Took Pongo to puppy class for fifth time tonight. Rubbish again. Fifteen dogs ranging from pug to great dane in small village hall room. Trainer whose voice I can't hear and instructions I don't understand, and anyway my job all session is just to keep Pongo's attention by feeding him treats so he doesn't distract other dogs. Pongo knackered and whining, doesn't understand why he isn't allowed to even say hello to any of the other dogs. When it's our turn to do 'sit, stay and recall' he just can't do it, far too many distractions, trainer tries to show me tips that will help but they are pointless because at home he is perfect at it so no opportunity to use her techniques... which don't help me anyway because she's using a clicker and I don't have one of those and wasn't intending to get one. She just looks at me witheringly and tells me not to tell Pongo he's a good boy because he isn't. After the thirty minute session we've achieved nothing except that my puppy is tired, thirsty and overfed on treats, I'm annoyed at the trainer (and it isn't really her fault), nothing is learned and I'm sure Pongo feels he's had a half hour of confusing nonsense. That's it. Tried five times, always like this. No more. Home schooling from now on. Rosie (very fed up) and Pongo (even more fed up)
Re: That's it - I'm giving up I wonder if we went to the same trainer ...... Holly became part of the entertainment at dog training. We'd take it in turn to do a retrieve. If Ruth threw the ball, Holly would take it to me and vice-versa. There was nothing we could do to get her to bring the ball to the person who threw it
Re: That's it - I'm giving up Sounds like a plan... It sounds like an incredibly challenging environment for a Labrador puppy. The key is to practise in environments intermediate between home and the class. Otherwise it's too much of a leap to go from a familiar environment to the extreme environment of a village hall packed with dogs, people, smells, noise etc. If the instructor was willing to focus more on socialisation and less on obedience it might have been more fun and worthwhile. IMO puppy classes should be about socialisation, loose lead walking, informal recall (no sit and stay), not jumping up....that sort of stuff. I am sure that Pongo did get something out of it though, even if it was just exposure to other dogs.
Re: That's it - I'm giving up Gosh it sounds like chaos! To be honest I found my puppy class a total waste of time too. Penny already knew everything they were teaching us and like Pongo wouldn't perform in the class setting because of too many distractions. I took her hoping it would be a good opportunity to get some socialising done but the pups weren't allowed any playtime and were expected to at quietly for the first half hour of each session while the trainer talked at us. At the end of the course we did come away with the Kennel Club Good Citizen Puppy Award but it's totally meaningless as we didn't really have to do anything to get it. Also I got told off for having the wrong info on Penny's ID tag.... What the..? As long as Pongo is getting adequate socialisation at home and out and about I don't see a problem with not going back, it's obviously stressing you both out and no one will learn anything in that sort of environment.
Re: That's it - I'm giving up Well, I must have been very lucky. Only about 6 or 8 in the class, we all had a chair to sit on and a mat for the pups to sit/lie on and any restless or whining pup was given a kong full of delicious something or other. The class was always very well structured and it was great, sad when it was finished. Each week we had a print out of what we had done and how to practice it. The pups were not allowed to socialise as it would be a free for all and nervous pups could be put off other dogs for life. Just to add that we also got the KC Good Citizen Puppy award, but to get that we had to have each part ticked as having been done and succeeded.
Re: That's it - I'm giving up We went to a couple of classes and gave up tbh. We felt that it just wasn't the right environment for Benson, just too many distractions got him too excited. I expect it was fine for the other dogs, but for Benson who just loves EVERYTHING it was too much. We had obstacle courses which consisted of cardboard boxes of kibble, toys etc as distractions, and we had to walk our puppy through them....whilst other owners were walking their puppies. Benson did a few hoolie laps and scoffed all the food! ;D ;D
Re: That's it - I'm giving up I don't blame you Rosie :-\ I think most puppy classes are like that. What everyone needs is lots of meets with other dogs, I think it's one of the best ones to teach them
Re: That's it - I'm giving up We did church hall puppy school twice - and was surprised we didn't get thrown out each time. On the plus side, Charlie gained confidence, met people and puppies, and we picked up a few tips. But yes, everyone else had dogs that were much calmer than Charlie (apart from at school 1, his mate in crime, Rocky, a slightly mad cocker spaniel). I recognise the frustration, and the overload of treats, and the whole "not quite with the programme" thing. It never got any better with Charlie. It got worse and worse really. The more confident he got, the more he just wanted to play, and meet puppies and people, and the less he wanted to concentrate. I remember one particular class, Charlie was about 14 weeks, and by then an over confident hooligan (he still is). We did the weekly "let your puppies off the lead to mingle, but watch their behaviour and remove them if they are nervous" exercise. Oh god. Charlie went through the polite mingle of pugs, peks, and chis like a brown bear tornado (in comparison to the other puppies). Everyone else picked up their puppies.... :-[ It wasn't for us.
Re: That's it - I'm giving up Thanks everyone, that all makes me feel a little better. I'm annoyed at myself because I feel I'm letting Pongo down by giving up - we don't have many opportunities to meet other dogs so the puppy class is his only regular formal exposure (except for doggy daycare, which he LOVES but doesn't include any 'learning'....just play play play!) But the only times I've ever seen my puppy in real distress is at these classes, and I really don't feel the gain is worth the pain (for both of us). Good to know that he's not unique and I'm not just being pathetic.
Re: That's it - I'm giving up I've just come home from puppy class and Tatze and I love it, we are working towards silver KC. BUT it is outside or in an open barn if raining - I would hate to have to do it indoors, not enough space imo. Our trainer is going to London to receive a KC award this Friday for her Good Buddy scheme for re-training aggressive dogs.
Re: That's it - I'm giving up Yes, the village hall classes do tend (widely generalising) to deservedly getting the 'could do better' award. Many years ago I was invited to join as a trainer to one that sounded just like most posts here. I lasted about three sessions I think. The lead Trainer set the tone and therein lies the problem unfortunately. Anyone can set up training classes unfortunately. But as Boogie can testify, there are good ones out there but IMHO nothing beats one to one and a good club to correct mistakes, teach technique and steady the dog. Gundog clubs tend to be pretty good, even if you don't want a working Gundog.
Re: That's it - I'm giving up [quote author=gad link=topic=5975.msg77377#msg77377 date=1400102808] Yes, the village hall classes do tend (widely generalising) to deservedly getting the 'could do better' award. Many years ago I was invited to join as a trainer to one that sounded just like most posts here. I lasted about three sessions I think. The lead Trainer set the tone and therein lies the problem unfortunately. Anyone can set up training classes unfortunately. But as Boogie can testify, there are good ones out there but IMHO nothing beats one to one and a good club to correct mistakes, teach technique and steady the dog. Gundog clubs tend to be pretty good, even if you don't want a working Gundog. [/quote] Yes I agree, I find Benson despite his show dog heritage, is really suited to gun dog training (or fun dog training as hubby calls it!) we have a superb trainer who doesn't scoff at our chunky pup, or roll his eyes at my complete inexperience. He is kind, gentle but firm with Benson. Everything he says makes sense, and Benson really is in his element, well sort of... ;D ;D
Re: That's it - I'm giving up We only did 5 of our 6 sessions, felt guilty about bunking off the last one, but we'd reached the stage where we were just going over what we'd done in previous weeks. Well, we'd practiced plenty at home and I couldn't see the point of driving several miles on unlit country roads to do what I had already done. It may sound elitist, but we are all interested and have all done research so have some idea what we are about. It is not always so, people come along to class with no idea and take up a great deal of time and attention. If we have further tuition I'd rather pay out for a 1 to 1, a trainer could observe and many suggestions appropriate for Molly and me In defence of trainers, they have to deal with whatever and whoever comes through that door and I don't think that can be easy
Re: That's it - I'm giving up We have taken our 2 older dogs through the Kennel Club Good Citizen Awards to the bronze level, they started the classes when they were both about 6 months old and they came through them fine, but as working gundogs that was as far as we went. Then they went on to field work and retrieving etc. Now with Indie we started very early at 12 weeks old and worked through to the second class which we are in at the moment, we will expect to try the Bronze award at the end of this class???, the first class was a bit of nightmare, but we did not try too hard to compete with the others in the class but used it as a complete socialisation excercise. At a younger age some puppies can cope with the Village hall experience but others cannot, some mature later than others and the control will come.
Re: That's it - I'm giving up I have been to observe different classes and you can pick up on the atmosphere straight away. The good citizenship puppy class was in a scout hall, lots of dogs and a screechy shouty trainer. Dogs were unhappy and I just wouldn't go there. The clicker class at a vets' only had 3 dogs and it was quiet and calm and purposeful with lots of training of the dog owners, so that's where I will go.
Re: That's it - I'm giving up I think a class of 15 is way to large. We tried with Lady and gave up then found another trainer who limited her class size to a maximum of 6 dogs in a hall large enough to get a big space between the dogs and that worked really well. Probably a dog temperament thing, but certainly the larger class didn't work for us, but the small one did.
Re: That's it - I'm giving up [quote author=Jane Martin link=topic=5975.msg77449#msg77449 date=1400126548] I have been to observe different classes and you can pick up on the atmosphere straight away. The good citizenship puppy class was in a scout hall, lots of dogs and a screechy shouty trainer. Dogs were unhappy and I just wouldn't go there. The clicker class at a vets' only had 3 dogs and it was quiet and calm and purposeful with lots of training of the dog owners, so that's where I will go. [/quote] Good idea Jane. Our trainer is really calm and kind. She doesn't let the dogs socialise at all - we are all there to learn! Here is my girl with her BA (bronze award) *proud*. Footnote - I no longer have the rosette, I left it on the chair arm and she found it and shredded it : :-\ ;D
Re: That's it - I'm giving up I agree that 15 sounds way too many. There were 7 at the village hall puppy classes I went to, we kept them on leads and all did the activities at the same time. For any infant teachers, it was a bit like an old fashioned PE lesson for little ones - 'find a space and see if you can....' We had a calm and kind trainer too. It sounds as if Pongo is getting the chance to socialise in other ways so there's no point in putting yourself through something unpleasant.
Re: That's it - I'm giving up Tazte is so gorgeous. Love her. One day I want a bitch just like her. If she goes missing, she's at my house (yes, in Australia) Sorry for the digression!
