Haggerty established his school, dog-training academies were almost unknown in the United States. Haggerty also played bit parts in several movies, including "Married to the Mob" and "Honeymoon in Vegas." Clean, and for some years he portrayed that character at Procter & Gamble trade shows.Ī frequent guest on the "Late Show With David Letterman" - he appeared on it more than two dozen times - Mr. Minus the cape, he looked a great deal like Mr. He had a cue-ball shaved head and a meaty Bronx accent and often sported a cape. In his prime, he was 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 350 pounds. Haggerty, who used his military title as a marketing masterstroke, cut an imposing figure on television and the lecture circuit. He trained dogs for the United States military during the Vietnam War, for police departments around the country and for many Hollywood celebrities. Haggerty trained dogs for more than 450 television commercials and more than 150 feature films, including "Eyes of Laura Mars," "Shamus" and "The Pawnbroker." He trained dogs for Broadway ("Annie") and for daytime dramas ("All My Children" and "The Guiding Light"). For many years, he presided over Captain Haggerty's School for Dogs, which he founded in Manhattan 45 years ago and later moved to Los Angeles. Haggerty was widely credited with establishing dog training as a respectable profession in this country.
The cause was cancer, said his daughter, Babette Haggerty-Brennan.Ī former Army captain, Mr. Haggerty, perhaps the most famous dog trainer in the United States, who was familiar to legions of dog owners as Captain Haggerty and to legions of dogs as He Who Must Be Obeyed, died on July 3 in West Palm Beach, Fla.