Petco Training

JellybeanPlant

So my puppy is going to his first class at Petco tomorrow night. I have already met the trainer and I really like her so far. I'm excited to be taking him, I just hope he doesn't do too badly! He's pretty good with some basic commands, although some of them not so much when he doesn't feel like listening, and he can "shake", "high-five", and "speak" like a pro (I think those are his favorite), but when he is around a distraction as great as other puppies I think he tends to forget I exist... So we'll see how it goes.

So I'm wondering if anyone else has done a training class at Petco or anything similar and what your experience was with that?

pawzaddict

I did petsmart training and my trainer happened to be a great one, tho he occasionally did teach a correction but not a physical one, he used "eh" or "uh uh" too often instead of ignoring the bad behavior (like pulling on the lead) and only rewarding the good behavior. I started to use "uh uh" too often and sometimes right as my dog was switching from bad behavior to good. As long as you go in and dont let the trainer make you do something you dont feel comfy doing I think its good, especially to teach your dog with distractions and to socialize them!

pawsitiveside

I've heard good things about the puppy classes, but mixed reviews on the obedience classes. Don't worry about how well your pup will do. Every dog learns at his or her own pace. The first lesson is always the most challenging. Everything afterward should be a bit easier.

I'm proud of you for having met the trainer before you signed up for the class. A lot of people skip this step and end up with an instructor they don't feel comfortable with. I'm glad you met her, liked her and signed up your precious pup. I'm sure it'll be a good experience for all of ya. However, keep in mind what Pawz said "dont let the trainer make you do something you dont feel comfy" because that is very good advice!

Let us know how it goes!

fawkese1

great advice i'm sure that you will both do just fine, and like the others said, YOU are paying the trainer here, you get to call the shots with your dog (lol, just remember that ultimately YOU have to live with the results of class ) don't do anything you don't feel comfortable with AND don't be afraid to ask questions or clarify instructions...

JellybeanPlant

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate all the advice and I will definitely keep that in mind when we go tonight. I certainly won't do anything that I don't feel comfortable with or that I don't feel is right for my puppy.

Thank you! Yeah I definitely would have had a hard time with it if I ended up with a trainer that I didn't feel good about. I had had thoughts previously about getting him into the class but I think that's one of the reasons I had been putting it off. But then I had him in there for playtime a couple weeks ago and I met the trainer and was talking to her for a while and that's when I really decided that I should go ahead and get him signed up.

Overall I think the best thing about it is going to be the extra socialization and hopefully getting him to be able to listen to my commands even with other dogs around, but I'm also eager to see if there's anything I could improve upon in the way I've been training him so far. I'll let you all know how it went after we get back tonight.