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question for people who've ever taken their dog/puppy to a training school...

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in General Chat
...for those of you that have ever used a training/obediance school, i have a few questions as im thinking of going into this kind of work:

* Why did you take your animal there?
* What impressed u most? methods used that were effective? Things you didnt like?
* How much did it cost you?

Also, what would u look for in a dog trainer???
thanx

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    SkiveSkive Posts: 15,286 Skive's The Limit
    Fuck that.

    Train it yourself.
    Weekender Offender 
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    We took our dog because he is useless. He is still useless.

    Nothing actually worked on him, so in my eyes, it's a bit of a risky business

    I know we paid about £40, but I don't know what that was for (i.e a lesson, a course of lessons etc)
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    what was the 'problem' (or issue) with your dog, if you dont mind me asking? and what did they do to try to rectify the situation??
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    Indrid ColdIndrid Cold Posts: 16,688 Skive's The Limit
    Be careful who you take the dog to, becuase I've heard sometimes they "train" the dogs by hitting them fiercely. My uncle's neighbour took his dog for training once and when he came back home he was biting anyone that approached him (the dog, not the neighbour).
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    oh my god, i cant believe that!!! did he take him to a qualified trainer, or did they jsut say they were??? poor dog!!
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    Indrid ColdIndrid Cold Posts: 16,688 Skive's The Limit
    sugar_mouse wrote:
    oh my god, i cant believe that!!! did he take him to a qualified trainer, or did they jsut say they were??? poor dog!!
    I don't remember the whole story, just that. They were probably unqualified, but undiscovered. So be careful in any case.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    we took our dog to dog training classes. she wasnt particularly bad, we'd taught her things like sit and stay and obviously toilet trained her but she didnt walk that well on the lead when we were out and also we wanted her to have some more interaction with other dogs so she was comfortable around them. also we wanted to make sure she'd be ok when we let her off the lead - that she'd come back to us and be ok with other dogs that might be around.

    we chose the dog training school because a neighbour of ours ran it and had lots of experience with dogs. it was actually really good, there were about 10 dogs per class and every week we were taught different exercises, starting of with simple sit and stays on the lead and progressing to doing work off the lead. the trainer had a dog which she demonstrated with and she came round and helped us individually. she also taught us a lot of things about good ways to reward dogs, the sort of things you should give them, when you should give them treats etc. and also about punishment, good methods that werent too harsh etc.

    im not sure how much it cost actually... not much though i dont think.. £3.50 a week maybe...
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The place I went to was very clicky (ciquey) so I left it.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    We take our two every week. With the greyhound, it was because we wanted her to get used to other dogs, and so she'd come back if we let her off the lead (if she saw a rabbit or something). With Millie, it was because she's terrible on the lead, and needs some kind of mental stimulation. She also refuses to do DOWN. It's kinda annoying.

    Our trainers are really good, and for £2 a session, I think it's pretty good. We had to pay a registration fee (can't remember how much), but other than that, it's only £2 a time.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    My boyfriend's dog got expelled from school, as all he wanted to do was play with the other dogs. But they picked up enough tips on how to train him, plus he knew all the basics so it was not to bad. He only problem is that you sometimes have to tell him twice to do something, as he is a bit stuborn, but that is a trate of the Irish setter.

    Like when he is off his lead and you want him to come back when you first cal him he will stop and turn round and look at you as if to say and why should I came back to you, so we just pretend that we have someting fun to play with and call him again and he comes back we make a big fuss of him and its fine.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I've been working in a animal rescue and rehoming centre for 3 years now and have seen lots of dogs given up through lack of training, anything from people not being able to cope with puppy behaviour to a dog not being toilet trained. So for eveyone who takes their dogs to training to try and resolve certain porblems I want to say "Thank YOU" so many people give up too easily! Where I work we have a non distruction policy so we have cats that have been there for 5 years looking for a new home and we still try to find that for them 7 days a week.We also have a number of dogs with behavioural problems due to people not putting the effort in to try and sort it out from when the dog was younger. Anyway from what i've learnt and seen in the past 3 years I would recommend that if you haven't had any experience in the dog training field that you start off by attending some classes and just observe. I did that before and found it really useful, what would be ideal is if you could become a professional dog trainers assistant to start off with and then just gain experience from there.I've met a few dogs trainers who I've worked with and it is hard work and it can take many years to build a good repuatuion so if you decide to do this you got to be in it for the long haul. There is a programme called "Me or the dog" i think it's on channel 4 the dog behaviourist on there i personally find her way of thinking really good so you may want to watch that sometime and see what you think. :)
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    victoria stilwell - yes i liked her methods. everything she said ive done in theory at uni.
    Apaarently though i have to spend an extra 3 years in education doing an accredditation, so im not so sure now!
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I took my pup to puppy training and it was excellent. Convenient time (saturday mornings for an hour) £25 for 8 weeks, and the girl that did it was really good, she did animal behaviour and does shows with her dogs and stuff like that.

    I thought it was well worth it, my puppy learned a lot and so did i. She explained our dogs' behaviour and why we should do the things we were advised to. And at the end of each session the pups got some time to all have a play together which was good.
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