CLASSES
All of our classes are run by our team of enthusiastic and qualified Instructors who share over 75 years of combined experience in positive reward based training.
All classes are run on Thursday and Sunday mornings, rain or shine, throughout the year (except for ANZAC Day, Easter Sunday and a short break between mid December and January).
The only exception will be an extreme heat day. If the forecast the night before a scheduled class is 33 degrees or hotter, classes will be cancelled.
8.55 am - 9:30 am
Following the successful completion of the two Foundation level courses, members advance to the next series of classes which begin at the later time of 9.45 a.m.
CLICKER - aka “FOUNDATION 1’ (usually held near our Clubrooms)
In the first few classes, we concentrate on helping you with your clicker skills. Using the clicker correctly is a fabulous way to communicate with your dog.
We introduce you to various techniques to help keep your dog interested in you, even when there are competing distractions.
FOUNDATION 2 (usually held on the more distracting sports oval)
Once your clicker timing is working well, and your dog clearly recognises that the clicker = food, you graduate to Foundation, Part 2
We build on, and practice the skills learnt in Clicker (Foundation 1), ensuring that your clicker timing is spot on, and that your dog enjoys listening to you, and playing the training game.
We continue to work on training under distraction, and start to train many of the behaviours that will be covered in more depth in later classes.
9:45am - 10:30am
After the successful completion of the Foundation level classes (Clicker and Foundation 2), the following classes are offered and commence at 9.45. These run for approximately 45 minutes.
Class 1 (Red sticker)
In this class we build on calm behaviour around other dogs. We also build on some basic exercises such as sit, stand, drop, stay, come, and walk on a loose lead. You will learn how to teach basic behaviours and improve your understanding of the clicker..
Class 2 (Blue sticker)
The exercises and skills learnt in Class 1 will be further developed by the degree of distraction and duration. Generalising to different situations will also be introduced in this class. The importance of the “release” word will be reinforced.
Class 3 (Yellow sticker)
In this class, we will refine all the exercises learnt in Class 1 and Class 2 and the aim is to complete all exercises without luring. The specific goal of Class 3 is to achieve the Southside Dog School “Tailwagger Certificate”.
Class 4 (Green sticker)
These classes are open ended, providing a variety of experiences in dog sports, formal obedience, tricks, etc. For some, it becomes a regular social outing for dogs and their handlers.