Is There a City Club Dog Obedience Quad in Your Town?

You might ask what a city club dog obedience quad is.  It is a square where your city’s dog club teaches off leash obedience training.  It’s like an off leash park—and probably is an off leash park part of the time—but during obedience training it’s the city club dog obedience quad.

A city club dog obedience quad is helpful not only for pet obedience training, but also for training hunting dogs, service dogs, protection dogs and police dogs.  All except service dogs must work off leash, and if your city’s dog club sponsors a city club dog obedience quad, there is a place for them to train.  Service dogs—especially guide dogs, can also train with their handlers in an open space, learning to guide their handler around objects and over uneven ground.

Having a city club dog obedience quad gives you a public place for competitions and demonstrations, too.  This elevates interest in dog training, and might encourage people to join your dog club.  It shows the community that dog club members are good citizens who participate in community events.

If you don’t have a city club dog obedience quad in your town, maybe your dog club could sponsor one.  You would have to find a suitable park or patch of land and raise money to purchase it.  You might have to talk to your city council to make sure there aren’t any local or state laws that prohibit off leash dog training.

If your dog club sponsors a city club dog obedience quad, you’ll also need to organize volunteers to keep it clean.  We all know that good dog handlers pick up after dogs, but we also all know that some do not.  A doggie-do patrol is especially necessary if you allow the public to use the quad as an off leash park when it’s not being used for training.

Sponsoring a city dog club obedience quad could be a great community project for your dog club.