# How many dog training classes?



## pizno (May 8, 2007)

I'm curious how many dog training class junkies there are out there. We are about to finish our second puppy class, and I'm trying to decide between 'tiny tots' (lots of play, with dogs under 25 lbs, with a lot of obedience thrown in, like coming when they are immersed in play), or 'intermediate', which is a continuation of all the basic training skills we've been learning.

What's the most amazing thing you've learned in class? 

Carol


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## Amy R. (Jul 1, 2007)

What I've learned is that I get really frustrated in classes. We just started one tonite---called Accelerated Small Dog I. ound: Only in California. Now that Biscuit is one, I thought we could fine tune a few things. He went to a puppy obedience class at a private training center when he was 5 mos old. 

But I'd forgotten how manic he is in a class. He LOVES other dogs and is totally distracted by the treats and commands flying around, and just cannot settle or focus. It's interesting because at home he is the most laid-back dog. And he minds well. 

Even though this isn't supposed to be a puppy class, all the other dogs were 4 mos old and weighed about 3-4 lbs. to Biscuit's 15. It was held in a pet store, in the aisle, with customers barging in. Mind you, this is an expensive class in a fancy store given by our local, and much touted, Humane Society. OK, sorry to b-tch---but the timing of your question was exquisite. I feel like asking for my money back, though the trainer is pretty good and I guess I'll learn SOMETHING.

The only fun part was seeing the other pups---a Pug, two teacup poodle puppy brothers (called Kama & Kaze) and a teeny Chihuahua-Pom. Biscuit looked like a Clydesdale next to them!!


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

I put Junkie to shame! Dora has probably taken every type of class you can think of! She has titles in rally, obedience, agility. We were flyball drop outs though! Dora doesn't like to play with balls and the machine scares her! 

I think if generally your dog can perform 50% of what he does at home in class, you are doing great. The thing is when you train privately at home, you need to slowly add in distractions. This will make your dog concentrate more on you at class. Like take and put your dogs favorite treat on the ground and ask him to do a behavior near it that he knows how to do. MAKE SURE he doesnt grab the treat. You want all rewards to come from you.

What I have learned most is the bond you develop when you train and play together. I had no clue how strong that would be!

Amy- if you want serious good trainers, see if there is a obedience club on the AKC site near you. You may have to have big dogs in your class but you will likely meet some amazing trainers who had trained dogs their entire life and well-most volunteer to make sure dogs have homes- people don't usually get rid of well behaved pets!

Amanda


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

I loved the puppy class I took with Kubrick and he did really well in it (the trainer said he was the star of the class )! I will be enrolling him in Small Dog Obedience soon and I will start agility eventually, though I want to wait until he's older to do that.

I will definitely be going back to more classes... I find that it gives Kubrick and I something to do together that feels very productive.


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## Lynn (Jan 2, 2007)

ama0722 said:


> Amy- if you want serious good trainers, see if there is a obedience club on the AKC site near you. You may have to have big dogs in your class but you will likely meet some amazing trainers who had trained dogs their entire life and well-most volunteer to make sure dogs have homes- people don't usually get rid of well behaved pets!
> 
> Amanda


Out of some frustations with local dog training classes, I went to the AKC site and found some classes though the local club and it has been good. We are taking the AKC good citizen dog class now, but I will be trying more of the classes.

I would like to get Casper in agility some day, he has way to much energy. I saw that when we took him to the bench. He can run for along time, and loves it.

And for the new puppy, she will be a show dog, so I am hoping to learn though these AKC classes all I need to know.

They seem like a very good group of dog loving people. All different breeds and yes there are some big dogs in the class, but so far so good.


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## susaneckert (Sep 7, 2006)

Question coming at you all what age would be best for a puppy class I am wanting to do conformation with princess so I want her to get use to all the new smells and noises too OB class is great except for the one thing sit cant have that for conformation


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## pizno (May 8, 2007)

Susan,

I would look for a puppy socialization class first. Marvin was 3-4 months. It was nice to have controlled play with a trainer who could explain what was going on and how to deal with it. That class was a hyper bunch of yappy dogs, though. ( Oooooh - I'm sorry but why would anyone get a Cairn Terrier? Cute but mean and loud!) Now, in puppy Two, they are continuing on the skills they learned in One, adding some new ones. We're starting some drills for heel, learning 'leave it', 'wait' and 'stay'. In the puppy classes, they always give plenty of supervised play time. But now Marvin is the only little dog - the rest are lovely labs, retrievers, Portuguese water spaniel (same markings as Marvin - so cute!), and Burnese mountain dogs. last night they put him in with all the dogs and all he did was hide by people's feet! That's why I'm thinking 'tiny tots' might be the next move.

Wouldn't it be a HOOT to have a training class just for Havs??? Gosh, I'd even love to just see other havs. I only know one other!

Carol


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## Amy R. (Jul 1, 2007)

Thank you, Amanda, and everyone, for some good suggestions. I just can't seem to find a class for Biscuit with his approximate peer group (i.e. in age and/or size ) and that frustrates me. The first obedience class he took was all huge puppies, and only little Biski, at the time 5 mos old. He held his own, though.


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## Brady's mom (Dec 1, 2006)

I have Brady in his second obedience class right now. The first week he did great. This week, he was spooked by the big samoyed that was right next to us. He showed his "I want to eat you side". It was probably good as I was able to get some training advise on how to work with him on this. He is by far the smallest of the 6 dogs in our class. He seems okay with most of them, just very afraid of the samoyed. 

I have to admit, I am terrible with taking the time to train at home. Fortunately, he is so smart that if I practice with him right before class, he gets it. I have to get better with this. It is like high school where I studied in homeroom before the test.:biggrin1:


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

As for conformation dogs, some people use different leashes and a lot of people with puppies don't have them auto sit but just give them a sit command. I would just ask the instructor (if you have a good one!) his/her advice. My trainer wouldn't do hardcore attention while he was doing conformation since the dog should probably look ahead and not wrap and look at you... it throws their prance off! His goal was to hurry and finish his conformation dog so he could compete in obedience and his aussies did well in both venues 

I took an agility class with another havanese- it was fun but this dog was very flighty. I felt bad for her because Dora is a great listener and she was always compared to her. She spent half the class chasing her dog outside of the ring while Dora always listens. I bet she disliked Dora! I kept reminding her God gave me Dora because I am willing to deal with the maltese! Isabelle is a monster about 50% of the time!

I know it seems like being in a training class with small dogs is ideal but if you ever plan to compete in obedience... get ready to be the only small dog in the ring! A lot of times, they run you by size so I am always first! I have photos of Dora doing the long sits and downs in between 3 german shepherds in competitions but I can't find them! On one hand, make sure the dogs is behaved before socializing it but it is a great way to socialize your dog with big dogs. Here is probably one of my favorite photos of my 4.5lb maltese taking first place while 2 Irish Wolfhound siblings took second and third. Just goes to show you, the little guys can do VERY well just be patient and have fun.

Structured classes tend to motivate me and I have a little competition kick in, especially when I am the only little dog in the group!


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## Amy R. (Jul 1, 2007)

That is some photograph, Amanda! Wow! Those Wolfhounds look like small ponies, and Dora's the same size as their head!!


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## Leeann (Feb 28, 2007)

Great picture Amanda. Riley is the only small dog in his agility class and I will admit it scared me at first but as time went on I got more comfortable with it.

We just finished our advanced begginer class on Wed. and will continue on to the next level. We all have our own issues we need to work with, the boxer hates the dog walk, the aussie & lab hate the load noise of the tipy board and Ry hates when I cross behind him.. We have a great trainer that gives us each attention with our issues and ideas of how to work with them at home. We are all lucky that these guys are so eager to please and once they figure something out it sticks.


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

Amy R. said:


> What I've learned is that I get really frustrated in classes. We just started one tonite---called Accelerated Small Dog I. ound: Only in California. Now that Biscuit is one, I thought we could fine tune a few things. He went to a puppy obedience class at a private training center when he was 5 mos old.
> 
> But I'd forgotten how manic he is in a class. He LOVES other dogs and is totally distracted by the treats and commands flying around, and just cannot settle or focus. It's interesting because at home he is the most laid-back dog. And he minds well.
> 
> ...


My GOSH, Amy.....That's funny! ound: Only in CA! Indeed! lol

Well, we went to a certain Petsmart here, that was highly recommended because of the trainer, who happened to happen to QUIT there after our 2nd week! LOL, and they replaced her with a 19 yo girl that had VERY little experience with dogs and you can imagine how useless that turned out to be.

I'm switching her to another place here after Halloween, I hope that one works. I think she's pretty well behaved and whatnot, but there is always room for improvement, right?

Kara


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## Sissygirl (Aug 8, 2007)

Amanda,

Wolfhound indeed - they are huge!


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## dboudreau (Jan 12, 2007)

I am a training class junkie. Sam has been to 3 sessions of puppy classes, Conformation handling class, Canine Good Neighbour (Citizen in US") Class, and he is in his third session of Rally O and he isn't even two yet. We both love to go to class it is "our time" together.

That is a great pictures of Belle and the hounds.


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## Amy R. (Jul 1, 2007)

Well, the obedience class Biscuit took turned out alright, afterall, and once he settled down, he did well and we both learned a lot from this particular trainer. So it was definitely worthwhile. Here is Biscuit's graduation photo (with his doting mom)from Accelerated Small Dog I---can admission to UC Berkeley be far behind?


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

WOOO HOOO! Congrats to you and Biscuit.

But I do have to say the Cal Tech book store down here sells tshirt that say MIT and Berkley and on the back says "for those who couldn't get in to caltech!"

Amanda & Dora


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## Amy R. (Jul 1, 2007)

I sent this photo in a mass email to lots of friends and family, and got some funny/snide remarks: the funny one was that we have the same hairdresser. Yes Biscuit and I do strangely look alike, I think. 
Another family member told me it was time to seek professional help! Ouch!! And another said, if the dog's so smart, how come he couldn't even hold the diploma?

Fortunately, I have a good sense of humour. ound:


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## Amy R. (Jul 1, 2007)

Oh Amanda , that is so funny! I've never seen those. Yep, Caltech is definitely full of super-smart people. I forget, does your husband teach there?


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

Amy,
I always try to match Belle and Dora's hair ties when we compete... and everyone teases me about that as well. Hey, they have better hair then me, I spend a lot more money on their hair!!!

Jim is at caltech now. He loves that they are filming numbers there-not because he watches the show but because it is something cool and LA like!

Amanda


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

I think that is a great picture, Amy! Professional help? Wait until you get your second Hav! The comments seem to come quite a bit more after that.

Can I ask why you are specifically looking for a class with smaller dogs? Unless Biscuit gets all worked up and upset, it may be better for him to be in a mixed crowd. I took a Hav puppy to a basic obedience class of all breeds and his best friend ended up being a pitbull named Butterball. She was so sweet. He was not intimidated by any other dogs outside of class, and I think that was due, in part, to his socialization with the bigger dogs. In our conformation class, we are often the only toy dogs there and have to interact with Danes, Shelties, Pyranees, Dobes, and many other large breeds. I think it helps them to be able to handle themselves confidently. (That may not even be your reasoning, but I just wanted to throw that out there.)


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## Amy R. (Jul 1, 2007)

Yes, LA is so cool, Amanda. They are always filming something there. I miss it!


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## Amy R. (Jul 1, 2007)

I see your point, Kimberly. It is good for them to interact with ALL types of dogs. I guess I took this class because I thought (because of the title) it would address the issues small dogs can have. But it was just pretty much a regular obedience class. Fortunately, Biscuit meets a lot of big dogs on our walking path, though he always puts on a big show for them, barking and pulling, but then acts appropriate when they actually meet.

I think I also have a fear of certain large breeds, that I try hard to control and not pass onto Biscuit. Like pitbulls and Dobermans. I had a Doberman come onto my front porch last year when I was sweeping and go into an attack position right before the owner realized and called him off! I do worry about the real damage a large dog could do to Biscuit. (and me!)


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

True! There are many aggressive larger dogs that owners have not trained, but in a class setting, I would expect that the trainer will have either screened the dogs or knows how to keep the situation under control. A dog in a class like that usually has an owner with some common sense or basic training done anyway, ya know?

As for larger dogs out in the neighborhood, I think you are wise to have a healthy fear of them. Unfortunately, my first Hav's friendship with Butterball almost cost him his life later because he tried to engage another pitbull in play who was very aggressive (and lunged out of his owner's control). This was in our conformation class, and needless to say, they did not return. A dog with aggressive tendencies like that should not be shown or in the presence of other dogs if he is that easily provoked. Imagine how he would react at a dog show?


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

I totally agree with this. For the first 2 years of Isabelle's life, I didn't let her play with bigger dogs. I was just so scared she would get hurt. I was creating a mean little monster! Dora on the other hand was socialized right away in puppy class- her best friend being a Bernese Mountain Dog and a pug. She still has very positive BMD memories and rushes all of them.

I have only had one negative experience... just the other day at the canyon park where I truly felt for her safety and there is nothing I could have done to prevent it. But I think by socializing them with big dogs, it helps them develop confidence so the big dogs leave them alone.

Amanda


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## Amy R. (Jul 1, 2007)

That's an excellent point about developing confidence, Amanda.


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## uptownbabe (Oct 21, 2007)

Maggie is in puppy class as well.


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## JASHavanese (Apr 24, 2007)

pizno said:


> What's the most amazing thing you've learned in class?
> 
> Carol


I normally do private training but when I did classes the most amazing thing I learned was that some dogs were smarter than their owners. ound:


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## JASHavanese (Apr 24, 2007)

Amy R. said:


> What I've learned is that I get really frustrated in classes. We just started one tonite---called Accelerated Small Dog I. ound: Only in California. Now that Biscuit is one, I thought we could fine tune a few things. He went to a puppy obedience class at a private training center when he was 5 mos old.
> 
> But I'd forgotten how manic he is in a class. He LOVES other dogs and is totally distracted by the treats and commands flying around, and just cannot settle or focus. It's interesting because at home he is the most laid-back dog. And he minds well.
> 
> ...


The trainer should have him under control soon. I'd keep going.


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## Amy R. (Jul 1, 2007)

Jan, this class was awhile ago, that's an old post. But you are right, everything fell into place and once he settled down, he did really really well.


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## JASHavanese (Apr 24, 2007)

ama0722 said:


> I know it seems like being in a training class with small dogs is ideal but if you ever plan to compete in obedience... !


What's that little white spot next to the big dogs? ound:ound:


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## JASHavanese (Apr 24, 2007)

What a darling picture Amy!


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

Oh! I missed the end of this thread awhile back! I love the Graduation photo! :kiss: Your "friends" are funny! LOL, That sounds like some remarks that *I* would get. I got enough 'flack' for puppy preschool. "Accelerated Small dog" might just knock some friends of mine over in tears,...laughing at me! ound: They don't have that here in Virginia. Pity!

Interesting concept, that dogs often 'look' like their owners. Maybe they borrow 'expressions' from us?

I have a hard time around large breeds, I'm just frightened of many of them, and justifyably (sp?) so..Just when I was starting to warm up a bit, my stepson got attacked and his lip severed. SOO many untrained dogs out there.  I shudder to think what one could do to Gucci, but I hope that she has a 'instinct' to dangerous dogs..I'd like to believe that!

Kara


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## Paige (Sep 12, 2006)

Congratulations Amy and Biscuit. That is a darling picture. Let us know when he signs up for Yale.


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## luv3havs (Jul 27, 2007)

I'm taking a beginner class at Petsmart and not loving it.
The floor isn't clean and Cali is always trying to eat off it and gets distracted by the stuff on the floor.
It is kind of chaotic and there are 11 dogs in the class, many of them are large dogs.
I learned how smart Cali is because I don't practice and she is doing well. Picks up new things very quickly.
The good thing is that it actually forces me train her.
I think private training is better, but trainers are $95. an hour here.
I am going to investigate after the holidays and find a better class. There are a few good places around here.
For now Petsmart will have to do.


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

Nan,

We took Preschool at Petsmart and uke:, Let's just say our classes are now at a different location! lol

I would take an old towel and/or puppy blanket for the floor. It grossed me out, too. I always had to wash her feet and face when we got home. She didn't seem to mind the after 'school' baths, so that's a sign in itself! 

But, I'm glad she got the socialization, even though our 'trainer' was not experienced with dogs barely...at all! She was 19 and had owned a pet for 2-3 months! LOL! I knew more than she did from reading this forum and books! lol

Kara


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## pizno (May 8, 2007)

Marvin is taking a 'Tiny Tots' class right now that is a lot of fun. He has been through puppy 1 and puppy 2, and we could have either gone to Tiny Tots or 'Intermediate'. The trainers decided Tiny Tots was a good choice - in his last class, he was the only small dog and really never felt completely comfortable when they were all running around playing! 

So in this class, there are about 6 small dogs. It is a hoot - we all have so much fun. The point of it is play, with lots of obedience thrown in. For instance, we practice retrieving our dogs while they are engaged (but not too engaged) in play. It's good for dog parks! They encourage the shy dogs to engage, and the agressive dogs to back off when necessary. Marvin adores a little black maltese-pooh in the class, and they run around like one black blob the whole time. 

Marvin has been a little slow with his 'Marvin, Come!' command lately and the trainer suggest trying some new treats that he gets a little more excited about. He's very picky about his treats, and doesn't get excited about the icky slimy stuff like the other dogs do.

Carol


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

Jan- as I told everyone, that little white mom is what has the blue ribbon and her heel position is about 2 inches thick 

Kara- attitude is everything in the dog world, if you are insecure Gucci will notice it. So you gotta fake being really brave.

Nan-see if there is someone you can split privates or ask the private instructor if he will do a group class. You should have both environments to work in. Because most times you want your dog to do something, there are going to be tons of distractions so group interactions are ideal. Most of what your dog learns is usually done at home though. Instructors are suppose to train you to train the dog!

Carol- do they just pull back the aggressive dogs? I have an aggressive maltese and she is quite the bully, she figures out the weakest link quickly and runs at that dog making it fall down the entire time she is in a group setting <sigh> I know this is okay in dog world but I am always after her for doing this!

Amanda


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