I'm in the hotel in Poland right now, getting ready for the training camp called Pełnia Potencjału which translates to Full Potential. Actually this is a series of events under that name that I was running here for over a year now. Funny enough, I didn't come up with that name. Years ago, when a friend first invited me to teach in Poland, we were trying to come up with a name for the workshop. I was like maybe play, maybe reactivity... He suggested Pełnia Potencjału (Full Potential) My first reaction? "Nobody will come! What does that even mean?" 😂 But the more I thought about it, the more I realised how perfectly that name describes my approach to dog training. Because building motivation, confidence, relationship, impulse control and emotional regulation is essential to unlock our dogs' full potential. Regardles if we train for everyday life or competition ring. Let me tell you a little story. Meet Fatty, my first Rottweiler. On our first day at the training club, I was told: "Get rid of that dog." She wasn't considered suitable for sport. In fact, they didn't think she would even make a particularly good companion dog. She had very little motivation or drive, was easily distracted, extremely sensitive to environmental pressure, and reactive towards dogs and people. Not exactly the promising competition prospect I was hoping for! I spent months going from seminar to seminar, looking for that one magic training tip that would finally make everything work. But all I was getting were technical solutions. How to teach heelwork. How to teach the sendaway. How to improve this or that exercise. And I kept asking myself: "But how the hell do I teach any of this if my dog doesn't even want to work with me?" That's when I completely changed my approach. Instead of focusing on exercises, I started focusing on the dog. I worked on her motivation through food, toys and play. As her motivation grew, so did her focus and engagement. I worked on her confidence separately from any obedience exercises. She became less sensitive to pressure and the environment, and it also helped enormously with her reactivity.