Paisley's 1st obedience class tonight
 

I called Petsmart a couple of weeks ago and signed Paisley up for the obedience class. My mother-in-law is also going to go and take her Chihuahua puppy. When I called and signed up I didn't get to talk to the trainer, instead I spoke with one of the store managers. She signed me up for the "beginner's" class starting tonight.

A few days ago I spoke with the actual trainer and found that the beginner's class is for puppies and dogs that over 5 months old who have not had any previous obedience training. There is another class called the "puppy" class that is for puppies ages 10 weeks to 5 months old. This is the class that Paisley and Sassy (chihuahua) should have been put in instead of the beginner class.
When I found this out I wanted to change classes, but the trainer said there was only one other yorkie in the class who was a little older than 5 months and since both the beginner and the puppy class teach the same thing, it would be fine to leave it.
Now, last night I get a call from the trianer as a reminder of the class. She informs me that there will now be 5 in the class. The new one's added are a 9 month old German Shepherd and a 3 year old Boxer.

I am concerned about the older/bigger dogs in this class with our little puppies. What do you all think?

I asked if we could do a different class and get into an actual "puppy" class. Which she said we can, but the problem is they don't have any starting for another week. This won't work because my mother-in-law lives in South Dakota and they come here to Illinois in the summer for a few months to visit/live and they have to leave on Nov. 3rd to go back to South Dakota because of their ranch/cattle and Kenney (her husband) does organized Elk hunts for people. So he has to be back for the season. The way it is now, she is having to miss the very last class. If we schedule any later she'll miss the last 2 classes.

I am kind of aggrivated that the manager who put us in the wrong class and didn't tell me there was a Tuesday night "puppy" class starting the week before. I'm wondering...Does she not know the difference in "puppy" and "beginner" classes? I didn't know, but I don't work there. I don't even get to go to petsmart very often because it's so far away from us.
The trainer said we should have been put in the "puppy" class.

We are driving 70 miles each way to go to the classes. I just want it to be a good experience for us.

Any input from ya all would be appreciated. I just don't know about the older dogs with us. I'm going to at least go over tonight and see how it goes.

I don't know how your puppies are with large dogs. My Belle is fine with the large dog she lives with, but she's very afraid of other large dogs. I personally will not put my little girl in a class with big dogs, she's going to be in a class with other toy/small breeds.

Paisley is just fine with my Basset Hound and our Norwegian Elkhound(puppy) and my daughter's Chocolate Lab. She has never seemed scared of them even when she first met them. I'm more concerned about how well the big/older dogs will be towards her. I don't want one of them hurting her.

I don't think that you'll have to worry about them hurting her - it's a controled environment and they should all be leashed. I would hope that the trainer knows their job enough to keep them all safe. I would bring my shih tzu to a class with bigger dogs since he likes them, just not my timid little girl (not yet anyway)

It should be fine. If the trainer is any good, she will know how to properly manage small dog/big dog combos and they should be on leash the whole time anyways.

That's what I'm thinking. However.. I hope the dog's owners can keep a handle on them. I have seen unruly bigger/older dogs before. Hopefully these mind well and have been socialized with smaller dogs. :)

Brutus is currently going through puppy classes, 4 down 4 more to go. We have 5 puppies in his class - 2 Golden Retrievers, 2 Labs, and my 4 lb baby! The big dogs pretty much ignore him as he is always right at my feet, they'll come over give him a sniff and then go play together. Good Luck!

Are they all puppies?

My concern is that these big dogs are not puppies. They are older.

Yes, they are all puppies. They get so crazy with each other that they have to get pulled apart. I would rather Brutus be in class with at least one other small dog for him to play with. I may end up enrolling him in another class and I will definately wait for small dogs. He isn't socializing very well with the big pups - maybe he will get better....

Are you coming to the petsmart here????

Hi.. I just got home. No, I'm going to Evansville, IN. It's a little closer to me.

The class went okay tonight. There were 6 dogs all together. There was Paisley , 14 weeks old. My mother-in-law's Chihuahua 10 weeks old, a 5 yr old male Yorkie, a 9 month old mix that they were calling a shepherd who looked more like a retreiver.. she was VERY hyper!
Another mix that they were calling a 3 yr old boxer. He acted like he'd love to get ahold of one of the puppies. I wasn't comfortable letting Paisley near him.
Then there was a mix, not sure what breed..a medium size dog who was very friendly and liked Paisley. They actually played a bit. He did paw at her, which he was just playing but because of his size compared to her, we had to keep a really close watch.

I would be very interested to get your opinion on the Petsmart classes once you have attended a few. As I have mentioned, I am considering putting Brutus in another class once we are done with this one.