GÁBINA MACOUNOVÁ
A WORLD RENOWNED IGP OBEDIENCE TRAINER

Gábina Macounová (* 1970) is a Czech IGP obedience trainer who achieved a lot of success on the competition field. With her Doberman female Isména Halit Paša they participated in the national qualifiers, they were twice at the IDC World Championships, they finished on the 6 th place at the Czech National Championship of all breeds, and they got on the podium – 2 nd and 3 rd place at the Doberman Czech Championships with the best obedience and best protection Despite all these achievements, Gábina sees herself primarily as a dog trainer. She has been involved in dog training for 30 years, she organizes regular training sessions and weekends, summer camps and seminars not only in the Czech Republic, but also abroad (USA, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, Ukraine, Spain, England, Costa Rica, Russia, Poland, Finland, Denmark, Italy, Serbia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Belgium and Germany). There are many famous names and handlers who have gone through her training and achieved amazing results. Let´s mention for example the double World Champions Adam Holeksa with his Dutch Shepherd One Devil von der Herdergang or Pavel Hrobař with Malinois Vyatkins´ Jimmy. The IFR World Champions Pavlína Fialová and Funny Falko Bonnapo have definitely become stars for the Rottweilers. And we are going to talk more about the Rotties, because Gábina knows and helps many handlers of this breed.

Gábina, before talking about the Rottweilers, let me ask you just a few questions. You are one of the best, most popular and busiest IGP obedience coaches in the Czech Republic. Do you realize at what point in your life this change came?

I left Sezemice dog training club in 2012, where I spent quite a long time as a trainer. Members of this club were really good and experienced, so they didn´t need my help there anymore. I decided to pursue IGP training professionally after that, so I started to look for all the information available and I tried to come up with my own training system that would work for all breeds. I dare say I have succeeded and dog sport obedience became my mission and job.

What was your job before you became a professional dog coach? 

I was working at the chateau in Náchod for many years, where I was taking care of the furniture, the chateau and I was also looking after two Brown Bears – Ludvík and Dáša.

What was it like looking after the bears? :-)

It was a very interesting job that gave me much experience with beasts. I also had the opportunity to see and look after more wild animals in the ZOO in Dvůr Králové, get to know how they breed animals there, how to make animals happy and how to behave towards them. However, bears in Náchod were not tamed, so I never had any direct contact with them. The male was very patient and kind, but the female was quite aggressive – so we had to respect her. I think, I was never afraid of the two bears. They had to be fed every day, their enclosures had to be cleaned every day. We arranged everything – drive for the feed and straw for the animals, clean their swimming pool, provide veterinary care and everything connected with working with the animals.

IGP phase B, obedience, is the discipline that made you famous in the dog sport cynology. What is, in your opinion, the most important and essential basis for obedience training?

It is definitely your dog. That is the most important part of the training. You can work with a handler, but if his/her dog lacks something, there is nothing you can do about it, you can hardly train such a dog to any level. And probably the most important thing nowadays is the harmony and cooperation between a handler and a dog.

What then, in your opinion, must a dog lack, to be “hard to train”?

This is a tricky question. I would say that I don´t like dogs who have troubles with social behaviour, who don´t care about food and who are not interested in any kind of motivation at all.

What criteria should the handler and his/her dog meet to start training with you?

I am not training just with people who want to reach the top. I love to dedicate my time to all of the handlers, who trust me, who believe in my style of training. I think this is essential, I need to know that the handler puts trust in what we are doing, what we are training for. My training system is divided into several steps and it may not make sense for some people. But when it all comes together, the result is usually great and no complaints. Of course, everything goes easier and more smoothly with experienced handlers and good dogs, but that is not so much important to me.

I think that winning one big competition or passing a few exams can entitle any person to become “a coach”. What do you think about this trend?

Well, I can say that social networks are very rich in information, but most people don´t know how to work with it. Great advertising does not necessarily equal quality. A good coach usually doesn´t need ads. In my opinion, “coaches” like that can do more harm than good. If someone inexperienced buys his/her first dog and finds some of the “wannabe” trainers, a very promising puppy can within six months turn into a nervous wreck. Of course, the beginner cannot know right away that demands of the “trainer” are absolute crap and that you are actually ruining your dog. The worst part of such “training” is that the most of bad training is irreversible, there is no way to start again. That is why everyone should think really carefully about their choice of a coach. A good coach has good results with more than one dog, and you cannot achieve great results alone. You need help from other same-thinking people. And some people must have helped him/her to achieve the success. You can't do much in dog sport if you are alone!

Your obedience training system is very unique. Its elements and exercises may seem simple, but I know it is not so easy to teach it, it´s like alchemy. However, it must have happened to you that some of your students have made a “business” and profited from know-how gained from you.

It´s always about the person´s character. Everything can be stolen nowadays. If you think deeper, you can learn something somewhere, but every dog is different. What worked for one dog may not work for another in the same exercise. A good coach knows how and what to use on an individual dog and how to work with a dog who has some issues. Yes, I am not jumping for joy when people take what is not theirs, on the other hand I know that they simply will not be able to use my method to its fullest.

You have met so many handlers in training sessions. What are the most common mistakes people are doing when training obedience?

I think that you can train every dog who has a little appetite with using treats. What makes the biggest problems is the transition from one obedience phase to another. Next common mistake is that handlers tend to speed up with the training. Every dog is different and you cannot find a template for a given dog. It is the same as with children. Even if your child has problems at first, it doesn´t mean he/she cannot become an engineer. The same comparison applies to dogs. Each dog needs specific time to mature, each dog needs a different number of repetitions to show the best performance. I think my most frequent comment on the training field is that the people don´t know their own dogs properly. Every dog is clearly telling the handler where the problem is, but the handler needs to see it, understand the dog and be able to help. 

Back to the Rottweilers! Do you remember the first Rottie you had systematically coached in obedience training?

I think it was Pavlína Fialová and her Tequela von Avalon. I was working with them since puppy age and they participated in the IFR World Championships. They even achieved the best obedience as I remember. Pavlína is working with me for a long time, she has been preparing her fourth Rottweiler sport dog with me. I am sure that her female Gira will be successful as well, but she is still quite young.

Every breed has its own character and nature. What do you think about the Rottweilers, how would you describe them? Do you see any changes in this breed over the years?

The Rottweilers have one cool advantage – they love to eat. It makes training with treats so much easier and I see it as a big plus. They are also clever and willing to work and cooperate with the handler. But it wasn´t always like that, there were some aggressive dogs in the past and some dogs were not so enthusiastic to work. What has changed a lot is the mindset of the Rottweiler handlers who really want to train with the Rottie. I used to hear that a Rottweiler or a Doberman cannot do the same as a German Shepherd or Malinois. Well, it can! The Rottweiler has some inborn traits and people try to supress those qualities. Any dog can achieve great results if it is well trained and handled. And of course, if it doesn´t have other problems with social life and issues already mentioned.

Phase B of the Czech Rotties, and also of the Slovak ones, was in the past somehow weaker on the competition field compared to e.g. the Nordic countries. Competitors from Finland amazed us by their performances and they were our idols for some time. Nowadays, the results are balanced, I dare say the Czech Republic rules. What do you think about the changes and judging of the IGP obedience?

It is very difficult to score more than 90 points nowadays in any big competition. It is good but on the other hand, many people don´t even enter the competition, and it takes away their desire to participate in the event. I don´t have a problem with strict evaluation of the phase, I am glad that a lot of emphasis is put on the dog´s expression and at the same time on the accuracy of the exercises. It takes a lot of work, but it is so nice to watch at the stadium.

Can you remember some of the Rottweilers you had been working with? The current list of the Rottweiler handlers who are actively working with their dogs is quite long. We have mentioned Pavlína Fialová and her third Rottie training with you, then e.g. Ľubo Pastír, Iva Bartošová, Petra Růžičková, Pavel Kubinec with Kim Moravia Boxrott, you have trained Jiří Čermák, Hana Toušková, Vanessa Kuzmová, Michal Smolík with Aragorn Divoká růže, Diego Brenegee with Pepa Pokorný, and Red Hot Chili Peppers Swabia with Lucka Spálenková etc. That is a really big number of names…

Probably the most memorable for me is Pavlína´s Fanouš (Funny Falko Bonnapo), he is a real Mr. Dog. Then Gino (Sirius Gero Dogs) with Ľubo Pastír – this is also a great dog. Even Kim Moravia Boxrott is a very good dog, but they came with Pavel to me too late, Kim was already 6 years old and you cannot do much at this dog´s age. However, they got to the IFR World Championship and their result was not a shame, so I am happy. I am currently preparing a new generation of dogs and I hope to see some good results there in the future. By the way, your dog (Black Jack Norfaco) is very promising, so I hope you will show off very nicely one day.

Thank you, Gábina 😊. Is there any problem that in your opinion usually occurs in the Rottweilers as “given” to the breed? On the other hand, what are the Rottweilers good at? You have done seminars all over the world, can you compare Rottweilers from different countries? E.g. what are the Rotties in the USA like?

The only problem is probably the speed, which is the limiting factor due to their body structure. The Rottweiler will of course never be as fast as Malinoises or German Shepherds. So even if you trained the retrieves to the top level, it will never be as good as performed by the mentioned breeds, and some points are deducted in the score. Otherwise I wouldn´t say that the Rottweilers have any major problems that cannot be solved. If a dog is good, everything is possible. When I was abroad, I saw Rottweilers mostly from show lines and those dogs were too heavy for sport cynology.

Gábina, if someone decides to start training with you, what would he/she need to know? How would you describe yourself as a trainer?

I think I used to be much stricter, but times and age changed. Now I think I have got my priorities in life in order and I want to give my people the best I know and can. I am an incredible stickler for punctuality and I need to have everything perfect. I am not happy until everything is absolutely perfect, that is me and whoever trains with me has to accept it. I am sometimes thinking about my regular “students” at night and I try to find the way to do the exercise better. All I ask of people who train with me is absolute trust and belief in what we are doing and that one day we will achieve a great result.

Is there a chance for a new client to book a lesson with you? I know you have all your training sessions, camps and weekends reserved very quickly, even a year or two in advance.

I have a limited number of participants due to my health, and I also want to do quality, not quantity! But if anyone is interested in training with me, I have regular training sessions in Dux in Český Brod and Zábrodí (Czech Republic) – if you contact me, I am sure we can arrange it. I don´t mean one training, that will not help anyone, I am talking about regular cooperation. I also organize monthly training weekends and camps in Kyjov, where you can also sign up for. It is usually fully booked, but people can get sick or have another problems and so there is always a chance of participation.

My last question – what makes you happy in life?

Cats became my joy and hobby. I breed Maine Coon cats and I love them. I haven´t given up on dogs, but they are my job and you need to switch off. Cats fill me with peace and I relax around them. I am also happy to have the people I have come to know that I can rely on, and of course, my family.

Thank you for the interview. Draha Mašková

Translation: Eva Fiedlerová