From a young age, I “saw” myself talking to animals. Tarzan and Mowgli were my favorite characters. As I grew up, I always had the company of one or more animals (goldfish, cats, dogs, chickens, geese, parrots, nightingales, donkeys, turtles, rabbits…).
During my adolescence, I began reading books on dog training and psychology. I came into contact with professional trainers. As the years passed, my thirst for the world of animals, especially dogs, grew.
I attended seminars and schools on dog psychology and training in Athens, Ioannina, Thessaloniki, and the Netherlands. At the same time, I began to help dozens of dogs and their owners. Concurrently, I started working in a vocational rehabilitation program for mental health users.
I prepared them to enter the labor market. In collaboration with psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers, I began to create a different approach. My goal was Communication, Cooperation, Respect, and Love…
Suddenly, I realized that I was helping people in the same way that I was helping animals. I was creating channels of communication, strengthening relationships, sharpening skills, virtues, and characters, and gaining trust…
I had found a way to help the people and animals around me! For those who desired it, I could help them become a better version of themselves. At the same time, they were helping me to become a better version of myself!
Our goal is to teach you how to move away from standardized training programs and specialize in creating programs tailored to the needs and character of each dog.
The ESSA System is a step-by-step system that guides you to create specialized channels of communication, cooperation, respect, and love. Each stage is structured in such a way that it is easy and simple to discern why something is not yielding results and what needs to be done to succeed. Through this system, students will learn:
Techniques:
Additionally, they will sharpen their skills in body language, K9 emotional intelligence, and K9 communication.
No one is perfect! However, every passing moment can make us better! Without realizing it, the Philosophy of “Mila sto Skilo sou” was born! The ESSA System, “Step-by-Step” and “Act,” were in their infancy.
The idea was simple:
This technique emphasizes what we want to achieve immediately, within the next few seconds or minutes. Its purpose is to sharpen the ability of the students who apply it to see what their most immediate goal is…
If we apply this technique to a walk in the forest, it will show us where our foot should land each time to avoid mud, potholes, thorns, and unstable ground. In dog training, it shows us which behavior of the dog we should focus on at a given moment.
This technique focuses on breaking down everything we want to achieve into simple and applicable pieces. Its aim is to sharpen the ability of the students to set correct short-term and long-term goals…
If we apply this technique to a walk in the forest, it will show us the preparation we need to make, the route we should follow, the intermediate stops, the refueling points, the relaxation points, and the dangers we need (for now) to avoid.
In dog training, it shows us all the pieces of the process that we need to carry out to achieve the final goal. For example, training a guard dog, a guide dog, proper behavior at home, eliminating separation anxiety.
This technique emphasizes emotions. Its purpose is to sharpen the ability of students to make training fun and enjoyable, but also to help trainees overcome anxieties, fears, irritations, and tensions.
If we apply this technique to a walk in the forest, it will show us which individuals are more suitable for a certain task and how we can motivate them to want to do it. In dog training, it shows us how to remove emotional blockages and how to improve fears, obsessions, aggression…
This technique focuses on the motivations and desires of each student. Its purpose is to sharpen the ability of students to take action where necessary, to guide correctly, and to derive satisfaction from it.
If we apply this technique to a walk in the forest, it will show us which task is suitable for us and what we need to do to complete it as best as possible. In dog training, it shows us the subjects we like best, the levels of the trainer we want to achieve, whether we intend to exploit it professionally…
This technique emphasizes motivating others and energizing them. Its purpose is to sharpen the ability of students to identify the drivers of those being trained and to use them to reinforce behaviors that will improve their quality of life.
If we apply this technique to a walk in the forest, it will show us how to motivate each participant to remain active and (in combination with other techniques) happy. In dog training, it shows us what we need to do so that dogs continue to behave in the ways we have taught them.
This skill emphasizes teaching students to read the body language of dogs. The movements of the ears, eyes, lips, and generally the whole body can provide us with information about the emotions and intentions of dogs.
This skill focuses on teaching students to recognize the emotions of a dog, to distinguish between different feelings, to name them, and to use this information as a guide for thought and behavior.
This skill emphasizes teaching students to create a common language of communication between dogs and humans.
