Activation ⚡

🐾 Why is activation so important?

Activation is the foundation of my entire training concept and plays a huge role in obedience.

Instead of constantly trying to motivate the dog with better food or toys, we want to create the opposite mindset:

➡️ Your dog should actively ask you to work with him.

We control access to food and toys, and the dog learns that his own initiative makes the work start.

This creates much more self-motivation – especially later in trials, where the dog needs to stay focused and motivated without constantly being encouraged from the outside.

🐕 How can your dog activate you?

There is no single correct behavior. It should suit both you and your dog.

Possible forms of activation are:

✅ Jumping up at you
✅ Barking
✅ Nudging you
✅ Giving you intense eye contact
✅ Jumping into heel position

💡 The exact behavior is not important. The important thing is that your dog becomes active and asks you to work.

🧩 How do we build activation?

With puppies or if you already know which behavior you want, you can help your dog at the beginning.

For example:

➡️ Encourage the dog to jump up
➡️ Reward immediately
➡️ Start the work

This teaches him:
“If I become active, the fun starts.”

With older or highly motivated dogs, you can also simply hide the food or toy and wait to see what the dog offers.

As soon as he becomes active – for example by looking at you, nudging, barking or jumping – you reward him or start working.

🔥 Keep activation in your training

Activation is not something we teach once and then stop using.

It stays part of every training session:

➡️ Before the work starts
➡️ After the toy disappears
➡️ Between exercises

The dog repeatedly learns that he has to become active if he wants the work to continue.

💡 XXL Tip:
If your dog needs more motivation, power or expression, spend a few weeks putting a strong focus on activation. Even short sessions where your dog activates you, gets rewarded and then has to activate you again can make a huge difference.

🐕🔥 The goal is a dog that does not lose motivation during training or trials, but becomes more engaged because he has learned that his own effort brings him closer to the reward.