Who I Am
Thirty years in the field.
What sets Stephan apart from other dog trainers isn't a diploma — it's more than ten years spent living with and observing dog packs, every single day. His understanding of how a pack actually works isn't something he read. It's something he lived.
It's also the breadth of it. Colleagues in the field say his background is impressive — according to them, no other dog trainer has worked across as many countries or as wide a range of settings, moving between public institutions and private clients alike.
He's trained explosive-detection dogs for elite police units, run pet-therapy programs in French prisons, and worked with private clients and public institutions alike across more than a dozen countries.
Show the full background
It started with reading everything he could find on canine ethology and behavior, with no preconceived idea of what he'd find. But he didn't stop there: once he'd gathered everything available to him, he spent years testing it on the ground — living with up to 20 dogs at once, then continuing to observe wild and free-roaming packs across several countries. His own observations are what let him sort out, from everything he'd read, what actually held up.
He also studied every obedience technique available — from methods built around food rewards to far harsher training methods — and settled on the one that was, at once, the most respectful, the most effective, and the most consistent for real obedience: the one that delivers genuinely astonishing results.
For the past four years, he's continued that work in Bali, where he observes multiple semi-wild packs every day.
He also bred dogs at home for several years — not just out of passion for it, but because it let him observe a dog's behavior from birth: how the mother cares for her litter, the interactions between puppies, when hierarchical interactions between them start, how their character develops, and how they interact with adult dogs and what those adults teach them.
He has also trained breeders on puppy socialization, taught future trainers and dog walkers, given conferences on aggression and animal welfare, run school workshops on bite prevention, trained staff for dog rescue associations in several countries, and taught and written for France's two leading correspondence training schools. He has directed dog training films, and continues studying street-dog populations in Indonesia and India. Those observations aren't there to confirm what he already believes to be true about dogs — they're there to check whether he's missed something, or whether there are new subtleties he hasn't caught yet.
He's trained dogs and their owners across the United States, Canada, Mauritania, Lebanon, Italy, Belgium, Morocco, Luxembourg, Greece, Switzerland, Finland, India, Indonesia, and France. He's written training manuals, produced instructional DVDs, and authored the book "Dog, tell me who you are…". He now lives in Bali, where he founded Helsinki Dog Training.
If the French Ministry of Justice trusted him to run those prison programs, if an elite police unit brought him in for explosive-detection work, if the French Ministry of Agriculture mandated him to supervise state-school training for the professional dog trainer diploma nationwide, and if national media keeps inviting him back to talk about dog behavior — it's for a reason. That kind of trust isn't extended to just anyone.
I'm passing on everything I've learned from 30 years of study and practice. — Stephan Mairesse
"If knowing better means living with it better, the document proposed by Stephan Mairesse deserves to be distributed in our schools and accessible to all veterinarians." — Dr. Michel Baron, veterinary surgeon, regarded as one of the world's leading canine surgeons
Career Timeline
Interventions in United States, Canada, Mauritania, Lebanon, Italy, Belgium, Morocco, Luxembourg, Greece, Switzerland, Finland, India, Indonesia, France.
- Workshop for children at "Growing in Kedungu School" Kedungu, Bali, Indonesia. Click here
- Release of the book "Dog, tell me who you are…" — you can order it here
- Opening of "Helsinki Dogs Knowledge" in Bali, Indonesia Instagram
- Workshop "Dog Behavior — Avoiding Street Dog Bites" for students at Prima Santhi School, Gianyar, Bali-Indonesia.
- Zootherapy workshops for inmates in Jail (Villepinte - Paris, France) - since 2016 - as part of Respecto project. French Ministry of Justice. An overview of the work here
- Invited by "Black Lab Café" and "Boris & Horton" for an "Ask a trainer" event in New York City
- Workshop "Avoiding bites from street dogs" in DS8 primary school - Ubud, Bali, Indonesia - For children 6 to 9 years old
- Training for employees of the "Bali Bully Rescue" association and "Mission Paw'sible" - Bali, Indonesia
- Invited by "West Village D.O.G." in New York City for an "ask a trainer" evening.
- Pet therapy workshop for repeat offenders with addiction problems - Aurore association Paris, France
- Dog training in explosive detection in association with a member of the command corps of the RAID France
- Conference on animal welfare for cattle breeders for the "Paris Livestock Institute" Paris-France
- Creation of an iOS / Android application on dog training and behavior for Canin Plus:
Content writing.
Direction and video production of the tutorial films.
- Writing teaching manuals for dog training and dog behavior students - Centre Européen de Formation (Atlas group). Facilitation of workshops for veterinary assistant students and dog trainers
Reference instructor for dog training, breeding and the Certificate of Ability at the Institut de Formation en Soins Animaliers (IFSA).
Creation of tutorial films.
Writing teaching manuals.
Weekly dog training permanence.
Workshops with students on behavior and dog training.
- Production of a DVD "Having an obedient and balanced dog".
"If knowing better means living with it better, the document proposed by Stephan Mairesse deserves to be distributed in our schools and accessible to all veterinarians." — Doctor Michel Baron, veterinarian
"Having a dog that behaves well in town and at home. Discover the rules of gentle dog education taught by Stephan Mairesse." — Doctor Régine Le Sann, veterinary behaviorist
- Documentary on dog aggressiveness, by Morgan Production.
- Creation of a quality label for breeding for the Cane Corso French Association (AFCC).
- i>Télé (now CNews), television show: "The Political Guest" with Laurent Bazin. Following the death of a young woman bitten by her dogs. Debate on solutions to deal with dog bites, in the presence of Georges Sarre, deputy and adviser to the city of Paris for security, rapporteur for the Dangerous Dogs Act of 1999, Mr. Petitdidier, vice-president of the French Canine Society (S.C.C.), and Stephan Mairesse, cynologist and aggression specialist.
- Classic Radio. Guest in the morning newspaper, on dangerous dogs.
- Invited by the city of Metz (France) for a conference on dog aggression.
- Member of the Jury for the Ministry of Agriculture, responsible for monitoring training in schools issuing a state diploma in dog training.
- Collaboration with the SPA (French dog rescue association) of Vaux-le-Pénil. Its mission was to help adopters solve behavioral problems with their new companion.
- TV show: Public Sénat: "Bouge la France" by Pierre Sled. Participation in the program on the provisions of laws concerning dogs known as "dangerous", with Georges Sarre, French deputy, Madame Perrigueux, municipal councilor responsible for the integration of animals in the urban environment, and Stephan Mairesse, cynologist.
French radio - France Inter: participation in the program "Le Téléphone sonne", by Alain Bédouet, with Georges Sarre, French deputy, Vincent Capo Canellas, mayor of Le Bourget, General Councilor, and Stephan Mairesse, cynologist. Program on dogs that became dangerous.
- Production of a first DVD: "Train your dog gently".
- French newspaper: Le Parisien: "specialist interview" following dog bites, writing articles on precautions to avoid bites.
- French newspaper: Version Femina, report "Stephan Mairesse's training methods" by following a family he trained the dog for.
- Specialized canine press: numerous articles on canine training in various journals: Dogs 2000, Dog Trump, Journal du Club Français du Cane Corso…
- Cane Corso breeder
- Lived with a pack of 10 to 20 free-ranging individuals at home.
Interventions for the cities of: Paris, Boulogne-Billancourt, Chaville, Nogent-sur-Marne, Vincennes:
Intervention in leisure centers for children aged 6 to 8
Dog education awareness workshop
Certificate of ability n° 750108 for dog training and breeding
Vocational training establishment registered with the Regional Directorate of Labor, Employment and Vocational Training under number: 11 94 08 407 94