PDTE 2016 July Newsletter

Robert
Llorente
Spain
Iam Robert Llorente, a dog
trainer from Tortosa, Catalonia.
I have been training dogs since
2006 and teaching new trainers
since 2010, as well as organizing dog
training courses and events. This year I
graduated with Masters of Veterinary
Clinical Ethology at the UAB
(Universitat Autonoma Barcelona).
These days I live with my five dogs
(four staffies and one mix), all of
whom have their own personality
and abilities, which complement each
other, making a diverse and complete
team for a variety of different cases.
Tilly
Mrofcynski
Netherlands
M
y name is Tilly
Mrofcynski. From the
moment I got my first
dog on my twelfth birthday, my life has
been about dogs, both my own dogs
and other’s dogs. I’ve done all kinds of
jobs with dogs. I worked as a groomer,
Blue is good for using to work with
dogs suffering from fear, as she
respects the space of the other dogs
and reassures them from a distance.
Lisa is better with active dogs or
puppies as she uses play to calm down
the situation or the other dog. Homer
is used with small dogs for a variety of
problems as he is very self-confident
and ignores all bad behaviours from
other dogs. Maggie is the first dog I
introduce to an aggressive dog I am
working with because she remains still
and lets the other dog interact with
her. They are the most important part
of the team, because without them, I
would never finish the special classes
with other dogs.
Another activity I’ve been doing with
dogs, is taking them to children’s
schools. Some schools also come to
my center. We educate the children
on how to treat and care for dogs,
show them respect and interspecific
communication.
I’m trying to raise awareness amongst
people that this breed, can be
wonderful. I don’t like the law here
with dog breeders, as a veterinary
assistant and spent years taking care
of dogs in shelter.
Despite following several studies and
courses on animal-behaviour and care
I hadn’t found satisfying answers for
many questions. I found out that a
lot of solutions for dog-behaviourrelated
problems were not long-term
solutions and they often didn’t feel
right to me. I kept the feeling that
something was missing.
In 2007 I started teaching groups of
dog owners at a dog school. It was
at that time that someone gave me
Turid Rugaas’ book about calming
signals. I immediately loved this book.
By respecting the natural behaviour
of dogs so much more seemed to be
in Spain regarding dangerous dogs.
I believe that we need some laws
regarding dangerous dogs, but not
the existing ones. For example if you
own a breed of dog considered to be
dangerous you must put a muzzle on
the dog in public places, you cannot
use a lead longer than one meter and
if you own more than one “dangerous
dog” you are only allowed to walk one
dog at a time.
I have a business partner and we teach
together. We have a social club that
meets every week. The owners and
their dogs can come to our center and
spend time interacting. We also have
other activities: walking through the
city or the forest, games with teams,
activities to find something (food,
people), socialize some reactive dogs
in groups (when the dogs are ready to
be there).
I’m very interested in dog
communication: among themselves
and with humans. I emphasize on this
in my classes, because if you don’t
understand how they communicate
you can’t communicate with them.
possible when working and living with
dogs. Finally I got answers I had been
looking. After meeting Turid in person
during one of her seminars I decided
to sign up for her International Dog
Training Education in 2012.
Nowadays I run my own company
“Dog’s Turn” where I work as an IDTE
dog trainer and behaviourist. I work
together with another dog school,
where I am one of the dog trainers and
the chairman of the board. It has been
my project for three years to change
this school from a regular dog school
to a more dog-friendly dog school. I’m
happy to say that today all instructors
work according to the vision of IDTE
and three of us have successfully
completed IDTE.
Reidun
Johansen
Sweden
Born in Norway, and raised in
Sweden, I have lived in the
Spanish Pyrenees for the last
19 years. I now live in Sweden. My
love for nature and the mountains
comes with my Scandinavian genes.
My passion for animals is a gift from
my father. I have always had a fourlegged
companion in my life, be it
a dog, a cat or a horse. For the time
Miluse
Kapounova
Czech Republic
Icurrently share my home with a
dog, cats, turtles and parrots. I
am an enthusiastic defender of
animal rights, an admirer of the nature´s
beauty and an engineer of economy. I
studied at University of West Bohemia
in Pilsen, Faculty of Economics.
During my career in corporations
being I share my home with all three
species. Having been mainly a horse
trainer for many years, I became more
dedicated to dog training 15 years
ago. I then realized there is so much
I need to learn and I haven’t stopped
learning since.
When Gloria came into my life
learning became a way to be able to
cope with everyday life. Gloria is a
highly reactive Malinois, that I found
abandoned on the highway and she
came into our home to stay. The
journey with Gloria, set me off on a
challenging path. Since this is the first
time I have crossed paths with a dog
with serious fear and reactivity issues,
our road together has been a rollercoaster.
I will, however, be forever
grateful for all she has taught me. To
make a long story short – living with
Gloria, has opened my eyes for all
the dogs that need special attention
(mostly working in finance controlling)
I gained exposure to American,
German, French, Japanese, Swedish
and Austrian corporate cultures. I
am a traveler with interest in learning
foreign languages, exploring different
cultures and traditions. It was a great
pleasure for me to visit Japan and
Canada. I spent one year living in the
US and a year and a half in Sweden.
All kind of animals have become
an integral part of my life since
my childhood. There have been
three dogs in my life (Argo - a male
Welsh Terrier, Sid – a male Alaskan
Malamute and Lumpik – a male wirehaired
Dachshund). They all have
contributed to my strong relationship
with other creatures. The more I learn
about dogs the more I am impressed
by them.
In 2012 after a major life event, I
decided to change my profession
and move from the economic field
to the animal field. I started to look
to adjust to our society and our lives,
and working with reactivity and fear
issues is one of my passions.
I live in a very rural area, and I think
I am one of very few trainers here
that uses non-aversive and positive
training methods – but I am proud
to say that the ripples have started
to spread. I see reactions of people
change around me as they observe
the results of the training. I am not
originally a clicker trainer but I find the
clicker useful for certain behaviours.
I teach nose work and obedience
classes. I have also been involved in
shelter work and I have done private
rescue and adoptions for many years.
My dream is to learn more about
manual and hands-on therapies and
canine movements and to include this
knowledge in my dog-related work.
for a suitable work with dogs. In
2013 I suddenly appeared at Turid´s
seminar in Prague. Because I’ve been
convinced about who my future
teacher would be, since 2014, I have
started Turid Rugaas´s International
Dog Trainer Education in Germany.
I am a person who thinks that to have
a dog means to have him as a member
of my family, to accept him as a dog
and to respect his needs and feelings,
to communicate with him properly and
to provide him love, safety, good care,
good food, enough mental stimulation,
proper activities and other necessary
conditions to keep his body, soul and
brain healthy, to give him a lifelong
learning and experiences that will
make the dog self-confident and polite
to people and other dogs.
I would like to spread this true way of
thinking about dogs and to educate
people that there are better ways of
dealing with dogs.
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