Dagobar Dog Agility Club is a competition and fun agility club, also teaching tricks, and some scentwork, treibball and fun flyball, always with positive shaping methods and happy dogs. Main classes Tues Sat and Thurs, 121 available daily. Join us! We run on a Tuesday evening 19-30 til 10-00.
Beginners move to the Tuesday evening once sufficiently competent, having had their introduction to agility in a separate class. Please ring 078126 91217 to find out when it will next be possible to start one of our classes, this is usually possible every couple of weeks.
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All grades and comp/fun people run together, and we have a good bunch of folk, experienced handlers helping less experienced.

We teach mostly by shaping, and always by reward based, positive methods that are proven methods by which dogs can learn best.

Prices are as follows:-
£10 insurance fee first session (please bring vaccination card)
Second session £10 membership fee and £30 for two months of weekly Tuesday classes, fees paid in advance.

We run in an indoor riding school with tap water and toilet on site. The surface is great for the dogs and soft enough on the handlers! We use competition standard rubber surfaced adjustable aluminium contacts from First Contact, and new competition standard weaves, alongside the usual jumps, tunnels, flat tunnel, tire etc. We have sufficient equipment to set two courses, or several set ups of sequencing, object discrimination, single object training, or handling exercises.

We train with humour and with our dogs' happiness and safety first. Join us and see for yourself!

About Dagobar's training philosophy, me, and my dogs...
I started Dagobar Dog Agility Club in 1996 because I didn't like the training I was getting elsewhere. There was harsh handling, not enough protection for young dogs and developing joints, and a lot of standing around waiting for a 30 second run on course and, because we often got it right, that was it for another half an hour, no training on course to do something better, just right or wrong.
My dad made all the equipment, and I learned from watching many other handlers around the competition rings, copying what I liked and what worked well.

My German Shepherd, Buck, taught me so very much. He was fast, consistent, and very responsive and focussed. So much so that, if there was an error, I automatically looked at my own handling and wondered what I'd done wrong.

We both used to sit at ringside together, watching, and I'm pretty sure he used to memorise the course. If a dog he was watching made a mistake he used to give the equivalent of a canine tsk and look elsewhere until the next dog took the line! He also ran the correct course on more than one occasion when I was in fact heading off for a wrong obstacle, looking at me ever more concerned as he persevered with what he knew to be correct until I caught on and caught up!!!

I ran Buck mostly with verbals and with little idea of handling, but he still managed trophy placings in classes of 300 (mostly) collies, and ran clear at least 2 usually 3 runs out of 4, which tells you how good HE was. A missed running contact on the dog walk or an off course caused by my handling were the usual faults if we had any. Unfortunately a ligament injury running across Cannock Chase retired him from full height after just two and a half seasons aged 5yrs, just as we were really coming together as a team. There was no 'anysize' in those days so competition came to an end, but Buck continued to run low at the club until 13yrs of age and was club ambassador, always happy and always welcoming.