Puppy classes....aaargh

[inappropriatelyemployed]

I'm probably the odd one out here but does anyone else hate puppy classes?

My boys and DH have been going and I attended my first with the rest of the family last week.

High-pitched, CBeebies type trainer who calls everyone mum and dad. We were talked atfor an hour. Dogs expected to stay in settle position for a good 15 mins (no pressure).

Just felt like a failure and more than a bit patronised.

Yup I know - it's bonkers. Not sure who that is aimed at? No grown ups surely.

No, a 'little' competition wouldn't have worked for me either.

I was there to learn how to train my dog. It really wouldn't have help my confidence for my dog to come last in some meaningless competition.

I needed to feel I would get there in the end. Being made to feel an utter failure before I even started definitely wouldn't have worked for me.

I quite enjoyed the first set of classes when they were going well - but my (rescue) dog struggled to cope and I felt unsupported when he kicked off - the advice was to turn him around, away from whatever it was he was barking at - it didn't work and to this day I'm unsure how it was meant to work. There was a great deal of judgement from other owners too.

I made the mistake of picking classes primarily because they were conveniently timed and located. It turned out the trainer wasn't particularly well qualified - a fact that dawned on me rather slowly as I didn't know what I was looking for. It was a good job I had already heard that pack leadership was nonsense as she was quite keen on the ideas like me eating before the dog and always passing through doorways first would fix my dog. Having gone back to look at the website I've now realised it claims that classes are suitable for dogs needing anything from learning to sit to help with fear aggression towards dogs or people...!

It was only when I went to classes that were run by an APDT trainer (generally reckoned to be the gold standard of accreditation) that I realised how different classes could be. I still had a "tricky" dog but I received more sensible support to deal with it. Different methods on offer for dogs that didn't grasp a concept using the usual method. Altogether a much more supportive environment where what we were taught used modern methods. Massive, massive difference.

Which county are you in? Someone on here might be able to point you towards some better classes.

It really wouldn't have help my confidence for my dog to come last in some meaningless competition.

Totally agree ^.

The issue with a 'little competition' is that you get enough competitive puppy stuff anyway without trainers encouraging it. I remember at my vets puppy party someone 'bragging' that their puppy slept through the night and was toilet trained. Whilst that was great for them it isn't what you want to hear and doesn't help you when you are the one sleep deprived tearing your hair out because no matter what you do it doesn't seem to be working. Being 'last' in a competition would have just been the final straw. My confidence was already rock bottom knowing mine was the most bounciest, deaf to commands puppy in the room.

The difference when I found a trainer that helped rather than just did the 'standard' teaching was huge. Suddenly training BiteyDog became enjoyable.

I did puppy classes with one of mine. He was determined to pay no attention and start play fights with every other puppy, seemingly.

Then we had the Good Citizenship Dog Test test, every other dog failed and he passed with flying colours. It meant nothing though, I'm convinced the other digs were better, he just performed for the public, which he loved.

So I don't think competitions make sense.

This trainers is very highly academically qualified and it is a reputable charity too. All the more puzzling that you would encourage such a blunt edged, and rather insensitive approach in my view.

We have a trainer (the breeder) who has done some lessons with us as a family and we wanted puppy classes for socialisation.

The first local set we tried was full of dogs being left in a free for all.

So we tried these and encountered different issues altogether. There has been no guidance at all on dealing with dog-dog contact which is what we said our primary purpose for joining has been.

We did six weeks of puppy classes which were well run but I was thankful when they finished. I did a 1 to 1 session with a trainer because I was going out of my mind with recall issues and she identified our problem after observing and talking to us. Coco was a confident, nosy pup who just didn’t focus on me or DH. She gave us several handouts on fun focus exercises, impulse control and recall to work through and suggested we came on a few group socialisation walks. Best thing I did, have learnt so much about doggy etiquette, dog body language, manners, and bothering other dogs and recall improved within weeks. We now have a strong bond, do regular training because she loves it and agility classes.

Ours had a final competition too, plus prizes along the way for various things. I missed the final competition because a family had fallen very ill so DH went instead. The final part of the competition was something to do with the dog ignoring a hot dog sausage while carrying out commands. Apparently all my pup did was sit and stare longingly at the sausage. Fortunately DH is made of stronger stuff than me because he just found this funny.

I want to get some to one training with my dog after the summer, she’s a lovely dog but could do with learning a few more commands and she’s developed a very loud fear/warning bark response. However I feel like a had my fingers burnt last time and I’m wary of finding a trainer who I both like and is actually any good.