Our German Shepherd dog training classes take place every Sunday morning at the Calverley and District Dog Training Club premises on Carr Road.
There are four different levels of class, which are structured for German Shepherd puppy training or beginners, through to intermediate and advanced level for more experienced dogs and handlers.
All new members start in the puppy class or the beginner class. Once we feel that you have reached a particular standard, we conduct an informal assessment. This is just to ensure that your instructor has given you all the training you need and that you have the skills required for the next level. We don't like people to think that we are testing their ability, we just don't want to move people into a class if they are not quite ready.
All our dog training classes are designed to be fun and informal. Whilst we take training seriously, we also have a lot of fun along the way. Enjoyment is a huge part of successful dog training - dogs respond so much better in this type of relaxed environment.
A solid start to training is essential. It helps a puppy understand their place in the world and provides that extremely important early socialisation that all dogs need. In the puppy class we aim to teach you all the basic obedience skills plus you'll learn the importance of rules, boundaries and structure in and around the home. We'll also show you how to get your dog used to being around strangers and being handled and examined.
This class takes the skills that you learned in puppy class and builds on them. You will start to learn other skills too. More obedience exercises are introduced such as Sit Stay, Down Stay, Heelwork with turns, recall, play and retrieve, hold and give, stand whilst grooming, controlled movement through doors and not forgetting Tony's gate. Don't worry if this sounds serious, it is done in a fun way. You will really be starting to see a difference by now.
Intermediate classes are split into part 1 and part 2. In these you will further develop your heelwork, you will start working on competition style exercises such as recall with finish, retreive with present and finish, your stays will increase in length to 2 minutes on sit and down stays and 1 minute for a stand stay. We also work on other life skills such as controlled greeting of strangers, food manners and examination of your dog.
This is where things become really interesting. By the time you reach this class the bond with your dog will be growing much stronger. Again, advanced class is split into parts 1 and 2. Here we start to work off lead and begin scent work, distance control, send away, changes of pace, emergency stop/down, A test recall, out of sight stays where the dogs are expected to perform a stay while the handlers leave the field and go out of sight.
Lots of fun based activities to help build your bond with your new pup. A great foundation to base all other training on.
These build on the knowledge gained and grow your skills as a handler.
A chance to hone your growing skills and learn the full capabilities of your German Shepherd.