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jessac · 01-09-2013, 11:20 AM

So last night was Fleury's first puppy class. We tried to get there early because I knew he would need to sniff out the place, but even with 10 minutes before class, all the other pups and parents were there already, seated nicely in their chairs. We came in and sat down and ohmygoodness the talking. There was so much talking! I'm hoping there is less talking, more training next week. This week we covered how to use a clicker/marker word and two commands - sit and go to your mat. And she had us practice sit forever..... Oh, Fleury was bored to tears (as was I). And so he would try and start sniffing. She came over and said if he's sniffing he's probably had enough...no kidding. She mentioned to another student that if they did really well, she would teach them how to have their dog "high 5" - a trick Fleury learned in about 5 minutes two weeks ago.

Also, she had us not using words yet with the commands. Had us train in silence just using our marker. I praise him a lot when he gets things, so I think that training in silence was a little boring too, at least for me I certainly was less excited.

I will try and wear him out even more next week as he was the most fidgety dog in class. She was using him as the demo dog at first, to teach others how to lure a sit. He did great, but then he kept sitting for her and she stopped treating him for it and continued to lecture and he just was getting frustrated. He loved all the people, but was a little unsure of the other dogs. He started to sniff them and they would get all hyper and it would scare him a bit it seemed and run away, but he kept coming back to them to try again so I'm hoping we'll make progress as the weeks go by. He was good with the one Golden we sat near though. Sniffed her nicely and calmly.

I'm hoping he gets more social with the other dogs as the class progresses (which I'll be honest the socialization and focus with distractions was really the reason for us taking it - he knows the commands they will teach already). Is it normal for GSDs to be wary of new dogs and not all hyper puppy? Will his fearful behavior get better as he gets more exposure to them? Anything I can do to help that? (We only know a few folks with dogs here and the owners have told me that they aren't up to date on shots and one is bad with small dogs and puppies...)

01-09-2013, 11:20 AM	#1 (permalink)
jessac Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 265	fleury's first puppy class So last night was Fleury's first puppy class. We tried to get there early because I knew he would need to sniff out the place, but even with 10 minutes before class, all the other pups and parents were there already, seated nicely in their chairs. We came in and sat down and ohmygoodness the talking. There was so much talking! I'm hoping there is less talking, more training next week. This week we covered how to use a clicker/marker word and two commands - sit and go to your mat. And she had us practice sit forever..... Oh, Fleury was bored to tears (as was I). And so he would try and start sniffing. She came over and said if he's sniffing he's probably had enough...no kidding. She mentioned to another student that if they did really well, she would teach them how to have their dog "high 5" - a trick Fleury learned in about 5 minutes two weeks ago. Also, she had us not using words yet with the commands. Had us train in silence just using our marker. I praise him a lot when he gets things, so I think that training in silence was a little boring too, at least for me I certainly was less excited. I will try and wear him out even more next week as he was the most fidgety dog in class. She was using him as the demo dog at first, to teach others how to lure a sit. He did great, but then he kept sitting for her and she stopped treating him for it and continued to lecture and he just was getting frustrated. He loved all the people, but was a little unsure of the other dogs. He started to sniff them and they would get all hyper and it would scare him a bit it seemed and run away, but he kept coming back to them to try again so I'm hoping we'll make progress as the weeks go by. He was good with the one Golden we sat near though. Sniffed her nicely and calmly. I'm hoping he gets more social with the other dogs as the class progresses (which I'll be honest the socialization and focus with distractions was really the reason for us taking it - he knows the commands they will teach already). Is it normal for GSDs to be wary of new dogs and not all hyper puppy? Will his fearful behavior get better as he gets more exposure to them? Anything I can do to help that? (We only know a few folks with dogs here and the owners have told me that they aren't up to date on shots and one is bad with small dogs and puppies...)