kimbersmom (03-28-2019)
I was thinking the same thing - way too many distractions outside for a puppy new to training! Lido wasn't a barker during puppy classes, but he did whine when he had to attend too long - out of frustration, no doubt. Both of Lido's classes so far have been indoors with only 3-5 puppies in each class. The second class was with a different trainer (first trainer didn't offer Puppy 2 when I could take Lido), who was WAY too serious for puppy training, IMO. She would want us to repeat a skill too many times, and Lido got bored. As others have said, why repeat it when the puppy gets it right after 5-10 times? She also didn't give any breaks during an hour long class; she just went from one skill to the next, which made Lido crazy. I finally repeated targeted skills 5-10 times, depending on how well he responded, then I walked him around while the others were still working. I would then do another short set of practices. I told the trainer that he just couldn't focus that long, and I didn't want him to hate training. She wasn't too pleased, but my puppy, my decision. It worked much better, once I started doing this.
Last edited by Beth C; 03-28-2019 at 04:59 PM.
kimbersmom (03-28-2019)
I'd say about 10 dogs total? Surprisingly, there are very few dog classes here, and only the chain stores' are inside. I really didn't like Petco's classes. We might try Petsmart in the future; people seem to like that trainer okay.
Thank you for the advice, and for the commiseration. I'm sure I'm a bit frustrated inappropriately; she's still very young, and I need to *deliberately* remind myself that Kimber wasn't nearly this good at 6 months, and I certainly can't compare a 6 month old puppy with an adult dog. In many ways, Kimber prepared me very well for Stormy; labs share so many traits. Perhaps I'm surprised when challenges arise that I didn't have with Kimber.
In the end, this might be an exercise more about mommy-and-Stormy time. How do I handle her in new situations, and how does she learn to pay attention to me? That's a more important goal than mastering the lessons.
Stormageddon, Princess of Darkness, aka "Stormy"
Birthday 9-13-18, Gotcha Day 11-11-18
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Miss Kimber, CGC, 6/15/2005-1/27/2018 forever in our hearts
I’ve had a few local trainers say great things about Fenzi online courses. I am wrapping up a Beginner Attention class now and then am going to take a break from classroom classes for a few months due to travel, etc. Once things settle down, I’m seriously considering a couple of the online classes. Maybe there is one in here that would be good for Stormy? Like this one maybe?
Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - FE105: Get Focused!
Here is a link to the Fenzi home page:
Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - Home
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kimbersmom (03-29-2019)
I love Fenzi as well. took me longer to finally sign up but i've taken 4 and signed up for more next semester.
Ivy
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