Classes

Young puppies and adolescent dogs are not yet ready for the rigorous training of advanced classes, but they are very ready to learn basic skills such as sit, down, come and leash-walking. A 10-18 week old Puppy class is offered for 4-weeks each month except December. A 5-12 month Puppy class is also offered each session for the older puppy.

Both of these puppy classes begin to introduce the basic foundation skills that the puppy will need to be a family companion or an agility star.

Household Obedience classes are designed to teach basic control (age appropriate) in a variety of situations with distractions. Exercises taught include sit, down, stand, stay, come and controlled walking on a leash. Focus is on household manners to help dog adapt to family life. This class may also include basic problem solving (e.g., chewing, jumping up, etc.). Most classes use food (soft treats) or silent toys in training. This class may be repeated.

Many begin taking obedience classes as a way to develop better home skills and then become interested in continuing their training. Obedience classes begin to prepare the team for competition obedience, as well as develop a close relationship between the handler and dog. The earlier level classes (Novice I, II, III and Beginner Novice) focus on motivation and attention while learning the basic obedience skills for heeling, sit, down, stand, stay, recall, front and finish. Higher level classes (Open and Utility) focus on more advance skills including retrieving, jumping, signals and scent discrimination. All classes can be repeated until the team becomes more proficient at that level. Not all levels are offered each term.

Rally is a sport that incorporates obedience-related skills. Rally classes help prepare the handler/dog team to compete competitively in Rally while having fun working on obedience skills at the same time. The handler/dog team follow a set course of rally signs. Each sign indicates a skill that the team needs to perform. Signs might include the skills such as sit, down, change of pace, left or right turns, spiraling around cones, etc.

The maneuvers become increasingly more difficult at the higher Rally levels. Perfection is not expected. More advanced students will be encouraged to try to work off-leash as the higher level Rally levels are off-leash.

Class instruction covers how to perform the various signs/exercises. Visit the American Kennel Club website for a more detailed description of rally and rally course stations.

Instead of locating drugs or explosives, the dog searches to find different target scents that could be hidden anywhere. Scentwork uses four essential oils – birch, anise, clove and cypress.

Scentwork classes help develop the dog’s desire to use his sense of smell to search/hunt independently. Your dog will learn to recognize and search various areas for his reward both on and off leash. Handlers will learn to read the dog’s behavior and learn to recognize hunting/searching behavior versus behavior when the dog has found the source.

Scentwork classes are offered at all levels from Introduction to Scentwork and up to advanced levels of searching containers, buried scent, exteriors (buildings), interiors (buildings) and vehicles. Scentwork is a wonderful way to build confidence, is great for stimulating your dog’s mind, and is enjoyed by all dogs whether young or old.

Tracking is a sport that demonstrates your dog’s natural ability to recognize and follow scent. It is the foundation of canine search and rescue work. In tracking, your dog is completely in charge since only he knows how to find and follow a specific scent. For many, the greatest pleasure of tracking are the hours spent outside, training and interacting with their dogs.

Occasionally, AADTC offers classes focused on a particular skill or area. Specialized classes are not offered every term, so you will need to keep an eye on the catalog for class offerings each session.

Some examples of the frequently offered Special Classes include:

Introduction to Field for dogs whose owners are interested in the training for hunt tests. Dog will be introduced to retrieving bumpers and some bird work and blind work will be introduced.

Canine Good Citizen – AADTC frequently offers practices and tests for the AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) title. Often a specific class to prepare for the test is offered. The class and the CGC test focus on teaching the basics of good manners and obedience. At the end, if successful in preparation, the dog/handler team should be able to pass a Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test.

Agility Related – A Special class may be offered in Agility and examples would be classes concentrating on a specialized Agility skill such as Weaves or Contacts.