Thank you so much for writing to me and asking about how to become a dog trainer using positive and kind methods. I am an Associate of Stardogs in Athens and have worked with Yiannis Arahovitis for many years training student dog trainers. Can I suggest that you contact him as he will be able to answer all your questions (and in Greek!)

Another option you may like to consider is that of the International Dog Training School who travel all over Europe doing their courses.

Another idea is to read my website by becoming a member, then you can learn so much about dogs and how to train them from the comfort of your computer at home :-) I wish you the very best in your quest to find more knowledge about dog training and I do hope I have been of some help.

First of all, I would like to thank you for your interest and I would like you to know that one day before I couldn't even imagine that one of the most famous dog trainers would sacrifice her time to answer to my e-mail. I have already talked with Mr. Arahovitis and I have heard very good things about his school, but the problem is, as you probably know that it is held every second weekend of the month and I don't know whether this is supposed to be good or not. I have never heard of such two- days seminars before, except for the schools that last for three or above weeks continuously, like National K-9 and truly I would like your opinion on whether it is better to follow continuous seminars or two-days. Furthermore, I would like to ask you whether you do lessons and if yes where. And also what in your opinion an appropriate course should include and what should be its duration.

It is no trouble at all! I love to help and encourage folk and help them develop into really knowledgeable dog trainers - after all you will have the responsibility of teaching hundreds or even thousands of dogs in the future and it is very important that you have the best knowledge and "tools" to enable you to train them with empathy and understanding of what the DOG needs in life to make its life comfortable and happy - not necessarily what the human handler wants!

I strongly suggest that whatever training school you use it be done over a period of time - stretched out over a minimum of at least 6 months to a year. This is because student trainers need time to experiment and work with a variety of different handlers and dogs in order to begin to really understand what they have learnt at the lectures etc. You cannot possibly remember and understand all the information in one continuous course of 3 weeks etc. Your mind will explode (!) and you will remember very little. I know because I teach 2 day seminars in various countries and my students are exhausted with the amount of information that I give them in those two days. They need time to go home and think about what they have learnt and begin to experiment, trying various techniques with the dogs they are teaching to see which ones work for one type of dog, and which works for another dog. Nothing can be rushed - experience is the only way you will learn.

The lectures I do are by invitation - dog trainers invite me to come to their country and give 2 day lectures on various topics. Then they either invite other lecturers to come along and do other 2 day lectures for the students later in the year, or I return to do give more myself. I do not usually teach on a one-to-one basis. However, I did have Mr Arahovitis come to stay with me and my family a couple of years ago so that I could give him an intensive 10 day session on my methods. However, he has traveled all over the world and has attended many many lectures and has built up a huge amount of knowledge in the field of dog training. This is why I so strongly recommend his course as he has so many "tools" of knowledge and experience that he can pass on to his students.