Training dogs since 2001
Training dog handlers since 2007
Published training material since 2019

k9-Kristin, a qualified professional dog trainer

Kristín Sigmars knew at a young age her life was to be spent training dogs with purpose for some meaningful jobs. In 1996 she saw a documentary on search & rescue dogs and this helped her to set her focus for her life´s project. Kristín began training her own search dog in 2001 with the Search and Rescue Organization in Iceland.

Over the years, she has gained knowledge in training dogs with special emphasis on training working and search dogs. She worked with a call out dog in search and rescue for lost people for 10 years and still works systematically with the organization as an advisor, instructor and assessor for air scenting dogs and scent specific trailing dogs, rubble search and avalanche search dogs.

Before retiring her SAR-Dog she started working for Iceland´s Directorate of Customs handling search dogs for controlled substances, working in the field for 6 years confiscating hundreds of kilos of illegal drugs.

She then again returned to the Search & rescue field where she was employed to run a trailing dog unit working mainly in the field of lost persons but also in specific tasks for the police.

Kristín has attended numerous courses regarding dogs and dog training in her home country Iceland and abroad, emphasizing on the field of working dogs, dogs nutrition as well as first aid courses for dogs.

Kristín has over the years sought after and gained knowledge in training dogs with special emphasis on training working and search dogs. She strongly believes that all though her best dogs taught her a lot, the difficult or unsuited dogs taught her more. Some of them gave her a great insight into how to read a dog’s drive, interest in work, negative stress and lack of temper. This has lead her to the conclusion that it´s the difficult cases and dogs that you really learn from.

Interest in the behavior of dogs and behavior science soon arose and in 2010 Kristín began to systematically acquire knowledge in this field and she attended the first formal behavioral training course in 2015.

Kristín was chairman of the Search & rescue Dogs Association in Iceland for 4 years as well as being the associations secretary for 2 years prior. She has worked as an instructor in the training of various search dogs, attended courses abroad, conducted courses in Iceland and imported foreign instructors, she is a qualified assessor of the ICE-SAR for air scenting dogs, scent specific trailing dogs, rubble search and avalanche search dogs since 2007. All work that Kristín has put in the association since 2001 has been volunteer work and for non-profit.

Kristín has had different dog breeds: mongrels, Border Collie, English Springer Spaniel, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever and Bloodhounds. Through her work as dog trainer she has worked with many more breeds.

Through her work as manager at Wholesale Vetis ehf. in Iceland she was responsible for a pet product range and dog feed. She was head of sales and marketing and finally manager. As, she attended courses through her work on nutritional needs of dogs, she became fascinated in the field and sought all knowledge she could find in the field. And now she has expert knowledge in the feeding of working dogs, breeding bitches and dogs in general. She also focused on overweight household dogs but her main goal was the feeding of working and hunting dogs.

Kristín is very interested in dog behavior, their ability to find different things & materials, the use of dogs for behavior purposes and communications aid for individuals with special needs, especially children. She has her mind set on the field of choosing the right dog for a each project.