The obedience training methods used by the Club are the up to date, motivational methods in which correct behaviours will be rewarded.
The aim of the Club is to teach you, the individual, how to train your dog.
Each week you are taught a series of simple exercises in class which you should then repeat at home during the week.
The Club recommends you spend at least 10 minutes training your dog each day at home.
What do I need for class?
- Your dog must wear a flat collar with identification. Should you have difficulty controlling your dog on a flat collar your Instructor will advise you on a suitable soft check training collar or training harness, which may be purchased from the club shop. The use of check chains is actively discouraged by this club.
- A fabric lead approx. 750mm – 1.2m long. (NO extenda leads please).
- Suitable casual clothes. Sensible shoes – no high heels, scuffs, sandals, thongs or bare feet
- Tasty, soft food treats for rewards e.g. cheese, cooked sausage, chicken – cut into tiny pieces. A ‘treat pouch’, available at the club shop, will leave your hands free & prevent your pocket becoming unpleasant! Food in a plastic bag is not recommended as it is too hard to get food out of it quickly.
- Plastic ‘pick up poo’ bag(s).
- All the patience in the world.
Why Train your Dog?
Every breed of dog was developed for a specific job.
Some were bred to protect and guard, some to kill vermin, some to retrieve and others to herd or hunt.
These days few dogs, regardless of breed, actually earn a living doing the job they were bred for. Most are ‘Companion Dogs’ and the behaviours needed to become a good companion have to be taught.
One of the major reasons dogs end up homeless is that the owner was unhappy with the way the dog behaved yet failed to train the desired behaviours. Dogs, like children, do not come ‘programmed’
Today, some of the behaviours associated with a particular canine ‘job’ e.g. digging out vermin, are not acceptable & they need to be modified & managed. The dog digging the garden is not being destructive – just imaginative & compliant to his breeding!
A Companion Dog must be a good member of a family –
- they must be house trained.
- they must be taught not to jump on people.
- they need to be taught alternative behaviours to destructive chewing & digging, etc.
- they must be a good neighbour – quiet unless there is a real need for barking.
- they must remain home rather than wandering the streets & neighbourhood gardens.
Training strengthens the bond between you & your dog.