The Kāpiti Dog Training Club will be suspending its sessions until January.
The Kāpiti Dog Training Club will be suspending its sessions until January.
The Kāpiti Dog Training Club is suspending its training sessions, from the end of July until a new venue is in place early next year.
It was almost five decades ago when the club started in Paekākāriki and was called the Kāpi-Mana Dog Training Club.
In the late 1970s, the club moved to Otaihanga, where it leased land from the Kāpiti Coast District Council, and that’s when the name changed to Kāpiti Dog Training Club.
But a decision by the council to expand its waste management activities has meant the club was forced to relocate.
Luckily, the council has a new venue for the dog club, but preparations needed in that area mean the club will have to suspend training sessions until January.
“It’s a sad day for the club, and for the dog owners, but we are still around,” club president Nancy Collins said.
The club is still committed to helping people with their training, and despite not being available for training sessions, it will still be active on Facebook, email, and its website to answer questions.
Collins said the club ran training sessions in 10-week terms, and they worked out a lot cheaper than private lessons.
The suspension means if people want to continue training their dogs, they’ll have no choice but to pay the much-pricier private trainer fees.
Their suspension will hit a lot of families hard, she said, and a lot of people cannot afford private training.
“They just want to train their dogs to be good and do what they’re told, and they just can’t afford that,” club secretary Rachel Brittain-Morby said.
Kāpiti Dog Training Club president Nancy Collins and her companion.
Dog training has become more popular in recent years, and Collins said she’s noticed an increase in interest.
She said all the club’s trainers were well qualified, but they were not behaviourists — they helped people train their own dogs.
And when it comes to success, she said every dog had a success story.
“Everybody has success,” Collins said.
“When you see the dogs come in their raw form at week one, to when they leave at 10 weeks, the changes are quite significant. It’s pleasing to see.”
Waste projects manager Robbie Stillwell said, “Since the Kāpiti Dog Training Club began in its current location in 1978, there have been significant land-use changes in the area.”
He said the site now accommodated several resource recovery activities and operated at a much-larger scale than in 1978.
