While there are more puppy schools around these days than can be counted, there are relatively few behaviourists who offer any training beyond early puppy-hood. Unfortunately, it is at this very stage when pups leave early socialisation classes that they begin to become far more difficult to deal with. Around the age of 6 months dogs generally become more independent of their owners and more interested in the world around them and in other dogs. It is often harder to keep their attention focused on you and they may seem to forget a lot of what you taught them as young pups. I therefore believe that it is vital for training to carry on through this period, so that owners can be encouraged to persevere with their “teenage delinquents” and obtain help and guidance for specific problems which arise at this stage of development.
My intermediate obedience class consists mainly of adolescent dogs, most of which have been promoted from the puppy class. It is the most challenging group to instruct, but also very rewarding as one starts to see the dogs mature and the owners’ training skills develop. In this class we gradually raise the level of the obedience exercises and work very hard on teaching the dogs to ignore distractions when “working” with their owners.
One of the main aims of the class is to prepare dogs for the Canine Good Citizen Test, an internationally recognised series of social and obedience exercises which tests whether a dog can behave acceptably when out and about in everyday life. The dogs are tested in July and December each year by an independent judge and those who are successful, receive certificates and rosettes from KUSA.
Other obedience exercises taught in the class are:
1. Formal recall.
2. “Finish” or “come to heel” from the front position (the final step in many formal obedience exercises)
3. Basic heelwork (left turns, right turns, about turns, halt, fast pace and slow pace)
4. Retrieve (encouraging the dog to play with the owner and fetch a toy)
5. Formal sit stay and down stay
Dogs are also introduced to some fun and basic agility, adjusted to be safe for young, growing dogs.
Once dogs have completed their Canine Good Citizen Certificate, they are invited to join the advanced class.
Class fees are R100 per month