pet store training
I looked into pet store training, and the local Petsmart offers 6 lessons for $200. Which still seems like quite a bit. But if o get to teach Molly new tricks and obedience it is defiantly worth it!
Has anyone tried pet store training? And what do y'all recommend?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Shippo, Gidget & Sheldon on
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Good God that's a lot of money for just a few classes. I debated on taking my puppy to Petsmart for the puppy socialization, their classes are $106 and they limit their classes to 3 so I can't justify taking her at all when all I really have to do is just take her around the store myself on Saturdays (when they have their rescue dogs) and get socialization that way, as well as finding people who have dogs where I live (Petsmart is an hours drive) and set up play dates.
I have books on obedience, trick, puppy training and raising. It's not very hard to do it yourself and it's much cheaper. I think those rates for classes is a rip off, I don't care how good they are. I recently got Before & After You Get Your Puppy by Ian Dunbar and The Puppy Primer: Second Edition by Patricia B. McConnell, PhD which I think are pretty good. Another one I have seen recommended is Control Unleashed: The Puppy Program by Leslie McDevitt but I don't have this one yet. I also have Dog Training for Dummies by Wendy and Jack Volhard which I like. For tricks I have 101 Dog Tricks: Step by Step Activities to Engage, Challenge and Bond with Your Dog by Kyra Sundance. This one includes step by step pictures.
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Permalink Reply by Tomi and Story on
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I love the Ian Dunbar series, too! I found his DVD on ebay really inexpensive. There are many videos on YouTube, Puppy Training-SIRIUS Berkley (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnhJGU2NO5k) ...it's not Ian doing the teaching, but it is his method and there are weeks and weeks worth of training. There are also some SIRIUS Puppy Classic training videos on YouTube by Ian, himself.
I'm going to check out your suggestion for the 101 Dog Tricks, thanks for the recommendation!
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Permalink Reply by Priss, Charlie & Kaylee (PK) on
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Check with your town and those around you. Our town listed a trainer who offered puppy and adult classes which were much more reasonable than petsmart (6 classes for $70).
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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I paid $80 for 8 classes through our AKC club.I looked ours up online. There are only 2 places that do this here in MN. I checked out the pet places and they also were $80.00. Make sure that if you want to continue you can certified or at least tested for CGC etc.
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Permalink Reply by Jane on
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$500 for puppy classes is outrageous. Do you have a local kennel club? You could also try searching the APDT site for qualified trainers in your area.
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Permalink Reply by Chris West on
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The classes I take Frosty to are offered as Continued Education courses by our local community college. They charge $65 for 8 classes.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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That sounds high. Around here you can get agility instruction for $120 for either 6 or 8 classes (depending on the venue; climate-controlled indoor is more money than outdoor). And that includes all that equipment; an A-frame is around $1000 to buy so they need to make it up.
That seems steep. PetSmart varies widely in quality of instruction depending on where you are. I suggest asking if you can watch some classes before committing.
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Permalink Reply by Marlene & Cadbury on
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Some cities have community classes especially for residents. Check to see if yours do? Mine has community classes dealing with dog training, dog agility, dog obedience, etc. Puppy Preschool is only $50 for 5 weeks (5 classes). Locations are usually on weekend mornings at a local park.
I took my Cadbury to Petsmart for training (that is before I found out about our local community classes). It cost me $109 for 6 lessons. Basically what they do is give you the tool to teach your puppy. During each lesson, they'll teach you a command and ask you to perform it on your dog. They'll watch you do the command and tell you what you're doing correct and what you're doing wrong. then your homework is to use/teach that command at home for that week. Then during the next lesson, you learn more command and do the same thing over again. It helped me because I'm always second guessing whether i'm doing it right or wrong...It's nice to have someone tell me. But other than that, I'm thinking you can get the same lesson/training from a book as well.
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Permalink Reply by Tomahawk and Fences on
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Look to see if you have any local dog clubs in your area. I was able to get Tomahawk into puppy classes for $60 for 6 classes. It was great and Tomahawk had a blast.
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Permalink Reply by Momo Taro Lundgren & Mommy pk on
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Honestly, for myself, i'm a first time puppy owner, and i think those classes aren't really worth it, if you are just trying to teach your puppy to do BASIC commands if you already know what and how you want to do it. I think training commands are quite easy to do, if you are consistent, and stick with the same TRAINING style and don't change it up or it'll confuse your puppy in the main training stage.
Even i have been able to train my puppy with basic commands within few weeks of him arriving home and i have taken him to Petsmart (quite a few times for shopping) and my Momo is more well behaved than most of the puppies there in the class and knows more than what they have been teaching those puppies. Everyone has commented that my Momo is respectful and isn't pullying me around or barking or jumping on things/ppl/dogs. Of course, they asked me if i'd like to enroll momo in their puppy classes, but as soon as they saw him lay down at my feet when i told him DOWN to keep him away from the other puppies in "the class", i think they realized that my momo probably didn't need their classes and stopped offering it to me. If you want to take ur puppy out for SOCIALIZATION, then i guess that'd be a good starting place, if you don't have other ppl/dogs that you can socialize your puppy with.A nice gesture from the pet stores, but i don't think my pup needs it from the store. If you can teach it yourself, it'd save you a lot of money, build a better bond between you and your pup, and less distracting with other ppl/dogs around. But if you need some expereinced trainer to guide you, give it a chance and put it under your belt and at least then, you'll have the basic training needed and build your own style off of it.
I think at most, you have to have a lot of paitences on what you want to teach your puppy, cuz when ur at the classes, it looks like they show the other trainers how to do the same thing i do with my Momo, EVERY DAY. It's a daily training session with momo and for the most part when he isn't being stubborn, he's able to sit, stay, lay down, come, off, leave it (working still). tricks wise, he's able to do roll over, half way to "pew pew instead of bang bang = play dead" lays still on his side, and hi-5 /10.
also... my training style i used on my puppy is, CLICKER training with treats. My pup is very very very food motivated, so i make sure to keep a nice selection of treats on hand for training purposes. <3
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Permalink Reply by Ludi on
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The point of classes is to see how your dog performs under varying levels of distractions. It's a great foundation to lay your training on - after all, getting your dog's attention is already more than half the battle for many important behaviours (recall, leave it). I take Lady to puppy kindergarten (but it's far cheaper, 100 € for an entire year) because I want her to be heavily socialized, and also ask for her to perform while being subject to tons of interesting smells, noises, new people and new dogs. It's a very important skillset to have. Classes are invaluable. The actual instruction that comes with it can range from irrelevant to insightful; it really depends on how much work you want to put into your dog. :-)
[E] Just wanted to point out that just because your puppy performs now, doesn't mean that it's set in stone until adulthood. When the teenager years strike, you'll wonder why your dog has become deaf - that's when these early experiences really pay off!
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Permalink Reply by Marcie on
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I paid $85 for six lessons from a local dog club for basic obedience. Since then my classes have been $120 for six, but more complex classes. I think it has been well worth it. It was good with distractions and helped us bond. I have a choice of several facilities, but have to drive 30-60 minutes each way, still worth it. Try googling, dog training name of town and see if anything pops up. I did that and kept expanding my area to include the nearest city. Some of the shelters here sponsor classes as well.
Good luck.
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