Petco & Petsmart Puppy Obediance training ?

[lazybones18]

what do you guyz think of the petsmart or petco puppy obedience training and for puppy socialization.. anyone had any experience... petsmart is charging about $109 for a 8 hour course for 8 weeks.. 1 hour every week ....

[Amaruq]

I have never used them but if they are your ONLY option it is better than nothing. If they are your only option and you have to choose between the two I would hang out in the store and watch the classes and see if the instructor is competent. Some are pretty good, many (especially at Petsmart) have not got a clue. I think but I am not sure that PetCo requires more training of their trainers.

[mastercabman]

It's OKAY! Good place to socialize.It also depend on how good the trainer is.
I did it with Oliver and Annie and it was fun.There's only so much that a puppy can learn and beside "you" are the one training.
Good luck and have fun!

[girlll_face]

Before I joined this site, I had been planning on going to them for Belle's OB training...not so much, anymore. Most of them have...umm, limited qualifications. This training is about as basic as you can get, and teaches things that even an inexperienced owner like me can teach right at home. The most valuable thing I can see about it, is the socialization. If you want more extensive training, go to a professional with lots of experience and qualifications. It's not that much more $ than those classes, and you get a lot more for your money. Also joining a local club can be really beneficial for training/socialization.

[Calember]

I have friend that is a trainer at petsmart. She never even owned a dog before starting that job. Petsmart ran her through a couple of hour course and said she was a trainer.

Before I paid that kind of money for training I would ask how long the trainer has trained dogs. Yes you are training the dog but it would be nice to know that the trainer had more experience than a couple of hour seminar.

You only get one chance to make an impact on a pup so I would prefer to have someone that knows what they are doing work with me.

Just my thoughts.

[k9sarneko]

Like anything else out there some of their trainers are good, however most are not. I would ask their trainer what kind of experience they have and what breed of dogs they prefer. Sounds like a silly question but you dont want someone working with you and your impressionable puppy if they don't like german shepherds or are fearful of them.

I would look hard at another option if you can. There are many experienced dog clubs ect out there who would be much more informative and educational.

[slaen]

Personally I think the socialization is the only good thing about what those places offer. If you want to check out some really good dog training videos on youtube check this guy out.

http://www.youtube.com/user/eletendre1

I like a lot of his videos and it will give you a good head start.

[GSD07]

It offers distraction as well.

[cjauch]

When we adopted Trooper I wanted to make sure we kept him well socialized but also knew he needed to work on specific things. For that reason we decided to do group classes at Petsmart and private classes with trainer (who is very knowledgeable about shepherds and just amazing). Trooper and I use Petsmart as more of a time to keep him socialized and work on basics with a lot of distractions....anytime the other dogs are just running around, checking out the products in the store while the instructor is speaking, I keep him in a sit or down so we are ALWAYS working. The trainer we take classes from at Petsmart happens to be pretty good but we never would have made the progress we have without our one-on-one trainer.

[jfisher]

I totally agree with most of the people who've replied so far...

Their programs to "certify" trainers are very basic and limited, and in actuality, they spend more time teaching them how to walk through the store and recruit new puppy owners to sign up (ie. MAKE MONEY!) than anything else! I can't tell you how many times now I've been shopping with a pup and had these people come up to me and start laying it on thick about how I need to sign up for their classes EVEN after I tell them that the dog already has plans for training elsewhere. (We're training in schutzhund...and I laugh my butt off when I think of their kind of training in comparison!)

This only creates confusion in a person who is new to dog ownership in that they think they are doing the right thing for their dog and after eight weeks of classes, they have the same problems they started with and now do not know WHERE to turn!

Many times I have just sat and watched as a class was going on in one of these stores and sometimes it's just maddening that I can't go in there and correct all the mistakes being made by the "trainers" themselves! I certainly don't pretend to be a master dog trainer, but it's been my main hobby for years and I can at least pick out the major no-no's when it comes to puppy classes. (Ex: Giving commands several times, giving praise for a behavior WAAAY too late, using several different words for the same behavior) And as many times as I've watched, I have yet to see someone there that isn't making those major mistakes. Sometimes I can just see the frustration on the owners face because they just do not understand and the trainer is not properly explaining things to them.

Like others have said, I can see how it would be ok for socialization and distractions, but my main concern is what kind of negative effect it might have on impressionable young puppies.

So, it's no surprise that my advice to you would be to contact the closest obedience club to you and ask them for a reference. If you need advice on exactly how to do this, feel free to PM me and I'll help you in any way I can.

Best of luck to you!

-Jackie