So I was hoping to get some opinions on obedience training classes. I was considering putting my pup Kya in them, but there are always pros and cons to everything. I have heard good things about training classes and bad things, here is a comment I read on a yahoo answer post asking if they should choose petco or petsmart training classes. here is the "best" voted answer..
"As a professional dog trainer for over 16 years, I have to tell you my strong opinion that you AVOID these group classes for obedience training.These pet warehouses are there to get you to buy their products and hang around their strore. And their trainers are their employees...never forget they have an agenda. Most of the trainers have very little education--if they had actual training and skills they wouldn't be there making just over minimum wage--trust me on this. But even if they did have experience and talent...a group setting is a terrible place for learning to take place. It's distraction training and it is the LAST phase of training not the first. You wouldn't have your child try to do their homework in a toy store, would you? Of course not...the level of distraction would be too high! It's the same with dogs.
Having said that, these classes can be an excellent way to socialize dogs...but not to train them. And while they appear to be cheaper than a professional trainer...you have to attend many more sessions to get the same results because of the poor learning environment--so you wind up spending MORE money for less training than you would with a professional.
Save your money and go to someone who actually knows how to train dogs. OR, read books and try to train your dog yourself. There is nothing they train at a Petsmart or Petco that you can't do yourself with a couple of hours of reading."
Now what do you all think of this opinion on the dog classes? do you think this person has a point or is just blowing smoke? I ask this because I am trying to figure out the best way to train and socialize Kya, and I don't want to waist my money on classes if it wouldn't be much better then me doing it my self. I have trained my pom and she is amazing and very smart and obedient so what do you guys think? wast of money or a good investment?
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"As a professional dog trainer for over 16 years, I have to tell you my strong opinion that you AVOID these group classes for obedience training.These pet warehouses are there to get you to buy their products and hang around their strore. And their trainers are their employees...never forget they have an agenda. Most of the trainers have very little education--if they had actual training and skills they wouldn't be there making just over minimum wage--trust me on this. But even if they did have experience and talent...a group setting is a terrible place for learning to take place. It's distraction training and it is the LAST phase of training not the first. You wouldn't have your child try to do their homework in a toy store, would you? Of course not...the level of distraction would be too high! It's the same with dogs.
Having said that, these classes can be an excellent way to socialize dogs...but not to train them. And while they appear to be cheaper than a professional trainer...you have to attend many more sessions to get the same results because of the poor learning environment--so you wind up spending MORE money for less training than you would with a professional.
Save your money and go to someone who actually knows how to train dogs. OR, read books and try to train your dog yourself. There is nothing they train at a Petsmart or Petco that you can't do yourself with a couple of hours of reading."
Now what do you all think of this opinion on the dog classes? do you think this person has a point or is just blowing smoke? I ask this because I am trying to figure out the best way to train and socialize Kya, and I don't want to waist my money on classes if it wouldn't be much better then me doing it my self. I have trained my pom and she is amazing and very smart and obedient so what do you guys think? wast of money or a good investment?
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