Which puppy class do you recommend?

[smehta1]

Hi everyone,
We want to take Chloe to puppy/begginer obedience class. She already knows come, no and sit/stay. But I thought it would be re-inforcing for her to watch other puppies go through the process as well as learn other commands (we cant seem to manage 'heel'-maybe its the beagle in her). I called a few trainers and was looking at the options available.
The first trainer said that the best time to be done with training is 8-16 weeks as the puppy is the most eager to please at this stage. They would teach all commands.
The second trainer only does socialization until 16 weeks and then has 2 levels of classes after that.
What are your thoughts? Chloe is now 12 weeks old.

[GretaJack]

Chloe might be best in a puppy beginner class. Most of them are run so that the puppies are allowed to play together in the beginning, with gives them great socialization skills and then they start you with basic obedience. They teach the owners how to correctly and effectively handle their dog and how to minimized confusion in relaying commands. They also work with you to see what techniques work well with your puppy such as clicker training, food rewards, positive voice reinforcement, etc.

Personally, if you want to enroll her in an obedience class, start her right away. It will help you and your puppy greatly. You are not going to have a perfectly obedient puppy when you are done, but you are going to have a great foundation to continue to work off of.

[Rip's Girl]

Dakota is in a general BASIC OB class. It has dogs up to 1 year old and it's mainly for the teaching of basic commands and LOTS of socializing, the pups are allowed to sniff and play with each other on-leash.

I would start her now in the obedience class. She might not do perfectly, (Dakota isn't.) but she WILL learn the commands which will be a great foundation for future, more advanced obedience classes.

[Ken Nielsen]

You will have a better behaved dog and an easier time in the future by going through classes now. I have seen dogs make remarkable improvement in just the first week. Also, never hesitate to repeat a class if you feel you could 'polish up' what you have learned on the first go-around.

[Dax]

Did you guys get certificate when you completed your courses? I want to frame Ariels but they have yet to send it (GRR we finished in July)

[Moo]

Puppy beginners class is good. I put mine in as soon as he got his 3 mo shots. Yes, she may have caught on to some basic commands, but they will tell you more. Better to socialize your dog now in a controlled enviroment.

[sambucca/whiskey]

Yep, I had Whiskey in puppy classes, they have 2- 20 minute off leash play times in 1 1/2 class. he loved dogs. although he was timid at first, he finished 2nd in a class of 6, and got an additional quickest learner certificate, and he was by far the youngest in hisclass as I knew he had ISSUES.

[Moo]

Also, aside from some hyper-activity, Kirby is easily the yougnest in the agility club. The only other group is under 1 yr of age (or not fully grown growth plates). He has this extra energy that the other dogs don't have, and the otehr dogs also don't appreciate. He's jumpy and running about in circles... Age counts.

[smehta1]

I think we're going to go with the first trainer based on all your replies. The trainer will give us a combination of private and group lessons. That way we dont have to wait another month and the socialization is taken care of as well.