Obedience

javamonster

You unknowingly just opened a can o'worms here. :-)

I've been training dogs professionally for nearly 9 years (trained about 1500 dogs so far), so I know what you are dealing with, and know how to fix it.

Here is the biggest problem with asking for advice on a forum.... you are going to get good AND bad advice, and you won't know which is which.

And oh, it's a nasty can of worms!

I trained professionally for 15 years. I can be nothing but blunt. You invested in a new dog, and IMO ability to pay for training classes is on par with ability to take care of veterinary costs. If you can't afford it, you shouldn't have a dog. So invest in the classes - hopefully you've done your research and this $200 place is reputable and lets you go and watch some classes, so you can check out their methods and talk to their clients. If they don't, check out another place. When you do find a class you're happy with, give those trainers the respect of following their system and don't listen to all the well-meaning but potentially disatrous advice you might get on, say, fitness forums or from friends. :happy: If you're not seeing the results you want, press the trainers. Dog trainers don't want unhappy clients, so they should bend over backwards to help you fix your problems.

I would never dream of giving anyone training advice without seeing the dog, because they're all different. We assessed each and every dog prior to putting them into class, because not every dog *should* be in class. Some need private lessons.

And of course, it's not really about training the dog at all. Dogs are easy. People are the tough ones!

:flowerforyou:

kayleeblue

You unknowingly just opened a can o'worms here. :-)

I've been training dogs professionally for nearly 9 years (trained about 1500 dogs so far), so I know what you are dealing with, and know how to fix it.

Here is the biggest problem with asking for advice on a forum.... you are going to get good AND bad advice, and you won't know which is which.

And oh, it's a nasty can of worms!

Ditto to all of the above!! The person is the hardest part..remember once you have spent your money on training YOU MUST KEEP UP WITH IT!! I also have been training for many years..Good Luck!

I trained professionally for 15 years. I can be nothing but blunt. You invested in a new dog, and IMO ability to pay for training classes is on par with ability to take care of veterinary costs. If you can't afford it, you shouldn't have a dog. So invest in the classes - hopefully you've done your research and this $200 place is reputable and lets you go and watch some classes, so you can check out their methods and talk to their clients. If they don't, check out another place. When you do find a class you're happy with, give those trainers the respect of following their system and don't listen to all the well-meaning but potentially disatrous advice you might get on, say, fitness forums or from friends. :happy: If you're not seeing the results you want, press the trainers. Dog trainers don't want unhappy clients, so they should bend over backwards to help you fix your problems.

I would never dream of giving anyone training advice without seeing the dog, because they're all different. We assessed each and every dog prior to putting them into class, because not every dog *should* be in class. Some need private lessons.

And of course, it's not really about training the dog at all. Dogs are easy. People are the tough ones!

:flowerforyou:

Lleldiranne

I would honestly pay the money for obedience training. You can get all the books written on the subject, but it's really a hands-on learning kind of thing. Besides, dogs don't read :laugh:
And he's learning as much at the classes as you are.

(btw, this is why I don't own dogs ... I don't want to put in that kind of time, which isn't fair to the animal; better off letting someone else own the dog)

topaz2986

I had an extremely "spirited" lab. Talk about attitude. I attended a 1 day training seminar given by Brian Kilcommons. He studied under Barbara Woodhouse in Great Britain. I was really impressed w/how he handled dogs at the seminar and his thoughts on training so I bought his book..Good Owners, Great Dogs. It was a huge help. We now have another lab...just as ornery...and we used the same techniques on Hershey that Kilcommons recommends. Hershey responded well to those training methods. My budget is tight here as well so we can't go for training classes. I would second mortgage my house if one of my pets had a medical need....but there are plenty of books and videos for training. We've had great luck with the book.