interview with a dog trainer: Sotiris Kountouras

Ok, it's time for a new interview ...
This time It's about the world of mondioring with a young trainer a part of the mondioring association of his country, He's also active in IPO, Mondioring. Agility, disc dogging and search & rescue . He's accumulating experience from all around to have a very large view on all dog sports and training methods.
This is not an ordinary person... He will do everything possible to evolve the dog sports in his country. Ups , I forget to introduce the dog trainer of this month .He is Sotiris Kountouras and comes from Greece.


Sotiris and the warm up questions...
Have you ever run from the police?
I thought that we were about to talk about dog sports and not about other kinds of sports. But seriously, often.


Have you ever fallen asleep after the alarm clock ?
Also often.


Last time you swim?
September 2010 I think was the last time. But next week I will be back in Greece so you can imagine that I won´t lose the opportunity.




Ok , I think is enough , let's be more serious begin with the real interview
Could you tell our readers a little about yourself ?
My name is Sotiris Kountouras, I am 24 years old. I am from Athens, Greece but the last 5 months I live in Heidelberg, Deutschland. I came to live here for a while because of the dog sport world. Lot of seminars, competitions, clubs and big opportunities for someone that has the virus of dog training. I have a Pitbull mix, Ramone, who is 5,5 years old now and he is already retired (because of the law against “fighting dogs” in Deutschland), Kary who is almost 4 years old and she does the work for both of them and soon I will welcome to the family a Dutch Shepherd from France that I have been searching and waiting for, a lot.

When did you get your own first dogs?
From the age of 6-7 years I was carrying home a lot of strays but my own first dog with all the responsibility was at the age of 12 years, she was a  miniature pinscher with a lot of temperament..


You start competing in mondio with a pitbull.Why this choice?
You try always the most difficult way to get something?
There’s a big truth in your question. I am always trying to get the best for me and usually for getting that the path is difficult. First came Ramone and then Mondioring, I liked both and I mixed them, there wasn’t place for more “appropriate” dog because I didn’t have the time and the space. Nevertheless I believe that a trainer proves his skills more through the difficult path than the “Traditional”. Imagine 1st place  IPO3 in the WC a dog except malinois or GS, almost impossible. If you don’t dare you won´t get, that’s my theory.

What are the difficulties of someone who has a dog in Greece ? (pros and cons)
In Greece you can have a dog without paying any taxes, you can have as many dogs as you want, as long as you don’t bother the neighbours (else no one will check you). You can train ALL kinds of sports with ALL kind of races. In general I would say that there aren’t so many limitations like in other EU countries like Deutschland for example. These were the positive sides, the negative sides on the other hand is that because of that freedom there are a lot of  irresponsible owners that they abuse their animals with bad training or just for fun and there is no one to check them and drive them to justice. With few words I would say that for dog sports the system in Greece is like heaven but for pet dog owners and for the dogs it is a hell. Forbidden entrance to all kinds of public transport, restaurants and most of hotels, a state which does not make any effort to punish crimes against animals plus thousands of strays.


Tell me a little bit about your start in dog sports / dog training?
At the age of 13, when my first dog was near 1 year old, I started a course for dog trainers about agility and flyball with a Greek trainer. Unfortunately the quality of the course was really low level so I had to quit. I continued training “freestyle agility” in the street with cars, walls and whatever was available. After that and after the huge loss of Tzilda (at her 3 years of life) there was a pause in sports and I was only focused in pet dog training. Before 2,5 years I got invlolved again with sports like IPO with my male rescued Pitbull mix who eventually turned into Mondioring. Agility, disc dogging and search & rescue I am doing with my also rescued, female mix.


Did you have a mentor or someone who inspires you in dog sports or in your life?
People that I choose to share my life, these are my mentors even they are dog trainers, friends or family. About inspiration now, which is very important for me, could come from a video, a talk with a good friend or just looking at my dogs.

You are part of the Greek Association of mondioring. This sport in Greece is not very well known, but it seems that something is moving nowadays...
Tell us a bit of the history of Greek mondioring
The Association was created last year 2010. The start was made before some years by the Northern club of Mondioring in Greece at “Drama”, they already had experience working on ring outside of Greece, like in Belgium. The first  participations of Greece at international championships were by them on 2008 at FMBB WC – Slovenia, taking the 3rd and 4th  place at category one. Later also in 2008 in the WC at italy taking at category 2 the 6th and 8th  place and also the price for the strongest grip. Before 2,5 years the club in Athens started to work on mondioring and before one year in Nafplio also. The last 2 years we had some seminars from experienced dog trainers from Belgium and USA but also we travelled outside of Greece for knowing better that sport. Two trials took place in Greece since then, on was at May 2010 and the second was before some weeks. Now the Greek team is attending the FMBB in Belgium and I wish them good luck! The web site of the Greek Association of Mondioring is  www.eoem.gr .

video
MONDIORING - Greece 2010
by danaildido

What is the best known dog sports in Greece. What is the biggest event there?
The “sport” in Greece that is gathering the most of the dog people is about hunting dogs, several championships and trials but often in my opinion these events are not taking part like the dog sport events as the most of us are used to, if you skip these events the most famous dog sport in Greece is IPO and the biggest event is maybe the national qualification of that. But even like that we can´t compare Greece not even the slightest with countries like Belgium, Deutschland etc.

Do you have some other passion outside of that for dogs ?
I love trips, hiking and taking pictures, recently I have uploaded (even it is still under construction) my own -dog sport photography- website
 ( http://www.wix.com/ramonoskilo/passionshooting#! ). I also enjoy punk rock concerts, scuba diving and cooking.


What techniques do you like /use for training ?
The techniques I use depend on what I want. I use different  paths when I am training for example a puppy for mondioring than a puppy for family pet. In both cases I believe that the best thing you can do is to channel the instincts and the drives of the dog to the way that the owner can follow and not try to eliminate them. Regardless the “destination” of a dog I always use positive reinforcement for teaching something because I believe that it is the only way and the more lasting, I may also use pressure at some stage of training depends the dog and the case.

Yours top five favorite dog trainers / competitiors ever?
I respect a lot Michael Ellis and Ivan Balabanov for their training methods, also Diane Jessup for her big achievements with American Pit Bull terriers. I have been to Jochen Schleicher’s Disc Dogging seminar and I really liked his training style. There are a lot of trainers that I like specific things , so these were some that they first came to my mind.


3 things that you can't live without?
My dogs of course, travelling and nice people that I can share the joy of the above.


Do you have some plans for the future?
I will try to make that as short as I can so I will talk only about the “hairy stuff”.
My destination as I think of it now, is to improve the dog ownership in Greece through dog sports so that people will have the healthiest relationship with their dogs. My other big plan is my dogs and my possibilities through them, more specific I am planning to improve my skills through Dutch Shepherds that I really love and also improve that race as a top quality working dog.

How do you see the dog sports in Greece in the 2015 ? ( what are your expectations )
My expectations are really big, I imagine a lot of trials and events in different sports. I am trying a lot already for that achievement and I will try more in the future. In Greece there are a lot of people which have energy and passion to give to dog sports and I believe/hope by the time that Greece will “produce” some really good dogs with high rating results and teams with a lot of fun and “healthy” owners with healthy dogs.

Do you have anything else would you like to add?
I would like to thank all these people that helped me until now with their support and their ideas. Also my girlfriend and my family for their patience in all fields in my life, without them theres no way that i would be today at that possition. And last but not least i wanted to thank you for giving me the opportunity talking about my country....


visit www.wix.com/ramonoskilo/passionshooting


all the photos are a courtesy of Sotiris Kountouras