# Training Class



## Tyler's Sis (Feb 27, 2005)

Do classes teach dogs tricks or what? What would they teach them?


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## littlepeanut (Dec 5, 2004)

I never took Peanut to a training class, but the ones I have seen really teach the basic commands to make sure your dog is safe outside. Like how to walk on a leash without pulling, heel, sit, stay, and things like that. There are lots of different kinds of classes though. Some for puppies, and some more advanced classes too.


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## Tyler's Sis (Feb 27, 2005)

Ah, do you know how to teach a maltese how to heel?


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## maltx3 (Dec 23, 2004)

I take my 5 month old Brie to obedience school. We are teaching our puppies to heel on leash by holding the leash in our right hand, the puppy is on your left, and you put treats in your left hand (several tiny treats, maybe 6 or 8) so your hand is facing backward kinda cupped, and then you bend really really low with your hand just above your ankle and walk. Your puppy should have his face in your hand eating and will therefore be in the heel position beside you. When your puppy walks beside you and eats from your hand you say YES, and praise a lot, and keep feeding treats until you break the command and stand up. You should only do this for short distances (I'm sure your legs & back will let you know when to straighten up







) and only repeat a couple of times so the puppy doesn't eat too much. We haven't used any command yet, we only use a command once the puppy knows the action. We simply start them off with "Lets Go". Hope this helps.


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## Tyler's Sis (Feb 27, 2005)

> _Originally posted by maltx3_@Feb 28 2005, 07:23 PM
> *I take my 5 month old Brie to obedience school.  We are teaching our puppies to heel on leash by holding the leash in our right hand, the puppy is on your left, and you put treats in your left hand (several tiny treats, maybe 6 or 8) so your hand is facing backward kinda cupped, and then you bend really really low with your hand just above your ankle and walk.  Your puppy should have his face in your hand eating and will therefore be in the heel position beside you.  When your puppy walks beside you and eats from your hand you say YES, and praise a lot, and keep feeding treats until you break the command and stand up.  You should only do this for short distances (I'm sure your legs & back will let you know when to straighten up
> 
> 
> ...


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Thanks! Sounds good, and painful, but I'll try that.


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## JClark (Mar 2, 2005)

I took my Roxy to puppy class at 4 months old. She loved it . The socialization alone is worth it. The stay command was great to learn when I need her to stop for safety reasons. We also learn about nutrition. She got a great start at puppy class.


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## Tyler's Sis (Feb 27, 2005)

Tyler knows stay and come. But I'm sure it's a great class. Tyler needs to know how to walk properly.


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## 020202 (Jan 26, 2005)

I was at Petsmart tonight and noticed that they were having a Graduation Class for about 8 to 10 dogs. They were all mid size, like cocker spaniels, etc. I stood there and watched and I have to say I was not impressed at all. The instructor was attempting to get photos of each dog wearing the same graduation cap. I'm not sure but I think the majority of this class was spent doing that. None of the dogs would sit still, they were climbing all over one another, the instructor had NO control of the class at all. People were yanking on their dogs leashes and saying SIT, SIT, SIT. I tell you what, if I had been in that class I'd have demanded my money back. 

Number one, I don't think you need to yank on the leash and number two, I'm not going to beg my dog to SIT. If they don't do it on the first command, I don't think they're trained. My Cricket never went to a class in her life and I know for a fact that if I told her to sit and put a hat on her, she'd sit there wearing that hat till I gave the _release_ command. These dogs were jumping and trying to grab the hat, their owners were hanging on for dear life. The instructor clearly was more interested in the photo op of the dog's wearing that hat than she was in how the dogs were acting.

Am I way off base here? Am I just a super mean mom? I don't expect that behavior out of Izzy yet because she's only a baby but I certainly do expect her to behave better than that graduating class when she's older.

Please tell me if I have no idea of what a class should be like. I stood there and vowed that I'd never take a Petsmart class.


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## sheila2182 (Nov 28, 2004)

> _Originally posted by 20202_@Mar 10 2005, 09:10 PM
> *I stood there and vowed that I'd never take a Petsmart class.
> <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=41998*


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I had Kirbie in their class,and after the second one I asked for my money back.It was very clear to me the girl teaching the class did not have a clue.They refunded it with no problem.It was far more effective doing it myself!


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## puppylucy (Jan 8, 2005)

> _Originally posted by 20202_@Mar 10 2005, 09:10 PM
> *I was at Petsmart tonight and noticed that they were having a Graduation Class for about 8 to 10 dogs.  They were all mid size, like cocker spaniels, etc.  I stood there and watched and I have to say I was not impressed at all.  The instructor was attempting to get photos of each dog wearing the same graduation cap.  I'm not sure but I think the majority of this class was spent doing that.  None of the dogs would sit still, they were climbing all over one another, the instructor had NO control of the class at all.  People were yanking on their dogs leashes and saying SIT, SIT, SIT.  I tell you what, if I had been in that class I'd have demanded my money back.
> 
> Number one, I don't think you need to yank on the leash and number two, I'm not going to beg my dog to SIT.  If they don't do it on the first command, I don't think they're trained.  My Cricket never went to a class in her life and I know for a fact that if I told her to sit and put a hat on her, she'd sit there wearing that hat till I gave the release command.  These dogs were jumping and trying to grab the hat, their owners were hanging on for dear life.  The instructor clearly was more interested in the photo op of the dog's wearing that hat than she was in how the dogs were acting.
> ...


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TOTALLY agree. We originally took Lucy to a Petsmart class, and it was _ridiculous_. The instructor brought her own half-trained 150+ BULLDOG in, and it was thrashing all over, and almost hurt my baby







We discussed it with her and all she said was "Oh, your 2 pound dog could handle a hit from a 200 pound dog". Umm.. what? That's like saying me as 90 pounds could be hit by something like 9000 pounds and not be hurt. I don't think so!

The class had absolutely no structure, she wouldn't allow harnesses, our "learning to walk on leash" consisted of literally DRAGGING our furbabies down the aisles. She actually walked behind the dog, chasing it so it would move. If it stopped, she'd say "keep pulling!" And you can pretty easily pull a tiny little dog. But hello?! Aren't small dogs prone to trachea problems?!

Eee sorry for getting a little bit riled up







I just thought it was the worst class ever. We demanded a refund and suggested that this lady not be a trainer. I doubt she was even certified.

We actually did call around and find another class from a woman who formerly bred/showed maltese and breeds/shows yorkies







She's wonderful, Lucy can sit, down, stay, heel, and "crawl"

Anyways, not to bash Petsmart or anything, but if there's another option, I'd DEFINITELY suggest taking it


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## Laceys mom (Nov 12, 2004)

I have watched a few classes at Petsmart and all I can say is I was not impressed at all. The dogs were out of control. They and their owners were put in this little circle in the middle of the store with a plastic like rope around it. The dogs were not doing what they were told to do...I wouldn't have done it either if I was a dog with all the people standing around watching me and making comments. I saw a black lab jump and land on a little dog, don't know what kind, but I can tell you it had to weigh no more than 5 pounds.
I had to really call alot of places before I finally found a place that would and could handle a maltese. Most of the trainers I spoke with didn't have a clue. I had many tell me I would have to put a training collar (aka...choke collar) on Lacey and that it wouldn't hurt her at all. I was like do you know what kind of dog/puppy I am talking about? I did finally find a place that my vet told me about and the most amazing thing about it is that it is only 5 minutes from my house. The trainers don't do much advertising because they are so great they get alot of word of mouth referrals. I went and watched a class the other night and I have to say I was very impressed. The trainer has a class just for toy breeds and she had two maltese in her class


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## 020202 (Jan 26, 2005)

What horrible stories!!! Dragging them down the aisle while being chased is teaching them to walk on a leash??!! The Petsmart that I was at also had a circle of chairs with people standing around watching them. I told my DH those people had no idea how much they were being ripped off. This class was not under control at all either and like you said Nicole, isn't distraction supposed to NOT be an issue in a well trained dog? Could you even imagine putting a choke chain collar on these little dogs? I was thinking about taking a class for Izzy to socialize but forget that. I don't want some 200 pound dog _'giving her a hit'_! This is another reason why I love this board.


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## Sylphide and Shrek's Mom (Dec 4, 2004)

Like many of you, I wasn't impressed with the Petsmart type training classes I saw here. I did a little research (luckily, two of my close colleagues are breeders who show and have a lot of connections in the local dog community). I wanted Sylphide to benefit from the socialization and confidence building that comes from training with others.

Through them, I discovered that a local Kennel club at a town about 30 minutes away has a wonderful facility and offers excellent, fun classes with a wonderful instructor (who has small breed experience). Sylphide graduated from beginning agility and had so much fun! We'll have her do intermediate this Spring, and I'm thinking of having Shrek try agility, too. The same club also offers all levels of obedience training. 

For those of you who are interested in finding local training in your area, there might be must be some online listserves or other sites, etc. (although the group I joined doesn't have one). Teacup Agility for small breeds has an active list that posts all kinds of small breed related activities, as does another list I joined that posts all activities happening on the East Coast. I had no idea there were so many facilities, groups, and fun activities for dogs


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## 020202 (Jan 26, 2005)

The only local non-chain store training around here is for K-9 german shephards. I just don't see Izzy fitting in there.

_*HEY guys, our apetizer just arrived!*_


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## Sylphide and Shrek's Mom (Dec 4, 2004)

> _Originally posted by 20202_@Mar 11 2005, 01:18 AM
> *The only local non-chain store training around here is for K-9 german shephards.  I just don't see Izzy fitting in there.
> 
> *HEY guys, our apetizer just arrived!*
> <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=42052*


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LOL!!! There was a huge German Shepherd in Sylphide's agility class. He kept attacking the lab types, but just adored Sylphide. She was just determined to be his friend, and his mom had to sit near us because she was the only dog he liked in the class







Perhaps he wasn't hungry for appetizers, just large main courses...

Some of the East Coast Agility posters are in the PA area...









BTW, I'll be in your neck of the woods in April for some work related activity. Won't be able to take the "kids", though


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

> _Originally posted by 20202_@Mar 10 2005, 11:18 PM
> *The only local non-chain store training around here is for K-9 german shephards.  I just don't see Izzy fitting in there.
> 
> *HEY guys, our apetizer just arrived!*
> <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=42052*


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Check in your local yellow pages (or online at Dex Online) under dog training. You might be suprised. Also ask around at the vets office. When I did one for Des Moines there was 23 in the surrounding area. I thought there was only 3-4.


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