Should I sack off the dog class?

[Twofurrycats]

I don't know if I'm being petulant or reasonable.
I signed up for dog training classes. 8 week course and so far I've paid the deposit. Everything was booked over WhatsApp and the last message was that I'd recieve an email before the class with the final details.
Email arrived 8pm today. Very detailed and informative. But..... You need a collar and a certain type of lead. A dog bed. A non squeaky toy. A chew bone. I don't have these. I have a harness, wrong lead, wrong toys. Not shop bought dog treats etc.
The class is tomorrow. I haven't time to get the things and feel like cancelling.

I'd go and see what it's all about without the stuff. Explain you got the message late. Most trainers will have spares of everything. Even if the message was out in time, there's always someone who forgets.

Just go with what you have. See how the class feels. If they are very rigid and make you feel bad then don’t go back. You may well find that they are flexible or have spares of things you can borrow.

Just go with as much off the list as you can you won't be the only one without the full list. You can use a blanket as a dog bed. Take the lead you have and harness. They advise a collar over harness so you're not relied on the harness to pull them on. The treat you just need a high reward treat so they are likely to follow your commands. We used meat and sausages. Any random cuddly toy counts as a non squeaky toy really. This is the standard list from one of the dog training schemes and we did their puppy class too. Lots of people had all sorts week one and worked it out as they went along. It was a really good start for us

Ok I’m sure you can improvise with some of those things, and the rest you could grab from any supermarket or pet store in 5 mins.

The bed will be because each pup needs something familiar as their safe space to rest in between their turn. A blanket would be fine.

A lead and collar are easy to get - I’m guessing they have said non retractable lead, you should get one of these anyway as retractable leads teach dogs that pulling on the lead is ok as there is a constant pulling sensation with them.

Do you have an old cuddly toy of some kind? That would be fine. Squeaky ones will distract the other dogs when it’s not their turn.

Some small bits of chicken/ham would be perfect treats.

Bit crap they’ve dropped it on you last minute but I reckon you could quite easily rustle up what you need, and they’re not going to turn you away if you can’t get everything before tomorrow, they’ll just say you need it for next time.

Thanks all. I was really looking forward to it and then the email put me off. If the email had come earlier or they had the list on the website I'd have got the things ready. Instead it's put me on the backfoot.

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.

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!

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.

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. 😂

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'm going to go with what I have and see how it goes.
DDog did have collars when he was a pup. He's now 6 months and 25kg. I use a harness (with tag) because I take him in the car and use a dog seat belt attachment which I was advised to use with a harness not a collar. I'm fortunate that he never pulls on a lead.
@sapphireopal I don't have a retractable lead I think they are a pain but that isn't the only type of lead they specify not to use.
DDog is going to be over the moon that tonight's treat is cheese as that's what I have in! The specific instructions about treats threw me: one part mentioned if you're using bog standard treats to put salmon oil on them.
Fingers crossed this isn't going to be a class I attend once that costs me £125.

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.

@yellowpingu No it's a chain with a leather handle. Slip leads weren't actually mentioned.

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.

@sapphireopal I agree they probably have reasons and I'm not questioning that. It's the lack of notice that made me question going. It's obviously a proforma email that could have been sent when I paid the deposit.

20 years ago dog classes didn't exist.

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.

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!

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

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

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.

@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.

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

@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!

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.