Course Details
Many training approaches focus on keeping dogs calm, relaxed, and below threshold. While these skills are valuable, if alone they often fail to prepare dogs for the moments that matter most.
Whether it is a reactive dog encountering a trigger, a sport dog entering the competition field, or a working dog facing real-world pressure, arousal inevitably rises. Excitement, frustration, anticipation, and fear can all interfere with performance. As arousal increases, communication often breaks down. The dog stops responding, decision-making deteriorates, and both handler and dog become disconnected.
The goal should not be to keep dogs calm all the time. Instead, we should teach them how to stay connected, responsive, and capable of making good decisions even when arousal is high.
In this presentation, Alex Lato explores how arousal affects learning, communication, and performance, and why many traditional approaches to impulse control and calmness fail to transfer into real-life situations. Drawing from experience with reactive dogs, companion dogs, and working dogs, he presents practical strategies for maintaining communication when excitement, frustration, or uncertainty take over.
Topics covered include:
- How arousal influences behaviour, learning, and performance
- Common sources of high arousal, including excitement, frustration, and fear
- Why calmness alone often fails to prepare dogs for real-world challenges
- The difference between suppressing arousal and teaching dogs to function within it
- Using play as a tool for developing communication, emotional regulation, and clear thinking
- Teaching dogs to stay responsive and make better decisions under pressure
- Drive switching and influencing emotional states through training
- Practical exercises and common mistakes in impulse control training
Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of arousal and practical tools to create dogs that remain connected, responsive, and clear-headed when it matters most.
About the Instructor:
Alex Lato MSc is a dog trainer, speaker, author, and co-founder of Temperament Dogs, with over 15 years of experience working with companion, sport, working, and reactive dogs.
Holding a Master's degree in Animal Science from the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW), Alex has spent his career studying the relationship between motivation, confidence, emotion, and performance. His work combines practical experience from behaviour modification, residential training, dog sports, and helper work in IGP, allowing him to bridge the gap between pet dog training and high-performance canine work.
Alex is the creator of several training frameworks, including Play With Purpose and TBRR for Reactivity Training. These systematic, step-by-step training programmes provide trainers and handlers with practical tools to develop motivation, confidence, emotional regulation, and effective communication while removing much of the guesswork from the training process.
He is the author of Braveheart: Motivation and Confidence Training for Performance and Companion Dogs and is known for his practical, results-focused approach to helping dogs perform confidently and effectively in both everyday life and dog sports.
Through seminars, workshops, online education, and hands-on coaching, Alex helps trainers and handlers develop dogs that are not only obedient, but confident, resilient, and capable of making good decisions in challenging situations.
