Puppy Classes

twinklie · 11 August 2010 at 10:22AM

Right, some of you may remember a while ago I posted regarded what to expect from a puppy class that we were taking our DDB to. Well I'm after a little further advice now.

She's gotten exactly what I wanted from these classes...she is much more confident with strangers and other dogs now. A very happy chappy indeed with little/no fear when they (dogs or people) approach. A true little socialite!

However, the class is a 6 week course but does not run from week 1 to 6. It is a rolling program and people can join at anytime. This week there were 10 puppies plus Belle and a massive amount of people (quite distracting I feel). Belle can be lazy at the start of lessons and takes a little bit of prompting to get her going. But the lady that runs the sessions seems to think that Belle is lazy I think and watches her at the start and seemingly ignores her after that.

It feels to me that she is focusing on the dogs that are pretty much doing what they are told to do rather than the ones that aren't. Now admittedly, Belle is a bit floppy (read into that wants to sleep after greeting her friends) when we first get there but after about 10 minutes of being in the room she's fine and will work for us. If she's not doing something I'm sure it must be our fault for not showing her properly but we aren't being corrected on anything (although to be honest she's pretty good at most of the things I think).

Now don't get me wrong I have no intention of doing obedience with her or anything, but given what a big dog she's going to be I'm wondering whether to do another course when we finish this one somewhere else.

She's very good at home and on walks and does what we ask her (aside from during the puppy mad half hour - when she's a loon). She's also learning to heel very well. Although she doesn't do what they teach in the class. She doesn't look at you when she walks to heel. She walks just slightly behind your leg with her head looking straight ahead. They seem to make a really big deal about the dogs looking at you. Why? She's really good but doesn't look at us. To be honest I don't care whether she's constantly looking at me or not as long as she's being good.

I guess what I'm asking is, is it really worth doing another class when this one finishes in 3 weeks given she's doing everything I want from her currently (she's 16 weeks - so I know this is liable to change).

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cinderellacomplex · 11 August 2010 at 10:39AM

At heel you could try holding some food in your left hand and then every now and then asking her to 'touch' your hand with her nose and rewarding this with a treat. I do this and also make sharp turns so that the dog learns to follow me without pressure going on to the lead. The 'touch' approach is also good if you meet other dogs or distractions on walks and your dog's attention goes elsewhere, asking them to 'touch' can bring their attention back to you.

ETA: they don't have to constantly look at your hand for this, it is more of a constant awareness of your hand that is important. Half of the fun for dogs on walks is looking around lol.

I'm about to start the kennel club good citizen scheme with my dog, it has 3 levels - bronze, silver and gold, and teaches things like walking through a door after the person and so on, things that are useful in life! You could maybe consider a course like that.

Jessw0 · 11 August 2010 at 1:05PM

I was quite disappointed with the puppy classes we joined, we have a few weeks left out of a 7 week course. Like yours there can be up to ten other dogs there. I mainly joined for the socialisation but there has only been one instance when we were allowed to let our dogs greet other dogs, the rest of the time we are on our own. Think you have to take it with a pinch of salt, some of the things we are asked to do I think are ridiculous and can tell my pup is thinking the same thing. Mine has a habit of chewing the lead when he's bored and we are standing there listening to the trainer, her solution was to just buy a chain lead as it would be easier than training him out of it! The citizan scheme does sound good but to be honest I have got more out of everything we did before classes started and have continued to do.

twinklie · 11 August 2010 at 1:52PM

I do the touch thing with her...although she does now think I'm a treat dispenser. In fact last night she got so annoyed when I was talking to DH in the kitchen that I wasn't giving her a treat she started barking at me!!! :rotfl: I waited for her to stop and gave her a fuss. Then she started rolling around on the floor instead doing a "look at me mum" kinda thing....very funny. I ended up giving her a treat for that one...

She's not really interested in toys or treats when we are out. She'll come over and take a treat off you but she won't eat it. But I did do sit, down, sit and stand in the field we were in today...there were some other dogs there and she still did it. I was pretty pleased with that. She greets people in a sit position and waits for you to tell her to go through the door etc. I'm sure when she hits adolescence all her good behaviour will go out of the window...but hey ho.

That scheme sounds good, but I just worry that she is going to have to "perform" and she won't...at least not at the minute. She's pretty good mannered though, I'm happy enough with her...for now.

marson_2 · 18 August 2010 at 5:47PM

Twinklie - I'm a Brit newbie dog trainer in the US ... Victoria Stilwell wannabe ... and I'm very interested in your opinion of the rolling classes that you're attending as I'm considering teaching them here. Do you like that format (apart from the one class where you thought there were too many people)? What are the 6 different scenarios of the classes?
I'd say that if your DDB (? not sure what that is) is doing so well, the classes are working and the confidence factor is very important for all dogs. Regarding looking at you while heeling, it isn't 'necessary' (in my book) unless you want to do competitive obedience but the aim is to have your dog focusing on you so that there's less chance of your dog being distracted by other people, dogs, lorries, etc. As your dog matures, you'll definitely need to keep up all the basics that you're learning now or you may have problems down the road. Also, since you've gone this far, it'd be a shame for your pup and you, to not take it further - you're obviously doing well. You'll be doing your dog a favour too by keeping her mentally stimulated - much less likely to get into trouble if she's not bored. It's a toss-up in a group class for an instructor to work with the folks who are having problems (probably because they're not listening) and the ones who are doing everything right. I would mention to her/him that your pup warms up after a few minutes and would he/she mind checking that you are in fact, doing things correctly.
JesswO - unless you're expected to stand rooted to the spot while your instructor is talking, can you walk your pup around a little bit or ask for a sit, down, etc. so that he's less bored. Would you be able to give a small toy or chew toy to keep him occupied too? I don't agree with the chain lead at all!
Good luck to you all and thank you for being responsible dog owners. Dogs that are improperly socialized/trained are the ones that often end up in shelters ... and worse.

twinklie · 19 August 2010 at 10:37AM

I'm not really sure what I think of the rolling classes given I don't know what other classes are like. It can be a bit of a pain when your dog doesn't do what it should be though and the new dogs do. But hey, they are all pups and all have off days I guess.

Well I seem to have WOWed my inlaws by being able to get their dog to work for me so I'm thinking of doing the foundation classes with our little one AND taking my father inlaw with his dog with us. It would mean that he'll gain greater confidence and control. I think his dog will progress much faster than Belle as well - which should give him more confidence with his dog. They seem to be of the opinion that he's stupid but he's just confused bless him. He gets a lot of mixed signals.

I'm thinking if I keep the training up with her whilst she goes through her "teenage" phase - and teething etc, it might keep us both focused on what we should be doing. I just need to make sure my father inlaw would agree to it now.

Raksha · 19 August 2010 at 6:18PM

How about having a word with the trainer on the phone - explain you feel you're struggling a bit and ask if you can arrive early or stay behind to work on a couple of things.....

!0 is a lot of pups in one class - I used to work with a max of 8 if pushed, but found 6 better if I was working on my own.

twinklie · 20 August 2010 at 9:59AM

Can't arrive earlier because of DH's work and we can't stay later because it's big boys and girls class. So that's not really an option. To be honest though, Belle is coming on leaps and bounds now. She's just done me three roll overs in a row all for the same treat. She kept spitting it out for me to do it again. At least thats what I'm guessing it was for. The third time she spat it out I just told her to leave it. She did, then after 3 minutes I told her to get it and it was gone.

She's developing into quite the little weirdo...I love it.

Pozi · 22 August 2010 at 2:14PM

Hi there! I'm currently completeing a course to teach puppies with Puppy School run by top behaviourist Gwen Bailey(you'll find us on the web) We only use positive, reward based methods, run a six week course and have a max of 8 puppies per class. It's not a rolling programme and, personally, I think this is the best idea(imo) because, as you have found out, some pups(and owners!)can get left behind if they need a bit of extra attention in a certain area. The course builds week on week and, with some effort put in, between classes of course, you can really see the difference in those 6 weeks. It's great fun, there's lots of useful info and you get to socialise with other new puppies and their owners. If you want some good books about puppy training and development try Gwen Bailey & Ian Dunbar, books about training your dog in a positive way & behaviour -Gwen Bailey, Patricia B McConnell, Jean Donaldson, Pat Miller, John Rogerson and many others(I get most of my books on Amazon or the Book Depository) I've had dogs for almost 30 years and have used all this stuff in the last year with my 2 new pups and they're fab - I am, obviously, biased:). As I've had rescue dogs I the past I know how important it is to give a pup the best start in life so that you can avoid future problems - it's definitely worth the effort that you have to put in!! (can you tell I'm a bit passionate about this.....:rotfl:) For those with problems that you need help with(older dogs)there is the APBC. Hope this is useful to some of you with pups

twinklie · 22 August 2010 at 2:19PM

Thanks for that...my current problem is that she's randomly started barking in the night...and the neighbours ain't happy. I've posted on another threat about that so I won't go on.

Puppy Classes

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