To Puppy Class Or Not To Puppy Class?

[RealityBites]

I am very excited to be picking up a new puppy next week. He'll be 13 weeks old when I get him and socilaised with other adult dogs from his breeder. He's going to be a show puppy, with his first show at the end of this month. So my question is....................should I take him to puppy classes? I have mixed feelings about puppy classes and I am perfectly competent to do any formal training he needs at home. But he's going to be BIG (deerhound) and I would rather avoid having dog problems with him! So..................thoughts??

[wuffles]

I am very excited to be picking up a new puppy next week. He'll be 13 weeks old when I get him and socilaised with other adult dogs from his breeder. He's going to be a show puppy, with his first show at the end of this month. So my question is....................should I take him to puppy classes? I have mixed feelings about puppy classes and I am perfectly competent to do any formal training he needs at home. But he's going to be BIG (deerhound) and I would rather avoid having dog problems with him! So..................thoughts??

It depends on the dog's individual personality, but I would take him for some kind of socialisation, whether that be puppy school or obedience school. Our girl had been socialised with all kinds of dogs at the breeder's house, but when she met our boy at 12 weeks she still squealed and weed herself! She was very tentative with the first few dogs she met and then gained confidence - puppy school helped in our case and now she's not scared of anything in the world

[Cosmolo]

If you can find a great puppy class, i would definitely go. If you can't- don't and socialise him yourself.

[RealityBites]

Yes I'd rather go somewhere that is recommended, have had some bad experiences with puppy classes with previous dogs My doberman I socilaised msyelf and he loves everyone and everything now (except cats )

[Mas1981]

I liked puppy class as they get to meet and interact with dogs their own age, it was important for me as he was going to be an only dog.

[Cosmolo]

See if you can observe a puppy class before committing to one. Whereabouts are you located? I'm sure some DOLers could recommend somewhere for you.

[RealityBites]

I am in Emerald, Victoria but willing to travel to the right place

[Aussienot]

While you can set up human and experiential socialisation exercises yourself, finding a number of similar aged puppies and bullet proof adult dogs for dog socialisation is hard for most people to organise.

Particularly with a potential show dog, he needs to learn the presence of other dogs is no big deal. He should be comfortable with strange dogs around, but not see other dogs as a trigger to to crazy and play. So, yes, if you can find a puppy class that supports that (maybe a ringcraft class?) it will help you both heaps!

[Meea]

I would recommend it. You are competent to ignore any rubbish advice you hear and to control what you choose to take on board.

The benefits of a mixed bag of puppies outweight any negatives in that case. I always do it as I have inner city deeries and we have to be able to survive in communal dog parks. I have never had a problem with those I have done that with and the sight of him joyfully greeting the doxie dogs he met in puppy class 7 years latter is still terrific. Not all the dashounds in Sydney are as thrilled as those two mind you when 50kgs of deerie gallops up to them to play!! In reverse the owners of those two say they have never had any trouble with theirs worrying about big dogs so call it your civic duty to exposure your guy to as many littlies as you can!

FYI it is clear that both my rescue deerieXs missed this vital bit of early puppyisation!! which only convinces me more.

[Kavik]

I don't plan to do puppy school with my next dogs. The only dog I have who is dog aggressive is the only one I took to puppy classes. I am going to use meeting friend's dogs whose temperament I know and going to training and trials for socialisation. I think well mannered dogs are better than a bunch of random and sometimes rough puppies for teaching good doggy manners and how to meet other dogs properly.

[pixie_meg]

Personally i'm not convinced of the puppy school thing. But then again i had a bad puppy school experience. I had a lot more success regularly exposing my pup to calm adult dogs. I found my puppy school was far too quick to label dogs as good or bad and had preference for the owners of little dogs, even ignoring when little dogs were doing inappropriate things. I'm sure some puppy schools can be beneficial but I personally prefer socialising with older dogs.

[Staranais]

I didn't do puppy class. And won't do it with my next puppy, either.

I did lots of work exposing her to different people, different situations, different noises, different surfaces (like the local kid's playground after dark). We did lots of watching all sorts of dogs & other animals, and we did some meeting of calm adult dogs. And practiced playing tug around different distractions.

She seems to have turned out OK.

[Tassie]

I think it depends a great deal on the puppy class - wheter it's a puppy pre-school (prior to second vacc) or a class for puppies about 12-14 weeks and up. It also depends very much on the skill and experience of the person taking the class.

I have to say I'm not a fan of any classes involving uncontrolled free for alls - way too much potential for setting up problems. Our puppy class at dog club is on lead (we don't have a fenced off puppy area), so the interactions between the puppies are a little more controlled - we try to do one at a time, and have puppies meet as many other breeds and sizes as possible. We also have a bomb-proof adult dog for puppies to greet nicely, whenever we can. Most of the class time is spent teaching people to teach foundation skills to their pups - focus skills, targeting, loose leash walking, positions, 'leave it' etc. We also have times in the classes for relaxing with pups and practising handling, grooming etc. I always find it a real blast to see how well people and puppies do, especially with the focus exercises.

My young BC man went to a puppy class (again, post second vacc) at a different dog club where they do have a smallish fenced off area so some off lead interaction between pups - but not all pups off at the same time, and careful watching and coaching going on. He also went to some puppy show training classes.

And it is fun to see them continue on the friendships they formed at puppy class.

[freundhund]

I would never, ever take a puppy to a puppy class again. The lack of knowledge at the 2 I attended with my last to GSD's was unbelievable. One was at a Vet clinic run to promote as far as I could see, buying your food and accessories from the vet and desexing your puppy asap. The instructor/ress had very little knowledge I asked what courses this person had done only to discover they had very little. (I had been told that the person running the class had completed the Delta Course, this was not so) The instructor/ress felt my puppy was aggressive and was attaching the SWF's, when my girl was giving play bows etc.

The other puppy school was run privately again supposedly being run by someone with qualifications, and again the person taking the puppy class didn't have the afformentioned qualifications. As well the classes were more designed for SWF's.

Talking to other people with slightly larger puppy, they also report the same issues the minute your puppy is the biggest in the class, your puppy is in the wrong!!!!!!!!!! I no longer recommend puppy classes to my puppy buyers.

[Cosmolo]

That is really sad freudhund :D I love having bigger pups in my classes. Did you complain about the incorrect information regarding who was running the classes? I always tell people to ask about the qualifications of those taking pre schools but if you are given misleading advice, asking won't help!

[Meea]

I would never, ever take a puppy to a puppy class again. The lack of knowledge at the 2 I attended with my last to GSD's was unbelievable. One was at a Vet clinic run to promote as far as I could see, buying your food and accessories from the vet and desexing your puppy asap. The instructor/ress had very little knowledge I asked what courses this person had done only to discover they had very little. (I had been told that the person running the class had completed the Delta Course, this was not so) The instructor/ress felt my puppy was aggressive and was attaching the SWF's, when my girl was giving play bows etc.

The other puppy school was run privately again supposedly being run by someone with qualifications, and again the person taking the puppy class didn't have the afformentioned qualifications. As well the classes were more designed for SWF's.

Talking to other people with slightly larger puppy, they also report the same issues the minute your puppy is the biggest in the class, your puppy is in the wrong!!!!!!!!!! I no longer recommend puppy classes to my puppy buyers.

That IS sad Jak! There are lots of different types of classes and I would guess that the danger really is for inexperience puppy owners who have some expectation that the person running the class knows what they are about. These same poor souls think that the salespeople in Petbarn pet shops have their best interests at heart!! For those of us that have done it before it should just be a valuable tool. I wouldn't let someone tell me what to do with my puppy and I haven't had any trouble going my own way in classes if it is not what the instructor recommends. My experience has been that they recognise an old hand when they see one. I am not going to make them look bad but neither do I do something I believe to be wrong.

Meea