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Alex Lato wasn’t born with some mysterious instinct for dog training! As he puts it:
“I wasn’t raised by wolves. I wasn’t born with a special instinct. And I’m not a ‘dog whisperer.’ What I have didn’t come from talent or mysticism — it came from obsession, repetition, and treating dog training as a serious craft.”
Alex studied Animal Science in Warsaw and began his career working with Border Collies in sheep herding before moving into companion and sport dog training. He later relocated to Finland to immerse himself in IGP helper training — a period that reshaped how he understood dogs, their emotions, and the importance of intention behind every interaction.
His path eventually led to the UK, where he co-founded Temperament Dogs and began working intensively with real-world dogs living with fear, reactivity, and complex behavioural histories.
Through his work, Alex identified a core problem in dog training: many systems rely on intuition that works for skilled trainers, but leaves most people without clarity or structure. In response, he began developing clear, repeatable frameworks that turn instinctive skills — such as play, motivation, confidence, heelwork, and reactivity — into systems anyone can follow step by step.
Motivation and confidence sit at the core of his philosophy, not as buzzwords, but as essential drivers of learning and resilience. This thinking led to the philosophy behind Karate for Dogs, inspired by martial arts training for children, where structure, challenge, and discipline build confidence, character, and strong relationships.
Alongside this philosophy, Alex has developed practical systems now used by trainers and handlers internationally, including:
Play With Purpose — structured play formula for building motivation, confidence, relationship, and impulse control through play
Heelwork Hackers — seven clear steps to mastering focused heelwork
TBRR (Trigger → Behaviour → Relief → Reinforcement) — a confidence-based reactivity framework designed to make reactivity training effective and efficient, without compromising the dog’s wellbeing
Each framework works as a standalone system, while also being fully compatible with the others.
For him, dog training isn’t about gimmicks or secrets. Advice is useless if it doesn’t give both the handler and the dog clarity and a clear path for progress. It’s about understanding learning, motivation, behaviour, and emotion — and putting those elements together in a way that makes sense.
The weekend will be made up of a culmination of theory and practical covering the following:
Day 1
Morning Play Formula Food (including games/luring skills for heelwork)
Afternoon Play Formula Toys (communication in play for heelwork)
Day 2
AM- 7 steps for Heelwork
PM- Trouble shooting
Alex is also happy to adapt to an individual's requirements 😊
Weekend Handler Place £245 (Early Bird Price £220)
Weekend Spectator Place £145 (Early Bird Price £130)
1 day Spectator Place £75 (Early Bird Price £65)
Early Bird Prices applicable until 1st February 2026
Fees can be paid in instalments but full payment is required by 22nd February 2026.
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Event Venue
Gate Helmsley Village Hall, Stamford Bridge, United Kingdom
Tickets
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