Great Falls Dog Training Club

Obedience Classes

You can reach Marie by e-mail

The Great Falls Dog Training Club, Inc. conducts three training sessions a year. Classes generally begin in mid-September, mid-January and late March to early April. The classes run for eight weeks and the dog is taught by the handler/owner using nationally approved training methods through repetition, praise & the experience of the dog's actions. Instructors of the Classes are non-paid members who have many years of experience in working with dogs & people. These instructors are involved in the training classes because they enjoy working with the dogs and their owners and feel that they are making a contribution to the community by their services, as it is the goal of the Club to promote more responsible pet ownership in the community and create a better bond between owner and dog through training. Funds raised from fees for the training classes are used to pay expenses such as building rent, advertising and other class related costs as well as sponsoring the Club's annual Obedience Trials held each Labor Day weekend

The Club offers three levels of obedience training.

Basic Beginners Class - Each week the handler/owner is given a written lesson plan, practices in class with the dog and then is expected to work with the dog each day at home. Lessons cover attention to the handler, heeling on a 6 ft. leash, sitting automatically when the handler stops, the sit-stay, the down-stay, the stand-stay, and recall exercises. (getting dog to come to the handler from a 6ft. leash. ) Great stress is given during this course to training for attention as without that attention, it is difficult to train the dog. Training tools are a 14' longe line, a 6 ft. leather leash and a properly fitted chain collar.

Polishing Novice Class - Handlers/owners wishing to provide additional training for their dogs continue on with this eight week course. This class polishes up the skills learned in the Beginning class as well as adding new exercises, adding more distractions and working from further distances as well as starting off leash work. It is truly amazing the progress the dog makes in the 2nd 8 weeks of training. At the end of this course, the dog should be a nicely polished household pet and companion or perhaps be ready to show in Novice competition if it is the Owner's wish. The dog should be able to pass the Canine Good Citizen test or be ready to be tested for hospital pet therapy if it is the Handler's desire to do so..

Open Class - This advanced class is offered mainly for those interested in competition beyond the Novice level. The focus of this class is beginning retrieving, and jumping, and more off leash work. In the past, there have been a number of students who took the previous two classes and were interested in the retrieving and jumping but did not want to show their dogs. These dogs also did quite well.