Dog Training Part 1

Written by Margaret Walker

This article was taken from 'French Letters' Issue No. 4 July 1999

Everyone who owns a dog expects a certain amount of obedience from their pet. On the whole, most people are satisfied with a dog who knows its name, doesn’t mess in the house, will come when called (eventually), walks reasonably well on a lead, and obeys a few simple commands like 'sit', 'down', 'wait', and 'no!'. But with the general tightening of dog control laws within the country there are more and more people now wanting and finding it necessary to have a far higher degree of obedience from their pets. For a lot of people it is quite a dilemma of where to go or who to contact in regard to training their dog.

Every major centre in New Zealand has a local Dog Training (obedience) Club, most have many more than one. Finding the contact for these clubs is not always easy as they are not listed in the phone directory. Good sources of contact for these clubs include; the local paper, vets or pet shops, the local council or the breeder of your puppy can usually help. And of course a full list is available from the NZKC office in Wellington or on their web site at www.nzkc.org.nz 

The clubs run two types of training, best described as 'domestic obedience' and 'competitive obedience'. Obviously, the way these classes are run will vary from club to club, but generally the domestic obedience will be a course of about 8-10 weeks, designed for the pet owner who wants their dog to be well behaved at home, to be able to walk on a lead on the street and to let it run about and play at a suitable park. (and come back!!!! ed.) Competitive obedience is a much higher degree of obedience where the dog and handler compete in shows up to championship level with the ultimate aim of making their dog up to an Obedience Champion.

For the domestic obedience classes, some clubs may require the dog to be 6 months old but most now accept puppies from 4 months old. They have realised that the sooner training is started the better, especially for the larger breeds (including Briards!!). And of course all dogs must be vaccinated. Some clubs will also have ‘nursery’ classes for puppies younger than 4 months. Any dog over the required age may enrol for these courses, be it a X breed or pedigree, big or small, dog or bitch.

These classes are reasonably priced as Dog Training Clubs are non - profit organisations run entirely by volunteers. Funding of these clubs comes primarily from membership fees and charges from the various training classes they hold. The instructors within the clubs are members who compete with their own dogs in all aspects of dog obedience. The time and knowledge of the instructors is given freely to help improve the ‘image’ of dogs in the community.

Over the last few years the 'Professional' trainers have leapt into prominence. Bewary of the term 'Professional'. There are many excellent trainers and animal behaviourists out there, but there are equal numbers who are not!! If you have a particular problem with your dog, these are the people to go to for help as quite often the training is done on a one to one basis where as Obedience Clubs run a group training system.

But keep in mind that a major benefit of the group-system used by the Obedience Clubs, is that your dog is gaining valuable dog and people socialisation as well. Clubs often offer coffee and time for a chat at the end of each class. Remember too that the handler also gains rewarding socialisation and friendship and informal help with any number of dog related problems. With very few exceptions, people involved in dog training are very friendly and approachable and they all want to help a keen newcomer to succeed.