Agility and Training Classes

The dog agility and training classes at Gardner Animal Care Center are open to dogs in the Gardner, Fitchburg, Athol, Worcester, Leominster, Barre, Rindge, NH and Keene, NH. To learn more about our team of trainers, click here. For more information about obedience and training classes at Gardner Animal Care Center, click the links below:

Agility Classes

Dog agility training classes at Gardner Animal Care Center in Gardner, Mass.

Agility is the fastest-growing canine sport! Dogs and their handlers race around an obstacle course of jumps, tunnels, weave poles, an A-frame and more. We offer all levels of agility training from the novice beginner through advanced, ready to compete teams. Agility classes run in six week courses or drop-ins are available for the more experienced teams. They are offered year round in either our outdoor arena or our fully matted indoor training area for rainy days and winter months.

Beginner Agility—This is a hands-on, paws-on introduction to the fun and exciting sport of dog agility. Agility classes can be wonderful at building your dog's confidence as he learns to navigate tunnels, jumps and climb the A-frame. Beginner Agility also teaches your dog to focus under distractions, builds on your current basic obedience skills, teaches valuable foundation skills for going further in agility with tricks, targeting, games and attention work. Open to dogs at least 6 months of age by the start date of class.

Click here for information about our Beginner Agility Class.

Advanced Beginner Agility 1—Continue to build your dog's confidence on the agility equipment and improve your agility handling skills through longer sequences and more agility games. The Teeter and Weave-poles are introduced in this class and your dog will become accustomed to working off-leash around a higher level of distraction. Basic handling techniques and short sequences will also be practiced. Beginner Agility is a prerequisite for this class.

Advanced Beginner Agility 2—This class is for dogs who have completed Beginner Agility 1. Each week will challenge you and your dog with distance, discrimination and directional drills to further advance your agility skills. You and your dog will work on longer sequences and short courses. Weave pole and contact proficiency will be worked on each well as well as several agility games.

Click here for information about our Advanced Beginner Agility Class.

Intermediate Agility—This class is for dogs who have completed at least 2 full sessions of agility classes. Dogs must be able to safely navigate each contact obstacle without any issues, be proficient at 6 weave poles and jumping "full height." Novice-level courses will be practiced along-side short handling drills and motivational sequences.

Advanced Agility—This class is for dogs who are currently competing in agility trials or preparing to begin trialing. Fun challenges, full courses, short handling sequences, difficult discrimination and distance exercises and agility games will be worked on each week. Dogs must be proficient at 12 weave poles and all equipment.

Click here for additional information about our Intermediate and Advanced Agility Classes.

Click here to apply for Gardner Animal Care Center's agility training course.

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Obedience Classes

"Training a dog is something of a spiritual experience when done properly, a meshing of the instincts and traits of two very different species trying to live together harmoniously." From the book "The Dogs of Bedlam Farm" by Jon Katz.

Welcome to Gardner Animal Care Center's obedience class! This class is for you and your dog, so please feel free to ask for help with whatever training needs your pet may have.

There are no magic recipes or shortcuts to dog training. The only way to have the dog that you want is to use practice, persistence and patience. Dogs are as different as people are, and what works for one may not work for another. However, all dogs learn through consistent, fair training.

Our relationships with our dogs include an obligation to provide leadership. Humans are not put to sleep for failing to provide leadership for their dogs, yet countless dogs are put to sleep. Loving our dogs is not enough. Dogs need a clear delineation of their relative status, and we must honor their need and provide leadership. Leadership is not a clenched fist, but a guiding hand.

We offer the following classes:

Puppy Class
This class is for puppies between 8 weeks and 6 months of age. The class includes a social part and an obedience part. For social development, the puppies have 15 minutes of playtime at the beginning and at the end of each class. During the 30 minutes of real training time, the puppies learn in a purely motivational manner (luring with food, use of clickers, etc.) how to walk properly on leash; sit and sit stays; down and down stays; focus; and, most importantly, coming when called. We normally use the play times to talk about common problems and how to approach them. We also try to make the new "parents" understand how dogs learn and why they are doing certain things.

Basic Class
This class is for dogs 6 months and older. This class is more "serious" than the puppy class. Here, the dogs have one hour of training time. The teaching phase of the exercises is also 100% motivational (later, we slowly wean out the food). Exercises covered in this class are: walking politely on leash; heeling; sit/stays; down stays; wait at the door; coming when called; and some combinations of this exercises.

Intermediate Class
This class requires a prior basic obedience class, so that the dog is solid on the basic commands. During this class, we will work with a maximum amount of distraction for the dog and teach the dog to contain him or herself in order to become much more reliable. Hand signals will be covered, as well.

Canine Good Citizen Class
This class will mainly focus on the required exercises Canine Good Citizen certification. Following six weeks of class, an evaluator will come in to test the dogs, and, if he or she passes, your dog will receive an official Canine Good Citizen title through the American Kennel Club.

Thank you for participating! Click here to apply for obedience classes at Gardner Animal Care Center.

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Tricks and Fun

The class will cover all kinds of tricks, like playing dead, shaking hands, sitting up with paws in the air, going over obstacles and more. Tricks will be taught at your dog's skill and comfort level. It will be a fun time for you and your dog to grow together!

The experienced handler will have the opportunity to practice in a ring set up environment and/or prepare a new dog for the show experience.

Click here to apply for Gardner Animal Care Center's Tricks and Fun class.

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Canine Good Citizen Program

Dog agility training classes at Gardner Animal Care Center in Gardner, Mass.

All dogs, both purebred and mixed, are welcome to join the Gardner Animal Care Center Canine Good Citizens Class. Dogs must be old enough to have received all the necessary immunizations such as DHLP-P and Rabies. Dogs must be under the routine care of a veterinarian. Owners will be required to sign a Responsible Dog Owners Pledge.

Dogs will work towards passing the final test which includes:

All tests are preformed on a leash and certificates are given to passing participants. For more information, visit the Canine Good Citizen Program website.

Click here to apply for our Canine Good Citizen program.

Indoor and Outdoor Dog Agility Facility Rental

The Gardner Animal Care Center understands the need for dogs to be able to exercise, and places to take them to run and play in the Gardner, Mass. area are limited. In an effort to give you a safe playground, we have made our indoor and outdoor agility areas available for rental. They can be rented for playtime or agility practice. We offer both individual rentals and group rentals. This is ideal for breed groups to be able to get together and socialize.

Our large indoor and outdoor areas are available for rental Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. (Indoor Arena) and 8 a.m. to noon (Outdoor Arena) and Sunday 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Please call 978-632-7110 to check availability and schedule a time. Each time you visit, you will need to go to the front desk to check in, pay and have a receptionist date a waiver card that we will keep on file for you. All renters will be responsible for picking up after their pets and returning toys and agility equipment to its original spot. Click here to view the current rates for our indoor and outdoor dog agility facility.

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