About us
The ACT Companion Dog Club – the first dog training club in Canberra – was established in 1958 and it has served the local community for more than 60 years.
You can read more about its early days in Fyshwick and its move to its current grounds in 1983 below.
WHO WE ARE
Our management
If you are actively involved in the Club’s training activities, please consider volunteering to help run the Club. There is something to suit every skill and interest.
Talk to existing members of the Club’s Committee or Sub-Committees to learn more about the Club’s management or email the Club Office with your name, contact details and areas of interest.
The Club employs two staff – a part-time office manager and a junior shop assistant.
The Club is an incorporated association and its members are governed by a Constitution, Club Rules and a range of policy and planning documents.
Our CommitteeRead ConstitutionRead RulesDogs ACTAustralian Flyball AssociationEmail us
WHO WE ARE
Our instructors
Our skilled and experienced instructors give their time voluntarily to help fellow members learn to train their dogs. Each instructor has completed an in-house training course to meet the Club’s instructing requirements, and some instructors deliver classes across several activities. If you are interested in giving back to the Club and would like to study to become an instructor please email the Club Office with your contact details. We usually run a training course to develop new Behaviour Training instructors once a year, while our dog sports offer their own courses on a periodic basis.
Some Club instructors also have nationally-recognised vocational qualifications in dog behaviour and training and are certified professional dog trainers affiliated with the Delta Institute, Karen Pryor Academy, Pet Professional Guild Australia and Association of Pet Dog Trainers Australia. If you would like to know more about vocational education courses and certifying bodies aligned with the Club’s rewards-based force-free training ethos please contact the Club.
WHO WE ARE
Main Committee
Office Bearers
President
Anne Robertson
Work Health and Safety / Magazine Editor / Annual Awards
Senior Vice-President
Lesley Pothan
Behaviour Training Convenor / Dogs As Therapy
Junior Vice-President
Neale Prescott
Grounds
Treasurer
Sharon Haines
Insurance / Grants
Secretary
Heather McPherson
Public Officer
Main Committee Members
Barbara Gough
Events & Promotion
Wendy Hathaway
Obedience Trialling & Rally Liaison
Kirstin Henderson
Security / Business Recycling Program
Vanessa March
Social Media / Website / Flyball Convenor
Katrina Morton
Shop / Housekeeping / Maintenance
Maxine Robinson
Tracking & Scentwork Liaison
Wendy Stewart
Agility Convenor
Cherie Wilkinson
Dances with Dogs & Trick Dog Liaison
WHO WE ARE
Sub-Committees
Behaviour Training
Members Sharon Haines, Kath Hallam, Hilarie Kemp, Jess McNamara–Rice, Penny Pardoe-Matthews, Anne Robertson, Jess Strain, Jackie Trotter, Julie Whitmore
Obedience Trialling & Rally
Members Judith Barlow, Wendy Hathaway, Simone Hey, Jeanette Johnson, Catherine Perry, Lara Sedgmen, Anne Walkington, Geoff Woodman, Patricia Woodman
Agility
Convener Wendy Stewart
Members Natasha Davies, Cheyne Fischer, Kirstin Henderson, Karen Hobson, Dana Simonsen, Kylie White, Steph Windsor
Flyball
Convener Vanessa March
Members Mick Fordyce, Angharad Lodwick, Cathy Vaughan
Tracking
Convener Jake Blight
Members Joanne Hagan, Sandra Hassett
Dances with Dogs & Trick Dog
Convener Amy Smith
Members Jill Bradfield, Holly Rieger, Raelene Stewart, Claire Weekes, Cherie Wilkinson
Scent Work
Convener Maxine Robinson
Members Wendy Hathaway, Naarilla Hirsch, Rachel McKeever, Claire Weekes
Photography
Images on the ACT CDC website courtesy of:
Photography By Susan | Lesli Cameron | Mark Corbould | Maelyn Draper | Joanne Hagan Photography | Carmen Kong | Anna Mayberry | Lara Sedgmen | Cathy Vaughan | Claire Weekes | Sportz Fotos