There are many different types of Dog Clubs around the country. How to find a good one is not quite so easy. Your local Pet Shop or Veterinary Surgery generally has a notice board with local Training Clubs advertised. Ring the people up and ask if you can go along to watch. You can contact the Kennel Club for the name of a registered club that may be in your area. Many clubs have a waiting list; others do not.

It is a good idea to pop along without your dog the first time you go to a training club, as some clubs can be rather full and have some unruly dogs, which could cause you and your dog problems. Watch how the class is run, would it suit you and your dog? Are kind methods used with the aid of toys and/or tit bits? Does the Instructor have control of the class? Can you hear them, or are some dogs making too much noise? How many Instructors are there? Is there any one-to-one help? Ask if they have a Competition Class. Has the place a pleasant, friendly atmosphere?

Clubs vary considerably as to class fees. Often there is a course, or membership fee, which can be anywhere between five and fifty pounds. Then add to that a small amount for each training night. Do remember to go and have a look first. It doesn’t follow that the more expensive the better the club. On the contrary, there are dedicated trainers and instructors who only require the expense of their training hall covered. But do check on the methods used and whether it would suit you and your dog. Don’t part with any money till you’ve had a look.

When you have found a club that suits you and your dog and you begin your training, make sure you practice at home. This is the only way to make any progress. There are a lot of dogs that work very well at the Dog Club, but behave in the park as if they haven’t had a days training in their life, or are stone deaf! So practice all exercises in different places and you will make progress.

The best companion and working dogs are generally dogs that play with their owners. Playing with your dog while keeping control can build up a close relationship. How to do this should be taught at the dog club.

Get involved in club activities and take part in any Tests or Club Matches that are held. This is the best way to learn the ropes when it comes to competing with your dog against others. Nerves play an important part, and a lot of people never get over this, no matter what level they are competing at.

Make sure you turn up on the night. Many people lose their nerve and make some excuse not to go. ‘My baby sitter didn’t turn up ... The car wouldn’t start ... I had a flat tyre on the way’. Forget it, it has all been said before! Remember that everyone else is just as worried about being tested as you are.

Your Instructor will tell you what exercises will be tested and often you will have a chance to practice, as if you were being tested, before the big night. Test nights are generally run to show the instructors how you and your dog are progressing together. Sometimes your Instructor tests you and at other times the club may ask a Judge to come and test you and all the other dogs in your class.

Assuming this is the first time you have been tested, I’ll explain what you can expect. Working your dog in class and under test conditions is quite different. In class you can stop and play or tit bit your dog. You can use the lead and stroke your dog or place it in a sit, as and when you need to. Under test, you can’t. Well, you can, but you will lose marks for it, and the aim is not to lose marks. However, you can talk to your dog to encourage and help him or her as much as you like.

Don’t take tit bits into the test area. Leave them on a table or chair. Don’t carry them in your pocket or in a bum bag either. This is a rule that applies right through all classes to the highest standard. It is considered cheating to have them about your person while in a test area ... or "Ring", as I shall call this test area from now on. Don’t carry a toy either.

There will be two people in the ring: One with a pad or a clipboard and a pencil. This is the Judge and the other is the Ring Steward. The Ring Steward is there to ‘call’ the round, a set pattern that will be the same for everyone in your class. He is there to guide and advise you.

The Judge will have worked out a set number of points for each section you are being tested on. If this is your first time, all exercises are likely to be with your dog on the lead. While under test, try and keep your lead as lose as you can, use your voice to encourage your dog. So if your tester has allowed say 10 points for the ‘Heel on Lead’ and your lead tightens at any time, the tester will deduct a point. The tester will also deduct points if and when your dog moves away from the ‘Heel’ position, which is your left leg. When the Steward tells you to ‘halt’, you stop with your dog, who should go into a straight sit by your left leg. You will be penalised if the dog is sitting at an angle.

The next exercise you may be tested on is the Recall. If this is on lead, try not to tighten it as you call your dog to you. Use your voice as much as you like, but don’t touch your dog. Try not to move your feet as you face your dog and call him to you. All these little points are things the judge will be looking for and will deduct points accordingly.

The Heel on Lead and the Recall you do on your own in the ring, one after the other. The last exercise will be the ‘Stays’ usually, the Sit and the Down. These you all do as a group spread out along one or two sides of the ring. The length of time your dogs are left in the Sit and the Down will have been worked out beforehand. It could be a half-minute sit and a one-minute down. The Steward will tell you if you are required to do this part on or off lead and where you should stand. You will be asked to prepare your dogs in the sit position, then told to give: ‘Last Command’, followed by ‘Leave your dogs’. You must not say anything else to your dog until the Steward says, ‘Return to your dogs’, followed by ‘Exercise over’. Then you can quietly praise your dog for completing the exercise. The same procedure is then repeated for the Down Stay exercise.

Should your dog break the Sit or the Down Stay by moving into another position, you will lose marks that you may consider rather severe in proportion to the marks lost for mistakes in the other ring work. It has always been considered that the Stays are an important part of the dogs’ work. If the exercise is a half minute Sit Stay and your dog lies down after fifteen seconds, and ten marks were allowed, you will have lost five on this exercise alone as your dog only did half the test. Add this to the mark lost in your other ring work to arrive at your total marks lost. The marks lost in the stay test might seem rather harsh at times, but it is the same for everyone, right through all the classes.

The next stage is competing for your club in a match against another club. The match could be in your training hall or at the other clubs’ hall. If you are picked to represent your club, it is important that you don’t let them down at the last minute through nerves. Excuses of the baby sitter letting you down will not be appreciated.

The classes at a match may vary a little more than you are used to, but you will only be asked to compete in a class that your Instructor knows you are capable of undertaking. If you have stayed at your club and watched the more advanced dogs working, you will have some idea of what to expect.

The first class may be a ‘Special’ class, designed for relatively new club members, where all the exercises are on the lead. The exercises will be similar to the test described previously under Test Nights.

The next class may be what is called the Pre-Beginner Class. This class has a standard format of exercises, done in any order the Judge chooses, with a ring work pattern of his choice. Each exercise is the same for each dog. The Stays will be done as a group, generally at the end of the completion of the class ring work. The marks allowed for each exercise are the same when and where ever you enter this class. They have been laid down by the Kennel Club and are never varied. The standard of marking is at the discretion of the Judge. It is worth noting here, that should you have cause to use your lead or touch your dog while under test, you may be down marked heavily, depending on how your judge interprets the seriousness of the fault.

The exercises in Pre-Beginners are Heel on Lead, Heel Free, Recall with a Finish to heel and lastly, as a group, the Sit and the Down Stay. It is a good idea, if you can, to watch someone work his or her dog before your turn. That way you get to see the round and where you start. There is no need to worry as the Steward will always tell you.

When Test nights and Matches are held in your training hall, the host club often provides refreshments for all those taking part and supporting the handlers. Have a word with who ever is organising the evening and offer to bring something. Sandwiches, cakes, biscuits, crisps and dips ... that sort of thing. No one will expect you to spend all day cooking or go into debt over the affair, and it doesn’t matter if you are unable to provide anything.

These evenings can be great fun for everybody. If your club finds out that you are good at making cakes, you may be constantly in demand! Personally, I’m hopeless and only ever provide packets of stuff bought from the super market!

Christmas is another time when your club may require food. Clubs often arrange Christmas parties for all their members and dogs where fun games are played and a good time is had by all. I am afraid that joining a dog club and making new friends can considerably add to your Christmas card list!