The Curiosity Dog Club - Session information

What happens in the sessions?

Every month there will be obedience exercises, as well as other exercises linked to more specialised dog activities that develop drive and confidence for your dog, and strengthens handler-dog relationship.

General obedience exercises:
- loose lead and off-lead heel
- stays
- recall
- leave it including walking past distractions
- settle on a mat

Examples of other exploratory skills that may be introduced:
- Fetch skills including gundog style fetch and learning to 'hold' an object.
- Learning or proofing sending through a tunnel.
- Scent-work indication foundations and searching for a toy.
- Obedience competition style send-aways.

As dogs progress, there will be added challenge in each area.

Example of an exercise
A typical 'stay' practice session may look like 5-10 minutes of practice where one group of dogs work on building reliability for a normal stay, an intermediate group will be working on a stay at 5 paces, and an advanced group may be practicing a 2-minute timed stay, similar to a competition environment.

How well trained does my dog need to be?

We welcome both new enthusiastic handlers as well as more experienced handlers looking for somewhere to enjoy new challenges while spending some quality time with their dogs around like-minded people.

As long as your dog shows an understanding of stay, loose lead, recall and leave it when you try them in your kitchen or garden, they should be at a good level to come and practice the skills in the classes.

If you aren't sure, please contact us and we will be happy to answer any questions.

What if my dog is reactive?

Any dog that poses a danger to other dogs or people may not attend, due to the group activities which may involve dogs and people moving near to each other.

Dogs that bark excessively, or are mildly reactive (with no history of causing harm to another) will be assessed on a case by case basis together with taking the current group dynamics into consideration. Handlers may need to agree to extra safety measures, such as leaving the hall when exercises involve other dogs running or being off-lead.