First Class with Dogs

[Deegan's mom]

Saturday was our first puppy class with the dogs. I brought Deegan an half hour early so we could walk around PetSmart to get him used to the place and the other dogs walking around too.

He seemed to be fine, until class actually started. There are 7 of us in the class, 3 labs pups, a huge golden retriever, a cocker spaniel, a min. pin. who is the same size as Deegan, and of course... us.

So to say the least they are all fairly larger than he is, except the min pin. But he was so nervous while we were in class. He kept going to hide in the corner, cowarding away when the dogs would come up to sniff him. He would try to fit in between my feet or just try to climb up my shoulder if I was kneeling down.

This surprised me in one way, because all the other dogs I bring him around to play with - he usually clobbers the crap out of them because he's so rambunctious and excited. But then again, they are dogs that are all his size too, so that is a factor.

In class we did a thing where we all got in the circle with our dogs and the trainer would take one dog and that owner would go around making all the other dogs sit and give them a treat to each dog to get them used to strange people. Well, when ever someone came over to Deegan I would have to pull him out from the corner and place him in front of the person. They would ask him to sit, and he would try to climb up me, or go back in the corner or, get this..... he would just turn around and face me and sit down burying his head in my legs with his back to them. It was so pathetic the way he was acting.

Do you think that he will come out of his shell more, as we go to more classes? I hope so - that is the main reason I brought him to class - so that he can be better socialized and get used to a wide variety of dogs.

[Rex'z momma]

no clue whatsover. Rex likes all dogs. He is BETTER with big dogs because of how rough he is. in the puppy class (he already graduated, loads of fun!) the only dog he got along with the best was the golden. goo figure there was a yorkie/maltese in our class but he coward. by week 8 he started to play with Rex and he came outof his shell a LOT more . good luck with what you decide to do. i DO think IMO it is good for them to associate with dogs of all sizes (well not great dane or Irish Wolfhounds) but you get my picture

[kelley]

Baxter went to PetsMart training too. He just recently went-he was 1 1/2. He too wasn't normally shy, but when we went into that class, he was a big baby. I think it has to do with how he was socialized-not very well I don't think. He learned a lot though. There were a few things that he didn't pick up until AFTER we were finished with the class and I worked with him at home. He does LOVE to go in the car now though. Every Saturday we left around 10:30 and he KNEW where we were going. It was funny. When I got up, he would run to the bathroom (he got a bath every morning at the same time on Saturday). And around 10:30 he would run to the door. Then when we went outside, he would go potty and run to the car door. It was cute.

Anyway, I think he will come out of it. It's a little intimidating at first-that was the first class, and lots of bigger dogs.

[Olivier]

It is new for him so he only have to adjust , you'll see , he will be ok soon . Sometimes when I attend puppy classes , I just look at the others with the pup on my lap . Soon , the pup want to participate .

[chanin111]

Macie just finished Petsmart puppy school last week and she was by far the smallest in our rather large group. The first day she was overwhelmed after that she did really good. She started terrorizing the big dog next to us constantly. She wanted to play with her sososo bad. I was interested to hear about yours climbing up on your shoulder. Macie does too. Glad to know she is normal. Good luck with training. Oh, I spoke to our trainer before we started classes and she said if Macie didn't do well they would convert her to private lessons.

[SoCalyorkiLvr]

I train mine with the small breed group. I am sure Deegan will get used to it.

[Deegan's mom]

Thanks everyone for your encouragement. We had our second class yesterday, and it went much better.
The first 5 minutes Deegan was a little hesitant, but after that he really came out of his shell. He constantly played with the little Min Pin, on our left. They were so cute together. And he didn't do too badly with the other, much larger dogs either. He was a bit scared in the begining with them, but when he was one on one with a large dog he didn't seem to mind as much... until they swatted him with they huge puppy paws.

During play time though, the trainer thought that just to get Deegan's confidence up a bit that we would just have him play with the other small dog, the Min Pin. Then hopefully as we get more into the class, we might be able to play with the larger ones. But I won't force him if he doesn't want to.
Our friends have a Golden Retriever, and they have only seen each other once. I think that I would be extremely nervous for him to be around Max. I know that Max wouldn't hurt him on purpose, but you know how rough puppies can be, and I wouldn't want an accident. I think our friends take offence to this, but what can I do. I only want to protect my pup.

Thanks again everyone for writing, I'll post more as we progress.

[LIL MIS' MAGIC]

I am glad to hear that Deagan did better with the second class...we took Magic to the local Petco for classes and only lasted about two weeks she was just so much smaller and constantly scared that she couldn't even pay attention to anything...we decided to put her in one with smaller dogs or even just a smaller group...we are hoping that will help!!

[Olivier]

Bravo for Deegan , way to go .