We are more than just a training club. We are a friendly community of like-minded GSD lovers. Whilst you will undoubtedly learn some essential dog training techniques with us, many of our members (dogs and humans) get just as much from the social element of our German Shepherd club. That’s what makes it even more rewarding.
Many people find out about us through word of mouth and from personal recommendations. We are often told by prospective members that they bumped into one of our memebers or old members whilst out on a walk. We love this and that it demonstrates what people think of us. In addition, we find that people come back to us with new dogs or puppies after having been a member previously.
Our main aims are to show you how to have fun with your GSD. We do not train dogs at Yorkshire German Shepherd Dog Training, that is your job. We train people, it is you that learns to become the dog trainer and it is you that does all the hard work. We love to see our members progress through the classes and gaining the dogs they always wanted. Some even go on to become instructors. All our instructors started out in this way.
We have a large, secure and private training field that gives us enough space to run a number of classes simultaneously. There is a heated club house with modern toilets, we have plenty of seating for those waiting and the tea bar serves up hot drinks, buns and on the first Sunday of each month, bacon butties! The club house usually is a lively place for chat and socialisation. Of course dogs are allowed in the club house.
There are a number of events that take place throughout the year. We run several fun days, arrange group walks, put on an annual BBQ, host guest speakers and run workshops. These have included a PDSA dog first aid course, various lectures, Tellington T Touch and a GSD specific dog health talk from a dog physiotherapist. If this is not enough there is our now legendary club camping trip, our Christmas party plus the odd social night.
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We have been training German Shepherd Dogs and handlers in Leeds for nearly 65 years. We were first formed in 1958 as the Leeds Branch of The British Alsatian Association (B.A.A.). There is film in the club archive dating back to 1961. In 1978 The B.A.A. became The British Association For German Shepherd Dogs. This was to reflect the official name change of the breed back to German Shepherd Dog from Alsatian. The club fell on hard times during the late 1990s due to lack of members and interest. During this time 3 people including our current President, Tom Walton, decided to keep the club running until the money ran out. The money did not run out, the membership began to slowly grow and the club managed to continue. It was sometime around 2011 during a Branch Annual General Meeting that what was to become a pivotal discussion took place. During this discussion the branch committee asked the members what they wanted from their club. As a result of this discussion the branch focussed less on formal, competitive obedience and catered more towards people looking for a well trained family pet. To this day this remains our core focus, we still use obedience as a framework. Afterall GSDs love a job and obedience training helps a great deal in this respect.
Between 2008 and 2020, the club grew in popularity and in 2012 we became and continued to be the largest branch of The British Association For German Shepherd Dogs. We went from having three classes on a Sunday to running up to 12 classes. We enjoyed a year-on-year growth in membership during that time and we are justifiably proud of our club’s achievements.
The club thrived because we did that one simple thing: we asked our members what they wanted from their club. They told us, we listened, and then we gave them what they wanted, plus much more besides. We became a club that people loved to come to - they could make friends with like-minded people, get specific and professional German Shepherd training and help, and get involved with so many other activities, all of which revolved around one thing - our beloved German Shepherds. For many of us, our club has become a huge part of our lives and we love being part of it.
In January 2021, we became a fully independent dog training club. This allowed us more freedom to modernise our approach, further improve our image, and grow the club into something that delivers more of what our members want from their club.
The Covid pandemic saw us having to close during the periods of lockdown but technology allowed us to run training sessions from our own back gardens using our own dogs to demonstrate. We made great use of our club Facebook group and ensured that we remained engaged with our membership and were available to help should it be needed. We would have never expected it but during that first year of Yorkshire German Shepherd Dog Training we signed up in excess of 400 members. Considering that we had been unable to run normal training sessions for a number of months this was an incredible achievement.
Through a comprehensive new training scheme for our instructors, we will develop our team's skills and knowledge beyond anything we have done before and hopefully inspire a next generation of handlers, some of which will be chosen to become instructors. All these things will allow us to pursue other avenues that will increase the already excellent value for money that our members enjoy, and ensure our continued success well into the 21st century and beyond.
WANT TO JOIN THE CLUB?
Our affordable memberships costs from only £18 a year.
Simply fill in the membership application forms and bring them with you when you attend for the first time.
Nearly all our members are simply looking for a well-trained family pet. As such we are very relaxed in our approach and the emphasis here is very much on having a lot of fun with our dogs and hopefully learning something along the way.
We organise a multitude of other activities such as group walks, fun days, BBQs, members workshops, camping trip, Crufts trip and social evenings
We are more than just a training club. We are more like a community of like minded GSD lovers.