puppy class

[calibra]

Hi

How do you guys find puppy training classes?.

Mine goes for one hour a week. There must be 12 other dogs there.

I find there is not enough time in one hour for all those dogs. It seems the trainer has her favourate dogs out of the bunch and seems to concentrate on them and use them in demo's in front of people.

Also, I find she doesn't get time to look at other dogs.

I find Rosie seems to get bored in training and wants to meet the other dogs. She will pull and pull for the hour trying to see the german shepard next to me (The GSD does the same). Almost as if the dogs are getting bored.

As the dog pull's while I am sitting down I find I miss some of the items the trainer is talking about because I am focusing on my dog trying to get her to sit.

THanks

James

[Mindy Miller]

Sounds like you should find another class.... Or approach the instructor. Maybe they have another session available with lower enrollment. Maybe you should go to a different place in the room, to avoid the GSD.

The one we're going to makes sure the dogs get enough attention, even if it means she stays later or meets you earlier. I found mine online. I did a search for dog trainers in mo, then one with a nearby city.

Another good resource is your vetrinarian (sometimes.) I know some in bigger cities give good references. Personally, my vet had no suggestions.

Also keep in mind that your class is only a small part of the training process. You have to keep up with what you've learned at home through the week.

[Fran27]

I think there are two things there. First, it's not normal if the trainer doesn't look at all the dogs. She should demonstrate with one, then ask everyone to do the same thing and show her. There's definitely something wrong there.

But the fact that your puppy wants to see the other dog is perfectly normal. They get easily distracted at that age, and it's a very good thing to work on obedience with distractions. Also, the main goal of puppy classes is socialization, so they learn to play with other dogs and get more dog-friendly as they grow up, compared to puppies that never meet any dogs. IMO, there should always be a time in puppy classes when the puppies are offleash playing together, I think it's probably the most important aspect of puppy classes. If you don't let your dog and the GSD play a minimum, your puppy might just think that it's not a good thing to play with other dogs. But it has nothing to do with boredom, it's just normal puppy behavior.