benefits of obedience training?

[Eryn]

Hi Doodle lovers! 

As some of you may know from my other post, I am a new doodle owner and although I have grown up with dogs my whole childhood, this is my first time owning my own in my adult years.... I just brought Sully home with us about 5 months ago and I keep going back and forth between deciding whether I should bother with obedience training or just do private training..

To give you a bit of a background- Sully is 13 months, but was re-homed twice in that time.... which is very sad, but happy we have him because he fits in wonderfully in our family and he has most definitely found his forever home with us!

I do know quite a bit about behavior modification and have already trained Sully to do the following: Sit, Down, shake a paw, touch (he comes and touches my palm with his nose), stay and drop it. He is fairly consistent with these, but he is still a puppy and will get distracted and not listen at times. With the gentle leader head collar, he walks really well and he seems to be very well behaved around other dogs. He has met about 8 other dogs within the time we've had him and he was quite social with them.

He came to us already crate trained, and has no issues with this at all. He loves his crate!

However, here are the issues we have with him: He likes to swipe food off the counter and he gets into the garbage. He also is terrible at greeting people that come to visit. He jumps up on  them- Although I don't let him do this. He is a big dog and he could really hurt someone, so I keep him on his leash when I have visitors and only let him go when I know he has calmed down and won't jump. He also has issues with our cat... but some of you know this from my previous post and we are working on that problem as well.

So what are your thoughts on obedience training??Is this something that will help us with any of our issues? Or private training?? Or should I keep doing what I'm doing, because I am aware that some of these issues will just take time because he is still young...I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Thank you :)

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I would opt for a private trainer at my home for these issues.  If he knows sit, down, stay and drop it then an obedience class isn't going to give you much more than providing some distractions.  There are specific strategies for preventing the "jumping"...like "place" or simply putting him in a sit/down stay until he's calm.  Counter surfing or getting into the garbage are separate issues....personally I think those can be difficult to address through obedience training.  I would keep food off the counter....and when you can't supervise I would keep him out of the kitchen.

[Eryn]

Yes, that is what I thought as well. I was prepared to put him in obedience classes, but he has been so easy to train myself, I'm not sure I need it...

We do put him in a sit position when someone comes to visit but he gets so darn excited that he doesn't stay in that position. He tries though and it is quite a sight.... He try to jump and then remember he should be sitting, so he sits back down and his whole body is just vibrating with excitement, it's so hard for him! lol It's a work in progress....

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

It takes time....every time he breaks, just put him right back into the sit and make him wait.  He will get it in time.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

A pro for group training, as opposed to a private trainer coming to the house...is the socialization and even more so...those distractions. Any dog can learn a down stay in the quiet of a house or backyard. But put the same dog in a group of other moving dogs, various noises and movements...will that dog still hold the down stay?

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

When I work with my private trainer we take the Doods to places where there are high distractions for that reason.  I just find it's helpful to have the trainer concentrate on MY dogs only versus a class of 10 or more.

[Lynette Main]

I've always done the obedience classes,just for the socialization  and doing things in a group. My dogs really love being with other dogs and sometimes respond better than when they are at home learning .Its like they want to do the same things as the other dogs are doing. My Doodles watch the other dogs and learn that way also.

[Kyoko]

I never did private training.... For no particular reason. ( mainly because of the cost and no knowing a good personal trainer ) But I am a big advocate for on going training.... I think there is something to progress all of the time....I don't know how much of the training Sully had., but he sounds like a good boy....If he has good basic command but want to work on some other stuff like jumping may be you can progress onto CGC or something..?

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

You have to keep doing what you are doing, whether you take a class or a private trainer.  Those options train YOU on how to train your dog, IMO.  Sounds like you are headed in the right direction with sit stays etc, but a little extra help from a good trainer, either in a class or privately, is a good thing!  

So happy for Sully that he found his forever home!  

[Julie and Max]

I think either is a good option but as Lori said it's how you follow through. Have you tried having visitors ignore the dog until he calms down? This has worked well with Max, he doesn't get any attention until he's in a sit, took a bit to train my family lol...but they're doing great now :D

[Eryn]

Yes, when a visitor comes I have Sully on leash and make him sit. I tell everyone to ignore unless he's in the sit position... Typically he does calm down within the first 5 minutes and he is fine after that...I'm confident that with time, it will come. I also might add that he doesn't greet any of us this way.... Only visitors! 

[Chelsie]

I would suggest obedience training. I did a puppy class for Sam which was basically for his socialization. After he turned 1 I took him to a formal dog obedience class, a series that leads to dog obedience competitions. Sam has always been easy to train and already knew all of the basics, but I learned so much from that class. The trainer just taught me how to communicate better with Sam. Sam now knows what I expect from him and is such a joy to live with. (Not that he wasn't before, but having a dog with this kind of training makes it even better!) If you choose not to do a class I highly encourage you to work Sully's recall everyday until he is 100% at it. The best advice from the trainer was give a command only once and let the dog think what they need to do and if no response then you make them comply. Over giving a command with no response only reinforces to the dog that they don't have to obey every time you give a command. Just my opinion and enjoy Sully!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I opt for BOTH.  But my thoughts are reach for something more.  Personal trainers are expensive.

May I also suggest other types of skill work: Nose work, tracking, or agility.  This certainly takes focus and maybe something more enjoyable for the both of you.  You really are training while not actually going around in an obedience class to learn the same thing.