[x11]

paid $100/pup to go to a puppy class, trying to do all the right things. i know my pups are a little bit wild, i mentioned this to the trainer running it, she asked me if they have been socialised, it's a puppy class???

after 30 minutes of listening all about products to buy for the pup and how all our pups should be on science diet becuase it is the best and then a lecture on why we should book our pups in for spay neueter like right now before we leave that day??? i said i had concerns about chronic incontinence spaying a 8/10wo pup, bad question to ask - i am causing my dog cancer by not spaying her at 10 weeks???

anyhoo when we finally got thru the product sell we were to let our puppies meet each other after they had all been tethered to our seats and gone thru the whole curiosity phase and were now all asleep from boredom - the deal was we all stand there with hands in pockets let the pups all loose and under no circumstances are we to pick up or pet or acknowledge any pup no matter what happens in order for them to gain confidence and not rely on the owner for comfort protection etc.

i did not think was a good idea knowing my pups - it went bad as my pups are like wolf-cubs, snarly gaurding horrible little things and the other pups were all gsd's, my pups have been around a large male gsd from since when they were born and are all over him playing tug, wrestling etc every day. the other pups had never seen another dog since they were taken from their litters from 5 - 8weeks old.

i could not stand what i was seeing so i picked my pups up and removed them and threw them in the truck - the trainer in the middle of it was just yelling "we need some calming energy....don't pick up yr pups...." over and over, what a mess.

i am sure some pups just developed some serious issues they will have permanetly imprinted on them.

is this normal for puppy classes?? should i have put my hands in my pockets and just let my pups traumatise and cruel other people's puppies??

 

[mego]

My puppy class I go to has us ignore spats between the young pups too, but none get super intense, sometimes some get too bitey and another dog will yelp and that is all the correction they needed. If yours are being too mean I think it's understandable what you did, but I do think they will NOT learn how to play gently until you let them roughhouse and make mistakes upsetting other puppies and realizing too rough ends the game, and it's better to do that while young. If you continue to pull them away from dogs while young it will make it much worse when they're larger

I dont like the sound of the other aspects of your class though, also if you were concerned about your puppies being too rough the trainer shouldnt say "no matter what happens dont interfere" they should address your concerns and offer constructive help, maybe a different kind of socializing for your guys

 

[sitstay]

To be honest, I think the first red flag was the class instructor letting one person bring two puppies to the same class.

Not all puppy classes are created equally. Puppy classes are, generally speaking, a good idea. But your class in particular does not sound like the best example. Rather than decide they are all bad news, try a different class with a better instructor.
Sheilah

 

[ken k]

my 2 cents on puppy socialization, they dont need it, it really does not do alot from my point of view, others will say it gets them used to greeting other dogs, I would rather train them to ignore other dogs, less problems, best way I can put it is how many people in your life time have you encountered that you instantly did not like? dogs would be the same, except hackles would go up, teeth shown, barking and growling, lunging, having trained both ways, i`m a firm believer now in training to ignore them, I can and have walked anyone of my 3 past a growling snarling dog, and no reaction from any of mine , but like I said, this is my experience

 

[llombardo]

Well...the part about the food and spay/neuter has never happened to me. All of my trainers either feed really high end kibble or raw. They also wait to spay/neuter if at all. In the puppy class, my puppy was allowed to play at the end of the class, it was 5 minutes. My puppy was 13 weeks at the time and there was only one other other puppy that was like 6 months and GSD mix. My puppy did well with that puppy and held her own quite nicely. I think if there were smaller pups in the class I might have had the same problem, because GSD's play rough right out of the womb...I think

 

[llombardo]

Oh and it might be a good idea to take your pups separately so they don't feed off of each other and gang up on other dogs.

 

[x11]

All of my trainers either feed really high end kibble or raw.

most gov agencies and vets think science diet IS the highest end kibble you can get??

like the idea of taking one pup at a time, it is a 4 week course for $100/per pup that is two sessions ....just sayin. good idea tho

i have always found gsd pups to be the most timid and needy??? my new pups are not gsd's.

 

[llombardo]

most gov agencies and vets think science diet IS the highest end kibble you can get??

like the idea of taking one pup at a time, it is a 4 week course for $100/per pup that is two sessions ....just sayin. good idea tho

i have always found gsd pups to be the most timid and needy??? my new pups are not gsd's.

I think there are lots of vets out there that think that, but I have never ran into it. They are happy with my dogs eating Fromm and recommended I didn't switch the food. I know the training is expensive, but unless you belong to some kind of club that gives discounts I don't know if it will ever get much cheaper. What kind of pups are your new ones?

 

[RocketDog]

I think the window of socialization closes just as puppies get to start classes. I think they're a good idea for teaching people how to start training their puppies, and I think Ken is right about teaching them to ignore other dogs.

Personally it doesn't sound to me at all like a puppy class I would EVER want to take, and definitely not the way the puppy "kindergarten" I took mine to was run. We were definitely careful to match pups together and only if they seemed ok to introduce more, depending on age, and the instructors didn't even go into food or speutering. It was about teaching focus and starting basic things.

 

[x11]

What kind of pups are your new ones?

annoying ones....jk.

let me get some vids up to show you.

 

[Cassidy's Mom]

is this normal for puppy classes?? should i have put my hands in my pockets and just let my pups traumatise and cruel other people's puppies??

No, and no. You also shouldn't have gotten a lecture on food or speutering, that's really not the trainer's business and apparently also not their area of expertise.

 

[Galathiel]

I don't think I could have hacked that class. When I went to puppy class (and will again when I have my new pup..hopefully class times will work out in my favor), it was more of a beginning to obedience, with you mainly interacting with your pup and the trainer helping. Socialization was like llombardo's experience, maybe 5 minutes at the end. My pup was very confident, and not at all fazed by the pups bouncing around him, most of which were little breed dogs. I just wanted him to get used to being near other dogs and people and for it not to bother him. It didn't, so it worked out great for us.

 

[onyx'girl]

I never did puppy class, but did a puppy social time with a newly opened local pet store(disaster!) The person running it was a Cesar Milan wanna be....I contacted the pet store owner to let them know if that continued at their place, it would not benefit their reputation. He took my advice.

If you have a working breed that isn't the same as the other pups yours are trying to 'socialize' with, it doesn't work...completely different play style.
I would have walked out of the one x11 went to. My time is too valuable than to listen to that.

 

[JakodaCD OA]

I would have walked out and not looked back..

I do agree taking one at a time.

The first thing that would have left a bad taste with me was the Science Diet and s/n lecture..

Sounds like ya found a real idiot trainer there

 

[sparra]

No, and no. You also shouldn't have gotten a lecture on food or speutering, that's really not the trainer's business and apparently also not their area of expertise.

It depends....most...if not all.....the puppy classes over here are run by Vet clinics and taken by vet nurses or vets. If you take a puppy class run by a vet clinic expect all the info on products, desexing, nutrition.....if you don't want any of that you may have to find one not run by a vet clinic.

 

[FlyAway]

That is totally weird. The puppy classes at our club are nothing like that. In a one hour class we work on a our basic obedience exercises, there's a 10 minute break in the middle, and at the end a 10 minute sit down where the instructor will talk about health care things. Some of the things I remember are brushing teeth, taking a pulse, clipping nails, stuff like that. Also that end time is also used to answer questions about problems.

And the entire first class is without the puppies and only about equipment and Q&A. There is no puppy play time. There is a "pass the puppy" around the circle. Some puppies are too timid and get to sit out on this exercise.

Everything is fun for the puppies in our class. And on the last class we have puppy races (recalls) which is fun because 2 go at once and sometimes the puppy will run to the other owner. LOL! Musical puppy sits, like musical chairs except the last puppy to sit and hold it is "out". And one one of the sessions there is puppy agility equipment.

Socialization doesn't mean the puppies have to play with each other. Just being in the same space and observing non-threatening people and puppies is good socialization.

I'm sorry you had to go through this and to pay $100!

 

[x11]

I would have walked out and not looked back..

done did it, i don't like coming across as a know it all or know better type person so gave the pro the benefit of the doubt until my thresholds got exceeded, if i had a stronger personality i would not have let it get that far. personally tho i would not go as far as calling someone else a "real idiot" that gets a bit subjective imo, different perspectives on training sure, do things i was not comfortale with sure, real idiot - i would not go that far myself.

the other folks there had absolutely no idea about raising a dog and altho most here would disagree with the science diet, the product sell and the spay neuter of baby puppies, it is kind of the mainstream view and a view backed by the majority of most mainstream vets as sparra mentioned so "real idiot"??

 

[x11]

I'm sorry you had to go through this and to pay $100!

err $100 per pup...not complaining just sayin.

 

[Cassidy's Mom]

Was this awhile ago? I saw the "puppies" were born in October 2011. :thinking: How old were they when they were in the class?

 

[Sunflowers]

err $100 per pup...not complaining just sayin.

Yikes... that could have bought some really nice steak for all of you.

Disturbing, how many idiot trainers are out there, ruining people's dogs.