Puppy training classes

[Suni Brown]

My Gwen has a LOT of energy (and she gets tons of exercise). Since she only calms down at night or when it's really hot, it's hard for me to train her. I want to take her to training classes. There is a Town and Country Kennel club that holds classes. My worry is maybe she is too energetic?? It's almost like having a child throw a fit in Wal-Mart (we all know how annoying that is). I am worried she may not know enough already to go to class (like, she hates being on lease). They have puppy classes though. Anyone have any stories about puppy training. I want to make sure I am not the only one going in with a wild one.

[Ann Albers]

Rudy took Puppy K class and loved it. He's a very social dog, not wild though. It was a great experience for him because he met a lot of new people and dogs and the socialization at a young age was great. You will find that the other dogs in the class have a wide range of personalities (some social, some shy, some not interested in playing). Luckily there was a cocker spaniel there that was on the same page as him so they played together really well. He learned sit, down, come, and stay, too! I would encourage you to give it a try!

[Renee Premaza]

Hi Suni,

Puppy class will definitely help Gwen if you're working with a positive reinforcement trainer.

I know I've seen you name before, but I am not familiar with Gwen's story. What breed is she?

Here's a few hints to use even before you attend classes:

1. Have a variety of treats on you as often as possible. Stuff them in your pockets or use a bait bag that you can buy from Petsmart.

2. Anytime you see Gwen voluntarily sit or lie down, go to her immediately, and give her a treat right there on the spot. If she's in a down position, place that treat on the floor right by her nose. Tell her "good sit" or "good down." And then walk away and watch her again. If she gets up after that, don't fret, because that will give you a whole 'nother training opportunity to reward her again when she sits or lies down. You will notice that whenever you do this, she will offer those calm behaviors much more often. This is the principle behind positive reinforcement. When you reward a behavior, that behavior will tend to increase.

3. If she is a wild "child" and gets crazy, don't punish her or holler at her. Just walk away from her or hide in the bathroom for 15 or 30 seconds. Don't reappear until she's quiet. If you're out on a walk and she gets revved up, just step on her leash giving her only enough room to sit or lie down. When she does, tell her what a good dog she is and then proceed from there. If the wild behavior is on the increase, it's only because someone or something is reinforcing that behavior. One reinforcer could even be your getting upset with her because she's still getting attention, which could be at the root of it all.

4. Make sure you're exercising your puppy enough. Sometimes taking a dog for a walk around the block once or twice a day just isn't going to cut it. You might consider not only the puppy classes, but if you can find a reputable doggy daycare in your area, taking her there once or twice a week can really make a big difference. She gets to play with other dogs all day long, and will come home really tired and happy. I've seen this have a 2 day effect on dogs I've worked with.

So... tonight when she does finally calm down on her own, get those treats stuffed in your pockets and just sit there and watch her behavior. The more you reward her for sitting and lying down, the more she'll do it.

Good luck and let us know how this goes for you :-)

My Gwen has a LOT of energy (and she gets tons of exercise). Since she only calms down at night or when it's really hot, it's hard for me to train her. I want to take her to training classes. There is a Town and Country Kennel club that holds classes. My worry is maybe she is too energetic?? It's almost like having a child throw a fit in Wal-Mart (we all know how annoying that is). I am worried she may not know enough already to go to class (like, she hates being on lease). They have puppy classes though. Anyone have any stories about puppy training. I want to make sure I am not the only one going in with a wild one.

[Dave Kersh]

As usual, Renee has given excellent advice.
I would add that you can start clicker training on your own. Start by clicking and treating over and over again. Get her to associate the click with the treat. Once she makes the connection, you can click and treat for any behavior you see her doing that you want to reinforce. It gets a bit more complicated, but you can certainly start by conditioning her to know that a click means a treat.
If you can't find a clicker in your area, a baby food jar lid works fine.
BTW, I have a 3 month old Australian Shepherd pup who is very normal; ie. bouncing off the walls. In the past three weeks, we've learned sit, chute (go through a tunnel), here, "watch me" and my favorite, "hop" (jump straight up; she was doing this when she got excited so I clicked and treated for it and she now does it on command).
When she sees that clicker, she's completely focused on me. :)

[Melissa Brunoehler]

Hi Suni~

Renee has given you awesome advice, of course. I just want to add something. Your instructor should have no problem with your pup being energetic. After all isn't that why you're at class, to learn some doggie manners? Every dog is diferent in class, if they all acted like little "angels" there wouldn't be any point in being there. Follow Renee's great advice, rewardind calm, appropriate behavior. Don't let your "wild" pup keep you from going to class. I also live in IL, depending on where you live, I might be able to recommend a trainer.

My Gwen has a LOT of energy (and she gets tons of exercise). Since she only calms down at night or when it's really hot, it's hard for me to train her. I want to take her to training classes. There is a Town and Country Kennel club that holds classes. My worry is maybe she is too energetic?? It's almost like having a child throw a fit in Wal-Mart (we all know how annoying that is). I am worried she may not know enough already to go to class (like, she hates being on lease). They have puppy classes though. Anyone have any stories about puppy training. I want to make sure I am not the only one going in with a wild one.

[Suni Brown]

Thank you all so much. It's nice to know that I am not the only one. Here is some info on Gwen and what I am doing now.......
Gwen is a 3 month old black lab. At least we think she is. She looks just like one but we rescued her from a shelter (I'm a sucker for a baby in need) at 8 weeks. She had her brother Tony there too. They were cramed into a tiny cage together. She never learned bite inhibition so that is something we are struggling with now......
I am using as much +R as I can. I sometimes have to step in (I have a 9 year old) and drag her away from him (he's scared of her and he is the one person she refuses to calm down around)) but besides that, we treat for all kinds of stuff. She has learned sit and shake, but that's where I get stuck. She is getting pretty good at "fetch" and she is starting to return the thown object for a treat (we trade) I have tried "down" (putting her in sit, than dragging the treat on the floor to get her to lay down and get it) she just chases after it. I also use "time out". When she get's extremely crazy, I calmly take her to her room for 5-10 minutes. It helps, but not a ton.
About excersize.....I have gotten more excersize this last month than ever in my lifetime. We have a small lake behind my house and she get's to run around it normally two times a day (after work). In the morning she get's to run around our property and again in the afternoon when I check on her during my lunch. It has been HOT here the last week, so when it's so hot she doesn't want to go out, we have a 20 minutes fetch session inside. We do this a lot during the day. I don't know what more I can do.
Her biggest issue is that she is a puppy. My fiance and son are not very patient so I am usually the one that had to deal with her (did I say Usually?? I meant almost all the time).....I honestly don't think any of my frustration is her fault. It's the humans in my life!! I am going to start the classes as soon as I can. Thanks for listening everyone. It helps a lot!!!!

[Renee]

My fiance and son are not very patient so I am usually the one that had to deal with her (did I say Usually?? I meant almost all the time)....

Hi Suni-

I really understand where you are coming from. While my husband does have a great deal of patience, he is really not into the responsibilities of having a dog. So it's pretty much the Renee show when it comes to taking care of our dog (which I don't mind one bit). And believe me, she is not any easy dog to take care of. I call her my project dog because of all the work I've had to do with her and her behaivoral problems.

My husband is very used to cats, so this dog thing has been a new experience for him. It has been a very long process of training my huband to train the dog. I saw my husband making so many mistakes and it really frustrated me. I felt like he was undoing all my training. Sometimes, I have to take a step back, realize that he is human, and then I try to show him how to do something better without ruining his fun or being overbearing (which I think I did a little bit of in the beginning).

It's funny....if my husband and I are in the room with the dog, she pays attention to me and not him. This is his #1 complaint. I just tell him that if he put in the time with her that I have, and worked on the amount of focused attention exercises that I have, then she would pay attention to him... Can't have your cake and eat it too buddy...

If you are feeling frustrated, don't worry....You are not alone in your feelings.

[Suni Brown]

I also live in IL, depending on where you live, I might be able to recommend a trainer
I am in Bloomington/Normal Illinois. Know anyone??

[Melissa Brunoehler]

I am in Bloomington/Normal Illinois. Know anyone??


No Sorry, I'm further North. Here's a site that has +R trainers
http://www.acabn.com/canine.html

You can also try www.APDT.com- just make sure you interview, they're not all +R.

[Renee]

You can also try this...

http://www.iaabc.org/c_locator_dogs_nc.ht m

[Chris Smith]

I took my puppy to a +R puppy manners class when he was about 5 months old. The puppy's in the class were very different - some were scared and never moved away from their owners, some socialized a little but basically listened to their owners and sat near them, some wanted to play and pull on their leashed the whole time and never listen to their owners, and some barked and whined and cried the whole time. All types.

My dog was and still is pretty wild and he is almost 10 months old now. He has TONS of energy and is extremely hard to tire out even with long off leash trail runs, swimming, tons of fetch, etc. He was definitiely one of the "wilder" ones in my class.

But, he did great, learned several things and the class was well worth it. He is now in another manners class and doing well with it. I think almost all dogs can benefit from +R training classes.