About Merrimac Dog Training Club

Merrimac Dog Training Club is the peninsula's equivalent of HROTC across the water, and it was founded in the same year: "The Merrimac Dog Training Club was founded in 1947 as a not-for-profit volunteer organization geared toward community service."

What it runs

The core sentence covers the whole program: "Merrimac Dog Training Club (MDTC) is an AKC licensed club on the Virginia Peninsula that offers obedience, agility, rally, barnhunt and conformation handling classes, and holds AKC obedience and agility trials. We offer classes at levels ranging from puppies to competition." Barn hunt gets its own line – "We also offer Barn Hunt classes and hold Barn Hunt trials" – which makes this one of the few places in the metro where you can train the sport and enter a trial without leaving the club.

The point of it

The founding aims are still published and still read like a club rather than a business: "We still promote the original goals of creating a stronger bond of companionship between people and their dogs, of raising awareness of the responsibilities of dog ownership and of helping all to achieve that sense of pride that comes from a well trained" dog. The motto on the home page is "A Trained Dog is A Good Dog !"

How it is organized

Everything runs through named volunteers rather than a front desk – class information through the Training Director, registration questions through another member, membership inquiries through a third. Registration is by session with mail-in forms still supported, there is a volunteer hours form and an instructor class request form, and members are expected to contribute. The building itself is a resource beyond the club: "In addition to supporting MDTC activities and classes, the building is available for rent by other clubs or organizations at reasonable rates."

Where it is

15 Newsome Place in Hampton, with one practical note repeated on the site: "(Enter from Salters Creek Road)".

What it is not

There is no board and train, no in-home service, no behavior or aggression program and no private-trainer arrangement. This is a class club for owners who want to train their own dog, ideally toward a title.