colliepaws Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I have a 4 month old rough collie, Luka, and have just started taking him to an obedience club for training. Since I got him at 9 weeks old I have taught him some basics, sit, down, come, stay, wait, leave and touch (nose bopping my hand). I usually do a few 5-10 minute training sessions with him every day and try to keep training short and sweet and fun! The main reason I started at the obedience club was because I've never done any formal obedience classes with a dog so had pretty much come to the end of my dog training knowledge (which I'll admit isn't really all that much! :p). Plus I thought it would be better for me to learn how to teach him heel and other things the right way to save me having to re-train him out of these things later because I taught him wrong. At the obedience club I go to training sessions last about an hour and I've found (although I've only been to two classes so far) half way through Luka starts to drift off and get a bit bored with the whole thing and much less cooperative. I want Luka to continue to really enjoy training with me and see it as fun bonding time (which he does at the moment) and not see it as an hour long slog of not so much fun at all... Should I wait until Luka is a bit older until I go back to doing formal classes with him? I think I've picked up the basics for Grade 1 training and can continue with this at home with him - in fact I think the classes were more about training me than training him! :p Any advice is much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildatHeart Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Puppies don't have a long attention span. Dog obedience classes are terrible for trying to teach your dog new things, (it does happen but, )it's more about teaching the people HOW to teach their dog. Even adult dogs have a short attention span and training sessions are usually short (5 - 10mins) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lab lady Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Sound like you are on the right track. I feel you should continue with the training it provides ongoing socialisation for your pup as well. I do believe an hour long session is too long for a pup of that age, why not take a break. I often remove my self from the class to regain my dogs focus when they start getting fidgety. talk to your instructor before class begins and explain your concerns and let him/her know that if you walk out of the class for 5 mins or so that is why. Any decent instructor will completely understand. If you drop out now you may find it harder to get back into the momentum when you return. Obedience training is an ongoing thing and although you may feel you have picked up on the basics after only two lessons you will have much much more to learn. Keep at it and enjoy :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 An hour class is ok, although a 60% mix of socialisation (to o/dogs; o/people; noises; surfaces; etc. etc.) with about a 40% mix of obedience interspersed in between is best. A full hour of obedience (if that's what they've been doing) IMO is too much for a pup as young as yours to be able to concentrate on. The class should be fun for the pups .... teaching them, but making it like a game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claireybell Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 If its anything like my dog club then puppy classes are spent doing about 15 mins (over the 45 min class) of actual training and the rest of the class is spent teaching the handler how to train their dog, talking about any problems and socialising. I found it really good for both my girls, especially for the socialisation. We have friends from our puppy classes that have come with us through to the higher class and its always good to see them each week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colliepaws Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 Thanks for the replies everyone. :cool: I do want to persevere with going to classes and Luka seems to enjoy and be really good at it for the first half hour but his attention span really doesn't stretch to an hour! To be honest my attention is started to go by then! :p Also from what others have said about puppy classes at obedience I think that we may be placed in the wrong class. It is pretty much a whole hour of obedience with practically no socialisation...We were in a pretty much adult or older adolescent dog Group 1 class. There was a class of younger puppies which I think we should probably be in as they seem to get more socialising and fun in between the heel work and so on....Unfortunately Luka is pretty big for his age and half the instructors that I talked to thought he was a big adult sheltie! The look on their faces when I said 'ummm...no, he's just 4 months old and a rough collie'. :p It's good to know what other training classes are like...I think I will either talk to the instructors about changing classes or at least letting my little one have a break mid session - thanks for the suggestion lab lady! claireybell your class sounds great! Wish I was in Vic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Obedience classes are fun, but an hour is quite long. He won't be 4 months old forever though. Before you know it he'll be all grown up and will be able to manage an hour long class. But there's no reason why you can't sit out for 10 minutes or so just to give you both a bit of a break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelbrook Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 I am in Adelaide's northern suburbs ... if you live over this way PM me and I can give you the names of a couple of dog obedience clubs that have puppy obedience classes just like claireybell's ... this type of puppy class is the norm from what I have seen ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tambaqui Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 If he is four months old, then you should see if you can get your dog into a puppy class of some sort. Although I've been to two obedience, but I've just joined Mornington Obedience and their Puppy Socialisation class is absolute superb! Its the best thing in the world for new pups as they spend time socialising and also spend time doing obedience. All their socialisation is done off lead in a little pen area and the pups will either mingle with each other or just wander around doing their own thing. If you can find an obedience club or a place that does this type of socialisation, then its great to join in. When I attended Mornington today, she enjoyed doing obedience, but socialisation, she didn't seem to really want to join and play with the other pups, and she was only 12 Weeks old! (Just 3 months). So 4 months is not too old, more too young of I may say so! (In a good way! lol). I know Southern Obedience do socialisation as well, but I am not sure if they do it off lead, but I didn't stay long enough to watch the entire thing, but I am intending to join theirs once Bella is finished with Puppy Socialisation and officially starts the Obedience work and I think she will be 4 months as she is very intelligent and adapt new skills easily. But my advice from what I have learnt from my question on this forum last week and socialisation, is to do it at your own pace and let the dog do things at their own pace. Don't force them to do things if they tire or do not want to do it, and you will find they will become better companion if you understand them! Hope this help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildatHeart Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 All their socialisation is done off lead in a little pen area and the pups will either mingle with each other or just wander around doing their own thing. Off lead socialisation wouldn't be the best for a pup. There's no control. What if one pup had a go at another pup? That is a negative experience for that pup and all experiences need to be postive. i don't like the idea of it, it would probably also make them 'doggy', ie, see other dogs higher and more fun than the owner. just my opinion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teebs Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 The local dog club here allow dogs in from 4 mths of age, they are put into the same sort of class, 30 mins, a break, then another 30 mins, so 1 hour all up I used to do half a class and leave. Even when i went with my adult dogs, i would do 30 mins with one dog, and 30 with the other, an hour was way too long for my full grown dogs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 If he is drifting off, then say he needs a break drink etc and take him away fro a little while, Most people if they have any idea about training a young dog won't have a problem with that. I excused my dog early from the class and took her home before the end of the class as she had been working really well and was starting to lose focus and stop trying. I took her to one side, got her attention did one line up and sit, which she did beautifully, then called it quits. The instructor was quite happy with that. It was her first time working around lots of dogs and she found it quite tiring, she is 13 months old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colliepaws Posted February 14, 2009 Author Share Posted February 14, 2009 I am such a complete newbie at this whole going to obedience classes thing. Luka's the first dog I've ever taken to classes so I really didn't know what to expect and just assumed that you had to stay in every class for the whole time. Obviously I was wrong! Thanks to all you guys it sounds like it is completely fine for me to let Luka have a break mid session if he is getting tired/bored. I will definitely just take my cue from him in future and stay at training as long as he's still finding it fun. I think he's doing pretty well because for the first half he is really focused and attentive it's just when we've been going for what seems like forever he seems to say 'seriously? this again! But we've done this like 10 times already! Let's go sniff that tree!' Thanks heaps for the advice everyone. You've made me feel a lot better about taking him to obedience classes and I will definitely persevere and keep taking him to classes (even if it's not at this particular club). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natsu chan Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 (edited) Fluffypaws, collies do tend to have short attention spans and they get called lazy when in fact they get bored quite quickly. You are much better off doing short bursts with your adorable boy than doing long stints. LMAO yep that whole "seriously?" bit is classic collie. They're very good at obedience but they get bored with too much repetition. I trial mine and I don't go to a club anymore in part for that reason. Clubs are really good though especially when you're starting out and for distraction work. Also most instructors are fairly understanding and he is only a baby, so I can't see why you can't have little breaks. Short, sweet and enthusiastic works with our collies. He's lovely, good luck with him and have fun. Edited February 15, 2009 by Natsu chan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogon Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 The dog training club I'll be attending puts you in a group for pups and then you work your way up according to age and skill. I'm fairly sure they keep the age and therefore concentration level into consideration. Are you talking about the cheaper local volunteer clubs? That's what I've enrolled Rodney into. Like claireybell, I'm going for the educational benefits I'll gain too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Fluffypaws, collie's do tend to have short attention spans and they get called lazy when in fact they get bored quite quickly Must be a Whippet thing as well!!!!!!! 5 X 10 minute bursts achieve much more than an hour or even half an hours straight work. At home all our training is done off lead so it is not hard to tell when she is drifting off!!! Oh look a leaf, cool a butterfly or I am sure I saw something move 3 paddocks away, I'll just go check it out. Potentially after doing something well and getting a big praise and love up, big hoonie bog laps around the house a few times to celebrate! If you need to break it up to little and often, you will learn to get very good at picking when he is starting to zone out. Most of all have fun :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilly Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 When I took my GSD to his first obedience club he was just under 5 months of age. They expected him to walk around and around in a circle healing, sitting, drop etc. After about 1/2 hour he was getting tired and just wanted to sit or lay down. I moved off to the side as it was obvious he was tired ... and the instructor got up me for allowing him to sit or lay down. I was then told just to walk on and drag him if need be ... Needless to say I gave the guy a mouthful and just picked up my baby and took him home never to come back again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 (edited) A couple of sits (combines 'stand'). Two or three 'fun' basic recalls. A few minutes spent teaching not to pull on lead. A couple of drops (if the owners and pups are up to that .... I don't teach that straight up). A good portion of time spent socialising to different pups, people. Hearing/seeing unusual noises/sights. All interspersed with fun breaks (rewards) for the pups in between each obedience exercise as well as explanation and education to the puppy owners about how to manage the usual puppy issues (house-training; mouthing; destructiveness; teething; etc). All of this easily takes up an hour. The point is to teach people what they need to know to be able to continue their pup's training through the week by way of very short sessions. So short, I even hesitate to call them "sessions". Not to train their pups there and then in class (home environment is better where there is minimal distraction anyway) .... only to ensure that what and how the owners are doing things is the right way and helping them in the event there are any difficulties achieving a positive and successful result. How anyone could or would expect a whole session concentrated on continuous training for an hour is beyond me. I don't even expect that of dogs older than that. Edited February 15, 2009 by Erny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvsdogs Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 When I took my GSD to his first obedience club he was just under 5 months of age. They expected him to walk around and around in a circle healing, sitting, drop etc. After about 1/2 hour he was getting tired and just wanted to sit or lay down. I moved off to the side as it was obvious he was tired ... and the instructor got up me for allowing him to sit or lay down. I was then told just to walk on and drag him if need be ... Needless to say I gave the guy a mouthful and just picked up my baby and took him home never to come back again. That's the type of training my obedience club did pre 2000. But they didn't mind if you took a break. Nowadays we have a beginner's class that teaches the basics as well as loose lead walking, leave it, fetching etc & some tricks. A lot of the time is giving instruction & demos then we watch you to see if your dog can do it & help with suggestions if you're having problems. And they have always started at 3.5 to 4 mths. Puppy pre school is for the 8 to 16 week old puppies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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