just got a dagu 5 rover and a dagu shield for arduino uno but have no idea how to connect them 
Which version of the Rover 5 did you get and which shield did you get?
As one would guess, the black wire on the encoders is ground and the red wire is power. The encoders will work with either 3.3V or 5V.
The yellow and white wires are the A and B lines from the encoders.