How to Teach & Organize Dog Obedience Classes

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By Janet Ford
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One of the author's black and tan coonhounds at dog class

Once you've made the decision to teach dog obedience class, it is time to get down to the nitty-gritty and organize yourself. Once you are organized, the rest will flow pretty easily and you'll wonder why you didn't start doing this years ago.
This guide is not meant for teaching competition obedience classes, though it could be altered to conform to pretty much any form of dog class.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Printer
Ink
Paper
Folders
Personalized stickers

Step 1

Decide where and when your dog obedience class will be held. The decision of where it will be held should also take into consideration the size of the class you wish to instruct. You will need to have sufficient room for all participants and their dogs. You do not want this area to be crowded as you can not guarantee the disposition of your participants dogs. It may be best to start out with puppy kindergarten classes. You'll need to get the permission of the owner of the building you wish to use for your dog obedience classes. Some ideas would be your own building, a room or auditorium of a school, a hall, a public event area such as those normally used for hosting 4-H fairs.
Step 2

Lay out your plan on paper. List what will be covered each week. You can decide ahead of time the number of weeks (dog obedience classes are normally 6-8 weeks) or you can decide what you want to cover and let that lead you to figuring how many weeks it will take to cover it.
Step 3

Write two outlines. One will be a cleaned up version of your plan from step 2 with lots of details. The second will be a basic overview which you can use to advertise your dog obedience classes and give as handouts on week one.
Step 4

Create fliers to advertise your dog obedience class well in advance of when you plan to hold class. 2-4 wks before you are to begin should suffice. Alternatively, you could follow the lead of one of my friends. She posted the dog obedience class idea in her dog grooming shop and stated that she would begin class once there were enough people & dogs signed up to take it. This was due to the fact that she had to rent space to hold the dog class so needed to ensure her overhead was cared for.
Step 5

On week one, introduce yourself and your dog if you have a fully trained dog for demonstrations (helps). Then you will go over everything the class will be learning and what you will be expecting of them as far as participation, dog etiquette, attendance, rules of the building host, etc. Take some time to demonstrate and explain the first weeks assignment. Start with something basic as all dog obedience classes should be designed as building blocks for the next step.
Step 6

Give each participant a folder to keep all their notes and homework assignments organized. Attach a sticker to the front of each folder that you have personalized with the name of your dog obedience class, your name and a contact number. Be sure to also place a few of your business cards inside.
Step 7

Give a homework sheet after each dog obedience class. This should include the basic overview of what was covered in class and step by step instructions on how to do what will be covered the following week.
Step 8

At the start of the next weeks dog obedience class, go over the demonstration again and then ask each participant to show where they are at with their dog. Help them if they have questions or issues in training their dog.
Step 9

Give a short demo and explanation of the following week's dog obedience class and once again give the homework for the following weeks class.
Step 10

At the conclusion of the dog obedience course, give each participant a certificate of completion. You can easily design these on your home computer or have them made up for you at a print shop. Ensure they are a size that can be easily framed and you sign each one. Be certain the name of your dog obedience class is also included. It is highly suggested that you include the name of the dog on the certificate. The handler/dog owner's name is optional.