How do we find good classes.

[Taliesin]

We are going to have a look at a local obedience training school tonight with a view to taking young Ozzy for his basic training. But there seems to be so many "methods" and different trainers with different ideas. My brother and sister in law recently walked out of a school mid session because in their opinion the teacher was rude to the dog owners and rough with the puppies. We have always just self taught our dogs basic stuff in the past but now with Ozzy we would like to go a lot further and reach the advanced classes when he is older.
We want him to progress along the way but want it to be fun for him and us and not be subjected to a sergeant major type of square bashing drill. To be fair the lady sounds lovely and just said come along any time without charge and see what goes on and take it from there.
But what do we look for in a good trainer? is it just gut instinct or do we need to look for various points and techniques. It started so simple but has somehow become confusing. Should we just enjoy the ride and see what happens? I mean we won't be sitting with a notebook or anything but don't want to waste money either. Help??

T.

[Stuart]

Training a dog, has to be a game,.. if the trainer turns it all into a game, you are onto a winner.
Also the dogs in class have to be possitivly praised,..i.e. a treat for doing something right,.. not a negitive slap/hit on the nose for doing it wrong

If you can get a class that does these two things you are onto a winner

..........add to that a small class, and a Shepherd expert, and you have a couple of bonuses

[gsdstewart]

....dont ask me...I am still having that dilema with Barbara Woodhouse!!!....arrrggggghhhh.....p.s Stuart I think the pics of your dogs look brilliant!!!

[Bonniesmummy]

Well I went to a class that I thought was great, I went along without the dog to watch a class and spoke with her on the phone several times and emailed!! I thought she was lovely, still do but some of their methods I didn't agree with and ended up leaving around halway through So it can be hard to tell straight off I think

[Sully Monster]

I would maybe suggest going along without the pup at first so that you can really concentrate on the class. I would just watch and talk to them and see how you feel about the way they interact with the people and puppies. I would say dont sign up and pay for anything without first watching at least one class.

The current classes I go to are a pay as you attend type rather than pay in block which is great. I go anywhere from 1 to 3 times a week and our trainer is great but I think it is a very individual thing and you need to find one that suits you and your pup

Good luck

[kita]

This may help:

How do I Find a Suitable Dog Training Course?


Don't forget you are paying them for their advice, don't do anything that you don't feel happy about and don't allow them to do anything to your dog that you disagree with (like taking your dog off you and 'showing you how to be boss of him/her).

I would avoid any classes that will not allow you to use food treats/toys and classes that use choke/check chains.

Sue

[Taliesin]

Thank you all for your comments. Well we both attended tonight without Ozzy and it is a case of so far so good really. Tonight was the start of a new beginners intake and we met some really nice people and their respective dogs of ALL shapes and sizes Lol!
The lady that runs it is a Kennel Club GSD Judge. Tonight was really about a demo session and information about equipment etc. Everyone had a go at walking to heel, sit, and sit stay, very well demonstrated by a gentleman and his GSD bitch.
The thing that impressed me was the class is not too large and there are plenty of instructors to step in for one to one guidance when needed.
It is pay as you go on a weekly basis with a small one off joining fee. They also sell leads and collars etc they recommend although they are by no means compulsory. Each owner got an advisory leaflet on the training started tonight to take home and practice with. All in all I thought it was pretty good and the instructors are very friendly and approachable. We will take Ozzy next week and see what he can do after practice.
It was fun for the dogs with the emphasis on praise and reward and lots of advice about nervous and more confident dogs. We liked it, definately going next week.

T.

[Jude]

That sounds promising. I have found that generally the training organised by proper clubs (with a committee and run by volunteers) rather than by individuals with a doubtful qualification who are making money out of the operation, are far more helpful as there is genuine interest in what they are doing rather than £ signs. Over the years I have been on committees, instructed at and competed for several obedience clubs but sadly there seem to be a lot fewer nowadays than there were a few years ago. When trying to find a suitable club to socialise Kira I tried several but found that the quality of intstruction given by these so-called qualified people was sadly lacking and they certainly could not deal with a dog-fearful mouthy young GSD. I have now found a wonderful local group that specialises in rescues and GSDs, so they are well used to dealing with dogs with issues and although the instruction is more domestic obedience based rather than competition training, I agree with most of their methods and those I don't like I ignore. The whole purpose of this group is to provide support for people who have rescue dogs with issues or dogs that might end up in rescue because of particular issues. Maybe this is something that members of the forum could get together and organise in areas where there are several members?

[J&J]

I haven't been back to the training club that Jones started in for almost a year now...

What started out well, didn't end well... I saw a couple of things that I was orginally told was an automatic ban from the club! But who do you complain to when the person you want to complain about is the chairperson!

I remeber one session watching this person, dragging dogs around flicking others on their backside to make them sit in the right position I swore blind if she ever did that to Jones I would deck them on the spot

Then the crunch came, we got Ellie and boy did the trainers let rip at me, they were not happy with my decission to get Ellie... I was told I was the worst type of dog owner going I was going to ruin both dogs, undoing all the work they had done with Jones (liked this bit as it was me who's done the work not them) they flatly refused to entertain Ellie joining the club... The dressing down or should I say total hummilation was done in front of about 30 club memebers...

I haven't been back since, but I am going to go to their fund raising dog show, just to show them how wrong they were.. My dogs are far from ruined as they said they would be..

The best training club around me sadly is on the wrong night for us as the trainer are fantastic and it's far from square bashing and each dogs needs are looked at and cartered for etc...

But all you can really do is take a look if it looks good give it a go, and if you start to feel unhappy with their methods etc then pull out