Puppy classes- any last minute advice?

[TheFantasticMrsFox]

For DS?
He's really keen to train DPup himself and has helped look up local classes and read all the paperwork that was sent. We have primed him that DPup may go completely feral a bit scatty in a class situation but he remains determinedly optimistic that she will be perfect.
I'm treading a fine line between worrying him too much and not preparing him for any fall out that may occur. Any practical advice for him that I may have forgotten? (ATM we are majoring on a sense of humour and good manners being essential- anything else is a bonus!)
Both DH and I are going tonight (as advised by the trainer) so hopefully we can prevent any major catastrophes.

How old is DS? Advice might be different if he is 7 or 23.

We regularly have older DC/teens at dog training classes - they are very welcome and are often very good handlers.

It sounds like you've covered all the really important points (not being glued to the phone, courtesy to others and teacher etc.). One suggestion is that most small fun dog shows have Junior Handler classes (usually only a £ or so to enter). How about taking him along to some of these as well - would be a great confidence booster to pick up a few rosettes.

Our DN would come over regularly to do dog shows in the summer and really enjoyed them, and got quite a few offers to handle other people's dogs as well. It can be a really enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.

He's 10 scuttle and has had at least two dogs around him his whole life, all the while managing to maintain a lofty indifference towards them (he loves to watch the boys work but had no desire or patience to be part of the process)
The arrival of the SnapDragon has changed all that though and they are devoted to each other. It was his idea for him to take her to classes as he quite fancies agility classes when she's old enough

That's brilliant! There's a really flourishing junior agility scene - loads of websites and FB pages for him to start studying, and there are lots of lovely events he can start going to, to get a flavour of what he'll be doing.

Make sure your trainer knows that agility is in the longer term plan - it can be quite helpful to know this as you can make sure you "tweak" certain commands to be useful for this.

You can also get agility kit to start practicing at home - things like little jumps and poles (obviously when pup is a little bit older).

Good luck.

Thanks scuttle :)
He's at a bit of an advantage/ disadvantage (depending on your viewpoint!) as I am a very experienced dog trainer, have handled dogs professionally and also competed at agility and working trials. This means I have a wealth of experience (which he won't listen to obviously!) but also tend to forget how perplexing even teaching a simple sit can be if you are just starting out. Hopefully watching the trainer at work will remind me as well :o

How about emphasising to him that pup learning to be in the class environment and practising focusing on him when there are distractions is just as important as what actions pup learns during class? And that most of the learning will happen when he practises with her every day That way if she does turn out to be class reprobate (not that I'm saying she will!), he hopefully won't feel disappointed or frustrated.

I'm more than 3x his age and could have done with a regular reminder of that!

It's a really good point about learning the basics thoroughly. I'm currently doing Rally training with ours and so much of that (a bit like dressage for horses) is about doing things with precision - so getting a really good Sit in the right spot every time is massively important, and becomes more so as you work up through, along with learning to give very clear, precise cues for the action required. If you get right from the word go, more complex activities can flow easily without having to relearn key commands.

My own observations of having youngsters in class - they have a couple of advantages. Firstly, they are usually physically very flexible/able (I'm particularly stiff and creaky) so don't mind getting down on the floor whenever necessary. Secondly, they aren't as physically self conscious as a lot of adults - they don't worry about how they look, they are much more focused on doing it, which is great.

Currently they're both watching Harry Potter on the sofa. Sadly DPup has been fast asleep all day after a frantic few days with the boys- now she's WIDE AWAKE :o

So glad thing are working well. My childhood from age 7 onwards was hugely blessed by the arrival of one then two staffies.

Utterly patient and loving with us. Played and played and played and played and adored anything we did with them.

My only regret is my parents wouldn't allow them to sleep on my bed!

I am on the hunt for a rescue lurcher (good fit to our circumstances) but I always beam at any staffies I meet out and about.

Rats in biggleswade has a gorgeous lurcher in called herb but I think he needs to be an only dog

Sorry I meant to say, all of my children have come with me to dog training at some point
I am not sure they could cope with being the only, iykwim but for me it's because of the dog, rather than children
She's very quick and sharp

Thanks all,
I have a very tired boy and a very tired puppy :o
Tonight was mostly talking and explaining basics which DS drifted away in places (it was very interesting but quite indepth) but the exercises went really well and he knows what he needs to practise for next week :)