Our classes offer instruction in a wide variety of skills in a relaxed atmosphere.
These skills include:
- Loose Lead Walking.
- Recalls, retrieves, stays, food manners, greeting people and dogs, playing nicely, coping with distractions.
- Teaching activities that engage your dogs natural abilities.
- Introduction to Agility.
- Introduction to Competition Obedience.
- Introduction to Rally Obedience.
Training offered
We aim to offer fun-based and informative training for you and your dog. Training can be tailored to suit the individual handler and their dog's abilities.
Our trainers have a wide variety of knowledge and experience from many years of working with different breeds and in different disciplines. They all have a desire to share their wealth of knowledge with others to enable them to benefit from having a socially acceptable, well trained canine companion. Some of our trainers have over forty years' experience and most regularly compete in their own chosen sport.
Our trainers work to ensure that our training methods are fun, reward based and up to date. Many of our trainers have developed their own training experience by attending workshops and attaining recognised training certificates and qualifications.
Kennel Club Good Citizen
For dogs under six months, you can join the club to learn and teach your dog basic pet training in the Puppy Class and work towards your Kennel Club Puppy Foundation Certificate. Alternatively, for dogs over six months and which have not had any other formal training, you can join the Introduction Class and work towards your Kennel Club Bronze Award.
The aims of these classes are:
- To help to understand traits and behaviours in your dog.
- To introduce suitable handling techniques
- To prepare for and, when ready, to take the test for the Bronze Award of the Kennel Cub Good Citizens Scheme
Progression from the Kennel Club Bronze Good Citizen Award is to the Silver Award and then the Gold Award. There is no time limit to achieve these awards.
Details of these awards are here:
Silver and Gold Awards of the Kennel Club Good Citizens Scheme
Obedience
We offer opportunities for those who choose to progress their Obedience Training to a higher level. The aim is to equip you and your dog with the skills to compete at the various levels of competition in Obedience.
Competitive Obedience starts with the basics in the beginner classes involving the dog walking close to the side of the handler's leg on a loose lead, along with a proficient recall back to the handler. The levels of complexity and skills progress from these basic exercises to incorporating the handler and the dog walking at different paces, more advanced recalls, retrieving various article, sending your dog away from you in a specified direction and your dog immediately dropping on command.
You will also develop your dog's incredible scent abilities by your dog finding a specific human scent from amongst a pattern of cloths and bringing that cloth back to you.
Rally
We offer opportunities for those who want to progress into Rally Obedience. Rally is a form of Obedience which involves you and your dog working as a team to navigate a course of specific signs with diagrams and numbered signs indicating different exercises to perform.
There are several levels of complexity to aim for with the overall intent to have fun with your dog whilst teaching a variety of movements and commands to perform. These can include sit, down, stand, walk to heel around objects and recalls.
Agility
We offer opportunities for those who want to progress into Agility. To take part in Agility training you will need to have a well socialised dog, which you can control whilst off the lead. The dog will also need to be at least 12 months of age. To ensure this we encourage you and your dog to attend a Pet Obedience class and reach a level of control equivalent to the Bronze Good Citizen Award. This is not always necessary if you have a good level of control of your dog and meet the criteria.
Initial training starts with simple versions of the equipment such as very low jumps and straightforward courses. The training progresses to more complex combinations of equipment. Like all WATS training the emphasis is on having fun whilst learning with your dog and training is very much orientated to you and your dogs' abilities.
People often start agility just intending to have some fun with their dog, but then progress to entering competitive shows as their confidence grows.