Vit Singh Part Two Kris Kotsopoulos' Re Breeding, Training and Mental Tactics for Protection Dogs

April 8, 2012 - PRLog -- Appropriate selection was therefore the turning point in my breeding which incidentally also steered my training.  The moment I made a decision that I would personally test and select all the dogs that would contribute to the gene pool is the time my breeding forged into the direction I envisioned, knowing very well that the entire process is evolutionally and in principle I always question what is and isn’t working. There are many times it just does not work for multiple reasons which are too numerous to get into here.

Vit, there was a time I believed I was being mislead by my sources, because the results I was achieving were nowhere near my expectations, but I quickly deduced that contrary to my beliefs, that the reality was that my sources did not have the knowledge depth and were often selecting traits contrary to what I was looking for in appropriate working dog traits. Over time it also became apparent that global training systems were also polarised and that not many agreed on how to achieve optimum training responses from dogs.

Hence for me breeding and training works hand in hand. We need to breed the right dogs and then train them which becomes a positive feedback loop. The more you can see about your dogs the better your choices will be.

I believe one without the other can’t work. So for me my mission was to thoroughly understand both disciplines (Breeding and Training) intimately but nature will always surprise you. That’s the beauty in this whole thing.  That’s what keeps me going. The only thing that disappoints me is that my dogs don’t get titled these days. I am so busy with running five companies that there is little time to actually train for the sport however I am an avid fan of training and thoroughly recommend all people do the sport. My wife and I make it our mission to travel annually and visit the WUSV and all my friends to keep up with the latest, not to mention it’s a great time away.

Knowing very well that the opportunity to compete in Schutzhund is difficult for me we consistently test and measure our dog’s capability to ensure that the traits we require are there. I personally subject my dogs to all types of testing to ensure they meet my expectations, probably far harder than necessary but I have grown to realise that in order to expose the good and the bad, environmental pressure is the only way to expose these behaviours and most importantly as a breeder we must throw out all the excuses. I am tired of excuses - the dog is either good or it is not.


In the past who are the people that have helped you from other countries, influential Europeans. Also from whom do you get the ideology of breeding, or is it your own creation?

If there is one thing I have learnt and is that there is not much out there that is original, things are usually re hashed or rebadged in some shape or form. Much of the information is out there but it is scattered in remote places around the globe and my mission was to find it. One of the things I have grown to realise is that people don’t think about these matters deep enough hence the lack of true in depth understanding.   Many years of practical work and theorising with many people around the world has driven me to this point in my life. Along the way, there were several people who attributed to the knowledge contained in my philosophy, in ways they probably aren’t even aware of. It’s not just the Europeans that have the knowledge there are people all over the world, Africa, USA and our own country has some brilliant people. I know most dog people here in Australia and I must say I am proud to know them. They are deep thinkers, intelligent and driven. If I could only unite them emotionally and geographically we would see some wonderful results on the World Stage.

Now that you ask me this question it makes me think about it deeply. I want to thank the following people for the many long hours of in-depth discussion and practical applications that proved extremely successful in my breeding and training philosophy. Steve Tolis from Australia for his breeding philosophy, Jim Tokis from Australia for his precise detail in selection in training, Dr Helmut Raiser from Germany for his wisdom and unification of global training systems, Koos Hassing for selling me a dog that changed our country.  Donn Yarnall (LAPD) for training philosophies that constantly evolve.

These people have devoted a large part of their lives to come to the scientific breeding and training conclusions that inspired my breeding and training sequences. It was and still is the subtle things and the power of observation that make a tremendous difference in coming to these conclusions which are forever evolving for me.

Additionally there are many other breeders and trainers that have contributed to the overall philosophy and to all of them I say - THANK YOU. My breeding philosophy has developed over a long time and has also been influence by the global demand and requirements in training.

I know what type of dog and behaviour I want and consequently look for the dogs that posses these behaviours and traits. Hence why we have such a large frozen gene bank. Many of the dogs I liked in the past I had to freeze in an effort for our females to catch up or exceed their qualities so that we could use the appropriate dogs. There is no perfect dog but the right female will make all the difference if it clicks. Blending the old lines with the modern lines is difficult as they are different dogs but they both have traits that are quality. The old dogs in the late 70’s and 80’s seem to have been a little more robust but the new dogs have better drives, grip and conformation.

The old dogs would not cut it in our modern world and its current demands particularly in the sport of Schutzhund however they offer some fundamental traits that are missing today, mainly hardness, robustness, calmness a little more edge in their attitude to humans when provoked yet sensible, which is what all dogs should be but hey good luck trying to find them.
Most dogs are so highly geared these days that they are becoming impossible to live with. I like drive but not drive that drives me nuts.

People have asked me …so what is the secret to breeding good dogs?

And my answer is … buy a load of dogs, breed them for 31 years, travel the world for 25 years and see how you go. Unfortunately you can’t gain knowledge about how to read behaviour from just text books, it takes years of experience.

It takes forever and so does the ability to read dogs. For me observing dog behaviour in protection training is like looking at a photo of a galaxy. Most people see a hazy elliptical blob but any physicist or astronomer will tell you that a galaxy is mind blowing if you knew how it functioned.  There are stars, planets, moons, asteroids, comets, solar systems, governed by gravitational fields, dark matter and black holes that defy complete understating from the human mind. I think you get my meaning. That is what I see when I watch dogs work to make a selection for breeding.


Please elaborate on the story of the lady who worked within the DDR system and received remuneration of breeding stock from East Germany and how that has impacted on Australia's and you’re breeding program.

I knew a gentleman in Melbourne who was from the Czech Republic and by all accounts quite a controversial personality. He knew the owner of three or four DDR dogs that were brought to Australia in the late 70 and early 80”s. There were three females and one male I believe. The male was an Ex v Reidstern son called Don von Trafalgar. These dogs produced some really intense animals and I now realise that one of them Amando Yonny DDR epitomises the “OPITIMUM FUCTIONAL ZONE” model that I conceptually talk about.

END OF PART TWO - If you wish to contact Kris Kotsopoulos please go to www.vonforell.com

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