private lessons

SpringerLover

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#1
I have taken one group class for dog training. I know I don't learn well that way. Last night Gabby and I had our first obedience private lesson with a friend who also happens to love competition obedience. We covered so much stuff and I have so much homework for the next two weeks. I am excited. Hopefully Gabby will be ready for CDSP novice by the new year. I know I am lucky to have so many great people to learn from and be able to do privates so I get more out of it.

Do you prefer group or private lessons?
 

Fran101

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#2
For learning? Private. Totally... I mean you get the total trainers attention and unlimited questions
For SPECIFIC things I need help with, like LLW for example, I always do private because it's one behavior.

but generally? I don't go to group classes JUST to learn I go for the people, socialization, distraction work and watching other dogs do a GENERAL activity (like agility) is a great way to learn that kind of broad stuff.
 

Dekka

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#3
My favourite to have (horses or dogs) is a semi private with someone who is comparable to where I am. I get lots of attention but time to absorb what is going on. With agility time to catch my breath lol, and with a dressage lesson time to go try what I was told on my own for a few.

Dekka and I are taking group classes for the first time since she was a puppy! I found a class with an awesome instructor that is suitable for snarky butt reactive dogs. YAY (I can't afford privates)
 

xpaeanx

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#4
I like group lessons for the distraction factor having the other dogs/things going on. I also really like that it is more affordable and keeps me doing something every week and getting some feedback. And I do pick things up by listening and watching others.

Now what I don't like is that the class is very regimented and it can become hard for the trainer to teach if the levels start to become mis-matched. I actually had a really bad expierence in a class setting because of the not-so-flexible nature of it and it hurt my working relationship with my dog as we got very frustrated with each other. Thankfully I realized what was going on and I corrected the problem before it got out of hand.

So basically.... My ideal is Private to learn then run throughs once we're pretty proficient and it's just a matter of distraction training and/or slight corrections in exicution. But I can't always afford my ideal. LOL.

I have taken a few Bronze level Fenzi's and I keep going back and forth about a gold level. It's kind of a hybrid between a private and class in both operation and price. You get more individual attention and can progress at your pace but you also have to follow the class modules... It's more expensive than a 6 week local class BUT less than 6 privates.

ETA: I really like semi-privates..., but I am having trouble setting them up! HaHa. Why can't someone be in the same general area as me, at my level, and available the same days as me!?!
 

SpringerLover

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#5
I have also done semi privates and that went really well. All of my agility lessons were private or semi private. This is the first obedience lesson I've taken... ahah.

I hope that once I get settled I can bring Siri too so the dogs will get more of a break. But then I'd get less of a mental break so maybe not...

Anyway. We have so many cheap run through options here that I feel like I get more out of meeting one on one every other week is a better use of my money. And once we get to where we need more distractions I can utilize run throughs.
 

k9krazee

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#6
I love private lessons!! So great to be one on one, get lots of feedback, suggestions and things to work on.

I was doing group agility classes once a week (even with eight dogs and two instructors it's a lot of waiting for your turn, but it's nice because of the distractions, camaraderie, etc) and private lessons every other week. I thought it was the perfect situation, best of both worlds....too bad I can't afford it long term :p
 

Julee

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ETA: I really like semi-privates..., but I am having trouble setting them up! HaHa. Why can't someone be in the same general area as me, at my level, and available the same days as me!?!
Just get up here already, GOSH.

I prefer semi-privates or groups. I don't like having all of the attention on me, I like observing.
 

xpaeanx

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#10
Oh. Right. I thought you were talking about close than that.

Goooshen!
The person who trains at Goshen will be at Barn Hunt on Sunday. I'm going to talk to her then. The other woman is at tails u win in manchester-she is positive to both the human and the dog. I really like how she teaches.

We'll see how the girl at Goshen teaches.... I don't do well with passive aggressive or snide remarks....
 

Finkie_Mom

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#11
For obedience/pet dog stuff I don't mind classes. I do so much at home anyway so I generally don't mind short comments about my progress/ideas on what to work on for that kind of thing since I can usually figure it out pretty well on my own.

Since I teach group pet dog classes, I can easily get my dogs used to working in that type of environment for basically free LOL - they love playing demo dog. For formal obedience, I plan on eventually joining class with Kimma again, but that won't be until I have more time/funds to trial in that. Rally is totally cool to just wing it and maybe attend fun matches and the like.

Agility it depends. I've been doing weekly/bi-weekly hour privates for the past like 9 months and I love them. Half for Jari, half for Kimma. Kimma grew up doing group class for agility, which was fine, but this has been much better for us at this point in her training. That being said, she already doesn't have an issue focusing on the task at hand with lots of distractions (we had been trialing for about a year before we started privates). With Jari, I think we might move in to at least group drop-ins soon so that he can get used to more distractions while he works. The privates have been wonderful for his foundation work with minimal distractions, and luckily I know what to do to supplement a lot of it at home. For example, we didn't have to spend class time working on weaves because I just worked them at home/at the training center on my class days and we started adding them in to courses once they were solid. I'm also good friends with my former group class instructor and my current private class instructor, so I know I can ask them for advice any time. Definitely helpful and awesome.

I think for the next dog I will do privates for foundation work, and start group class once she is ready to add more and more distractions.
 

k9krazee

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#12
I think for the next dog I will do privates for foundation work, and start group class once she is ready to add more and more distractions.
This is my thought too. When I get puppy I will likely do private lessons with pup & Crossbone together until they can be in the same/similar group class.
 

DJEtzel

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#13
For me in depends on the topic.

For disc, dock diving, I prefer private training.

For agility, puppy stuff, obedience, IPO, I prefer group training.

I prefer teaching private lessons more than teaching group classes, however.
 
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#14
Private/semiprivate. Maybe my answer would be different if I had access to the quality of instruction I get online, but I can't justify paying for group class to just do my own thing in the corner.
 

Elrohwen

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#15
I so need to take private lessons.

I do like group lessons for the most part, but at least for my dog the majority of the time is spent getting him to focus around the other dogs and chill the eff out. Learning actually happens when we get home and work one-on-one. When we've had individual atttention (in seminars or Fenzi classes) we have both learned so much more than we did in group classes.

We absolutely should have started agility foundations in private lessons. Taking group lessons first set us back on multiple levels (dog distractions, teeter, etc). Group lessons were fine for beginning obedience stuff, but I definitely had to go off on my own and get more one-on-one instruction after a certain point.
 
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#16
I find private lessons awkward, and I like the built-in distractions of a group class. Plus I can learn as much from watching other people work with their dogs as I can working with mine.
 

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