[alaskayorkie]

Originally Posted by Gracie2006

IMHO, there are two reasons to take a puppy to obedience school. First, is to teach the human how to train the puppy and how to speak to the puppy in a language it can understand. Second is to give the puppy an opportunity to socialize with other dogs in a safe environment. I think the value in obedience school depends on how experienced, comfortable and successful you have been with training a dog in the past. Puppy school lesson #1:
Puppies don't fail. It is the humans that fail their puppies!

I couldn't agree more. I learn during class. Eddie learns during the week.

One thing to be careful of: Some schools still use the correction technique, where a dog is given a sharp pull at the collar for incorrect behavior. I did that on the instructors' advice for a class or two, and I've always regretted it. First, it put his gentle neck at risk; second, many schools nowadays are teaching to use only positive reinforcement; third, even if your instructor advises the use of corrections, you can get the same results with a small dog by using a harness. Just say no to collars for leash training.