[alundy]

I'm just posting this as my experience and perhaps for others to consider if you're looking to go to puppy classes. When we brought our 4-month old home from a shelter, I wanted to get her in puppy class ASAP so I signed up for Petsmart training since it started at a convenient time. What a waste of money it was for us. I'm sure it depends on the individual trainers, but ours sounded like she had been sent to a 3 day seminar on dog training, and that's all she had to offer. The basics were well taught, but most people who go to training don't really need help learning 'sit'. When people asked specific questions, she gave generic answers that were usually of no help.

Halfway through that 8-week program, I called a private trainer and she invited me to sit in on a class. What a difference! She addressed each dog individually. She realized that some techniques don't work with certain dogs, and always had a secondary method to try based on the dog's reaction. She has over 20 years experience and also offers programs to rehabilitate problem dogs so her advice is not limited to what the 'ideal dog' should do. Her class is $180 versus $110 at Petsmart, and the difference is unbelievable....

Point of my story is - ask to sit in on a training class so you can see if the trainer's style and experience suits you. I wish I had!!

[all4thedogs]

I agree! I really prefer a private trainer over Petsmart. I used a wonderful trainer for my Great Dane, and what difference it has made. He is very well behaved, well rounded, socialized and really an all around good boy. I have seen the products of Petsmart trained dogs, and havent been pleased with many. Petsmarts trainers do vary, and I have heard of some good ones, but they sure arent in my area!

[Amalena]

My puppy is actually at week 5 of 8 at Petsmart puppy class. It's not quite what I expected but it's not bad either. When I called to inquire on the classes I asked about the trainner and they said that locations trainner trained all the dog trainers for Petsmart in the area.

At the first class they had someone from another store about 3 hours away as her assistant learning. Even by the end of the assistants training (first 3 classes/weeks) the assistant trainner wasn't very good at all. It costed $100and I think it was worth it to get her started to listen and help us learn how to train her.

We may try a different trainning program for her advanced training but I think we started off on the right paw.