Real stories,
honestly told.

Who I am and who my dog is

Having a dog of my own had always been my great wish. About four years ago I started looking into it more seriously. More or less by chance I came across the Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier, a breed I had not known until then. Looking back it was chance and at the same time exactly the dog who was meant to suit me.

I live with my husband and my three children in a house with a garden. Juna came to us as a puppy in April 2023, during a period when I was taking a break from work. Today I am working again, and Juna comes to work with me one day a week.

It was clear early on: Juna is not an easy dog. Out of a litter of three she was the one who stood out. She pushed against boundaries again and again, was hardly impressed by anything and simply carried on. Today I know she was strong-willed, self-assured and demanding from the very beginning.

What our everyday life looked like before the training

The first weeks were wonderful. Juna slept a lot, sought closeness, snuggled up to me. We were in love. Everything felt easy. But at three to four months the picture changed. Juna wound up. She hardly ever settled, jumped at our calves, snatched things away, could not wait, could not stay still, could not accept boundaries.

The nights got shorter, and I got tired, unsure and increasingly overwhelmed. At some point I stood there with a dog I loved and could no longer manage in everyday life.

My route through other dog schools

Like many others I started with a puppy class and moved on – because I was not satisfied – to another dog school. There a lot of work was done with rewards. Juna did many things right as long as I had food in my hand. But I had no feeling of reliability. I felt like a treat dispenser. And above all I sensed that something essential was missing.

How I came to Marc Welti

I came across Marc Welti's website early on. His approach appealed to me immediately. And yet I decided against it at first. Perhaps because of the path, perhaps because of the cost, perhaps also because I was not yet ready inside.

Only afterwards did I realise that it had never really been about the price. Add up the courses that achieved little, the treats, the equipment and all the detours, and the difference was small. The real difference was in what came out of it. So I made a deliberate decision to take this path.

Starting with the online modules

When I booked the training with the online modules, group calls, one-to-one coaching and later the group sessions, I was convinced from the start. The concept was logical, clear and made sense to me.

I started training consistently right away. Looking back, that was exactly the key to success. I never really doubted the concept, not even when I received plenty of unasked-for tips from other dog owners who were convinced they knew better.

From training to everyday life

The more consistently I worked, the more natural the training became. Over time it was no longer about practising, but about being out and about together.

Juna has a pronounced prey drive. She used to chase cats, deer and anything that moved. Through consistent training I gave her clear boundaries, so that today she no longer chases and reliably orients herself towards me.

Starting group training

After the online modules and two private coaching sessions we were ready for group training. The first time I was very nervous. The sessions took place in the woods, with other dogs and in real everyday situations.

Marc was present throughout. He pointed it out to me whenever my leadership was not clear enough in a given situation. That precision demanded a lot of attention from me, and that is exactly why it was so effective.

Support from the calls and the community

The weekly calls were a central part of the training. I could ask questions, listen and above all benefit from the concrete answers to those questions. The other participants' questions opened up new perspectives too and helped me understand how things connect.

What has changed

Today I have a dog I trust. Juna can be off the leash anywhere, even in demanding situations such as in town, in shops or in a restaurant. That freedom is no accident. It is the result of structured training, clear communication, binding agreements and staying consistently with it.

My conclusion

This journey has changed me. I have learned to really take responsibility. Not only for my dog, but for my own actions.

Many people wish for a well-trained dog. But not everyone is prepared to actually walk the path there. That path is not always comfortable. It asks for effort, time and the courage to stay true to yourself against resistance.

I walked that path. And that is exactly why Juna is free today.

I am Barbara, 70 years old. Since retiring I have lived with my partner Peter in a small hamlet in the Zurich Oberland. We are outdoors a lot and love nature and the quiet of country life.

Seven years ago we decided to get a dog. Our choice fell on Ocharis, a black Briard male who was five months old at the time. I took him into my heart immediately.

His character showed itself early on. Ocharis was nervous and anxious, but at the same time cheeky, strong-willed and full of energy. It quickly became clear to us that living with him would come with particular challenges.

Every encounter with another dog was difficult. Ocharis barked, threw himself into the leash and could hardly be controlled. On the leash he pulled forward with incredible force. Off the leash, and sometimes on it, he jumped at me and used his teeth again and again. I had countless bruises and many torn clothes.

Ocharis led us by the nose. He often wanted to set the tone. He barked and made a scene when something went against his will.

I was completely overwhelmed, helpless, afraid of his attacks and full of doubt about myself. All the more so because Peter had rather better control of him and was respected by him. I always believed that my affection would make things better, and I often stroked and petted him and spoke gently to him. For a long time I explained his behaviour to myself and excused it again and again, without seriously considering setting clear boundaries. I did not know how to help myself; I kept taking heart, but I could not manage him.

The turning point

By chance we came to Marc's training when Ocharis was four years old. We knew straight away: this is the right thing. The scales fell from my eyes – at last I had tools to train with. That was an enormous relief.

Over time I became more and more able to take responsibility and to develop my own strength through doing. Peter and I used every walk to practise, and it moved forward. Fortunately we always pulled in the same direction. At first only Peter could handle him in group training; after a while I took him over in the group. That was a great success and a great joy. Through the encounters and the training in the group I gained confidence and courage. That carries over to Ocharis. Today he often appears self-assured.

Nervousness and excitability have stayed with him to some degree, with the difference that today I know how to help him settle again.

There were and are setbacks too. I have accepted that learning is a process and does not run in a straight line. That is exactly where a great deal of value lies for me. I learn a lot about myself along the way.

Today

Everyday life with him is mostly relaxed now; he knows and accepts a no and gets on with other dogs. A great deal has turned for the better through our consistency, clarity and seriousness. The bond with Ocharis has become strong, and he orients himself towards me.

I am grateful to have learned to take responsibility and to give Ocharis security. Today it is a joy to be out with him. I experience what authenticity feels like and how helpful a clear no is. I have learned that consistency, and the alignment of my inner and outer attitude, are the key to success.

Thank you very much, dear Marc, for your highly competent coaching. Your expertise, your experience and your patience in working out solutions are an immense support on my path with Ocharis.

Laupen, January 2026

Who I am and why I decided on a puppy

My name is Magdalena, I am 31 years old and work as a psychotherapist in a shared practice. I live with my Vizsla, Wilma, now eight months old, in a flat. The wish for a dog of my own has been with me since childhood.

The timing felt right now, because I became self-employed about two years ago and can take Wilma into my therapy sessions. Before that I worked for around six years in a psychiatric hospital. There it would not have been possible to bring a dog.

What Wilma was like when she moved in

Wilma had lived with another family before me and was returned to the breeder because she was experienced as very demanding. I took her on at 16 weeks. I had actually planned to get a puppy from a new litter the following year. Everything came faster than expected.

When I saw Wilma for the first time I fell head over heels and at the same time felt completely overwhelmed. I found her curious, full of energy, open and very affectionate.

Because Wilma came into my life so unexpectedly early, I could not reduce my work with my clients as planned. Just one week after she moved in she had to come with me into my back-to-back therapy sessions. That was extremely demanding. I wanted to do justice to Wilma and to my clients alike.

During that period I saw far fewer friends, my regular yoga fell away and many of my previous sources of energy were no longer available to me.

My uncertainties at the beginning

I had a great many uncertainties. They concerned practically everything: training, feeding, grooming and health. I quickly got lost in details and did not know where to start.

I had read countless books beforehand and watched countless videos. The sheer amount of partly contradictory information overwhelmed me massively. My aim was to give Wilma orientation and clarity from the start. Only I did not yet have that clarity myself, not to the degree I wanted.

Why I came into the training early

Even before I knew about Wilma I had already signed up for Marc Welti's training. I was offered an option that let me look at the content in advance and switch to the regular training later, once the dog was there.

The highly structured training plan gave me something to hold on to from the very first moment. Instead of losing myself further in thoughts, questions and doubts, I could let go inwardly and let myself be guided. I knew what mattered now and what could wait. That clear structure brought me calm, security and a relief I badly needed in that phase.

What changed fundamentally for me

The biggest change for me personally was that I learned to take up space in public. Normally I am rather quiet and keen not to stand out.

Wilma needs clear and reliable communication in order to orient herself. For me that meant making my attitude visible to the outside and being present in the decisive moments.

Especially at the beginning I became aware of how quickly leadership is judged from the outside. Not every reaction was supportive. But that phase brought me into an important learning process: staying with myself, taking my values seriously and not defining myself through other people's opinions.

I learned to stay with myself and with Wilma and to remain true to my values. As progress grew, the picture turned around completely. Criticism became compliments.

“People want a well-trained dog, but they don't want to see how you train one.”

The support and encouragement in the weekly Zoom meetings helped me enormously during that time.

How my behaviour towards Wilma changed

I have become much clearer in my communication, especially in public. That inner clarity carries over to Wilma and makes her noticeably calmer. Many agreements she now keeps without any command at all. For instance she often lies down in her little bed by herself as soon as a therapy session begins.

How that shows in everyday life today

Wilma has settled well into our everyday life. There are walks on which we train deliberately and increase the difficulty step by step.

She now knows travelling by train, bus and tram well. She handles crowded stations remarkably calmly too.

She does not always love rest periods. They are necessary nonetheless. She can be left alone for about three hours. When I am there she very much likes to be close. At the same time she still needs clear boundaries in those moments, which is why I regularly send her to her place. That helps her settle by herself and not depend permanently on my attention.

What is still challenging

Encounters with other dogs are still a topic, one we are currently working on in group training. For her age Wilma is already doing very well overall.

One persistent topic is eating faeces, especially in the woods. I want to keep working on that deliberately, because it still challenges me in everyday life. Because Wilma is making great progress in every other area, I am trying to stay consistent here too.

What I have learned about myself

A great deal. Wilma is a mirror and makes my own themes immediately visible. Every change in my inner attitude or my behaviour has a direct effect on her.

A formative example was the sofa. The moment I was really clear inside and applied the training consistently, Wilma understood it at once. From one day to the next the topic was settled.

The first visible progress motivated me enormously to keep following the training concept consistently. The clear structure and the principles gave me a reliable framework to orient myself by.

Through my profession I am theoretically aware of many patterns. With Wilma I was able to experience those insights physically for the first time through the training, to test them in everyday life and to anchor them for good.

My conclusion as a puppy owner

Looking back I would do it all exactly the same way again. All the mistakes, my own as well as Wilma's, were part of a learning process that brought us exactly to where we stand today.

In that intense phase the training gave me structure, orientation and a clear framework. It helped me not to get stuck in uncertainty or self-doubt, but to take responsibility and stay with it step by step.

To my earlier self I would give more composure and more trust in the process. Above all, though, the trust that clarity, consistency and good guidance make the path easier, even when it does not feel that way in between.

A path on which I learned to take up more space. For myself and for Wilma.

Who I am and who my dog is

My name is Giacun. I am 60 years old, married for many years and the father of two grown-up children. For around 25 years I have worked as a self-employed management consultant and coach. Dogs have been part of my life for a long time: Tosca, our fox-red Labrador, is now three years old and already our second Labrador.

Tosca is a robust and self-assured dog. She meets people and other dogs in a friendly way, sometimes a little boisterously. Other dogs hold an enormous attraction for her. Outdoors she is active and curious, at home calm and undemanding. A dog, really, of whom you might say: all is well. And yet all was not well.

Our everyday life before the training

Because Tosca is not our first dog, I assumed I knew a lot about dogs and had everything under control. I started early with simple exercises such as “sit” and “down” and worked – as before – with treats. At first that seemed to work.

The first irritations came in the puppy class. From about the fourth session Tosca no longer came back to me. Instead she ran to the other dogs or sniffed around the area with interest. Even more attractive treats changed nothing. I stood there with sausage slices in my hand, calling her, luring her – and was ignored. That feeling of no longer being able to reach my own dog unsettled me deeply.

How I felt

I felt at a loss and increasingly powerless. For Tosca it was far more interesting to play with other dogs and explore her surroundings than to orient herself towards me or the treats I offered her.

When she was a puppy, I let her play a great deal with other dogs, assuming that this would socialise her well and make her more responsive later. Looking back I realised that this was precisely a fallacy and contributed to the challenges we were confronted with later.

Walks were tense, encounters with other dogs chaotic. Everything I thought I knew about dog training suddenly seemed no longer to work. At the same time doubt about myself grew quietly. At some point it became clear to me: this cannot go on.

Deciding to get help

I began looking specifically for training approaches without food and came across Marc Welti's concept “Hund ohne Leine”. The idea appealed to me immediately, not least because I had often been out without a leash with my first dog.

My wife was sceptical at first. But when she independently heard positive things about this training from another dog owner, we decided together to give it a try.

The first consultation convinced me to approach Tosca's training according to Marc's method. I started the training that same day and gave up treats entirely. Tosca was four months old at the time. And both of us stood at the beginning of a learning process I had not expected in that form.

My most important insights in the training

The first exercises from the video lessons went well, and at first we made rapid progress. That motivated me a great deal. Over time, however, Tosca found it increasingly hard to follow the commands reliably. I stayed consistent and insisted that she carry them out.

At the first private session Marc pointed out to me that Tosca needs clear and decisive leadership. That feedback helped me to align my own behaviour better with her character and to make my communication more deliberate and unambiguous.

The weekly Zoom calls helped me a lot to keep my motivation up and to pursue the training consistently and with stamina. Marc took the concerns and questions seriously, asked precise follow-up questions and gave matter-of-fact suggestions.

The group sessions with other dogs were very valuable for us. In the first sessions Tosca found it hard to concentrate on the exercises. Several times she slipped away and preferred to seek contact with the other dogs.

Despite the consistent training it was always important to me to show Tosca affection and understanding as well. I played with her, encouraged contact with other dogs and was aware that consistency and relationship are not a contradiction.

Changes in everyday life

Today our everyday life is relaxed. Walks are a pleasure again. Except in built-up areas and on busy roads Tosca is usually off the leash outdoors, and on the leash she is calm and does not pull. We can take her along easily wherever we go – to a restaurant, a hotel, on public transport or even stand-up paddling.

What has changed in me

I have understood how strongly my inner attitude, my sense of security and the consistent insistence on agreements have a positive influence on my dog.

That insight reached far beyond dog training. Through the coaching I became aware of how much my inner attitude, my clarity and my behaviour influence not only Tosca but also my professional and private life. Patterns I met in the training I recognised again in other areas of life.

That was not always pleasant, but very valuable. The coaching helped me not only to recognise these connections but also to change them deliberately. It became clear to me that perseverance, the consistent pursuit of goals and continuous self-reflection are the basis for lasting development – with the dog and beyond.

Challenges and doubts

At the beginning I received unasked-for advice from “self-appointed experts”, which unsettled me at times. I meet one such “expert” almost daily now; while his two dogs still pull on the leash as we pass, I walk calmly and serenely past him with my dog off the leash, quietly amused.

My conclusion

Marc's concept and his method convinced me thoroughly. He has the extraordinary ability to approach people carefully, to identify the core of the problem and to support participants in becoming able to train their dog themselves.

For me this training was not only dog training, but personal development too.

I have learned that real connection does not come from rewards, but from clarity, presence and the willingness to look at yourself.

I am Esther, 74 years old. Three years ago I ended my work as a coach and organisational developer in order to devote more time to my art studio. Today I can shape my days freely and have enough time to train with our dog, but also to share closeness and quiet.

My dog Vasco is a large Golden Retriever male, soon eight years old, with a pronounced need for independence. He likes to decide for himself where things are going. Territorial behaviour is part of his character.

How it was before

Before the training Vasco was very detached and distant towards us. He barely oriented himself towards us and did “his own thing” on walks, meaning he was busy sniffing and observing his surroundings – what we wanted from him, or where we happened to be, was largely irrelevant to him. We were essentially thin air to him.

In certain situations Vasco seemed tense inside, even though outwardly he often appeared calm and phlegmatic. That tension then showed itself in pushy behaviour: he jumped at other people, clung to them and mounted them. After several incidents in which he was attacked by other male dogs – at the first really serious one he was still a young dog – we observed a change in his character at around five years old. He began to accept provocation, and there were several biting incidents which led to a report to the veterinary office.

I was frustrated by the lack of a bond – Vasco's predecessor had been my “soul dog” and had been with me through thick and thin. I had known no problems with him. Now I could not hike, could play only a little (Vasco was uninterested), could barely cuddle, and put a great deal of training effort in for minimal results. Walks were a joyless duty.

Uncertainty, doubt and frustration were my main feelings. Were we the wrong people for this dog? Were we not doing right by him? What did he need? What could I not give him? What else should I try, which books should I read, which coaches should I consult? I consulted books, attended theory and practical courses, went to trainers specialising in livestock guardian dogs and in “stubborn types”, in Germany, in Holland and so on.

In January 2025 the fourth and fifth biting incidents happened – like all the previous ones, on a walk with my husband. A three-kilo Chihuahua provoked Vasco, was shaken by him and injured. Following that, my husband refused to walk Vasco outdoors any longer and demanded that we give him up for rehoming.

That was the trigger for me to make one more, and hopefully final, attempt with a trainer. It was clear that we wanted to avoid by every means that another dog came to harm.

The training with Marc

Vasco spent two weeks with Marc in intensive training – for my husband with the idea of being able to rehome Vasco better, for me and my daughter with the aim of being able to keep him. During that time I studied the video lessons and engaged intensively with Marc's concept.

Security, clarity, consistency, reliability. Step by step I became aware that we had left Vasco with too much responsibility. He was often stressed because he did not clearly know what we expected of him.

I began to reflect on myself very precisely. Am I really unambiguous, or am I sending contradictory signals? Am I clear? Do I follow through on agreements consistently?

It became clear to me that I had to show Vasco that he can rely on me. That I make decisions, take responsibility and communicate clearly what is expected of him.

Today

After a few months of training we live today with a noticeably changed dog. Vasco has not jumped up at people for months and only rarely lets situations stress him.

A trainer had recommended that we divide the open ground floor with barriers so that Vasco could no longer reach the front door. That did not feel right to us, so we did not do it. Today Vasco no longer barks when the doorbell rings, even without barriers. I can calmly send him to his bed, where he stays until I release the command.

Outdoors Vasco is easy to reach today. He often orients himself towards me, shows a reliable recall and walks calmly past cats. At home he usually lies down near me when I sit on the sofa in the living room. He seeks contact, in his own way. He is still not a cuddly dog, but clearly turned towards us and connected to us.

Living with Vasco has developed very positively for me since the training. I have become calmer, feel more secure and now experience dealing with his particularities as an interesting challenge. The focus on everyday practicality suits me very well.

The greatest gift for me is that walks are a pleasure again. I love practising, training and observing closely what works. At last I feel comfortable outdoors with Vasco. At last walks are fun again. And at last I have the feeling of being equal to the situation.

My conclusion

It is worth staying with it through the highs and lows, accepting setbacks as part of the process and not letting yourself be thrown. Seeing difficult situations as a challenge opens up a change of perspective that makes composure, clarity and joy in everyday life possible again.