Are petsmart beginner classes helpful?

Question

I signed up for it. The class is tomorrow.

My puppy already knows sit, down, shake, beg, WHERE"S THE BALL??? (hahaha, so cute!).

She doesn't know hwo to walk properly on leash or a reliable come here!

She also has a tendency to jump on people or snip at other dogs, but she does NOT do this to me, her alpha dog.

6 month old lab/pit mix

Answer 1

As a former PetSmart trainer, ( my training experienece is beyond PetSmart but I wanted something to do) I recommend you get your money back and go find one with more expereince since you dog snips at other dogs.   Most PetSmart trainers do not know how to deal with that and become afraid.

As someone else said you will be bored since your dog knows sit, down, shake.   No they don't teach you how to shove treats at your dog.  They teach you positive training and yes that is using treats, it's better then fear training.  

I can tell you what to do and you can send me the money.....LOL

Get a gentle leader head collar for your dog give you good control.  It's a head collar and not a muzzle.  This will be great for you since he does snip.   Your dog is gonna hate it but don't give in.    When you go to meet people or people want to pet your dog.  Have treats handy.  Put the dog in a sit while you let him nibble on a treat.  Ask them to pet under the chin or down the side never over the head.   If he gets up reset him.

You can do this with a down also.  But since he knows shake once he gets used to sit nicely instead of jumping people then can ask your dog to shake.  

Find a trainer that can help with your dog being reactive and snippy with other dogs.    

If you don't get a good PetSmart trainer then you could make things worse on the dog.   PetSmart trainers are taught to teach you basics, they are not behavorists and can't address certain issues.

edited to add  emily I don't think you had a good trainer at all.

Since they kept telling you to get a Gentle Leader.  I do recommend them when the owner is not doing their part.  You have to work on that outside of class also.  We worked on it for the whole 8 wks.  Not a good trainer at all.  For older dogs such as the OP I would go with the Gentle Leader due to all her issues.  

Also the pups are to never be running around together at all supervised or not.  That is agains PetSmart rules.   They do not allow play time for the dogs.   If her dog is already snippy this would be a fight waiting to happen.   I do not want to see any dog set up to fail.  

Sounds like there were probably more violations made when it came to corrections too.

Answer 2

Our puppy recently graduated from the petsmart puppy classes. You might get pretty bored if your dog already knows sit, down, and shake. You spend about half of the classes doing those basics. You also work on "stay" a lot. You didn't mention that one, and I find it incredibly useful, so you might benefit from that. Unfortunately, the classes weren't very helpful for teaching Abby not to pull on her leash. That was one of her biggest problems, and we didn't really work on it in the class. All our trainer kept telling us to do was "buy a gentle leader." I was really disappointed in that portion of the class. To get your money's worth from the class, make sure you ask a lot of questions about specific problems you're having. Most of the stuff they teach you could actually be learned from a basic training book, but if you ask questions you can get some really good demonstrations on how to solve your pup's specific behavioral problems.

It sounds like I'm bashing the class, but I'd actually recommend it. Although it wasn't incredibly educational it was a great opportunity for the pups to socialize (and it sounds like your puppy could use some practice in that). At the beginning of every class we let the pups run around for about 15 minutes and have some supervised play together, and the trainers showed us how to properly correct them when they weren't being friendly. Just like teaching little kids to share, you have to teach some puppies how to be nice to one another, and this is a much safer alternative to the dog park. Both Abby and I always had a great time and she always slept really well after the class. Everybody on here always reccomends getting a personal proffessional trainer and although that would be ideal, not all of us can afford that. For the low price that they are, I would say petsmart classes are definately worth it for the socialization alone. And who knows, you and your pup may learn something. Good luck, I'm sure you're both going to have a lot of fun.

Answer 3

All the Petsmart classes teach you to do is to shove treats at your dog when they do what you want.

Your dog will probably not benefit much. A private trainer or other type of class that can give you more personalized training will be better for you.

I suggest that you get your money back and find a different trainer.

Answer 4

yes.  be sure to ask questions.

Answer 5

Training classes train the owners, not the dogs. Your pup is 6 mo old and SHOULD already be walking well on a leash.

I'd recommend getting her into classes, getting her well trained and obedient to your commands.

Especially since she is a pit X, you need to do EVERYTHING you can to well-socialize her with other dogs while she is young.