Do You Have To Train At A Club

[Arya]

Here's my thoughts - it's great to join a club if you can but like others I would do most of my training alone. And heelwork - BORING at most clubs for your dog. Way too much of it and turns the dog off. Like some others, I think teaching a dog to heel off-lead first with a motivator is the way to go. Unlike some others, I think teaching a pup this and teaching the right position from the beginning is the way to go, then they have always got good position if you do it right. But... need to remember they're babies and only do little bits at a time

Where a club comes in is in the vital proofing stages of training. Working a dog around other dogs is half the battle, as someone else said. I have learnt this to my cost. What's the point of having a dog trained to UD if they can't get their Novice pass cos they're too distracted and not proofed properly LOL. So I would always recommend joining a club but being careful not to spend too much time heeling about in the classes or boring the dog. In saying this, there's lots of good clubs out there who understand this I'm sure.

[dogdude]

I also agree with what most have said about club time.

The way I combat the problem now, is to do a short, intense training session while everyone is standing around gas bagging, waiting for class to start. Its a great time to proof with dogs running around doing zoomies etc, then, I tether him with a blanket to sit on while I instruct class.

He gets all the socialising and mental stimulation from the passing people while i'm in class. He just sits and watches the other dogs that are being trained.

[Greytmate]

I saw a woman trialling her dog in novice at the Royal a few years ago, and it highlighted the disadvantages of training a dog without the help of others.

It was embarrassing to watch.

Every hand signal was exaggerated and sloppy, and many were double signals. She bent right down to give her dog the command to drop. She was leaning in towards her dog the whole time, and could not walk in a straight line at all.

She was sent out of the ring by the judge after the first on-lead heeling sequence. I felt very sorry for her.

Yes her dog knew all of the commands, and was at novice standard. But the dog was let down by the abysmal handling. If this woman had trained with a club, she would have been given the help and advice neccessary to handle the dog properly.