Barking commands

Newport Beach residents Guy Lugo and Ashley Minami were at the end of their leash with beloved Jack Russell terriers Rusty and Riley when they decided to hire a dog trainer.

Rusty and Riley were a terrible twosome on walks, barking and picking fights with the other neighbor- hood dogs. The dogs would lunge for stray balls in the courtyard of Lugo’s and Minami’s apartment complex. So frightening was Rusty and Riley’s behavior around other pets, the couple eventually began waiting only until late at night to walk their dogs, when no one else would be outside.

“It was embarrassing and scary,” Lugo said. “And it was unfair to them.”

Lugo and Minami watched the dog training reality show the “Dog Whisperer” on cable and interviewed several dog trainers, but struggled to find one that was affordable and effective.

“One said it would take over three grand to fix the dogs,” Lugo said. “One guy didn’t seem like he knew what he was doing.”

Lugo and Minami stopped watching the “Dog Whisperer” the day dog trainer Vladislav Roytapel walked into their home.

Roytapel, or “Vladae, the Russian Dog Wizard” to his clients, is something of a Rasputin with dogs. He claims he can speak five languages — including something he calls “doglish.”

Lugo and Minami said they saw vast improvements in their dogs after only one session with Roytapel. The couple recently walked Rusty and Riley to a nearby Starbucks and enjoyed a cup of coffee on the patio with no embarrassing dog faux pas, Lugo said.

When the doorbell rings, Rusty and Riley now head straight for an oversized pillow in the living room, sitting calmly when Lugo and Minami have guests, Minami said. Before Roytapel, the dogs would jump excitedly, much to the chagrin of their owners.

“People have so many problems with their dogs because they don’t speak doglish,” Roytapel said with an accent as thick as borscht. “Most dogs think ‘no’ is their nickname.”

With a few gestures, a high-pitched squeal or a throaty growl delivered from under his dark mustache, Roytapel can make even the baddest of bad dogs behave.

The word ‘no’ in doglish sounds something in between a growl, a hiss and a sneeze according to Roytapel, or “haaaathh.”

“This is the same sound that the doggy mama uses when the dog is small,” he said.