Should I sack off the dog class?

I have a mini dachshund and collars are not recommended because of their backs. His training classes were completed with a harness.
All they asked was for poo bags, healthy training treats and a toy.

As for beds, they used their own mat but I would recommend one of the folding mats currently on offer at Pets At Home. My boy is trained to settle on it, it folds for carriage and we take it out with us so if we go out to lunch etc he knows thats his spot and to settle, so training your dog to one of those could be beneficial.

@WiddlinDiddlin You've misread, the class isn't insisting on a chain lead. That's the type of lead OP uses, and the class have requested a different kind.

Yeah.. it's a long post because it was in reply to someone else. Who started their post with ...

"Oh god don't use a harness. Harnesses are designed to make your dog pull effectively..."

Indeed, plain flat collars are not necessarily aversive, I use them to hang tags off and all my dogs wear one. I just don't clip leads to them.

But a class insisting on collar NOT harness AND a chain lead, rather than (as when I ran classes, I did) .. 'collar with tag, well fitting harness, 6ft lead' does lean more towards the aversive training than not.

@WiddlinDiddlin That's a long post in response to me saying 'collars aren't necessarily aversives'... Necessarily being the operative word. I'm not here to debate the pros and cons of collars and harnesses, we have used both at times. Even a dog with a harness should have a collar and ID tag on too, which is likely what the dog class are alluding to.

It is perfectly possible to teach a dog to walk in a harness, after all you don't see people being towed around the place by Guide Dogs (the pressure they put into their harness is barely anything at all, and they don't pull at all once the harness is off) and most assistance dogs other than guide dogs put zero pressure into their harness at all.

Harnesses do not make dogs pull or teach them to pull... that comment tells me you really don't understand why dogs pull in the first place! (Because they naturally walk faster than us, are rewarded for moving forward by getting to sniff new things/move forward/get somewhere and later in life, because that is how they've always walked).

I start teaching puppies to walk on a loose lead... without harness, collar or lead! Because I am actually teaching them how to walk beside me, keep a good eye on me and ready for the next instruction.

We do that in a secure place with low distraction, high value rewards and build up, and when its a pretty solid skill, then we add in the lead. I prefer this to be clipped to a harness that the dog is conditioned to wear, because IF that dog should stumble, be suddenly distracted, lunge forward because they're startled etc... then they won't hurt themselves.

Doing those things with a collar round the neck can cause injury (particularly soft tissue injury that is hard to dx and treat, one of the leading causes of on-lead reactivity in dogs!).

Why would a chain lead be needed... the only time I have seen it insisted on is where the dog bites the lead (and then I use a cable lead, plastic coated as teeth can get caught in the chain, or broken on it)... dogs can bite the lead to tug it, not wildly uncommon in young dogs...

Or dogs can bite the lead in redirection, aggressive/defensive response to harsh aversive 'corrections' given with the lead/collar - it is a VERY common 'fall-out' with this type of training.

@owlexpress tbh I was referring to a very young pup - I've had a lot of working spaniels and the majority have been pretty simple! However a 6 month old dog that has been on a harness its entire life can be a bit trickier, luckily it sounds as though the OPs dog doesn't pull which is a fab place to start from!

Of course they did. I went with my mum in 1972.

@OrlandointheWilderness The control comes from teaching them to walk correctly at your side which is quick and easy

Careful not to set unrealistic expecations..! I have a spaniel, it was neither quick or easy! But we got there in the end.

@WiddlinDiddlin Collars aren't necessarily aversives, it's just as possible they're avoiding harnesses to train good lead walking.

If you're using a chain lead and harness instead of collar it sounds like you very definitely should go to the classes. This isn't a criticism, but you'll probably learn a lot. Non-squeaky toy is just common sense, can you imagine 10 dogs with 10 squeaky toys? You'd never get their focus.

Yes they did, I used to tag along with my DM as a teenager almost 40 years ago!

Of course they did - dog training classes have been around since the seventies at least!

They absolutely did. I got my first dog as an adult then and I went to classes. Didn't agree with mot of what I was taught to do though!

Yes they did. We took our first retriever to dog class in 1980.

Styles of training have changed over the years, but all our dogs have been to classes.

20 years ago dog classes didn't exist.

I'd be very wary of a metal chain lead in a dog training class tbh - it's much more liable to cause an injury to another participant than just a normal rope lead. Perhaps they've had an incident in the past and decided to ban them.

Is it a slip lead you use? Many training classes (the one I attend included) don’t like these at classes as they’re often used incorrectly. My dogs walk fine on a slip lead but we don’t use it for training in case it influences someone who would just end up permanently choking their dog.

Oh god don't use a harness. Harnesses are designed to make your dog pull effectively. If you teach your puppy to walk properly from the off you don't need one! Leads aren't there to control or restrain - they are there as an emergency only measure, it's a parachute. The control comes from teaching them to walk correctly at your side which is quick and easy, and hopefully exactly what your trainer is going to support you with.
Our pups have a soft collar for the first few months then a slip lead. However, they are off the lead more than on (start with the pup off the lead when it actively wants to be by your side - if you always have it on a lead then want to start letting it off it's a much harder business!) and by the time they are out properly walking they know how to heel.

I do regular classes with my dog 🐕. We get an information pack every month. Invariably, it gets skim read, and we forget stuff. The trainer jokes about it. It will be fine! It's also a running joke that he will give instructions which 2 minutes later, we are scratching our heads because we weren't listening properly. 😂

Don't you need a collar anyway? Legally they are supposed to wear a collar tag. Or have you attached that to harness? I'd not be attaching lead to collar - it's bad for the dog's neck done too often.

It should be obvious that you can't use an extendable lead in a training class though, can you imagine the chaos?!

For everything else just take what you have. What treats do you give at home - chicken or cheese or something? Just take that.

The dog bed is because one of the first things many trainers do is teach the dog to settle on their mat and they need something they can easily differentiate from 'general floor'.

A small mat/rug/towel will do.

I would be bloody wary of any class that insists on a collar and lead, harnesses are far safer for dogs (assuming they fit properly, Y front style or stretchy vest style for growing puppies, not the H style like Julius K9 or anything with sliding parts designed to exert pressure on painful areas like armpits)... Collars are usually demanded when the trainer aims to rely on jerking the puppy in the neck to get compliance (do this or else it'll hurt) (or outside bet, KC Good Citizens classes, these still ask for a collar as you have to show your dog has a collar and tag on to fulfil legal requirements).

So go with the harness on and if they're not happy with your puppy being safe, and they want to use aversives to train... leave and ask for a refund if it wasn't made clear it'd be that type of training.

You really should have some sorts of chews/squeaky toys your puppy likes, and treats that they like. Theres no real issue if they're shop bought vs normal food (I use cheese, ham, and the shop opposite where I held classes would do a roaring trade in both on class nights as many would forget treats!).

Again, take what you have and know your puppy likes... these are to give them something to do in case they get bored/are a bit distracted, and obviously to reward behaviours you like and want to see repeated. A good trainer will have the odd spare chew or Kong and some Primula or meat paste if necessary.

They really should have sent you this email when you paid, not a few hours before class!

Honestly don’t panic, just go with what you can and they’ll be used to people forgetting things or turning up without, and they’ll have spares. Including a bed, every dog training place I’ve known has raised beds on frames that dogs can use, but it would be better to have something like a blanket that smells like home. I turned up to my puppy class without a lead once, and they produced one for me to borrow.