First day of obedience school
 

Eddie started advance-beginner obedience training today, and he suffered a setback. There were about 20 BIG DOGS in the class, and he was both curious and intimidated. Needless to say, he didn't remember much from beginner training.

It's frustrating, because even though he only went through the 6-week Petco beginner class, I've worked with him almost every day since he graduated two months ago. He's flawless on our walks to the park, sitting, heeling, staying and coming. But in this class, a more traditional obedience school than Petco, he was too concerned with all the other dogs to remember his lessons. I'm sure it's because of the larger class and the close proximity of dogs during classes.

Does anyone have any tips? He's normally a real social dog, good around people and other animals (1 or 2 at a time). But when the instructor came up to him in class, he shied away. That's just not like him.

maybe you can hire a private trainer, that way it's a one on one situation without any distractions from other dogs. or you can just read books on training and do it yourself :) i don't take my coco to obedience classes my hubby and i just train him at home. i think if i took coco to a training class he would be very intimidated by the other dogs also.

Thanks, Jesscruz. That may be the way to go. I'll do the research and train him myself if I have to. The problem is, I want to get him into agility training eventually, so he's going to have to learn the social skills if he's going to enjoy that.

no problem. ya i would work on the social skills then go from there. you know val(sully's mom) is good at training!maybe you can pm her and she could refer some good books and tips :thumbup: please let us know how he does ;)

The only problem with that is if you ever compete in any events there will be a ton of dogs there. If your dog can't function when other dogs around he will not be able to to run.

But it worries me that the class is so big and predominated by large dogs. Ask your instructor if there is smaller class or one with more small dog. However, if you stay in that class keep an eye on your surrounding and Eddie.

i know how you feel........ toby is doing great with training (he comes..... lol.... and when you tell him "Sit" he will lie down, because he thinks after the sit command we are going to do down, so he figures he will skip a step and save time.......) but...... like you said, toby cant function around other dogs either, we have had him really well socialized (taken him to the dog park ect....) but he just doesnt jive with the whole "dog" thing....... he always puts his tail down and crawls low to the ground and tries to hide behind me :( at first i was really saddened by this because toby would be great at agility too, but oh well......... i have set up obstacle courses in the living room and he has FUN and that is all that matters

Thanks for the advice. I will ask about other classes, but I agree that he's going to have to put up with a crowd if he ever does agility. I'm hoping things will get better in the weeks to come. This was only the first class, after all.

Sounds like you are doing a great job, all on your own.

That's true. Sometimes it takes time for a dog to get use to the new surrounding. It's definitely not unusual for a dog to be curious and intimidated. As you said, it was his first class and he is in a new place with new smells and tons dogs and of things. That can be very scary for any dog.

The good new is a lot of dog adjust really quickly and by the 2 or 3 class they are acting like their normal self.

Please tell me you are not at Alyeska Training Club? I had a very bad experience there with Bruce when we first arrived in Alaska and immediately pulled him out...This is not a place for small dogs!

I personally wouldn't take him out of that class. I think its just a new setting for him and while he's probably very curious about it, it is new so he's also shy as well. After a few classes he'll get used to it and love playing with all the big dogs, just keep an eye on him just as you would any dog you took. I think you have found a good enviroment to work with your pup in. I like the idea of big classes. I don't really think that during the actually class your dog learns much. It is really you who are learning and the class just gives you an enviroment to practice in. When we took our bloodhound there were probably 20 dogs in the class. We were able to do a lot of greeting exercises, where the dog sits by you when someone comes up to you with another dog or where they have to sit still while another dog passes, things you won't get in private lessons. We didn't have any yorkies in the class but there were a few small breeds and a few puppies and all the dogs got along big or small, old or young. Also if your dog isn't the most comfortable in the class and you still get him to behave then it really shows just how good you and your dog have become. I say stick it out you may find you really like it.

Thanks for the advice, Hickey007. I've decided to take it a week at a time and see how it goes. If I pull him out now, that pretty much ends any chance of him doing agility, because, as yorkieagility points out, there are a ton of big dogs around at those competitions.

Your comment about them not learning much during the class was comforting and hit home. Eddie has done great all week working on things that he totally blew in class last week, and he's even picked up a couple new things they taught us. The next couple weeks ought to be a good test to see if his social skills are going to improve.

Thanks again. I'm figuring this stuff out as I go, so it's nice to hear from someone who's been through it before.

Well I haven't been through it with my yorkie. I went through it with my bloodhound who was quite large at the time, even though she was still a puppy. I can imagine though that it is a bit frightening in a class with all big dogs but you're there to watch him so I'm sure everything will be ok. I will say Reagan(my yorkie) loves nothing more than getting to go out and run around the yard with our 3 big dogs. I really do think though you'll find that you enjoy the large classes. You will be able to teach him at home then work with him in a distracting situation, the class. Well good luck, you seem to have been doing great so far so I'm sure you'll do fine.

Week 2
 

Thanks to all your advice and encouragement, Eddie was 100 percent better in his second class. We showed up 30 minutes early to let him get used to other dogs, and that seemed to help. By class time, he was fairly mellow around the big dogs.

He performed "down and stay" well, though nowhere near as well as he does on our walks to the park. He had more problems with the instructor trying to work with him. He kept shying away from her. It's frustration, because the instructor thinks he's struggling, but she doesn't realize he only struggles around her. Oh well. If he improves as much next week as he did this week, he'll be impressing everyone.

When I go to obedience school , I always give a chance to the puppy . When Venus was in school , we spent 1 classe looking at the others , the second one , she finally decided that it was for her and we really enjoyed the experience . Sometimes little ones need little time to adjust to others dogs and peoples .