About the Club
Twin Cities Obedience Training Club (TCOTC), a non-profit organization founded in 1945, was the first dog training club in the state of Minnesota. Our club is licensed by the American Kennel Club, which makes us eligible to hold AKC obedience and agility trials and tracking tests. TCOTC offers training opportunities in basic obedience as well as agility, flyball, and tracking. TCOTC aims to combine education and public service with the enjoyment of training your dog.
TCOTC's Mission
Our mission is to provide positive, humane training and educational opportunities for the general public and to enable people with similar interests to come together and enjoy a variety of social and training activities with their dogs
Purpose of Training
Every dog deserves an education! Obedience training is the foundation for establishing a better relationship between you and your dog. The techniques used in our classes are based on the principles of positive reinforcement and operant conditioning. The obedience exercises we teach have been adapted to meet the training needs of the beginning trainer. Basic obedience training is important for a good canine companion as well a requirement for future training in various dog sports. Many students who start with basic obedience classes continue training their dogs in advanced obedience, agility, flyball, tracking, or therapy dog work.
TCOTC is more than just a training school. TCOTC also offers members many fun activities including a Halloween party with games and great raffle prizes, Club Days with a variety of educational topics, and sponsors trials, tournaments and fun matches. No other local club or training school offers the breadth of activities and training classes available at TCOTC.
TCOTC is a non-profit organization. TCOTC is a club that relies on member volunteers to run the club and has no full time employees.
TCOTC has the lowest prices for training classes in this market. We are able to maintain our low prices because of the volunteer efforts of our members. Member volunteers assist at trials, man the front desk, maintain our website, manage trials/tournaments, serve on the Board and many other tasks that keep our club running. Without this volunteer workforce, we would need to hire people to perform these duties and our class charges would rise substantially.
TCOTC is the only training school in the Twin Cities that totally utilizes positive reinforcement training approaches. While other schools may embrace positive methods for agility, we are the only program that will never recommend a choke or pinch or shock collar. Our members compete effectively in all arenas and have well-mannered dogs at home.
TCOTC could use more volunteers. Although our operations run smoothly, many hands make light work. In addition, we would love new insight as we seek to expand our offerings to meet members’ needs.
