Dog Obedience Classes....

[Dawson Creek Girl]

Just wondering what I can expect from these?
I made a phone call tonight and as soon as they finalize a date at the end of January Rowan will be attending the 9 wk session.
TIA

[Tatyana]

Where are you taking your classes? Petsmart, obedience club, private instructor?

[Dawson Creek Girl]

There will be two private instructors.

[badboy2]

where are u from?im thinkin of doin it for rocky too..hopefully theres some one close to me im in middlesex county,new jersey

[Dawson Creek Girl]

I am in Dawson Creek, BC ;D

[Snowflake]

We took Annie to puppy obedience classes and already have Sally signed up to begin in January. Those classes were so helpful in several areas:

1. It gave her socialization with other puppies and dogs.

2. It taught her the basic sit, come, walking on a leash. And we began working on other commands. And the special thing about learning these commands in classes as opposed to in your home is that they are learning to come to you with other dogs around. Sure, you can teach them to come to you in your own home....no problem. But then, will they come to you when they are out around other dogs (a HUGE distraction!). This is something they get introduced to at puppy obedience class.

3. The trainer was available for us to ask specific questions related to our dog. For example, how do we stay the play biting....or those needing more help with housebreaking....or any other specific problem.

4. Annie absolutely LOVED going. It was a real highlight each week! ;D

5. That's where we learned about the prong collar, which turned out to be worth the price of classes all by itself!

6. But the best thing about the classes is that WE were the actual students. The classes were all about teaching US how to train the dog. Because of what I learned at the classes, I was able to teach Annie all kinds of things at home.

I know there are different types of classes with different methodologies. Some use treats....some use clickers.....some use other methods. Research the different methods and find the class that you feel best suits you and your dog. It will be a great learning experience....plus it is tons of fun! ;D ;D

[Dawson Creek Girl]

Thanks for the info.

Unfortunately living in the north doesn't give us a whole lot of option... the class I signed up for ... is it in the community. :-[

[MicksMom]

where are u from?im thinkin of doin it for rocky too..hopefully theres some one close to me im in middlesex county,new jersey

badboy2,
Here's some trainers I came up with. BTW- I'm in Warren County. My husband grew up on your side of Jersey. He lived in Rahway, Piscataway and Edison.
Anyway, here's the links:

http://www.nj-k9.com/

http://sitmeanssit.com/smsnjno/index.html

http://www.firstdog.org/

Sometimes local kennel clubs run obediedence classes. This link has a list of kennel clubs in NJ:
http://www.barkbytes.com/sclubs/njclub.htm

[ShoelessPaul]

I've been debating whether or not to sign my puppy Indy up for obedience classes. He's about 5 months old and I've had him since late September. He's very well-behaved and I have plenty of time to train him myself (that's what I've been doing). He's pretty much mastered the basic commands like sit, stay, lie down, come, and even knows a trick or two (he can shake and is learning to bow on command). Obviously training him at home doesn't help with socializing him, but I take him to the dogpark several times a week to try to do that.

I kind of feel like obedience classes would be a waste, and he and I wouldn't learn anything we couldn't learn by reading this message board or a book about training. If I do decide to sign him up for classes I would want to be sure we're not going to learn the basic stuff he already knows.

[imported_gabbys mom]

the one thing i will definitely say for classes versus practicing/training at home is that while you may not learn a whole if you've been doing tons of reading, etc, but that you will have a chance to practice your commands in a high stress, high distractions environment.

Gabby and I signed up for a Petsmart beginner class and it was a disaster. I didn't learn a thing and spent most of the time frustrated that the other owners wouldn't keep their dogs from jumping on Gabs. But she learned how to behave in high stress situations with idiots running all around. It was worth it.