GOLD OBEDIENCE COURSE
The Gold obedience course is for the enthusiastic dog owner to teach their dog off lead obedience and to respond to their commands when there are distractions around. We also teach new skills to keep your dog interested and enthusiastic.
Focusing When There Are Distractions
At a glance
- Who it’s for
- Silver graduates, or dogs already at that level
- Course length
- 6-week course, 1 hour a week
- When
- Saturday afternoons
- Next course starts
- Saturday 10 October, 1:00pm
- Where
- Outdoors at the Training Grounds; indoors at Llys Nini when it is wet.
- A1K9 Training Grounds, Pontarddulais
- Llys Nini Animal Centre (RSPCA), Penllergaer
- Class size
- About ten dogs, never more than twelve. You can join up to week two.
- Bring
- A collar, a lead and treats your dog likes. Gaynor sells quality training leads and collars in class.
For insurance reasons XL Bully dogs, and dogs legally required to be muzzled, cannot join a class.
This class is mainly focused on off lead obedience, to a high standard.
Gaynor adds something different, to keep things interesting. She teaches you how to get your dog to use his sense of smell to find his toy.
You Will Learn
Off lead heel work.
In this course Gaynor teaches you how to incentivise your dog to stay at your side when you are walking the dog off lead.
Three minute stay.
We continue to practice your dog staying in the same position, aiming now for a three minute stay with people walking around to create a distraction.
Recall with distraction.
We improve the recall by calling your dog back to you when there are lots of distractions, such as other dogs running around and people walking about.
Left finish.
When the dog returns back to you and into the present position, Gaynor will then show you how to get the dog to come around you and back into the heel position. This is called the left finish.
Recall back to heel.
Gaynor will also show you how to recall your dog back to the heelwork position when you are on the move.
Stand
It is in this class she teaches you how to get your dog to do a new position and that is the stand. Once your dog knows this we practice sit, down, and stand. Then we teach you the running down.
Find the toy.
To keep your dog interested and motivated she adds a new exercise, teaching you how to get your dog to find his toy when it is amongst others.
It is a proven fact that your dog's sense of smell when detecting sweat is a million times better than ours. Your dog will welcome the opportunity to show off his superior sense of smell.
Agility
Weather permitting, the dogs continue to enjoy the agility course.
As always the dogs run off lead at the beginning and the end of every class for them to socialise.
During this course you will have taught your dog to focus on you when there are distractions around him.
You will have taught new disciplines and taken his education to a much higher level.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: Can we go straight into Silver, Gold or Platinum without the earlier courses?
Yes, if your dog is already at the right obedience level. Gaynor judges that with a conversation, asking what your dog can already do, rather than a formal assessment.
Q2: How do the awards work, what if we don't pass, and where do we pick up after a gap?
Each week you learn something new, and in week six Gaynor reviews everything from the course. Get it all right and you earn that course's rosette; not quite, and you get an "achievement" rosette instead. You can still move up, and pick up the full rosette once you've got it on the next course. Coming back after a gap of months or years, most dogs restart on Bronze, but if you have kept up the training you can start at a higher level.
Q3: My dog isn't aggressive, just over-excited: barks and pulls to get to other dogs. Is a class right for him?
Yes, this is something Gaynor deals with all the time. Over-excited, friendly dogs are usually let off the lead first to run off some energy, and then brought back to work at their own level once they can concentrate. It is a normal part of class, not a reason to stay away.
Ask about Gold Obedience
Tell Gaynor a little about your dog and she will come back to you with whether this is the right course to start on.
How booking works
- Step 1
Send the enquiry once you have filled in all the details.
- Step 2
Gaynor replies to your email with all the information you will need.
- Step 3
Confirm your place with a deposit.
- Step 4
The balance to be paid on the first week of attending.
Where Gold Obedience fits
Junior through to Platinum is a step-by-step progression: each course prepares your dog for the next. Puppy Socialisation is a standalone class, so your puppy does not need it before starting Junior.
Successful participants of this course are invited to graduate to our:
Would you rather train privately? Gaynor also offers one to one sessions.