Turid Rugaas
Sarina Kriechbaum-Young, M.A.
Liz Ott & Ines Jimenez
Federica Iacozzilli
Mag. Kerstin Biernat-Scherf
Anne Lill Kvam
Alex Wallner
Beate Bjørnhom
Turid Rugaas
Video – Welcome message from Turid
Unfortunately, Turid will not be able to be in Vienna in person because she can‘t travel for health reasons. However, she will give an opening speech virtually.
Anne Lill Kvam
Introducing nosework
to puppies
Anne Lill Kvam began working with search and rescue and scent discrimination dogs in the 1980 s. After studying at the Turid Rugaas Dog Trainer School, she has been working full time with dogs including a three year period in Angola teaching dogs and their handlers how to detect land mines. Anne Lill gives seminars worldwide and her positive and natural training methods have found an enthusiastic audience.
Sarina Kriechbaum-Young, M.A.
LMAO – Bringing Humor Back to Dog Training
What happened to the idea of having fun with our dogs? As dog trainers we are often confronted with serious problems and humans who are worried, sad, frustrated, etc. This leads to many difficult conversations (online and offline), to trainers suggesting questionable equipment, and to self-conscious dog owners (oops, careful! Can’t say that word out loud!) who won’t leave the house without a „tool belt“. In this presentation, I will offer you ideas and make suggestions of how to bring the fun back into dog training. After all, laughter is the best medicine.
Sarina finished her International Dog Trainer Education with Anne Lill Kvam in 2014. Her dog school near Graz (Austria) is called „Sky Dogs“, where she consults clients and offers courses on nosework. Sarina has a Masters Degree in English, German, and Academic Didactics. She lives with her husband and their three dogs in Tobelbad near Graz, where they have a doggy daycare. Sarina can be found online at www.nasenarbeit-hunde.com, on FB @sarinakriechbaumyoung and on Instagram @sarinakriechbaum.
Mag. Kerstin Biernat-Scherf
Stressed Dogs and their Humans in different Cultures
what a wide field! Stressed dogs stress their
humans and make people feel unsecure for themselves. And last but not least they are influencing
our outside perception and the thoughts of other people.
How interactions – between humans and dogs – work and, above all, whether conflicts can be resolved, depends in many cases not only on the spoken language, but also on body language. It conveys messages through unconscious channels that significantly influence mood, attitudes and future working relationships. Kerstin is self-employed since many years with two very different successful businesses – as a dog trainer qualified in animal welfare and in the advertising and creative industries – and gives a deep insight into the broad field of body language with its very small signs and with all its dynamics between dogs and humans. How to increase problem-solving skills?
How to communicate on the eye level? How to integrate body language to increase the well-being of
stressed dogs, their humans and their environment? These and other questions will be explored in
the presentation.
Goal: This speech aims to raise awareness that body language always accompanies our messages and
makes a significant building block in personal conversation – between dogs and humans. Words and
body language influence our reactions, our social environment and other living beings. It opens doors
or closes them. In order to communicate effectively by using problem-solving words, behaviour patterns and the whole friendly body language, different sociological, philosophical, psychological and social aspects are examined. Knowledge about these significant aspects of communcation and the effect on others allow us to score points in „conversations“ between animals and humans, in critical discussions and everday professional and private life in general.
Kerstin Biernat-Scherf was born on 2nd January 1982. She lives with her husband, her daughter, four Setters, foster dogs, cats, two horses and six turtles near Graz/Austria. She studied German Language, Psychology and Philosophy in Austria and has a Masters Degree. Kerstin
completed a lot of educations and training courses, for example the International Dog Trainer Education with Anne Lill Kvam in 2014, the Animal-welfared Dog Trainer Exam in Vienna, many International Dog Trainer Congresses and she is PDTE member.
She works as a self-employed dog trainer with clients, in schools and on universities, as a texter and speaker at the university of Graz, she gives seminars and training sessions for dog trainers, students, interested people and children to increase their knowledge about dogs. She works with her dogs in shelters and families for her most important aim: making dogs and their
body language, their preferences and specificities more understandable. „I am an interpreter between humans and dogs“, she says about her beloved work. Kerstin can be found online at www.BagheerasWelt.at and on facebook: Kerstin Biernat-Scherf.
Liz Ott & Ines Jimenez
“YOUR LOVE DRIVES ME CRAZY”
How we create a dysfunctional hyper-attachment which can lead to separation anxiety… and much more. The bases of this research are the various observations of stress symptoms and non-adaptive behaviours which were made in a variety of dogs, regardless of age, history or reasons for consultation.
In these case studies the families generated a bond based on emotion, overriding the normal cognitive activity of their dogs. This led to a hyperstimulation of the limbic dopaminergic system, making the dogs addicted to the affection and attention of their attachment figures and living in a painful and continuous state of dissatisfaction. Their physical and psychological health is severely impacted, demonstrating a permanent state of hypervigilance and emergency, without necessarily manifesting a separation anxiety syndrome. Adequate intervention in this anxious-dependent bond often leads to the disappearance of the cause that motivated the consultation and a surprising general improvement.
The Team: Liz & Inés
Eight years ago a dog seminar was held in Madrid. Everybody seemed happy and enthusiastic about the performance of the dogs, only two women looked worried and uncomfortable, and their body language showed it. One of them noticed it and said to the other woman: „Who are you? I can see that you think and feel the same as I think and feel, but no one else here. This is how Liz and Inés met, being the beginning of a great friendship and a complete working team. Two people with different backgrounds who had reached the same conclusions and pursued the same goals.
Liz, PDTE CR with extensive knowledge and experience in nutrition, traumatized animal rescue dogs, nose work(detection, medical alert dogs, mantrailing), behaviour therapies and puppy and adult dogs education.
Inés, a psychologist, with extensive knowledge in ethology, animal learning, and extensive experience in puppy and adult education, behaviour therapies and teaching.
These differences and similarities, the ease of communication between them and the broad fields in which they are experts enrich a joint work through the exchange of ideas, active discussion and the construction of new knowledge.
Federica Iacozzilli
“Tartufing, a new perspective on truffle hunting”
How to train a dog to find truffles, just any dog, from Chihuahuas to Saint Bernards.
Truffle hunting for behavioural issues.
What Tartufing is really about: let’s go find some truffles with Bruma.
I’m an Italian IDTE Dog Trainer, also recognised by AICS (Associazione Italiana Cultura Sport) and a PDTE Full Member.
I currently share my life and travels with my two partners: Bruma the Lagotto Romagnolo, the truffle boss, and Franco the Pit Bull mix, our bodyguard.
I teach Nosework and particularly truffle hunting and I work with dogs with behavioural issues. Quite often I find myself using Nosework and truffle training to solve these behavioural issues.
Most of the time I’m away travelling, teaching courses all over Italy and when I’m home, in Rome, I teach at a dog training facility called Dog in Progress.
Since 2020 I’m regularly working with a very well known and historical truffle hunters association, called “Associazione Mantovana Cercatori di Tartufi – Trifulin Mantuan”, which is promoting ethical and science based truffle training for their associates and on the whole territory of Lombardia region in Italy.
Alex Wallner
Handsignals
An easy tool to use body language. It helps our dogs through many situations of everyday life. Alex explains how all dogs do understand and shows examples and different use cases.
Alex was initially introduced to the PDTE 2017 when he was looking for help with his dogs. In Susi Lautners dogschool he was fascinated by the forcefree and ethical way of dealing with dogs , so Susi recommended him to take part in the Nordic Education Center for Dogtrainers where he currently takes courses. Since three years he helps Susi with clients work in her dogschool. He also has a diploma in jazz guitar which he taught for over 10 years while working as a dogsitter and veterinary assistent. Alex lives in Vienna with his two dogs and his wife.
Beate Bjørnhom
The Silent Pain
What can you do in everyday life, to help your and clients’ dogs with muscular issues?
We already have some powerful tools in our toolkit for behavior issues. How can we use these to identify muscular issues? And also improve our dogs’ muscle health in a natural way?
Beate has always been heavily interested in animal and animal welfare. In her career as a behavioral therapist as well as with her own dogs, she often saw a connection between behavioral problems and muscular issues. The lack of knowledge about muscle treatment, and without any muscle therapists who could look at dogs with serious behavioral issues, the frustration increased, and she started the journey towards becoming a muscle therapist.
Own and run Hundeskolen Syd in Mandal, Norway with Linn M. Hauge for 10 years.
Educated at Turid Rugaas International Dog Training School in 2012-13.
Dog massage therapist and certified Laser therapist in 2018.
Galen Myotherapist 2020.