The vision for dog club started with the wish for a dog show at the San Juan County Fair open to all community members. The big picture being to build a community promoting the love of dog sports, helping owners who may need support, and helping dogs feel fulfilled. Practicing can be very difficult in public around random strangers and their dogs; dog club provides a safe, controlled environment to build your dog’s life skills.
We’ve had a lot of great training meetups, and the first open dog show at the Fair was a wonderful experience! There is a lot of potential to build on this. The goal for this year is for the show at the Fair to be bigger and better, as well as have regular meetings for education, training and dog-related activities for both adults and junior handlers.
Information about where to start and club philosophy is below.
Welcome
All experience levels – you and your dog don’t need any previous knowledge or skills. Come with your goals and interests and take it from there!
All ages – Junior Handlers are encouraged! Welcome with parent permission.
Where to start – Contact us to chat about the club and get all your questions answered. Basic info and practice sheets are coming soon. Everyone starts somewhere! If your dog is reactive, there is a ton of information in this section.
How to progress – Get out with your dog! Practice regularly, ask questions, go to meetups. Practice sheets will be posted for different activities. Hopefully, you’re interested in participating at the Fair, but if not, that’s ok too. Your dog’s progress and fulfillment are what’s most important.
Getting help – Come to meet ups or just ask! You can phone, text, email, post in the Facebook group, or schedule a private meetup. See the Contact page.
Mutual Support vs. Professional Training: The club is for mutual support and mentoring, so for specific, significant or persistent issues, working with a professional trainer is recommended.
Ethics
Dog club is committed to high standards for integrity, relationship and quality of life of both dog and owner.
Tools & Methods—Positive reinforcement is an important part of every being’s learning process. To achieve reliability, there is also a wealth of proven, humane, and effective dog training methods that achieve measurable results. This group supports the individual’s choice for their specific situation. We do not condone heavy-handed compulsion-based methods or ones involving significant conflict or frustration.
Equipment should prioritize safety, the dog’s well-being, and the dog’s learning style. We support open-mindedness, lifelong learning, and skill improvement. We support the individual’s choice for the humane and nuanced use of any training tool.
For shows and events, AKC or other sponsoring organization guidelines for behavior, methods and equipment are followed.
Dog club is a community of people who love their dogs and support each other to make progress. All people welcome. No bullying or other bad behavior is tolerated.
FAQ
“My dog is a hot mess”
Every dog can benefit from Dog Club. Whether practicing from a distance or working up to on-leash in the presence of other dogs and people, every dog can improve. Not every dog is a social butterfly, but every dog can learn better life skills. Practice makes better.
Benefits of Goal Oriented Training
Working toward a goal within a group provides motivation to the dog owner, to get out there and practice, improve and progress. Winning a ribbon or even just the experience of showing provides positive reinforcement to the owner as well as wonderful, fun memories.
Better life skills through training and consistent drive fulfillment helps every dog’s quality of life.
More on Ethics, including tool use:
Events
Practices
Dog Shows / The Fair
Other Events
Community Spotlight
Members
Sponsors / Community Support