Frequently Asked Questions about IDTC and its Classes

General information about Obedience classes 

1.       Where and when and where are classes held? There are 3-5 sessions of classes a year, beginning in January, March,  June or July and August/September, and Nov/Dec. Beginner  Classes meet usually meet on Tuesday or Wednesday evenings in the Cornell Livestock Pavilion. Classes are an hour long. Sessions are 6 weeks of classes followed by a Graduation party on week 7.

2.      Are there restrictions on who may take classes? You must be at least 12 years old (the 4-H runs a good dog training program for younger handlers). You must be a member of IDTC to take advanced classes. Your dog must not be a danger to others in the class, and must be up to date on vaccinations. All dogs over 4 months of age must have current Rabies Vaccinations.

Beginners and Puppy Beginners classes 

1.       How old should my dog be? Puppy Beginners is for dogs under 6 months at start of classes; Adult Beginners is for everyone else. Puppies under 3 months are discouraged from attending because they may not yet have full immunity from their shots.

2.      What if my dog has already had some training? Both Adult and Puppy Beginners are for dogs who have had no (or very little) previous training; Adult Beginners does not follow Puppy Beginners. If you think your dog is past the Beginner stage, contact the Training Director about evaluating your dog for placement in a more advanced class.

3.      What does the class cover? Basic obedience, including sit, down, stay, walk nicely on lead, come when called, and introduction to the stand. Puppy class covers the same items but is geared for the short attention span of puppies, and also includes some extras such as the play retrieve. Occasionally a Competitive Beginners class is offered, geared especially for those people interested in eventually competing with their dogs, but the regular Beginners classes provides a good foundation for both home and ring.

4.      How do I sign up for a class? Download this form, fill out the bottom portion and the pre-class survey,  and send it in with a copy of your dog’s current vaccination record, to the Registrar  (address is on the form). If you cannot print the form, contact the Registrar and she can send you one. Classes may fill up as early as 2 weeks before the start date, although sometimes spots are available even just before the start date. To find out whether classes are full, contact the Registrar.

Intermediate and advanced classes 

0. What is the CGC class? The Canine Good Citizen class is for people who have just completed a Beginner II, or for IDTC members who have dogs working at the appropriate level. It prepares students for the AKC Canine Good Citizen test, which is given as the graduation exercise for the course.

What other classes are offered?

·  Novice I, or Pre-Novice. Follows CGC. Dogs begin to learn to work off lead.

·         AKC Novice. For people preparing to compete in obedience trials in the Novice class.

·         Open. For those working on the Open-level exercises, i.e. drop on recall, retrieving, jumping.

·         Utility. Exercises for Utility class. Sometimes Open and Utility classes are combined.

·         Rally I  Introduction to Rally Obedience; exercises for  Novice Rally class.

·         Rally II  Exercises for Advanced and Excellent Rally classes.

·         Skills Classes – these cover skill sets needed for advanced level obedience, jumping, heeling, retrieving, attention, and other skills. These are often offered in place of the advanced classes.

·        Free Training. When a block of time with space is available, IDTC members may train on Tuesdays or Wednesday nights on their own.

0. How do I sign up for classes? For each session, there is a time period of about 10 days during which people must call to sign up. The person to call varies by class and session; contacts will be posted on the Web site.

Agility classes 

1.       How can I find out more about agility classes at IDTC? Information is on our home page. Contact the Training Director or any Training Committee member  for further details.

IDTC membership

1.       Anyone who completes an Beginner II class receives a membership application at Graduation. If it's lost, he or she can call the Registrar, the Treasurer, or the Training Director to get another.

2.      Anyone who has been an IDTC member within the last 5 years can be reinstated by sending a note and the dues to the Treasurer.   

3.      For someone who has trained elsewhere or completed a Companion Dog Title  and wants to join the club,  he or she can contact the Training Director to have a dog evaluated and get a membership application.