By Dianne Atkins, April 2019
Hills Howler Edition: April 2022
I started instructing in 1990 and before I became Chief Instructor, I believed there was a better way to train dogs. Obedience Clubs did not cater for puppies, and any puppy that joined went into the usual training system.
In early 1994, I asked the club if we could run a separate puppy class for young puppies that joined the club, and so our Puppy Class story began. This was the start of “no check chains” and a reward-based training system.
Most of the club accepted this system with open arms, and with the support of our President Hazel Baldwin and instructor Alan Butler, I got our first puppy class up and running. I instructed it myself weekly for some time until I passed it over to another instructor so I could concentrate on Beginner classes.
In late 1994, I became Chief Instructor. I wrote and introduced a more reward-based training programme again with the support of many members, including Anne Small and Belvane Parsons who had taken over Puppy classes.
In 1995, we began our journey towards introducing an eight-week Beginner class. It was not anywhere near as detailed as it is now but it was the start.
I presented this to a meeting and to be honest, all hell broke loose as I had a “no check chain” clause in this new booklet. My motion was refused by the Chairperson. But as the movement towards the use of rewards gained momentum, so did the numbers of instructors at Hills who believed this method worked.
So, not giving up, and with the support of many, I presented my Beginner Class Course again and this time it was accepted at a meeting, and our story begins.
This didn’t happen with just one person or just a few. It took the support of many Hills Instructors and Members to change our Club to what it is today.
And if my memory serves me correctly, I believe we were the first Dogs NSW affiliated Club in NSW and possibly Australia to have introduced a reward-based training system and to have a “no check chain” clause on our books.
Heading forward, the old saying that it takes a village to raise a child? Well, it takes a community to run our Club. It takes so many to keep to the standard we want — from the Committee to all the Coordinators who do a fantastic job helping me organise our classes, to all our wonderful Instructors and also our workers that help with all the stuff that needs doing.
