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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
know of good dog training school?
DH and I are adopting a young shelter dog. We are anticipating taking him to puppy classes due to his previous life in a shelter. Anyone know of a good reputable place? I've heard negative things about Petsmart classes so that would be my last choice. Thanks!
Re: know of good dog training school?
Congrats on your soon-to-be new family member! You'll have to a post a picture
I haven't used any personally (b/c we found our dog was better tained than we initally thought!) but the following places were reco'd to me by the ladies on this board. Hopefully they'll chime w/ their personal experiences.
Training Tracks on 42 in West Chester
Pfister's Animal Hospital on Cincy-Dayton in West Chester
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This is a place I used in Dayton. It might be too far but they have info on choosing good trainers. Petsmart would not work for us. My dogs and I are all easily distracted so we'd never be able to focus during their classes!
http://www.pawsitivepetbehavior.com/choosing.htm
Why not start by working with your dog at home before you assume you'll need outside help? Get a book or two or three. The key to having a well trained dog is a consistent and engaged owner, not a school. Then when you hit bumps or want some more specific training designed for you and your home - bring a trainer into your house to do a consult session. A 1-hr consult on behaviors in the house will be less expensive and time consuming than hauling the pup to lessons once a week.
You might also be surprised at how well the dog you get is trained. I know several rescuers and fosters in the area and they all work on training the dogs to up the odds that the dog will be adopted.
"What All Good Dogs Should Know" is REALLY simple and covers everything they'll tell you in a basic puppy training class. There's "How to Speak Dog" if you want something more cerebral which brings a lot of animal behavior into it. I don't recommend Cesar Milan's books - they're just not realistic training methods for the average working person IMO.
If you are dedicated to the idea of a school, try Camp Bow Wow for a recommendation, though I think they use Four Paws. I also know Clermont County Kennel Club does training for mixes.
Thank-you for the suggestion of getting a few books. I have done so already. However, I know that this particular dog is not well socialized. His foster mom has told us that he will benefit from puppy classes to get used to being around other dogs.
A trainer certified by the groups in my link should use positive, non-physical training. My older dog has always had severe behavioral issues/anxiety and he did much better in those types of classes. I did puppy classes through a local dog club. It was ok but the advanced puppy class focused too much on conformation, dog show type stuff when I reality I just wanted to teach my dogs to not rip my arm off when I walked them. The certified trainer was a little more low key & good at pointing out things I needed to work on. I wish I hadn't wasted the money with the other training group. They were ok for my younger dog, not so great for the older one.
I recently read a book, Through a Dog's Eyes by Jen Arnold. She runs an assistance dog school in GA. It's part memoir, part her reflections on dog training & animal behavior. She is very much in favor of positive, non physical training so I think you'd like the book. Just a warning, parts of it made me cry!
Congrats on your new pup!!
We LOVE LOVE LOVE Dominique Oppenheimer. She teaches at Pfister's Animal Hospital in West Chester (where we go) and at Red Dog in Cincinnati. Also if you're looking for a vet I would highly recommend Pfister's. I wouldn't board there, but the vets are amazing.
Dominique has been amazing in getting us set with Koda. We go every week and have been for about a year and a half now. For us, Koda knows the basics, but she needs an hour a week to just focus her energy. Dominique is great with all breeds, she has 6 dogs herself and has been doing this for quite a few years. We've taken her basics and intermediate classes and have enjoyed all of them.
Here's her website:
http://www.dominiquesallbreed.com/pawsperson/Welcome.html