Dog Training Classes

[~Aimee~]

We have one more week left of puppy preschool and after that finishes I would like to take Ruby to some more formal obedience classes where she will learn how to sit, come stay, drop etc. This is our first puppy so we want to make sure we do all the right things from the start and make her a well trained, friendly dog. I've just inquired at some dog training schools and the closest one to us starts next school term which is in about 7 weeks. Ruby will be 16 weeks by then. Do you think this is a good age to start proper training?

At this training school they cover a new learning area each week and cover areas such as intro to traditional obedience, obstacle courses (tunnels, weaving poles, A frame), rally obedience (obedience with signs), scentwork and fetching as well as first aid, games and even a little doggy dancing! What do you think? The lessons go for 45 minutes and the course runs once a week over 10 weeks. Does this sound like a good course to enrol our puppy in? It's called a puppy progress class and is for puppies under 1 year old.

Does anyone else attend obedience classes with your puppy and how is it all going? What things are you learning?

[TerraNik]

Good on you for wanting to continue her training!! Ruby is a cutie!

The course you describe sounds like a 'professional' (read: expensive) course?? I don't know where you live, but have you tried looking into one of the local dog clubs instead? Usually they are much cheaper (around $30/year and $3-4 per week) and have similar opportunities. They also usually accept dogs every week (or every 2nd) depending on where you go. That way you wouldn't have to wait.

In terms of a 'good age', I am a firm believer that no dog is too young to start. Personally I wouldn't want to wait the 7 weeks, unless you'll be doing lots of training at home during that 7 weeks. Then again, 16 weeks is not 'too late' either by any means, so it is up to you.

EDT (I didn't answer your other questions!) - Jedi and I attend obedience class weekly and it's going well! He is rocketing through the class levels... I'm waiting for us to hit a brick wall soon! At the moment we're working on finding heel from anywhere, heel in a circle on the spot, heel in a large circle, verbal only commands, stand-stay, sit-stay and down-stay (all on lead), lots of recalls. Jed and I are also doing trick training at home for fun.

Edited August 24, 2008 by TerraNik

[Bilbo Baggins]

We have one more week left of puppy preschool and after that finishes I would like to take Ruby to some more formal obedience classes where she will learn how to sit, come stay, drop etc. This is our first puppy so we want to make sure we do all the right things from the start and make her a well trained, friendly dog. I've just inquired at some dog training schools and the closest one to us starts next school term which is in about 7 weeks. Ruby will be 16 weeks by then. Do you think this is a good age to start proper training?

At this training school they cover a new learning area each week and cover areas such as intro to traditional obedience, obstacle courses (tunnels, weaving poles, A frame), rally obedience (obedience with signs), scentwork and fetching as well as first aid, games and even a little doggy dancing! What do you think? The lessons go for 45 minutes and the course runs once a week over 10 weeks. Does this sound like a good course to enrol our puppy in? It's called a puppy progress class and is for puppies under 1 year old.

Does anyone else attend obedience classes with your puppy and how is it all going? What things are you learning?

As suggested look around your local obedience clubs. They start new people evry week then you slip intot the puppy class. All the best.

[Kavik]

That is a lot to cover in 10 weeks!

IMO that is trying to do too much in too short a time. You will just get a taste of it all and not concrete any of it. At such a young age I would place more importance on foundation work in whatever discipline/s you wish to continue with. Trust me, I sooo wish I had done more foundation type work with Diesel, I am now paying for my lack of patience! :rolleyes:

I would go to a local obedience class first, if you can find one that suits. I would work on basic obedience - recall, sit, drop, focus work, playing with toys, chasing toys, if you want something fun, tunnels are a fun introduction to agility work, but there is a heap of foundation work for that too that doesn't require any obstacles at all. What you want to do is build a solid foundation on which to put further training, even if the dog is to be a pet only not a competition dog. Too much too early can make dogs bored of training later on, you want it to be fun

You shouldn't be trying to properly weave with a dog that is not fully grown (though they may just be doing an open channel which would be fine). I don't think you could train a dog to weave properly in 10 weeks even if you focussed on that!

[~Aimee~]

Thanks for your replies. Yep the course is quite expensive at $125 for 10 weeks. I also thought it sounded like heaps to cover in such a short amount of time. Especially with only one, 1 hr class a week.

I contacted my local dog club and they run a more informal class structure. These classes are held for an hour every Sunday at the local school oval. We don't need to book we just turn up on the day. At this club they;

1) Teach to walk by your side without pulling

2) Sit

3) Stand

4) Lay Down

5) Stay

6) Come when called

7) To be able to stay by your side without sniffing or pulling when another dog passes

The lady I spoke to via email said it is repetitious training with similar things each session. They also have some equipment, ie: weaving poles, jumps , flyball, which we can do during class, as it breaks the lead work up and gives the dog a bit of fun training. The Fees are $25 for 6 month membership and $20 every ten weeks. We can start taking Ruby as soon as she has had her 12 week vaccinations. I'm not sure how many dogs they have at each session though or what their ages are.

Which do you think sounds better? The lady who runs the second local dog club said she has had 40 years of dog training experience.

[TerraNik]

I would definitely go for the local dog club... If you're at all worried or whatever, go and watch one day without Ruby. That way you can see if it's what you had in mind. Any good club will let you do that.

Edited August 26, 2008 by TerraNik

[~Aimee~]

Oh, that's a great idea to go and watch first to decide if it's what we are after ;)

[TerraNik]

Oh, that's a great idea to go and watch first to decide if it's what we are after ;)

Let us know how you go!! :rolleyes:

[Kavik]

Where are you located? People could then let you know of good local clubs

[Bjelkier]

That second class you mentioned sounds much better, far more useful for a puppy anyway.

I have been taking Mistral to obediance, we started 2 weeks ago and its great fun. We are in the puppy class (just under the age cut off of six months) and we learn things like wait for food, sitting, staying, dropping, walking on leash without pulling, off leash recall (none of the pups are great at that yet however) and the pups get to play as well, its good fun Mistral gets stacks of socialisation which is good as we live in the country and dont see many other dogs and although he knows all the things we are learning at home his distraction training really needs work and this is helping us heaps.

We got to the local obediance club and everyone there is lovely. Your dog is never too young to be learning IMO.

[~Aimee~]

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Edited May 27, 2010 by ~Aimee~