Alida Gerger graduated in vet from university, in dog training from heart.
Well, from the heart is a simple way to say that animal behaviour is where my heart lives. A proud Karen Pryor Academy Dog Trainer Professional, KPA Certified Training Partner, and a Certified Fear Free Veterinary Professional & Animal Trainer are some of the last pieces added to my knowledge tool kit. I’m happy to have this space to tell my journey story and the opportunity to share the rich experiences that brought me here.
I grew up in a dog-cat people family, genuine animal people. To this family, I have added my love to the horses. As a child, I would put aside common children’s games to ride horses, play games with my animals, and read books and magazines about dogs and cats. Obviously, everyone said that I should be a Vet when I grew up. I believed it and I went on. I studied Veterinary Medicine at the State University of Londrina, in Brazil, and loved every bit I learned in those 5 years! I graduated in 2003 and went to chase my mission. In the beginning, I was busy working in public health and companion animal and horse clinics. In 2006, I got a Master’s degree of Science from the University of São Paulo, where I developed special dietary management to help dogs with muscular dystrophy, a dear work that I was so proud of, it received a mention of honour! My interest in animal behaviour began after the intense observation of those dogs. I was studying homeopathy medicine at that point and realized how much it was necessary to have exclusive knowledge of dog and cat behaviour to correctly understand the use of the homeopathic symptoms repertoire in a way to not mistake them for human behaviour symptoms. I then took a deep dive into animal behaviour, fell in love and the rest is history.
From 2008 to 2012, I worked as a dog trainer and behaviour consultant for the Cão Cidadão, in São Paulo, a company specialising in training and animal behaviour. In my first year as a dog trainer, I had a powerful insight while working in one of my private sessions- I was taken back to the day when as a child, I used to dream of animals and everyone found it logical that my future would be in a veterinary clinic. But, I came to realize that what was making me so accomplished at that moment, in reality, was that I always wanted to be a dog trainer! I pictured clearly the memory of the longing for taking my dear German shepherd to the park where a club held dog training sessions. At that young age, I used to watch in wonder the handlers and their dogs performing. Now, in my own training session, I could see myself in my child's dream!
Cão de Família Book (2011, Ed. Agir)
I continued my education by joining the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behaviour (AVSAB) and The Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT) to be connected and follow what colleagues from around the world were doing, questioning, and innovating within the specialty. With this updated information collection, in 2010, I wrote a book named Cao de Familia (The family dog) in partnership with Alexandre Rossi about dog general care through the behaviour lens. In 2012 I went on board to field research in California, USA, where most of my behaviour references and inspirations were. Among them were the incredible Sophia Yin, Ian Dunbar, and Jean Donaldson. Also, I got to spend some time at institutions like the behaviour service of UC Davis and SF SPCA, San Francisco. I came back from there as a transformed professional.
Dogs playing in Crissy Fields, San Francisco
“If you really operate with all of those qualities, what makes you need punishment in your practice if those are exactly the same qualities needed to modify behaviour through positive reinforcement?!”... I received this question as a provocation about my ability and excellence as a trainer. And I accepted the challenge! Since then, my vision changed, I positioned myself up and set out to be a better dog trainer and avoid techniques that could hurt in whatever way.
At a seminar I attended in Berkeley, CA, Dr Ian Dunbar, giving an opinion on punishments, pondered on the correct way to use them, noting that the qualities to apply punishment responsibly are observing Timing, Effectiveness, Intensity, Consistency, and Control of stimuli. Also, punishments must be instructive and ultimately, there must be previous training on the correct behaviour, anyway (...) So, to use punishments responsibly you need to know how to operate all these variables impeccably, right? Wow ... “Now, if you really operate with all of those qualities, what makes you need punishment in your practice if those are exactly the same qualities needed to modify behaviour through positive reinforcement?!” ... I received this question as a provocation about my ability and excellence as a trainer. And I accepted the challenge! My vision changed, I positioned myself up and set out to be a better dog trainer and avoid techniques that could hurt in whatever way. I then decided to put authenticity in my career and went solo as a reward-based dog trainer and behaviourist vet. Since then, I’ve been working directly with families at their homes, applying behaviour modification protocols and working in behaviour cases alongside Veterinarian colleagues. My mission then became to improve the relationship between animals, their families and professionals involved in their care through an approach that brings about low stress, respect and well-being, ultimately based on science. I truly believe that understanding behaviour is medicine and low stress and kind approach is better medicine.
Some of my inspirational encounters in California (left to right): A super special day working with Sophia Yin; lunch and a nice chat with Dr Ian Dunbar; an entire weekend seminar with Bob Bailey in Davis; volunteering at SF SPCA; and Lana, the sweetest beagle, adopted from SPCA by dear friends
In 2013 I started off my journey in motherhood. During my first child's pregnancy, I was invited to collaborate on a TV show called “Adopt a pet friend” on the Gazeta channel, in Brazil. It was a project aimed to promote animal adoptions from the main animal pound in São Paulo and highlighted the dog trainer's role in the animal adaptation into its new family and how it impacted breaking the cycle of abandonment. Also, during my pregnancy, we adopted our cat Madalena and our border collie Oliver arrived. I had the opportunity to talk about so many important points on that show, such as puppy socialization and what should be considered when a baby is on the way - a sweet memory, Oliver puppy and me, very pregnant, on a famous tv show talking about animals and babies.
Pets from our home: the Border Collie Oliver, also known as Oli, Olinho, Oliveira, Brother Collie, Colinho, Super Collie, Lolie lolie ... and the cat Madalena or Nena, Madusca, Amadinha, Madá, Brickie ... our beloved lil greys!
In 2018, I moved with my family to Australia, and while settling, I joined Moorabbin Dog Obedience Club and their Dog Agility team, and have been part of the instructors team since 2021. Oliver and I have been hitting the rings, doing beautiful clear rounds and winning some titles with a lot of fun. Committed to continued education, I joined Susan Garret’s Handling 360, an online dog agility program that sharpens my techniques, concluded Karen Pryor’s course Shelter Training and Enrichment, and joined the Fear Free Certification program. In 2022, I completed a Certificate III TAFE in Animal Care Services, to get to know the local animal industry, and have been volunteering as an assistant at the Lost Dogs Home’s Behaviour Department. In 2023, while kicking off the Dogs and Bonds biz, I joined the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, IAABC community, to find the valuable resources and the best professional practice support to keep offering my services at very high-quality standards. In 2024, I completed the Karen Pryor Dog Trainer Professional Program with my dear dog Oliver and graduated as a proud KPA Certified Partner. We had the best time levelling up my skills at top-notch.
Oliver living his best athlete life at Royal Melbourne Show in 2022
