Class Descriptions

What should we enrol in?

Our Club provides the following classes:
Puppy Class
Domestic 1 to 4
Canine Good Citizen
Rally-Obedience
Competition Obedience

To help you decide which class is right for you and your dog have a look at our Quick Reference Guide.

We also run Information Nights where you can find out all about our classes before each term commences, watch demonstrations of Obedience, Rally-O and CGC and ask our instructors about which class is right for you and your pup.
See the Term Details page to find out when our next information night will be.
NO DOGS at information nights, only hoomans please – its hard to focus on questions and pat adorable dogs at the same time.

Quick reference guide

Puppy 3-6 months
There is a huge amount to learn about puppies during our 8-week course. Most puppies will form a basis for all future behaviour by the time they are about 16-20 weeks old. Amongst other things, this course will cover sitting, toilet training, walking & recall, socialising, bonding and having fun, preventing separation anxiety, jumping and bite inhibition.

Domestic 1
A dog that is great to be around, and have around you – polite,
attentive and obeying basic commands – we aim to give you the skills and knowledge to help you achieve this. Course includes sits, downs, stays, loose-lead walking and food manners. All training is done on lead.

Domestic 2
Now it’s time to work on improving response time to commands, control when walking and longer stay times, along with coping with distractions. Including meeting others, recalls, controlled play. All training is still on lead. With a pass in Dom 2 you can do a CG Basics Assessment, allowing you early entry into CGC Foundation.

Domestic 3
In Dom 3 we work on smart responses to commands, including good loose lead walking and heel work, longer stays, recalls off leash, stand-stays, all while coping with distractions. With a pass in Dom 3 you can enter CGC Foundation or Intro to Rally-O.

CGB – Canine Good Basics
This is a free assessment we offer to handlers who have passed Dom 2 and are keen to work towards Canine Good Citizen qualifications. The course materials required to study can be downloaded on DogsNZ web site: Canine Good Basics.

CGC - Canine Good Citizen
Foundation + Bronze, Silver + Gold
CGC is regulated by Dogs NZ. It identifies and rewards dogs that have the training and demeanor to be reliable family members as well as good-standing community members. The classes cover theoretical and practical aspects of dog ownership, looking at appearance and grooming, food manners, meeting friendly strangers, controlled walking with distractions and crowds, tie-ups with owner in-sight and out-of-sight, control around other dogs, off-leash recall, send-to mats and working at a distance.

Intro. to Rally-O and Advanced Rally-O
Rally-O is best described as a combination of Obedience and Agility. It promotes fun and enjoyment, but also helps you and your dog learn many new skills. It is suitable for all ages and experiences of dogs and people. In standard Rally-O, dog and handler navigate a course of 10 or more stations with numbered signs that direct them to perform an exercise, e.g. sit then walk-around-dog, figure 8, serpentines, spirals, send over jumps or around poles, changes of pace etc. Number and difficulty of the exercises depends on the level being worked at. In ‘Zoom’ there are no stationary signs, so the course is non-stop activity. In ‘Handy Dog’ more agility-type signs and obstacles are introduced; including the labyrinth, ladder, weave, tunnel and raised pivot. To get the most from your training your dog needs high levels of attention and excellent loose lead walking, so Dom 3 is a pre-requisite.

Intro., Intermediate, Senior Competition Obedience
Competition Obedience is a great foundation for all dog sports. It is like brain-gym for dogs (and handlers!). It is especially good for very high drive dogs and working breeds, but ALL types of dogs can succeed in obedience. Don’t wait until your dog is ‘better behaved’ or ‘older’; you can join competition from puppy age onwards: the sooner you start, the better. Learn perfect close-heeling (very different to loose-lead walking), on and off lead recalls, stays, retrieves, scent discrimination and send-aways. Competition events are split into five classes from Beginners to Test C. Dog Obedience shows are held at dog clubs across New Zealand throughout the year and are a great chance to socialise with other people keen to get the best out of their dogs. Competing is voluntary, but great fun, so we encourage you to have a go!

Puppy Classes

If your dog is aged 13 weeks - 6 months, then this is the class for you. A gentle introduction to the world of dogs and dog training. Give your pup the best start in life with some basic obedience, some socialization and some fun!

If your pup is around the 6 month mark and you're unsure whether to do Puppy or Domestic 1, come to one of our information nights to have a chat, or send us an email: titahibayobedience@gmail.com.

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Domestic Obedience

Domestic Obedience is a wonderful way to teach your household pet some basic obedience commands while strengthening your bond with your dog. It is a less formal, less precise form of Competition Obedience. Domestic Obedience classes get progressively more difficult as you work your way through the four grades. And they're fun for both you and your dog!

Some of the things you will learn are:
Sit, down, stand
Good temperament
Comfortable Grooming
Accepting a friendly stranger
Food manners
Loose-lead walking
Recalls
Controlled play
Supervised separation
Stays and waits
Send-aways
Tricks
...and much, much more.

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Canine Good Citizen

Titahi Bay Dog Obedience Club is a recognized training provider for the nationwide BlackHawk Canine Good Citizen™ programme which tests dogs in simulated everyday situations. It identifies and rewards dogs that have the training and demeanour to be reliable family members and good-standing community members.

Canine Good Citizen™ (CGC) training is fun and useful. Through it, you and your dog will establish a closer bond and your dog will have the added benefit of knowing how to please you. The test of your dog's manners and training is not a competition and does not require that you and your dog perform with precision.

CGC is open to all dogs over 12 months of age and all breeds . To sit a CGC test dogs have to have been taught by a CGC registered club. Below is an example of what you and your dog need to train towards to be able to pass a CGC test:
Appearance and Grooming
Food manners
Accepting Friendly Strangers
Walking in a controlled manner with distractions and through people
Stay tied up with owner both insight and out of sight-
Control around other dogs
As well as written questions about owning a dog and responsibilities.

For further information on CGC, please visit the Dogs NZ Black Hawk CGC website.

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Rally-Obedience

You and your dog are a team. They are part of your family. You do so much together – go for walks, play, veg out, go on holiday. So think of the fun you’d have showing off what a great team you are at a Rally-O event!

Rally-O is best described as a combination of obedience and agility and is suitable for all ages of dogs and people. It is ideal for young and old dogs, as young dogs can learn more in a relaxed environment, and old dogs can keep active whilst not overdoing it.

Rally Obedience (also known as Rally or Rally-O) is a dog sport based on Competition Obedience. It was originally devised by Charles L. "Bud" Kramer from the USA, in 2000, from the Obedience practice of "doodling" — doing a variety of interesting warm-up and freestyle exercises. Because of its versatility it soon spread into Europe with Switzerland adopting it in 2002. In New Zealand there are two providers of Rally-O, offering slightly different classes—-New Zealand Association of Rally Obedience (NZARO) and Dogs New Zealand ( DNZ).

DNZ offers standard Rally-O where the dog and handler team navigate a course of 10 or more stations. Each station has a numbered sign which directs the team to perform an exercise, such as sit then walk around dog, figure 8, send over jump, send around pole, serpentines, spirals, changes of pace, etc. The number and difficulty of the exercises depends on the level being worked at.

NZARO offers Standard Rally, Zoom and Handy Dog options. In Zoom there are no stationary signs so the course is non-stop activity. In Handy Dog more agility-type signs and obstacles have been introduced. These include the labyrinth, ladder, weave, tunnel and raised pivot just to name a few.

Rally-O promotes fun and enjoyment in the training of dogs for handlers of all levels of experience. It provides interest and the opportunity to acquire a variety of skills, and also provides something for the older dog that may no longer be able to pursue more active sports such as agility. It can improve your understanding and relationship with your beloved dog!

In our classes we try to combine the element of fun with the serious element of skill acquisition. We break the Rally signs down into their component parts and teach the skills needed to master each sign. We teach the dogs to be confident to approach new learning and everything is done through positive reinforcement.

Our Domestic 4 class introduces some Rally signs to whet your appetite, so when you have completed Dom 4, come and give Rally a go!

For further information, please visit the Dogs NZ Rally-O website.

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Competition Obedience

Competition obedience training is a great foundation for all dog sports. Want awesome heelwork for Rally-O?…learn competition heelwork. Rock solid stays for agility start lines?…competition stays, in a line of maybe 30 dogs, with a metre between them, are hard to beat. Tricks?…perfect heeling is just another trick. You might even fancy doggy dancing, some of us do that too!

You can just try the training to upgrade your skills, there’s no pressure to compete. If you do decide to give competitions a try, there are tests especially for new competitors, Elementary 1 and 2 . They are all on lead, so even less confident dogs and handlers can give it a go, and maybe go home with a ribbon. Once you start you’ll be hooked.

Owners sometimes think, ‘my dog needs to be better behaved, or older, or have gone through all the domestic classes’. Not at all - starting sooner is better. Competition heeling is a completely different skill to loose-lead walking. We start training the foundations of that very early on, as puppies. Too old? Rescue dog? Too crazy? All types of dogs can succeed in obedience. It doesn’t have to take a lot of time, short bursts of training are always better; train in the TV ads (or pause Netflix). It’s all about increasing and perfecting skills, and making it fun for you and your dog.

It’s all rewards-based training, and it can have great benefits in increasing your dog’s bond with you and learning to work as a team. Competition training is like brain-gym for dogs (and handlers!). It’s especially good for very high drive dogs and working breeds, who can never be tired out with exercise… but five minutes of brain work will wear them out. It also helps with their impulse control in daily life , so they can develop into a pet that is a dream to have around the house (or anywhere else).

So what do we learn? As well as valuable underlying skills like focus and engagement, and the ability to work around other dogs, there are specific exercises that we train for. Perfect close heeling on and off lead, recalls, stays, retrieves, and at higher levels (though we start with the foundations of these behaviours early on) scent discrimination, send-aways, and more challenging heelwork skills.

Most people will start doing Obedience from an Introductory Class level. To enter at Intermediate Class level you must have already completed Introductory classes and be competing at a beginner level, or have good skills with close heel-work from another sport like Rally-O, or other competition training. If in doubt, check in with the instructor, there may need to be an assessment before you start class.

If you do choose to compete, here are the levels through which you progress, along with the entry criteria for that level and the exercises that you must complete to pass (points are deducted from the maximum points for each error made):

Beginners
Eligibility:	Handlers and dogs that have not won two qualifying first prizes in Beginners with any dog.
Maximum Points:	75
Test Exercises:	Heelwork on and off the lead with right, left and about turns. Recall from a sit or down position to the handler, dog sitting in front then go to heel (off the lead). Stays off lead - sit (1 minute) and down (2 minutes) with the handler facing the dog. Handler may talk to and encourage the dog except in stays.

Novice
Eligibility:	Dogs that have not won two qualifying prizes at Novice level or above.
Maximum Points:	100
Test Exercises:	Heelwork on and off the lead with right, left and about turns. Recall from a sit or down position to the handler, dog sitting in front then go to heel (off the lead). Retrieve (dumbbell). Stays off lead - sit (1 minute) and down (2 minutes) with the handler facing away from the dog. Handler may talk to the dog except in stays.

Test A
Eligibility:	Dogs that have not won four qualifying first prizes in Test A level or above.
Maximum Points:	145
Test Exercises:	Heelwork on and off the lead with combination turns (about turn right turn), right-hand or left-hand circle. Handler cannot talk to the dog in the heelwork except to give the command to Heel when moving off and Sit when halting. Recall from a sit or down position and handler to recall dog to heel and continue with dog until ordered to halt (specific variations in the recall are permissible). Retrieve (dumbbell). Stays off lead - sit (1 minute) with the handler facing away from dog and down (5 minutes) with handler out of sight. Scent exercise where the dog detects the handler's cloth from up to 12 cloths and presents it to the handler.

Test B
Eligibility:	Dogs that have not won a total of four qualifying first prizes in Test B or Test C.
Maximum Points:	225
Test Exercises:	Heel Free at fast, slow and normal pace off the lead with only the command to heel when moving off allowed, more complex turns and circles are included. Send-away exercise is added where the handler sends the dog to a marked area and commands them to go down, approaches the dog, about turns and then calls the dog to heel. Retrieve (dumbbell). Stays - stand (one minute) with handler in sight and facing away, sit (2 minutes) and down (5 minutes) handler out of sight. Scent exercise where the dog detects the handler's cloth from up to 12 cloths (including two decoy cloths) and presents it to the handler.

Test C
Eligibility:	Open
Maximum Points:	300
Test Exercises:	Heel Free work at fast, slow and normal pace off the lead with only the command to heel when moving off allowed, more additional complex turns and circles are included. In addition the dog must achieve three positions (sit, down and stand) on command in the heelwork. Send away, drop and recall where the handler sends the dog where directed by the judge, drops the dog and then recalls dog to heel. Retrieve of article provided by the judge. Distant control exercise is added where, from approximately 10 paces away, the dog is commanded to attain six positions. Stays - sit (2 minutes) and down (5 minutes) handler out of sight. Scent exercise where the dog detects the judge’s scent on a cloth from up to 12 cloths (including two decoy cloths) and presents it to the handler.