When he is 18 a long time aged, he sees his father going to jail. And you can find this full drama. The federal police just consider all the family’s income simply because they find the crimes of the father. The mom requirements to begin doing the job in a grocery shop, making minimum amount wage.”
Marquito, serving to to care for a young brother, takes a career at a doggy kennel and later works at a ranch owned by breeders of border collies. That is wherever he meets Flecha/Arrow.
“So, Arrow is this frightening (frightened) very little puppy, much scaled-down than the regular border collie,” Magiolo explained. “So no one wants her since she’s too little.”
Marquito starts working with Flecha, and the operator tells him the puppy is his.
“And they fairly considerably support every other,” Magiolo said. “Arrow gets every little thing for him. Just imagine about an 18-, 19-calendar year-aged boy who sees his father in jail. His mother’s doing the job her ass off to carry food items dwelling. And Marquito starts competing with her and creating funds in competitions and aiding the family members. It is a vintage hero’s journey, you know?”
Magiolo has self-published all three volumes, which are available through Amazon and other shops. The release of the initially reserve prompted contacts from Hollywood businesses interested in the motion picture rights, he reported. Magiolo collaborated with an knowledgeable writer in Los Angeles on a screenplay, and he said they are now in negotiations on a doable film adaptation.
Gary White can be arrived at at [email protected] or 863-802-7518. Abide by on Twitter @garywhite13.
