Selecting A Good Puppy School

[CBL]

I can't wait for Oscar to go to puppy school, however we still have a couple of weeks till our next vac, so a while to wait yet.

I have seen a few locally but would like to know how to tell the good from the bad

There is a couple of dogtech ones close by as well as one run by my vets. I have heard that some vet puppy schools should be avoided. Our vets are fantastic so would like to take him there if it is suitable.

[Kelpie_Pup]

I had heard the same thing about Puppy Preschools run by the local Vet but ours was fantastic! We were given an information booklet with details of what we would be going through each week, as well as information on all other aspects of health for your puppy. Each session was wonderful.. all the puppies were the same age roughly-the oldest was 12 weeks-ours was 8.5 weeks. All had only had their first vacc. They had such a good time and really learnt alot. Great way to socialise puppy!!

One of the reasons we liked the vet, and it has proved useful ever since, was that our Puppy always LOVES going to the Vet! She drags us in the door rather than the other way around. We had her desexed about a month ago and, although she obviously had no idea why we were going in, she was so excited, and still is whenever we go in. That has been a real plus for us Poor little thing.. thinks she's going to play with her friends!

The sessions themselves were run in the large waiting room at the Vets. There were 4-5 puppies in the sessions. The room was a good size and also nice and clean - unlike the other local Vet we visited yukk.

He he it just reminded me about our Puppy Preschool classes.. by the second class, our pup had figured out that it was the Vet who was giving out the pieces of chicken when it wasn't us, and even when all the puppies were allowed to play with eachother and have a rumble, our little Halle would sit patiently at her feet the entire time!

Good luck finding a good place for you and you Puppy to attend I guess just have a look around and ask what the sessions are like. That's what we did.

[WalandLibby]

Different people are going to have different opinions on what makes a puppy class good or bad. Unfortunately it's often not possible to find out the outcomes for different ways of teaching (because puppy class is only one thing out of many that can have an effect on the pup's behavioural development, and also because the data is just rarely collected). I have somewhere a paper from about 10 yrs ago by Kersti Seksel on the topic, I'll see if I can find it.

The outcomes of free-for-all puppy play don't seem to be good - more likely to result in over-excitable, difficult to control behaviour around other dogs, or if the pup gets hurt, in fearful behaviour - and I don't think many classes use it any more, but some definitely do, so I'd look for one that doesn't. It seems to be better for pups to learn even to be near each other without interacting than playing in a large group. Am I right in thinking Oscar is an Iggy? If that's the case then obviously also rough play with larger stronger pups is a physical risk to him also.

I think it really comes down to your philosophy - you have to pick one where you can believe it the methodology and theories that underpin their training.

I like this article about identifying 'good' dog trainers, although it is really directed at vets looking for places to refer their clients. The What to look for in a trainer section (from p2) is a good guide for ppl looking for a class that matches with my own philosophy. good dog trainers article_advanced beh course

Edited June 16, 2008 by WalandLibby

[CBL]

Thanks guys - yes Oscar is an iggy.

I get concered when I see that they take pups from 8 weeks, but our breeder told us Oscar shouldn't go till a week after his 2nd vac? (I think he will be 12 weeks then)

[WalandLibby]

I get concered when I see that they take pups from 8 weeks, but our breeder told us Oscar shouldn't go till a week after his 2nd vac? (I think he will be 12 weeks then)

It isn't always easy to balance the concerns about disease and the possible harms from not taking a puppy out. As I'm sure you know, pups are particularly open to learning to deal with the stimulating variety in the world prior to about 16 wks, this is the time when they are most able to learn that ppl are nice, how to act around other dogs etc (although learning those things are long-term processes, not something that happens in a 4 wk class when they're a pup).

I like to take pups out carried and not put them on the ground in places other dogs have been, that way they can look at the world, but not be at risk of catching things. Imo pups should play with vaccinated, clean, adult dogs in preference to other pups whenever possible (nice, calm, tolerant dogs who'll set boundaries when needed).

About classes, usually those run at a vet will carry out good hygene practices.