Our classes are designed to be fun and informal. Enjoyment is a huge part of successful dog training. Don't misunderstand, we take training seriously, it is just that we have a little fun along the way. Dogs respond so much better in this type of environment.
Your very first session with us takes the form of an induction. We go through clothing and equipment, toys, rewards and treats. We also cover why and how dogs learn, we talk about the different methods of training and give you all the basic skills so that when you enter your first class you are better prepared. The classes are structured and you start out in the beginners/puppy class. Once we feel that you have reached a particular standard we conduct an informal assessment. This is just to ensure that your instructor has given you all the training you need and that you have the skills for the next class. We don't like people to think that we are testing your ability we just don't want to move people into a class if they are not quite ready.
A solid start to training is essential. It helps a puppy understand their place in the world and provides that extremely important early socialisation that all dogs need. In the puppy class we aim to teach you all the basic obedience skills plus you'll learn the importance of rules, boundaries and structure in and around the home. We'll also show you how to get your dog used to being around strangers and being handled and examined.
This class takes the skills that you learned in puppy class and builds on them. You will start to learn other skills too. More obedience exercises are introduced such as Sit Stay, Down Stay, Heelwork with turns, recall, play and retrieve, hold and give, stand whilst grooming, controlled movement through doors and not forgetting Tony's gate. Don't worry if this sounds serious, it is done in a fun way. You will really be starting to see a difference by now.
Intermediate classes are split into part 1 and part 2. In these you will further develop your heelwork, you will start working on competition style exercises such as recall with finish, retreive with present and finish, your stays will increase in length to 2 minutes on sit and down stays and 1 minute for a stand stay. We also work on other life skills such as controlled greeting of strangers, food manners and examination of your dog.
This is where things become really interesting. By the time you reach this class the bond with your dog will be growing much stronger. Again, advanced class is split into parts 1 and 2. Here we start to work off lead and begin scent work, distance control, send away, changes of pace, emergency stop/down, A test recall, out of sight stays where the dogs are expected to perform a stay while the handlers leave the field and go out of sight.
Nearly all our members are simply looking for a well-trained family pet. As such we are very relaxed in our approach and the emphasis here is very much on having a lot of fun with our dogs and hopefully learning something along the way.
We organise a multitude of other activities such as group walks, fun days, BBQs, members workshops, camping trip, Crufts trip and social evenings
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