well unless your planning on doing schutzhund or 'world standard' whatever,,AKC obedience classes are just fine .

You want an obedient dog correct? Stick with the obedience training you've chosen, if you don't like it, there are always tons of obed instructors out there..

Right now, socializing, teaching the basics , would be my goals.

 

well unless your planning on doing schutzhund or 'world standard' whatever,,AKC obedience classes are just fine .

You want an obedient dog correct? Stick with the obedience training you've chosen, if you don't like it, there are always tons of obed instructors out there..

Right now, socializing, teaching the basics , would be my goals.

Thank you.
Yes, I want an obedient dog. I'm not flying around the world, jogging with my dog around a track.

The first module of classes, is an 8 week "puppy class"
The classes also include socialization, and special "puppy time" with other pups her age.
The trainer has 30 years experience, and comes highly recommended. The school is a large indoor / outdoor training facility.
Classes would be every Sunday at 5pm for beginner puppy.

 

sounds good I"d go with it)

 

Sent you a PM with a link to the school.

I didn't want to post it publicly, without permission.

 

If you are interested in doing Schutzhund, then regular puppy obedience can be counter productive. In Schutzhund, people want to bring out the puppy's drives and use them for enthusiastic, sparkly obedience that looks good on the field.

But like Diane said, if you just want to start out on the right foot and teach basic puppy manners, then a regular puppy class, followed with obedience classes that are geared towards AKC obedience will be just fine.

 

First off, Kira is so cute!!

As long as that school you picked don't use compulsive training, it's all cool. :thumbup:

 

Sounds like the kind of training I would go to

 

There's no reason you can't post a link to the training school's website, people do that all the time.

And there is nothing wrong with AKC obedience, nor is there any reason you HAVE to do Schutzhund with your puppy if you're not interested! I have a German showline dog and a working line dog who have Schutzhund titled parents, but it's not something I'm into. Basic OB classes (if you stick to it and do your homework between classes) will get you an obedient family companion.

 

I feel that obedience training is more important for my family.

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with AKC obedience training!!!

If you have goals for competition, either schtzund or AKC (CKC if you are in Canada) obedience titles - then pet puppy class CAN be counterproductive...CAN BE!!! Even if you want to do schutzhund down the road, you can get a good foundation as long as the trainer you work with understands you don't want to lay of foundation of incorrect positioning, squashing drive and slow work...I have done alot of my foundation work on all my Schutzhund titled dogs with AKC competition training.

If you want a well behaved pet who listens, and do not care about competition (warning - you may well enjoy training and decide to do some titles for fun!) then you are not going to ruin your dog.

Have fun!

Lee

 

The others know far more than I but the one thing I am not too keen on is puppy free play time. Depending on age and maturity differences between puppies.

How much is enough or too much IF your goal is a dog/neutral dog? One who is confident around strange dogs but not so interested in playing with them?

 

got your pm, but the link isn't working(

And I tend to agree with Nancy on the free for all puppy time..some dog great with it, mine did not

I've told this story before, but Masi's puppy class was more of a disaester than positive..Trainer had to many students, to many unruly dogs (yes dogs as well as puppies), owners that let their dogs do 'whatever'..Masi minded her own business, and unfortunately constantly was "jumped" by bigger unruly dogs,,this was during class time not play time It was a chore every week, and I should have pulled her out sooner than I did, but by the time I DID pull her,,she was then going into 'defense' mode when dogs came near her Alot of time reworking that reactiveness, and tho she doesn't like strange dogs in her face or really wants to interact with them, she is happy to ignore them..

In the end, don't let other dogs / puppies bully your puppy, if it doesn't feel right, remove them from the situation..go with your gut instinct

 

A lot of puppy classes do not have free-for-all though. Ours did a pass the puppy where all the owners sat in a circle and puppies were passed from owner to owner until all the puppies were back to their owner. Each owner would pet and talk to and maybe give a treat to each puppy.

Puppy free for all, might make sense if you want to go to dog parks or put the dog in doggy day care. I dunno. I never experienced it.

 

I easily could have misinterpreted puppy time. I didn't get a full description of how they go about this.

But thanks for the forewarning anyway. it's something good to know.

 

Our puppy classes were almost entirely off leash. There was playtime interspersed with teaching sits and downs and such, and we used that as part of the training. We'd do recalls from play and then release to go play again, we'd go to our puppy and ask for a sit, give a treat, and then release to play, etc. But our classes were not a free for all, we were all instructed to steer the more boisterous puppies away from the less confident ones so it was all very controlled and there was no bullying allowed.

 

I have a REAL STUPID question.....

I dug a bit further into the school, and see that they do a lot of agility training, obstacle course - type stuff.
Even though I have a shepherd from a "showline", and not a workline, can she actually perform at that level of training?
Please don't laugh... The obvious answer is in my head
It's the not so obvious that concerns me

 

You know you can probably do anything with your dog you and her and the family enjoy. If you are thinking of serious levels of competition you get a dog bred for that kind of work. If you want to have fun, relax, have fun! I would guess it is going to be more about the individual dog than just the lines.

 

again agree with Jamie, you can do ANYTHING and try anything! Agility is alot of fun, but must warn you its addicting)

I have a good friend who does agility, pretty darn well, with her showlines

 

what do you have planned for your
dogs future? i would go to a class
they meets my goals for my pups
future. as far as door dashing you have
to train your dog not to leave the house
when the door is open or when the door
is propped open and there's distractions
all around. you also want to teach your dog
not to exit the car without a command.

 

Good question.

My dog's future is simply to be a well domesticated dog, with a friendly personality, and strong communication skills. I want her to LISTEN, and OBEY, first and foremost.
I'm not too concerned about the cute tricks, but I want strong obedience skills.
I do NOT want her to be aggressive with family, friends, and neighbors or other dogs.
I want her to be manageable by my children. I want her to heel on a leash, for myself and any family member. I want my children to be able to wok her, and not be concerned that she'll drag them down the street chasing another dog.

 

Then go with the AKC obedience- is it a STAR Puppy class? There's puppy on puppy action in that program but it's not the free for all like some are. You should continue on the basic obedience, get a CGC and you're good to go on to anything you might find fun- like agility, rally, herding. Or not.