Concerning the Creator: Mehveş İpekFounder – StarDogs TürkiyeAPDT Member since 2008
Initially of the 2000s, optimistic, science-based canine coaching was nearly unknown in Türkiye. On the time, virtually all coaching practices relied on pressure-based, conventional strategies. A mannequin centered on studying idea, belief, communication, and the emotional well-being of the canine had not but entered the sphere.
My introduction to this technique started in 2002, after I traveled to Greece to check with Yiannis Arachovitis. Yiannis had based StarDogs in Greece in 1999 and was, on the time, the primary optimistic canine coach not solely in Greece however throughout the Balkans. After graduating from the StarDogs Trainers’ Academy, I co-founded StarDogs Türkiye with Yiannis in Istanbul in 2003. He nonetheless continues his work right this moment as StarDogs Greece.
From the outset, StarDogs Türkiye was created not merely to coach canine, however to coach canine trainers working with optimistic, science-based strategies. Our intention was to ascertain a structured skilled training pathway and introduce a brand new moral and scientific framework for working with canine.
The method shortly attracted consideration as a result of it represented not solely a special coaching method, however a special skilled tradition. As an alternative of a coach profile outlined primarily by bodily management and compulsion-based strategies, a brand new technology started to emerge: people from various academic {and professional} backgrounds, snug with tutorial studying, open to science, typically fluent in overseas languages, and motivated by a mixture of data and empathy. The gender stability throughout the subject additionally started to vary.
Canine homeowners additionally started to undertake a extra participatory position. Transferring from the concept of “sending the canine away to be educated” towards actively studying alongside their canine required time, however individuals who genuinely cared about animal welfare tailored shortly. This method encourages not solely canine to be taught, however people as properly.
The StarDogs Trainers’ Academy has due to this fact by no means centered solely on technical abilities. Our purpose has all the time been to coach trainers who perceive canine conduct and studying idea, prioritize welfare, work ethically, and stay open to ongoing improvement and scientific progress.
From the primary lesson, I inform my college students:
“Right now, I train you this technique as a result of, based mostly on present scientific data, it’s the most moral and animal-friendly method out there. If tomorrow a greater technique emerges, we are going to be taught that technique collectively.”
Our precedence isn’t inflexible ideology, however scientific integrity, moral duty, and the well-being of the animal.
Graduates of the StarDogs Trainers’ Academy don’t merely full a course and go away; they continue to be a part of knowledgeable neighborhood. Right now, we’ve got greater than 250 graduates, and we stay in lively contact with over 170 of them. The identification of being a “StarDogs Coach” represents not solely an academic background, but in addition a shared moral framework and a dedication to steady studying. Our graduates contribute to the unfold of optimistic coaching rules in their very own areas, forming a nationwide skilled community.
Steady studying is central to this tradition. We actively observe developments within the worldwide optimistic coaching neighborhood, together with organizations equivalent to APDT and PDTE, guaranteeing that our strategies stay aligned with evolving scientific understanding.
Earlier than the pandemic, most coaching came about in particular person. Though programs had been initially held in Istanbul, college students traveled from many elements of Türkiye to attend, typically turning into the primary optimistic canine trainers of their cities. Over time, I additionally traveled extensively to work with coach candidates throughout the nation. These efforts helped set up the primary technology of optimistic canine trainers nationwide.
Development occurred organically. Graduates started working in their very own communities, demonstrated efficient outcomes, and impressed others to pursue skilled training. On this method, the community expanded steadily.
Media curiosity started early and remained sturdy. Newspapers, magazines, radio applications, and tv channels confirmed appreciable curiosity on this rising method. In 2008, we had been invited to provide the Turkish model of the Underdog Present, initially developed within the UK, for one of many nation’s largest nationwide tv channels. This system featured solely our graduates and present college students, and all collaborating canine had been chosen by Yiannis and me from shelters. Following the printed, public consciousness of shelter adoption elevated noticeably, reflecting a broader cultural shift past coaching itself.
As participation expanded geographically, a powerful skilled community fashioned. Right now, the overwhelming majority of trainers in Türkiye who genuinely work in keeping with totally optimistic, force-free rules have, all through their skilled improvement, participated in StarDogs training. For that reason, the identification of “StarDogs Trainers” represents a pioneering pressure within the skilled historical past of optimistic canine coaching within the nation.
Through the pandemic, like many academic establishments worldwide, we transitioned our coach training system on-line. What initially gave the impression to be a constraint turned one of many strongest features of this system.
Right now, the StarDogs Trainers’ Academy operates as a structured 35-week on-line program. Members observe theoretical classes at their very own tempo, full assessments, and attend weekly three-hour stay on-line classes the place they obtain suggestions on sensible work and be taught from each other’s experiences. Graduates can revisit classes at any time when wanted, serving to keep continuity {and professional} improvement over time.
The web format has additionally elevated accessibility for contributors from totally different areas and life circumstances. Some are in search of profession transitions; others stability coaching with present professions or household duties. This system has due to this fact turn into not solely a pathway to skilled qualification, but in addition a possibility for long-term skilled transformation.
Because the occupation evolves, the significance of moral requirements {and professional} communities continues to develop. Along with StarDogs, we additionally established the Affiliation of Optimistic Canine Trainers (POKED). The affiliation is meant to be open to all who assist optimistic coaching rules and animal welfare, whereas its management consists solely of graduates of the StarDogs Trainers’ Academy. Its intention is to strengthen collaboration, shield moral requirements, and assist the long-term improvement of the occupation.
We’re additionally growing a storytelling-based consciousness mission underneath the title #BaşkaBirYolVar, which could be translated as “There Is One other Means.” It begins with StarDogs Trainers’ Academy graduates talking to future trainers and can later increase towards canine homeowners who select optimistic coaching strategies over harsh ones. At its coronary heart is a message we’ve got believed in from the start: that humane, science-based, trust-centered work with canine isn’t solely doable, however transformative. The life we stay can change, and we’ve got the ability to decide on the work we actually love as a occupation. We even have a selection in how we prepare canine — and that selection issues. I imagine this message can resonate far past Türkiye.
My long-term purpose is to contribute to stronger connections between the optimistic canine coaching neighborhood in Türkiye and worldwide skilled organizations such because the Affiliation of Skilled Canine Trainers (APDT). Whereas nationwide contexts differ, the shared purpose stays the identical: serving to folks higher perceive canine and supporting relationships constructed on belief. Each in StarDogs and in POKED, we glance to APDT — of which I’ve been a proud member since 2008 — as an essential skilled reference level, and we hope to develop alternatives for collaboration sooner or later.
The story of optimistic canine coaching in Türkiye remains to be being written. However for me, this isn’t solely a narrative I witnessed; it’s a story I pioneered. Watching extremely succesful people turn into expert trainers has been one of the vital significant experiences of my life. Seeing the philosophy we launched as a small seed develop right into a widely known method throughout the nation has been deeply rewarding.
After twenty-three years, what continues to encourage me most is the potential for real communication between people and one other species. Many times, we see that the inspiration of success is belief. To witness the second when a canine actually understands — what I typically name the “Eureka second” — stays one of the vital highly effective features of this work. At its core, this story is about belief, understanding, studying, and the potential for constructing genuine interspecies relationships.
