Puppy Pre School

[ness]

I have never taken a puppy to puppy pre-school either. The potential negatives and harm that can be done by a poorly run class outweighs any benefit which could be gained. Like huski I try have the dogs disinterested in other dogs and strangers. Although I am probably not as strict as the likes of huski in that regard but I do prefer the dogs see me as highly desirable and any thing else in the environment less desirable.

[Simply Grand]

Skip:

I took my nervous kelpie to two. The first was great. 9 people in a circle ist week and we played pass the puppy. I wanted to keep some of the cute fluffy ones and u should have seen other owners faces holding my crazy kelpie pup. Funnily she came back to me pretty quick! Next there was food thrown done and all the pups had a forage and gradually started to interact. It depends on pup size in the group too how much freedom they get.

Pass the puppy and food thrown on the ground would be two things I'd be less than happy with.

Agreed - neither are things I would include in our puppy classes!

Definitely agree too!

[betsy]

I have attended pre-school with both my puppies and found it valuable. They were run by a trainer at a vet after hours. Even though the second time around I had done a lot of training already, the socialisation aspect was great.

[Little Gifts]

I think they have their place. The first time I ever took one to puppy school I was actually shocked more at the behaviour of other owners than the puppies. The owners of several swf's were treating them like they were fragile human babies rather than amongst their puppy peers and I thought no wonder some grow to have anxieties and attitude at dog parks and yap at anything that moves. The supervised socialisation with a mix of breeds, different people and in different environments is invaluable.

[corvus]

I think temperament matters. And opportunities to socialise outside of puppy classes. My puppy is with her breeder, who is socialising for me. The puppy is bold as brass. I'm not too worried about it all being done exactly right (according to me). As long as she gets out and about regularly, I'm confident she will be fine. If it were a puppy more on the risk averse side or very alert, I might be keen for any opportunities, and I'd be very particular about making sure the puppy goes at her own pace and gets lots of positive experiences.

I also love to find out what dogs are attracted to! It is so fun finding out who they are and what they like. :D Fortunately, I don't have to choose between having their full focus whenever I want it and letting them discover joy wherever they will, because I'm not sure which I would choose if I had to. Watching my dogs enjoying their environment, other dogs, people, always puts a big smile on my face, but they are happy to abandon everything to come jam with me, and that puts a bit smile on my face as well.