PetSmart Trainers, the good.

When Elle was a puppy I took her to Petsmart and had a HORRIBLE trainer, we ended up dropping out of the class.

Well, recently I was in the store and saw a new trainer and started talking to her, she has three yorkies of her own and seemed very knowledgeable... I decided to sign up for an hour private session with her, to do some extra work with Armani... we went the other day and it was so great! She was wonderful, exactly what I look for in a trainer... she used 100% positive reinforcement there were no corrections and the entire hour was positive and fun for Armani. You could actually tell he was having fun which is important to me.

We went through a lot of stuff and had him running through a host of commands before the hour was up.

Anyway, I have talked about the negatives with Petsmart training many times and just thought it was important to show that it really is an individual thing... there are some GREAT trainers there as well!

Sometimes you'll come across a GREAT trainer at a pet store. Not all too common, but it does happen. And when it does happen, it's very nice

I have considered training for Petsmart or Petco. I don't know about Petco, but I know Petsmart forces THEIR methods upon their trainers. You don't have a choice about what methods to use.

No they don't, once you finish your training nobody cares what you do as long as you sell classes.

Glad you had a good experience, PM! I always say, it's just like any other trainer you go to, they may be good or they may be bad, it doesn't really matter where they work. Just talk to the trainer before you sign up for the class, preferably also sit in on one of the classes, and make your own decision from there.

Really? I've talked to a couple trainers there and I'm going by what they told me. If you really can teach the way you want, then maybe I'll reconsider it.

It's true. I'm a Petsmart Trainer, among other things. Once you're out of the training (which is everything that you may ever heard about it-- it's stupid, in my region at least. ) You rely on your own skills, and run your classes however you'd like. If you're dog behavior savvy, you will build up clientele very quickly, and people will love you. Their training really doesn't teach you anything, so you have to know what you're doing going into it-- otherwise, you're just reading from the book.

The only thing that is required is that you run the classes Positive Reinforcement style. No choke chains or prong collars allowed (although I think you can get a release form to do so...). I get a lot of people who use prong collars after or outside of training, and I may advise against them, but at the very least show them how to use them properly if they must.

I have seen trainers at both stores use a wide wide wide variety of methods. They just want you to sell classes. Thats all they care about.

I took Riley to Petsmart for puppy class (it was the only place offering a puppy class at the time) and I liked the trainer. She used positive methods and since we were her last class of the day, would let the puppies play off leash at the end of class. She thought play socialization was just as important as learning to sit/stay, etc.

When Maddie was a puppy, we went through Puppy and then Basic classes at petsmart. I loved this trainer! BUT she was also taking a class on dog behavior, and I knew from the get go that when she completed her courses she was going to quit and become a professional trainer elsewhere. I enjoyed it so much that we went onto intermediate, and signed up for advanced (she moved and I stuck with another trainer). I was sad to see her go, she moved to Columbus to apprentice (sp?) with another trainer, if it wasn't so far I'd still take dogs to her

Training was something she was truly interested in, and she was good at it. The problem with the trainers there now (Kayla is taking Tucker there - mainly for socialization!) is that they are teenagers in every sense of the word, and its just another job for them. $$$$$.
They are sooo annoying, and don't know what they are talking about half of the time.

I think this did make a huge difference... the first guy we had was a young guy and this was just a "fun job" for him... an easy way to make money.

This lady was older and truly interested in dogs and you could tell she had a real love for them.