Silvia Schroth-Walter
Dog trainer and behavior consultant IHK
Expert for phenotypology ProHunde e.V.
Hello!
My name is Silvia Schroth-Walter and I am not only the owner of HuTa Saar, but I am also happy to assist dog owners at any time with my many years of experience as a dog trainer.
I initially ran a dog school under the name “FiLi” from 2004 to 2009. Then, in 2008, I had the idea to open a dog daycare center in Saarland, since there was no comparable institution in this country until then. The idea was born out of my own experience: I was working and my own dog had to spend many hours alone at home. I constantly had a guilty conscience, but I still had to work, a conflict that is difficult to manage for many dog owners – unless, I thought, there was an institution where dogs were competently looked after and cared for by working people during the day, a bit analogous to daycare centers. And because I am not only an optimist who can dream, but also put my goals and visions into practice, I set about making my idea a reality.
After a suitable area was found quite soon, I acquired the certificate of competence according to § 11 Animal Welfare Act, which is a prerequisite for the operation of such a facility, and opened the first dog daycare center in Saarland, my HuTa Saar, on July 20, 2008. Since then, I and my team have been giving working people the opportunity to keep a dog without a guilty conscience – and because I perform this task wholeheartedly and, above all, with expertise and competence, constant further training in seminars and webinars as well as regular reading of specialist journals and books was and is a matter of course for me. Above all that, just the participation in seminars and workshops has become quasi a hobby, which helps me to constantly develop and get new perspectives also in my job. I took the training course for dog trainers and behavior consultants in Potsdam, designed by the Berufsverband der Hundeerzieher/innen und Verhaltensberater/innen e.V. (Professional Association of Dog Trainers and Behavior Consultants), the only training course for dog trainers in Germany that is recognized by the IHK (Chamber of Industry and Commerce).
I am also an expert in phenotypology and provide independent and neutral opinions on the breed affiliation of dogs.
The list of my further education and training since then is long, but I think that when choosing a suitable dog trainer, it does not depend on that alone. Besides the great theoretical knowledge, I also have a lot of practical experience, if only because I have been a multi-dog owner myself for more than 20 years. I was actively involved in dog sports from 2001 to 2011, so I also know these facets of living together with dogs – and the breeds I am passionate about are not necessarily known as everyman dogs. Our Malinois bitch Rakia and our Hollandse Herder male Akando unfortunately passed away in 2022. Currently we have a hunting terrier mix named Fritzje, who is extremely sweet at home but mutates into a devil outside, and a border collie – Australian Shepherd mix named Levi. In addition, we have two guard dogs of the breed Central Asian Owtscharka, which live as guard dogs on the grounds of the HuTa Saar. They can do here – unlike many other guard dogs in Germany – what their genetics have given them. In addition to my own dogs, since the years of my dog school and with the operation of the HuTa, I have been able to gain additional experience with a wide variety of breeds and have also constantly educated myself in this area.
Besides all this, I simply love animals and nature, I am honest, direct and reliable and bring a lot of patience especially when it comes to problematic dogs. As a dog trainer, I have specialized in behavioral counseling and individual training and can also and especially help competently with aggression problems. I can analyze and assess well where things might not be quite right in a human-dog relationship and explain this, as well as the consequences for training, well and simply. The leadership quality I am said to have applies to dogs as well as to people and I like clear words. With me dogs are not belittled, expressions such as “furry nose” or “dog mama” will not be heard from me. Instead, I think positively and always solution-oriented and try in my training to find the right solution for every problem – this can be as well about training with the clicker, as about setting necessary limits to a dog that shows his teeth. My training certainly does not fit into any pigeonhole, but I am especially with problem dogs not only with knowledge, but also with real passion.
