[Mitter99]

We will be adding a puppy in the next year hopefully and we like to get our puppies into group classes starting young, to get them used to being around other dogs and people. We did not live in the area when our older dog was a puppy/young adult, so we are not familiar with trainers. We live in a town near Rochester NY and are willing to drive for good classes. We would like to start checking out trainers prior to getting our pup Any recommendations? Thank you.

 

[vomlittlehaus]

I have several:
Echo Ridge Enterprises : Trish does competition training (AKC, SchH)
Empire Working Dog Club : the training director, Debbie Zappia, does SchH training and I think she is now offering obedience training at her new house.
Pet Dog Training By Pat : Pat competes in AKC and SchH. She will train at your home and do problem solving
Welcome to Boomtowne A Full Service Canine Campus : This is a nice facility. Pat even holds training there sometimes. The do have several trainers and classes.
Dog Obedience Training Club of Rochester NY - Home : Dog Obedience Training Club of Rochester, they hold trails there and lots of training classes.
Jane Jackson is another fantastic trainer but I dont have a website for her.

 

[Melgrj7]

Bob Minchella Bob Minchella: Dog Behavior Consultant

 

[holland]

www.puppyclass.net -akc obedience and rally

 

[VomBlack]

I second Bob Minchella, Odin and I are currently taking an advanced class with him and he's been fun to work with.

 

[Melgrj7]

I second Bob Minchella, Odin and I are currently taking an advanced class with him and he's been fun to work with.

Oh cool, which day are you in class? I wonder if we've met before and not known it, lol. (I work at dogs at play and sometimes assist bob, during the week Nash is in a crate in the little room in the front when you first walk in)

 

[VomBlack]

Whoops, we're in the monday night advanced class.. I think i've seen you and your dog, you stopped in this week, right?

 

[Smithie86]

Debbie. Hands down. No one can touch her level and understanding in that area.

 

[K9SHOUSE]

Debbie Z, Denali or Pat B would be good choices that were listed already. DOTCORNY depends on the instructor you get; but for puppy not a big deal.

Bob M, I took a basic obedience class with at Lollypop Farms for one of my fosters. I don't know if it was him or Lollypop. 15+ dogs in a room, 2 assistants to help him, handlers plus their family members/kids (30 or so) against the wall facing in. I personally was stressed in the enviroment. Most of the dogs were too. If this was a higher level class where people had control over their dogs, no issue. That many people, out of control/ lunging dogs and Bob's remedy of choke collar jerks/picking an aggressive dog up using a choke was not my cup of tea.

I personally have obedience trained my own dogs with Pat Werner and Jodi Piacelli. Both run small classes, offer lots of individual attention and are right on about the dogs. Plus they both have a sense of humor about the funny things that happen at classes (like your dog pees on another dog). When I've had foster dogs that needed extra help or families that had a mandatory obedience clause in their adoption contract both were great. I've used Jodi to assist in evaluations of dogs that I was iffy about pulling or if there was something that I couldn't put my finger on and needed more input. Jodi also does pet sitting if that is something you will need in the future. I use her for that and she is one of the few people that Dakota will let in the door.

Dog training in Rochester,New York Pat

Home: Dogs at Your Feet Jodi

 

[Melgrj7]

Whoops, we're in the monday night advanced class.. I think i've seen you and your dog, you stopped in this week, right?

Probably, I stop in often to say hi to Bob. I always close on monday nights and since I have to go into the 2nd building to grab Nash man I say hi to Bob lots of nights

 

[Melgrj7]

Bob M, I took a basic obedience class with at Lollypop Farms for one of my fosters. I don't know if it was him or Lollypop. 15+ dogs in a room, 2 assistants to help him, handlers plus their family members/kids (30 or so) against the wall facing in. I personally was stressed in the enviroment. Most of the dogs were too. If this was a higher level class where people had control over their dogs, no issue. That many people, out of control/ lunging dogs and Bob's remedy of choke collar jerks/picking an aggressive dog up using a choke was not my cup of tea.

Where bob is training now there are usually 10 or less dogs per class, unless someone is there to make up a missed class from another night. The room is bigger than the lollypop room was. Bob is also less stressed/burnt out because he is not teaching classes 6 days a week. He also never recommends choke collars, so I'm not sure how long ago you took a class with him? His training has changed and evolved from when my parents used him when i was a child.

 

[K9SHOUSE]

Where bob is training now there are usually 10 or less dogs per class, unless someone is there to make up a missed class from another night. The room is bigger than the lollypop room was. Bob is also less stressed/burnt out because he is not teaching classes 6 days a week. He also never recommends choke collars, so I'm not sure how long ago you took a class with him? His training has changed and evolved from when my parents used him when i was a child.

I'm glad Bob is less stressed now and I sincerely hope his methods have changed. I really hope what I saw was the exception. I liked his jovial manner and his quirky jokes during class. I took the class with him in the Fall of 2002 so this wasn't the 80's when chokes were popular or trainers didn't know about positive training methods. I don't know if at the time he "recommended" choke collars or not but this dog (a medium sized bully breed mix) was wearing one and he wasn't stopping the owner from using it during the class or chosing not to use it himself. Also he didn't just lift the dog up onto his back legs via the choke, he picked him up off the ground and held him a couple of seconds in the air dangling from the choke squirming. This was also the dog's first night in class. The other thing I didn't add in the original post was that this choked out dog was dog aggressive which Bob announced in the beginning of class to everyone so that we would be aware if our dogs got near this dog. Yes, I realize that you need to rehab dog-aggressive dogs near other dogs. Those other dogs being under control, well trained and having a known temperament. However, doing it in the room I described which was highly stressful and distracting to dogs without behavior issues and in a room full of people (mostly new to average dog owners and kids!) who recently adopted their dogs from the shelter was an extremely bad decision and potentially dangerous. If Bob was some 20-something kid that just graduated from dog training school then I would have cut him some slack but he's been training dogs for a looooong time and should have known better.

I'm not against what some would consider "harsher" training methods. I believe dog on dog aggression is one of the hardest if not the hardest behavior to modify or extinquish. I can understand why trainers or owners can become easily frustrated and take the quick fix of stopping the behavior forcefully for that moment. But training a dog goes beyond that. I believe you should base your decision on what is appropriate for the dog's age, breed and their previous reactions to other less restrictive corrections; either in that training session or over more time. You should also examine the dog's history (if known) before you attempt any major behavior modifications that involve aversive punishment techniques applied physically. When you do apply punishment procedures you also need to reinforce the outcomes you desire and have the dog in an appropriate physical environment for these to be applied. Finally, you need to examine and reduce or eliminate the other variables or influences in play you are competing with before you apply your intervention.