# Excited Puppy at Class!



## Susan: w/ Summit we climb (Jun 12, 2014)

Summit used to have the same problem. He wanted to play with every dog in class! He didn't really improve much until a couple of weeks ago; It happened all of a sudden, and he's much better now. 

We never felt judged; we did feel bad about taking up class time that others needed to work with their dogs. But our classes haven't been full, so there was enough time that everyone got to do what they needed to do. People were happy to have Summit in the class. They actually said so. Our instructors have been pretty relaxed, too. I hope your instructor lightens up a bit so you can enjoy your class time.


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## Steph&Hudson (Oct 22, 2014)

Thanks Susan, it's reassuring to know that it might get better eventually haha! 

Will keep working on it!


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

I think your experience is pretty common for owners of Goldens. Hopefully the class will be teaching you how to get the puppy to calm down and focus on you. There will be ups and downs but each class the pup should be a little calmer.


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## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

Part of the reason we go to training class is to teach our pups how to control themselves, even when excited or distracted. Look at this as a learning opportunity!


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

We had the same situation with Mr. Darcy during his Star puppy class. AND he turned his excitement on us: bring on the bandaids!!

We found that having a can of pennies to shake brought him back to earth. We did it at home first so he was aware that the can meant "calm down". Then at class, just a bit of a rattle and he knew.


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## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

Been there. Still there. 

It helps to be in a big room, so there's lots of space between the dogs. It also helps to have some tricks/behaviors that they already know to keep them busy instead of looking around. I'm working on that lately. The less free time he has, the less he's getting excited about stuff.


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## Susan: w/ Summit we climb (Jun 12, 2014)

BTW, to clarify Summit's problem, he always focused on me and did what he needed to be doing. He was the top puppy in his (small) class in Basic Obedience, and now he's doing very well in Intermediate / Rally obedience with my DH. He just wanted so badly to play, and he still does! He got to play today before his Intermediate class for a couple of minutes, and he actually did do a better job in class afterward.

And also, if anyone is thinking about trying Rally Obedience, it really is fun.


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## thorbreafortuna (Jun 9, 2013)

We had a similar problem the first of second session of each class, but it did improve quickly after that. Our trainer was great at making people feel that it was a normal stage in the process while devoting time at the start of each session to work on attention. In the end I was amazed at what my pup could do only minutes after appearing to be way to excited to accomplish anything. With the right guidance, a bit of patience and a handful of treats can work magic.


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## GoldenLove88 (Jul 25, 2014)

My 3 month old pup does that. It will help calm if you took Hudson out for exercise to burn some of his energy earlier the day before class and arrive class early to allow him to explore the room before and allow him to settle before other dogs show up. It does work for my pup!


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## Atis (Jul 8, 2014)

I was just going to offer the same as Goldenlove88 re trying to burn off some energy before class and arriving early to allow for some acclimation time. Something we did in class whenever they became too distracted was to do some familiar drilling in place of things they're good at. We call them puppy push-ups and my boys still do it at 4+ years when some focus is needed. "sit, down, up/sit, stand....sit, down, up/sit, stand....sit, down, up/sit, stand...." several times in a row followed by a treat and praise. Works well for us to get them back to focusing on us.


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## peacekeeper (Apr 17, 2014)

I'm in the same boat as you.. We just finished our 2nd session and she's all over the place.. ignored me most of the time and I couldn't focus on the trainer as I was trying to get her off another person or puppy. 

The trainer suggested to do attention drills.. and bring in a better treat!:uhoh:
The biscuit that drives her crazy at home does not appeal at all against the new place, new people and new puppies to meet!:doh:

I had to watch myself too because I was getting frustrated.. I knew she knows her sit and down and walking by my side, but everything goes out the window when we're at class. The trainer kept the class light and humorous too.. she was quite encouraging.

I will definitely to play off some of the energy b4 class.. and arming myself with lots of yummy treats.:crossfing


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