First day at school

[INU]

Hmmm... we (I) had been so looking forward to this day, first day at her puppy school. I did some searching and found this school that offered many different classes from puppy class to advanced classes like agilities. The instructors seem to have good experience according to their website. It's 40 minutes away but decided to give a try.

 

30 minutes of 50 minutes, she spent teaching "the" basic such as how to give a treat, how to call dog and sit. 10 minutes was for waiting around and the last 10 minutes was sort of practicing what we "learned". My 4 months old knew most of it but I followed the instructor anyway.

 

One thing I noticed was she was a bit physical when correcting a dog. We did use a lot of treat for praising but when I saw her hitting her dog's rear end (not too light not too hard), I wasn't sure if I wanted to do that. She also taught us "calm-down" which is to step on dog's leash really close to dog's neck so that dogs can't move and have to calm down. Have you heard of it? It looks pretty crule to me. For the walking which we spent about 2 minutes, she told me to snap the leash really fast when she pulls. I started playing the "lets go game" last week (as some people here suggested) so we are both confused. She also brought a bottle of water & vinegar and told us that she would use it if dogs aren't behaving very well--such as barking.

 

This teacher is a substite so maybe the regular teacher would be different. I guess it's okay for socializing even if the courses didn't work for us. I might start looking for another school as we finish four more sessions.

 

Oh and, she was the best in class as I expected --I assume everyone in the class are saying the same thing abour their pup just about now...

[Tassie]

Hey Inu ? that?s disappointing that you didn?t feel comfortable in the class (- although it?s nice that your little girl was the best in the class ? but of course ? she?s a Border Collie!) I guess it?s worth waiting another week and seeing if the regular teacher is more to your taste.

 

I?ve got to say we don?t use such coercive methods in our puppy class (14 weeks to 6 months) at our dog club. And we try to keep the puppies moving as much as possible.

 

I will very very occasionally use a stand on the leash (usually with the dog in a down) if one of mine is going right off and won?t calm down ? but I wouldn?t do it in a first puppy class.

[Eileen Stein]

I think the real benefit of puppy class is the socialization. So I guess if the format of the class is such that you can keep the instructor from doing things with your pup that you're not comfortable with, I'd stick with it. If she doesn't allow you that kind of discretion, and steps in and does things that you think are confusing or unnecessarily harsh to your dog, then I would bail. I would be looking as much at how the pups react to her training methods as I would at the training methods themselves to decide if they're appropriate or not. But I would not stay with an instructor that I felt was making my pup confused or fearful, or taking away her confidence/trust.

[Kyrasmom]

Sounds nothing like my puppy class. At this stage in their life, this class, IMO, should be about socialization with teeny bits of obedience added in for good measure.

 

We have lots of puppy playtime, puppy games, and perhaps 15 minutes out of the hour we do some basic stuff.

 

Even though it's not much, Cooper has his Sit-Down-Stay and is walking well on a leash. His recall is great. Not all of the puppies are doing things perfectly but none of them are receiving harsh corrections.

 

I'd see how the regular instructor is and then perhaps decide.

 

Good luck...sorry it wasn't more fun. We really enjoy our puppy class.

 

Maria

[GregN]

Wow... Our puppy class experience was much less "Anne Rand" than your's sounds. We did try to get the dogs to do all the basic commands (ie. sit, stay, down, wait and loose lead walking), if they got it wrong, there was never a 'correction' other than saying "hey" or "ah-ah".

 

One excercise that I remember as typical was the loose lead walking. We had 4 traffic cones set up with a 'treat' on top of each one. The idea was to walk around cones and keep the puppies attention on the handler instead of the cookies. We spent alot of time laughing at the extrodinary efforts that the puppies would go to to 'sneak' the cookies off the cone.

 

I think the big benefit to us was the socialization aspect.

 

I think I would have a talk with the trainer, and bring up your concerns. Also, if this person is the substitute, it could be that they're more used to teaching older dogs and are approaching it in that way... At least you should talk to the instructor, if for no other reason than to reassure yourself.

[Barb Scott]

Sounds like a puppy class I observed once at our local Community Ed. That instructor no longer teaches for the public schools, but just opened a Puppy Center where you can buy puppies. She doesn't cosider herself a pet shop because she lets the puppies run around the shop during the day so they can socialize. The president of our PTA just bought a cocker puppy there (against my advice, but the puppy was cute!).

 

My advice is find a new class. I will not do anything to a puppy that I wouldn't do to a 4 year old child. Guess I'm a wuss, but first grade teachers are like that!

 

Barb S

[INU]

and Did I mention that we are not allowed to socialize puppies in the class.

[Tassie]

You are kidding! Like Eileen and the others have said, that is the main point of puppy class IMHO. The other bits are incidental, and aimed at helping the owners to get the puppies started with their gentle training. Our puppy class is 30 minutes, and at least half that time would be spent socializing ? when we also take the opportunity to talk to owners about watching and interpreting pups? reactions and keeping things safe. My Kirra was the ?grown up dog? in puppy class last week ? when we teach owners about encouraging their pups to have good manners in approaching an older dog ? and watching both their pups? reactions and the older dog?s.

 

I just love the way the pups differ in their readiness to socialize ? we don?t force it, but usually by the end of the first class, most pups are having a great time ? and the next week, they can?t wait to meet up with their friends. It?s really nice too that they quite often stay really good friends with their puppy classmates through the adult dog classes.

[Shawna]

I agree with everyone else, this doesn't sound like a puppy class to me either. It sounds more like a beginner obedience class of some sort.

 

If you want to find a class to socialize her in you can try asking around about Puppy Kindergarten. At least that's what they're often called up here. It differentiates what kind of training you're looking for. Ask about ages because many puppy classes won't accept dogs over the five month mark and that may be a problem with your little girl.

 

In the meantime I would suggest sticking with the class your in unless you're really unhappy. Remember you don't have to allow the trainer to handle your dog and you can adjust corrections to what works and is fair for your pup. Watch your dog closely for signs of stress and use tons of praise when she gets things right. When you practice at home use games mixed with praise to keep her excited about following the commands.

 

About the hand on the butt correction. Watch and see how she does it. Some trainers will use a "brush" of the fingers just over the top of the tail head and off, this can be okay in certain situations (although I personally don't think it's necessary in puppies). However, if she's actually giving the dog a hit - that is wrong and should not be done.