# Obedience Training seems like a waste



## GoldenGod (May 24, 2017)

Am I wrong to assume that these training classes are just to teach you how to train your own dog? Which is something I can do for free with youtube... My 8 month old is getting really bad with the jumping and mouthing. My mom watches him on Saturdays and said the mouthing actually _hurt_ her today... 

I've done all I could at this point following all these youtube videos on how to train your dog and I'm beginning to feel like I just dont have it. I'd really love to bring him to one of these boarding and training schools if they weren't $1500-2500... so that's out of the question. But all the reading I do on these obedience classes suggests they aren't anything more than teaching you how to train the dog, and I'm already failing at that.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Where do you live? Somebody could probably forward you a good training club. For example, around here it would cost you about $300 per year for dog training. And I would recommend keeping your golden retriever in obedience classes through age 2.

The purpose of dog training classes are to teach you how to train your own dog. Absolutely. There is no point of hiring somebody ELSE to train your dog when the dog is going to come back and live with you and get messed up again. 

The reason why we go to classes is for peripherals... meaning, that we might be training our dogs and think we're doing everything right, but a trainer is going to actually _see_ what you are doing and be able to correct you and be able to on the spot show you how to do something the correct way. 

Beyond that, dog training classes gives you a purpose to aim for in dog training. Meaning, you are going to at least train your dog once a week for the next couple years. You're not letting anything slide. Your dog is learning how to be well-behaved in public. You are building a strong bond and connection with your dog. And beyond that, what you learn while taking classes with your dog - it's stuff you remember for life. 

A lot of the stuff you are dealing with as far as your puppy right now is self-control type issues. Those things will go away with time and with persistence on your part.

A lot of people out there who think obedience training "seems like a waste" are those who don't know what it's like to own a well trained dog who has been in dog training classes since 12 weeks, etc. Once you know what it's like to own a dog who is clicking on all cylinders as far as absolutely responding to any commands at any time... there's no going back. 

A lot of us DO have the experience to train alone and save a lot of money as far as not attending classes. But there is a ton of value in attending classes and getting that socialization, proofing, and also second pair of eyes and draw on the wealth of knowledge from people who live/breathe/DO all the dog training all the time.


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## rosegold (Nov 9, 2016)

Best things about group class for us:
- helped teach obedience in a distracting environment (other dogs and owners)
- personalized tips and troubleshooting from the trainer. Trainer can observe the pup learning in person. We def ask them a bunch of questions and they're available thru email too.
- set curriculum with weekly goals to keep us honest and more motivated 

We still trained at home and watched tons of YouTube vids. but the group classes were the most helpful to get our pup behaving in public. Of course it depends on the trainer's experience and training style (positive reinforcement) and the class size too (ours capped at 5). Our classes are about $20 per class.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Wicky (Aug 27, 2015)

Definitely a class is well worth it and as Megora said try to look at it as a long term thing. Hopefully someone here could point you in the direction of a good club. My girl is 2 and a half and we still attend class each week - although it probably only costs about 150-170USD per year.
Feedback from my trainer is invaluable in so many ways. As is the support from others in the club. 
If you do decide to take a class ask if you can go one week without your dog to make sure it’s a good fit for you and your dog.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Wow. No. My answer is a big no. They're not a waste at all, provided you have a good trainer. Yes, they DO train you to train your dog - that's a really important part of it. Your dog won't get trained from his once a week class - you have to do the homework every day. And when you have problems, you have a trainer to go back to and say, this happened, what should I do? A good trainer will give you a solution. 

Hugely beneficial, as long as you are committed, do the work, are consistent. It's a team effort.


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## CoopersMom16 (Dec 29, 2016)

I understand how you feel. Classes around me are $180-$200 for six weeks so your talking over $1500 for a year of lessons. And after a year my dog still is a struggle and still bites and is often terrible on leash. Yet none of my neighbors ever took their dogs for lessons and their dogs just outgrew their bad habits. I?m beginning to think Golden?s never outgrow anything. And all that money I spent was definately a waste.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

FDSA (https://fenzidogsportsacademy.com/ ) has a session that closes for registration tomorrow. Bronze level (auditing) are $65 while Gold & silver are more expensive although some Silver classes not only allow you to ask questions but now submit 2 videos for instructor feedback.

There are a few courses that sound like they may fit. https://fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/schedule-and-syllabus

Why do I mention this ? 
1) it is world class instruction
2) You can watch and learn from not only the lectures & instructor videos but also from the Gold level students - their mistakes, their progress and instructor feedback.

That said, in house classes are great once your dog knows the basics - most dogs do not learn in the class per se, but rather at home while lessons are applied. Then the 3 d's are slowly introduced -- distance, duration and distraction. For example, a recall starts very close and in quiet environments, then either distance OR duration OR distractions are introduced one layer at a time.

Chances are your youngster share several of the mannerisms of at least one dog in the FDSA class forums whom you can follow and apply the lessons and you can keep all classes (lectures) for a minimum of a year, it is actually a year since the last class taken.

You do need to train your own dog, having someone else train it will not build your bond and will leave you with no options on how to handle backslides -- which will happen.

Good luck whatever you decide -- if you decide to go to an in-person class, observe a class beforehand and make sure you are comfortable with the methods of instruction and how the dogs and handlers seem to enjoy the class.


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## aesthetic (Apr 23, 2015)

As a novice dog owner, I absolutely love in person training classes. I love that there's someone knowledgeable to point out my mistakes and help me correct them. I love that there's someone knowledgeable I can go to with an issue and have them brainstorm with me on how to fix it. The trainers know my dog too: they know is personality, his flaws, what sends him into an overexcited and stressed mess, what he responds best to, etc.. The internet can give me the cookie cutter solution, but my trainers can give me solutions that are tailored specifically to my dog.

It's good for him too. I can train my dog in a variety of distractions, but ones I'll never have available is a lot of dogs who will ignore my dog and people who will ignore my dog. Training class gives us those distractions (along with others like agility equipment noises, dogs splashing in the pool, metal crates jingling, other people with treats) in a structured environment.

We took a year long break from classes right after my dog turned 8 months (it was terrible timing but my mom had to work a lot and couldn't drive me and money was tight) and he was just a mess for that year despite my at home training. I didn't know how to handle some of the problems we were running into, so I ignored them (don't do that) until we could get back into classes. It's harder to un train some of those undesirable behaviors now that he's been doing them for so long, but we've made a lot of progress since starting classes back up and getting opinions on his behavior. We got a bunch of compliments on his behavior a couple days ago and today from one of my dog training friends, from our trainer and from someone who didn't know him before. There is absolutely nothing better than to hear that your hard work paid off and there's nothing better than seeing the results of your hard work.

So yeah, as someone speaking from experience, training classes are absolutely worth it.


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## Anele (Dec 12, 2014)

I agree with what everyone else said... it's worth it to find an in-person class for so many reasons, but moral support is a big one when you are going through the tough adolescent stage!

As Megora said, you will probably have better luck from the financial standpoint if you can find a club to train with. The downside is that you won’t likely have your choice of training methods because often the training is done by members vs. specifically hired trainers who share a philosophy.

The training center I attend isn’t cheap ($30/class...I’m near a major city) and it adds up painfully fast. But the training style is more in alignment with my views and there are far more options for courses. 

Check our your local park district for options, too. Sometimes prices are more reasonable.

However, whichever method you use— even if you paid $$$ to send your dog away— you still have to to train day in, day out. No one can do it for you. And the reality is, you are already training your dog, intentionally or not. Dogs are always learning from us, and they often figure out how to train US, too.


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## laprincessa (Mar 24, 2008)

CoopersMom16 said:


> I understand how you feel. Classes around me are $180-$200 for six weeks so your talking over $1500 for a year of lessons. And after a year my dog still is a struggle and still bites and is often terrible on leash. Yet none of my neighbors ever took their dogs for lessons and their dogs just outgrew their bad habits. I?m beginning to think Golden?s never outgrow anything. And all that money I spent was definately a waste.


It's not like you need to take class after class after class. We did a puppy class, then a few months later did another "intermediate" class. A year later, we did another class - with a much better trainer, but that's another story. A year later we did another - agility, just for fun. And after a while, we did another class. Classes are just the beginning. You have to continue what you learn in class - and you might not need more than one 6 week session if you can continue that training on your own. 
Goldens, like any other dog, won't outgrow bad habits if no one teaches them that those behaviors are not acceptable.


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## DevWind (Nov 7, 2016)

Obedience classes are totally worth the money! Look for a local club though. My club charges $70 for a 7 week session.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Oh!! Another thought that may help you.

You mentioned that you feel you are failing to train your dog. First off please know that even experienced trainers 1) started where you are 2) experience a learning curve with each new dog if they train by the dog versus training by a menu approach and 3) make use of video cameras

With a video you can review over and over and over again as needed and see where your dog begins to understand, where you perhaps should have ended the session, and where you two absolutely clicked!! Your body language and how your dog responded.

Then you could (okay I am anal at times; it comes from being a system analyst & software developer LOL) compare the notes you took about your training session and compare them to the YouTube videos you are modelling your sessions after


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

WOW!! $300 for an entire year of training? With 6 weeks off, that would be $10/week. Less than half to a third of classes in my area.

I would not think that is the norm for most of us, but wow!! that is a bargain!




Megora said:


> Where do you live? Somebody could probably forward you a good training club. For example, around here it would cost you about $300 per year for dog training. And I would recommend keeping your golden retriever in obedience classes through age 2.


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

GoldenGod said:


> Am I wrong to assume that these training classes are just to teach you how to train your own dog? Which is something I can do for free with youtube...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


See, while the classes ARE to teach you how to train your dog, if you just don't have it, or are already failing at it, by using YouTube, etc, I would suggest that it is the lack of an in person teacher that is causing you to feel you are a failure at it. Training is not something intuitive for many people. There is value in a trainer. If you tell where you're at, someone might know of a good center you can attend. If not, google AKC Obedience Club or something along those lines and find a good club- join- classes are about $75 for 6 weeks here. And plan to spend a year going. Even folks who have been putting obedience titles on their dogs for decades still find value in classes. Just because you believe it is 'teaching you to teach your dog' and you think you can learn that online, that doesn't negate the value because an online class and an in person class are not equals.


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## Gleepers (Apr 20, 2016)

My dogs are part of the 4-H dog project. It?s deffinatly a slower paced kind of training as the handlers (in last years group) were all ages 8-12. So in our case yes I totally could have trained the basic skills from what I could find off the internet. 

What we have gotten from class that we could not have gotten on our own: Patience!! The dogs really have to learn patience as they learn to wait their turn. They have learned to be calm in an area with other dogs around. They learned to stand right next to another dog and not touch, sniff, play. They have learned to listen to other people. 
Penny is 1 1/2 and still a bit of a spaz but it?s starting to settle down. She is amazing out in public. (Most of the time). Our last set of dogs never went to training classes and the difference in their skills is huge. 
That and the dogs really enjoy going.


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## Ivyacres (Jun 3, 2011)

laprincessa said:


> It's not like you need to take class after class after class. We did a puppy class, then a few months later did another "intermediate" class. A year later, we did another class - with a much better trainer, but that's another story. A year later we did another - agility, just for fun. And after a while, we did another class. Classes are just the beginning. You have to continue what you learn in class - and you might not need more than one 6 week session if you can continue that training on your own.
> Goldens, like any other dog, won't outgrow bad habits if no one teaches them that those behaviors are not acceptable.


This is what we did and it spread the cost out over time. Also, we found a local club, became members for a small fee and took the classes they offered at a deep discount. It was enjoyable for me and Honey loved the classes.


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## ceegee (Mar 26, 2015)

GoldenGod said:


> Am I wrong to assume that these training classes are just to teach you how to train your own dog? Which is something I can do for free with youtube... My 8 month old is getting really bad with the jumping and mouthing. My mom watches him on Saturdays and said the mouthing actually _hurt_ her today...
> 
> I've done all I could at this point following all these youtube videos on how to train your dog and I'm beginning to feel like I just dont have it. I'd really love to bring him to one of these boarding and training schools if they weren't $1500-2500... so that's out of the question. But all the reading I do on these obedience classes suggests they aren't anything more than teaching you how to train the dog, and I'm already failing at that.


If your dog is still jumping and mouthing at 8 months old, then the YouTube videos aren't doing their job for you. It's not you: everyone is capable of training a dog if they're shown how. It's just that, in life in general, you get what you pay for. YouTube is free, and you seem to have been getting what you've paid for. In addition, there's such a wide variety of advice out there that you may well have been trying several different methods and have ended up confusing your dog.

There are other problems with the free videos too. First, you have no way of knowing if they're actually giving you good advice. And second, there's no personal follow-up. If you work in person with a good trainer, whether one-on-one or as part of a group, you'll get _personal _follow-up to help you deal with your specific problems. The trainer will also teach you a method and make sure you apply it properly. When you copy a video, you have no way of knowing if you're doing things right - there's nobody to watch you and give you feedback on what you're doing. And lastly, the whole "easy fix" attitude they tend to promote can actually end up discouraging people. You're a good example of that! With dog training, there is no easy fix. If you want a trained dog, you need to put in the time.

The aim of obedience training is, as you say, to teach you to train your dog, but it's also to get you and your dog to work as a team, together. Most people need guidance for this. I've had dogs all my life and have competed in dog sports for the last two decades, but I still went to puppy class and obedience classes with my new pup last year, and the trainer gave me lots of great advice that really helped us to move forward. Every dog is different. What works for one dog might not work for another. On YouTube, it's "one size fits all". With an in-person trainer, he or she will help you adjust the methods to suit _your _dog. That's part of what you're paying for.

A last point: training a dog takes a lot of time and effort. An hour a week in class doesn't cut it. You need to practice, a lot. You should figure on at least half an hour of practice per day, every day - you can break it up into five or ten-minute sessions. Goldens are intelligent dogs and love to work. Mine comes running when he sees me with the training treats. After a couple of months, you'll see a huge difference. Consistency is key.

As for the board-and-train method, it's not worth the money for basic training. As I said earlier, the whole point is for you and your dog to learn to work together. If you send your dog away for basic training, he'll learn to work with the trainer but not with you. In many cases, once the dog comes home it reverts to its previous, untrained behaviour because the owner doesn't know how to maintain the learned behaviour.

If you can give the general area where you live, someone on this forum may well be able to recommend a good training school.

Best of luck, and don't get discouraged. You just need a bit of guidance from a good trainer to get on the right path, and you'll be set.


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## GoldenGod (May 24, 2017)

Oh god I couldn't imagine this wild nutcase in a class with other people and their dogs, not at 8 months. Is a year too late to take him to these classes?


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## aesthetic (Apr 23, 2015)

Your dog won't ever learn to behave around other people and dogs unless you go and take classes. I'd be doing classes now.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Sunrise said:


> WOW!! $300 for an entire year of training? With 6 weeks off, that would be $10/week. Less than half to a third of classes in my area.
> 
> I would not think that is the norm for most of us, but wow!! that is a bargain!


I was thinking bare min.  

If you think about classes costing about $100 per session, and you do 3 sessions per year - it does come out to be about $300. 

If you are a club member and not donating to the club (ie paying full price regardless), it would be _less _than that.

I pay more because I do more and train at multiple locations.


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## laprincessa (Mar 24, 2008)

GoldenGod said:


> Oh god I couldn't imagine this wild nutcase in a class with other people and their dogs, not at 8 months. Is a year too late to take him to these classes?


He's going to be a wilder and nuttier case if you DON'T get some training soon. Any decent trainer is going to work with you from day one. And you'd be surprised, that "nutcase" will be a totally different dog when someone who knows what to do is holding the leash. (Been there, done that)


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## Anele (Dec 12, 2014)

A tip from my favorite trainer... when your dog still pulls on leash but you need to walk into your training center, bring along a container like a small jar of baby food with something sticky like PB or cream cheese in it. As you walk, let your dog stick his nose into his container and lick. This was your dog doesn't "practice" pulling on the leash. And you can retain some sense of dignity as you make your entrance. 

You're going to feel so much better when you start going to classes-- you will be able to commiserate with people who have teenage dogs on their hands! (8 months is a very challenging period! Harder than puppyhood!)

It's never too late... or too soon... to train your dog!


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## CedarFurbaby (Jun 6, 2016)

As someone who went down the books/internet path from the time I brought him home to 15months ish, this is what it was like:

Heaps and heaps of time spent evaluating different advice and deciding what was right for Cedar and I. Then experimenting and doing a whole lot of different things. I did wrong things, accidentally encouraged bad behaviour and things that did absolutely nothing. I spent months doing X and thinking ok it just takes time and then suddenly months go by and we're still at the same place. I'm lucky that Cedar is a loving and forgiving boy, and nothing bad came out of my early mistakes, but that was a risk. I also had support from my breeder and some others, we saw a behaviourist briefly (as much as I could afford) after he was nearly attacked by another dog. So I already knew to use positive approaches, but it was still a long process. Cedar was a crazy puppy and was soo quick at picking up inedible objects and swallowing it. I spent over a year of essentially thinking about nothing but behaviour and training and reading a lot, on top of full time work. My background in research helped but I wouldn't really recommend repeating that amount of work. 

The good side is that I've successfully taught him a whole lot of stuff on my own, mostly because he's a super smart pup, so that when we started obedience classes regularly, as long as he could concentrate, he knew how to do all the sits, stays, heels etc. in fact he knew more than everyone else but his concentration was the worst because he was least experienced in a class environment. But because I handled him so much, I am quite in tune with cedar. So Instead of an instructor telling me Cedar needs a break, I would have been watching him be more and more distracted and listening less, and then realising after the 10th time of experiencing this oh we should have stopped. Some of our successes early on are because im just trying something I read and not really expecting it to work and then Cedar gets it and I'm there getting genuinely excited and absolutely delighted which in turn reinforces the learning. 

I think the risk is that you don't recognise the pup's behaviour well enough which all training relies on. If the pup is telling you he's anxious or tired or something and you missed the cues. I was constantly stressed that I was doing something wrong or my inaction was going to lead him to practice bad behaviour. It wasn't by choice that we didn't get to go to a class so I probably would have started earlier if I could. At the same time I don't know if I would have such a strong bond with Cedar if we were not practicing stuff together from day 1. With the knowledge I have now, we are also better able to evaluate if an obedience club is right for us, so we ditched the first one we went to and are really happy with our current.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Anele said:


> A tip from my favorite trainer... when your dog still pulls on leash but you need to walk into your training center, bring along a container like a small jar of baby food with something sticky like PB or cream cheese in it. As you walk, let your dog stick his nose into his container and lick. This was your dog doesn't "practice" pulling on the leash. And you can retain some sense of dignity as you make your entrance.


I'm chuckling here, because I just this week told other obedience people not to judge my dog's obedience abilities based on how we enter or leave buildings. :grin2: 

Almost all dogs I know of are super excited about entering the dog clubs. And super excited about going outside for potty and smelling all the "great" smells outside. 

They are that way because the trainers usually allow it. I admittedly have encouraged it because I know what it's like to have dogs be fearful or cowed about entering a new place. Excitement and joy-joy-joy about entering the training building or petstore or whatever - it's stuff I'm happy to see. 

Petstore manners with my Jacks, for example means he pulls into the petstore he used to be scared to go (banging door spooked him for a couple years) and once inside he's the dog of some people's dreams by how outgoing and relaxed he is on leash. 

Manners on leash and everywhere else comes with application and time. And generally it all depends on what you allow. 

In obedience training classes one of the benefits of having somebody watch what you are doing is because people get lost in their head and don't realize what they are doing right or wrong. 

Case in point as to things I've done and gotten caught doing by my teachers =

1. crooking my head/shoulder while heeling. Believe it or not, you are not supposed to walk sideways while heeling your dog. :laugh: The reason why this is a no-no is it pushes your dog out or back, and or your dog learns that heel position involves him being forged to in front of your left leg. So when you walk straight on, the dogs wrap around.

2. Giving second commands after my dog failed to do something on the first command. The dog learns he doesn't have to do something the first time. And it makes a problem worse over time, because the dogs play the "ask me again" game.

3. Treat/reward use. A lot of us use too many treats in training. And we do get caught rewarding lackluster effort by the dog. This trains the dog that he doesn't have to snap to it and do things as close to "ideal" as possible. He just learns that doing something in any old way gets a reward. 

When you call a dog to come, he needs to RUN in at a good steady trot. The faster the better. 

Watching a dog amble in when called and then rewarding the dog when he comes in and sits = a no-no. Because the dog LEARNS that's all he has to do. 

Another example is when a dog comes in to front and ends up way off to the side vs straight up and down in front of you - some people have the instincts to reward their dog for the recall, even though the front was crappy. <= It's better to FIX THE FRONT before the dog sits so you can reward him than watching it end badly and rewarding him.

^^^^ I'm using higher level obedience examples for where it's easy to go wrong without a second pair of experienced eyes telling you when you are creating a problem for yourself and not doing something right. 

With people doing regular obedience training you still have a variety of problems which crop up and complicate things in obedience training with an odd mixture of "all the time training" (which the dog can't possibly succeed at) and random trick training. 

Meaning, the people who tell the dogs to heel all the time - and I think the only thing this accomplishes is KILLING the heel command. Because the dogs are pulling ahead while the owner is repeatedly telling the dog "heel!". 

In classes, if you train where I do - you would be told never to use the heel command until you catch and develop the behavior. And then it's like this precious little darling that you never abuse and overuse. It's something you pull out of your hat when you need it. The rest of the time, you require loose lead walking (which is not heeling). 

The random trick training is sit and down and stay commands - how they are taught and applied can be haphazard. Good example is people training dogs to sit by luring upwards with treats - sometimes ends up with dogs pivoting out and around so they are facing the owner and waiting for their treat. <- It's a HORRIFICALLY UGLY sit, but it gets rewarded and encouraged. :surprise: 

More to the point of the OP's post - when dogs jump on people and mouth and clown around, the average person is going to be repeatedly telling the dog down or off. And it has no effect on the dog other than DESTROYING the down and off commands. The dog has the owner repeatedly bleating objections but there is no actual attempt at resolving the problem and teaching the dog. 

With the dog jumping on the mom - it's extra complicated because all people in a household (or who interact with the dog) need to know bare minimum how to deal with a dog who is in training. 

Me personally, if your dog came up and jumped on me - I'd know EXACTLY how to fix that without you even knowing, actually. :wink2: And in a grooming/handling seminar I attended yesterday, I actually saw the "judge" do a number of things with over-excited and jumping dogs which effectively trained the dogs and stopped the jumping. 

This is absolutely something you won't learn how to do by watching videos. The method the "judge" used has actually been taught the WRONG WAY by people using books or videos and they've ended up destroying that method along with everything else by misapplication. 

Furthermore and looking at the bigger picture, obedience training for it to matter should mean that at some point your dogs should be able to do any command without you having a leash or a single treat on you. And this is where obedience training could save your dog's life. 

Bottom line is watching videos and then applying what you learn around the house is fine. We all do it. There's more than a few things that I personally learned how to teach my dog by watching youtube videos. There's big name trainers out there who I'd LOVE to take a seminar from, but they live in a different country and don't seem to come out to Michigan... so I learn how to problem solve or teach stuff a new way by watching youtube videos.

The missing link though involves two different things...

1. Training your dog to do something when you feel socially overwhelmed (and some people get all weird and different when interacting with their dogs in public - they get high squeaky or hushed voices and get flustered) and training your dog when he's mondo distracted by noises, sights, and smells that come with being in public around other people and other dogs. 

2. The way classes can be set up in best case scenarios is you learn how to train something new every week. And every week in class you review and demonstrate what your doing or where you are at with each exercise you learned the prior week(s). If you are having problems, the instructor can brainstorm with you and/or after watching you do it, tell you what you are doing wrong. And usually, when there are problems - it's trainer error.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I would totally agree with a caveat 

Your dog and you BOTH have to have foundation skills in place (example IYC, Leave it, Here etc) before going into a class environment if your puppy is more than say 11 or 12 weeks. Or unless you use collar correction, which chances are would need to be harsh at this stage. At 8 months, being in a class environment with so much stimulation and without the underlying skills (human and dog) it would be less than fair to both members of the team.



aesthetic said:


> Your dog won't ever learn to behave around other people and dogs unless you go and take classes. I'd be doing classes now.


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## zoeythewonderdog (Mar 18, 2017)

Hi! Had to chime in here. I think there's no substitute for in-person classes, for all kinds of reasons. I'm very fortunate, there is a club near me, and the member price for classes is $30 for a six week class. This is cheap enough that my youngster can go twice per week, plus my older dog can go to an advanced class. I also shell out to take both dogs once a week to another place I like better (professional trainer, not volunteers, and the training is more in line with how I like to do things - this place costs more). I've been actively involved in training for more than 10 years, have put championship performance titles on dogs. I have a pretty god idea of what to do and how to do it. 

Why is it worth it to go to a class? 

1. The distractions in a class setting are something I can't duplicate at home. The noise level, the smells, other dogs... all this makes things more challenging, and must be trained for. My pup might sit perfectly in heel position in my kitchen, but getting in and out of the training building with dignity still needs some work (I love Anele's tip above, I will try it tonight with a container of peanut butter to assist our building entry!)

2. I pick up new tips about how to do stuff.

3. I am challenged to try some things i might not otherwise bother with - for example, current "Family Manners" class that my 7 month old youngster is enrolled in has a heavy emphasis on exercises for competition obedience. I will never compete in obedience. Agility, nosework, field work and dock diving are all on my radar, but not competition obedience. So I probably wouldn't have bothered with training "Step off with the left foot and the dog should heel, step off with the right foot and the dog should stay." It won't hurt us to practice this 

4. My pup gets my complete, undivided attention for an hour (this NEVER happens at home! I usually switch back and forth between my 2 dogs)

5. Keeps me honest. If i have a homework chart to fill in with a list of exercises and 7 days a week across the top, it will likely become apparent that i haven't trained quite as much as I thought! Yes, you can do this for yourself, but it really helps to be accountable to somebody.

As far as learning from youtube - What I ran into when training my first agility dog was a lot of "go back and train x, " "go back and train y," "go back and train z"... in other words, there were a lot of foundation skills missing, and I didn't know it because, well, you don't know what you don't know. It's often impossible to discern what prerequisite skills might be needed to do the thing you're looking at in the video. Working with someone in person can help with that.

Good luck!


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## Gleepers (Apr 20, 2016)

GoldenGod said:


> Oh god I couldn't imagine this wild nutcase in a class with other people and their dogs, not at 8 months. Is a year too late to take him to these classes?


Penny?s first class was when she was 7 mo. Yes she was the hyper, unfocused, all over the place dog. She was also the only dog there under age 3. Not lying, it wasn?t always pretty. She competed in her first Rally in Aug at 18 mo old and it wasn?t great. But she sat through 6 hours of dog show and behaved the whole time. I was so proud.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

GoldenGod said:


> Oh god I couldn't imagine this wild nutcase in a class with other people and their dogs, not at 8 months. Is a year too late to take him to these classes?


All the more reason to start now. You need a good trainer who can help you teach him how to be a good dog. Research trainers. places like Pet Smart are not the way to go. Talk to the trainer ahead of time, see if you can have your dog evaluated to see which class would be best to join.


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## aesthetic (Apr 23, 2015)

Sunrise said:


> I would totally agree with a caveat
> 
> Your dog and you BOTH have to have foundation skills in place (example IYC, Leave it, Here etc) before going into a class environment if your puppy is more than say 11 or 12 weeks. Or unless you use collar correction, which chances are would need to be harsh at this stage. At 8 months, being in a class environment with so much stimulation and without the underlying skills (human and dog) it would be less than fair to both members of the team.


That's a good point Maybe privates with a good trainer would be more beneficial to the OP. You get most of the distractions + a trainer to help the foundation skills. With privates you wouldn't have to worry about disturbing other dogs/people, and you get your trainer's undivided attention.


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## hahuston (Jul 5, 2017)

GoldenGod said:


> Oh god I couldn't imagine this wild nutcase in a class with other people and their dogs, not at 8 months. Is a year too late to take him to these classes?


No, it's not too late. A good trainer will evaluate him. If necessary, they'll recommend private lessons at first. I've seen some pretty "wild nutcases" in junior classes and our trainer helped the owners manage their dogs just fine. 

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## puddles everywhere (May 13, 2016)

It's never too late to begin classes. If you still have a "nut job" then you truly need a class so someone can help you learn what to do differently.

I've trained dogs for more than 50 yrs and can tell you that each and every dog is different. I stopped training other peoples dogs as that process seldom works... for the long term anyway.

I can train a dog and it will respond beautifully. I always included 6 "in home" visits to teach the people. But what I found is they ALWAYS return to what they did before and of course so does the dogs behavior.

There is a reason all team sports have coaches... working with your dog is a team sport. Someone needs to watch how you interact with your dog, how the dog responds to what you are doing. I promise the problem is not with the dog. 

Learning to work as a team takes hours of practice and learning to speak the same language so the dog understands what you want from him. Take the class (not a petsmart/petco class) and you will see the "wild & crazy" dog melt into a wonderful companion to enjoy. 

FYI golden retrievers don't grow out of wild and crazy  Something you are doing is reinforcing the behavior and he's having way too much fun to give it up.


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