We attend classes through a private trainer. She is not part of a club, although she does breed labs and competes with her own dogs in the various local club events. We started with puppy classes, then took several sessions of the intermediate classes and then took Canine Good Citizen. Each class is 8 weeks. Our trainer also does agility and competitive obedience, though we just took the fun classes. The trainer has been encouraging us to try "rally-o" which is a fast paced kind of obedience. I find that when we go to classes Loki is focused on me, ready to learn and it's something to look forward to every week.
I own 10+ training books, but there are valuable things you get from the trainer you can't get from a book. First of all is the expectation to practice week to week. If you're supposed to teach them to walk on a loose leash, and everyone else in the class is ahead of you, not only are you going to work harder but the trainer is going to help you out. If you are stuck and your dog is not learning something, she will suggest other ways to try. Even the best diagram in the world is not going to replace seeing it in person and having an expert there to help you. The trainer can also see if your dog is stressed, confused, etc. They can suggest different ways to motivate your dog. I also found it VERY helpful to be able to ask questions about behavior not necessarily relating to class. Like, What do I do when Loki steals a sock/reciept/bottle cap? Well, don't chase him. Ignore him. etc. Loki rarely "steals" things anymore because it's no fun if no one chases him.
There were so many things we were doing wrong before we started puppy classes. I thought Loki knew how to sit - he didn't. Well, he knew HOW to sit, but he didn't know what the word "Sit" meant and he didn't comply with is 99% of the time - like he does now. I could just as well have said "watermelon". We learned how to lure the behavior and then name it, so the he knew what we wanted before we gave the command word. We learned about hand signals. Now that I go back and read the books I think, OH YEAH! The trainer mentioned that in class! But I only notice these little things because the trainer pointed them out and explained WHY they are important. |