Membership and Fees

Membership is open to everyone.
All breeds of dogs and mixtures of breeds.

New Members:

All Members - New and Renewing:

The Club is bound by its Constitution and the Regulations of the South Australian Canine Association.

Club members are not required to also become members of S.A.C.A.(Dogs SA), but will need to do so if and when they reach the appropriate standard in either Obedience or Agility and decide they wish to enter dog sports trials and competitions.

All dogs must be vaccinated to C 5 level:
Distemper, Hepatitis, Parvo virus & Kennel cough (Parainfuenza & Bordetella.)
Proof of this will be required to be sighted before your dog may participate in classes.

Membership Fees:

Fees were reviewed at the Annual General Meeting on 25th November 2011, the new fees are:

Pensioner discount is $10.00 for single or double membership.
Unfortunately, the club does not except credit-card or Eftpos at this stage. Club accepts cash or cheque only.

There are currently no extra fees for an individual or family wishing to train more than one dog, but it should be realised that some clashes in class-times are likely to occur at various stages, and you may need to decide which dog needs the experience more, or alternate them in class.

A name badge (one for each member), which you are required to wear in class, and is not transferrable between family members or friends. The badge features a series of markings indicating the class-level you and your your dog have reached, this is assessed at the last training session of each month.

A bi-monthly newsletter, the "Chatter Sheet" in which Club news and events and articles of interest to dog owners are published, as well as names of new members, and those nominated each month as the "Most Improved" in their class, those graduating from Grade 5 with their Basic Obedience Certificate, and our members' results from Obedience and Agility competitions.

Weekly classes
(or twice weekly if you are keen enough and able to attend on both Tuesday mornings and evenings - see: 'Class Information').
Classes are allocated at the beginning of each month, and as far as possible members remain with the same instructor for the whole month, leading up to an assessment and graduation during the the final week's class. It is entirely up to you how often you attend, and how much 'homework' you do, but assessments only take place at these monthly graduations, and if you miss one, you stay another month in that class until the next end-of-month assessment.

Each week, new members attending for the first time, have paperwork to complete, then join an Orientation class in which Club rules, class structure and expectations are outlined. A basic introduction to training is given, before being allocated to their class for the following week.

Dogs under six months of age automatically go into a Puppy class (see note re council rebate), while older (dog) beginners start in Grade 1, unless they have had previous training and need individual assessment that might put them in a higher class.

If you are thinking of joining SAODC from elsewhere, and are unsure of your appropriate level of achievement, as criteria vary between different training schools, we encourage you to contact us by phone or e-mail to discuss your circumstances, or any particular problems you think you might have with your dog and its training.

Our instructors are all volunteers, and have various commitments, but as far as possible, the Club aims that you will have the benefit of continuity of teaching for the whole of each month. You may have a new instructor each month, as they too are regularly allocated a new schedule to teach. This allows you to gain from the combined wisdom of their broad experience and various training 'tips'.

Please try to remember your instructor's name for those few weeks, in case we need to re-allocate classes at any time if your instructor is away.