How Many Levels of Obedience Training?

[Sandy]

We took Toby to Puppy Classes, which were four weeks long, and he did quite well. We still practise sit, down, stand, high five, which one, and stay, at home. What I was wondering is how many levels of classes others have done? I'd really like to go ahead and do Grade 1, which is more extensive as far as coming when distracted, staying, down for up to 30 minutes, etc. This is the first dog we've ever taken to classes, and we quite enjoyed the experience. This particular dog school has Puppy, Grade 1, Grade 2, and Agility Training, in that order. It would be great fun to go right through, but of course each level costs money! :)

[Adina P]

I think you should take as many levels as you can afford. makes for a that are behaved dog! And pay close attention to principles. What principles of training is the trainer teaching YOU!? those principles, if good ones, can guide you into training your dog on your own if and when you reach the point you can't afford to pay for classes.

I have never taken a single obedience class, but instead trained Rosco on my own because I wasn't happy with what was available locally. So you can do it to... but do a lot of reading and decide on a method based on some principles that you think are true and useful. You can always bounce ideas off of us here :-)

But, if you can afford it in the classes are helpful... go as far as you can! There is no downside to a well-trained dog :-)

[Linda and Murphy]

I also suggest taking as many as you can afford. We have done 3 different obedience classes and are doing agility now. Murphy just got his Canine Good Citizen in November. One of the things one teacher stressed is that dogs don't generalize. A sit stay at home may not translate to a sit stay at another locale. We have a local market on Saturday and I try to take Murphy almost every week. I helps alot with meet and greet. (He is 2.5 yrs now) I find the classes help because all of the other dogs are distractions. Murphy thinks it is social hour so it is hard for him to pay attention there.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Samantha is now in her 4th and 5th classes. I am planning on keeping her in at least 1 class - learning fly ball, more agility something for us to do together learning. We go to the animal rescue for classes.
-Puppy Kindergarten
-Puppy Grad
-Off Leash - indoors - we learned lots of commands mostly for safety sake. 'wait' while puppy is moving foward - not walking into street, heel off leash -
-Outdoor Off Leash - the difference is 30' line, outside with MANY distractins including the air, grass, etc. Best hint: cheap whistle, blow it; 'here'; treat. work each day a little further away and when pup is distracted by sniffing. If you can get them to move away from that, to come to you, you can be more confident on walks in the woods, etc.

These last 2 classes, for us, are the icing on the cake from puppy 'obedience' to the everyday life that we need our puppies to be able to respond to for being a good dog citizen and one that stays safe.

Puppy Agility - not very exciting but learn the basics. I am not thinking, at this point, to do agility competition, but a busy pup is one tha tdoesn't get into trouble.

You can also get the book used at ebay "dog tricks for dummies'. Great, fun way to play with your puppy. Not just for the tricks but the tricks keeps their minds busy.

I didn't know enough to be able to train Samantha in the 'new way'. I haven't had a puppy in 20+ years and the way we were taught back-in-the-day is so different in philosphy that our classes were a must, in hindsight.
Costs me 150.00 per class, but I decided that I was able to afford it if I juggled other 'perks'.
For us, it worked.

[Leslie and Halas]

We went to Puppy Class, Manners Class, Beginner Obedience (twice), and now Intermediate or Advanced (I forget what they call it). After the 1st 3 classes, you can join the obedience club ($65 for one year), and then take as many classes as you want. The Advanced in ongoing, so we plan to keep going. There's been a long break through December and the holidays, and I've noticed that we haven't practiced very much. So, for us, it's great to have the class to go to every week. I plan to do some other stuff like Rally or Agility. Halas has his CGC, but he still isn't very consistent and sitting calmly to be greeted. Or I should probably say I'm not consistent at making him sit calmly to be greeted. So I want to keep going to give us more chances to work on that. I agree with others that say to take as many classes as you can afford. It's good one-on-one time with your dog, and there's so much to learn, beyond the basics.

[Auburn McCanta]

Our Wilson just received his Canine Good Citizen award which he achieved after completing his beginner, intermediate and advanced classes. He's now heading on to start training as a Service Dog. I have balance issues and Wilson has volunteered to serve as a fun and furry cane rather than the silly stick I keep forgetting to use anyway. Agility training is fun I hear. I had also thought of doing click-a-trick because Wilson absolutely LOVES clicker training. There's a cookie at the end of each click, so he's all over that!

Have fun with whatever you do. Yes, formal training is expensive, but there are good books and also even television shows that offer tips for gentle and successful training. We love to watch Dog Town and It's Me or the Dog because both shows provide training hints that are gentle. Good luck!

[Richard Crowe]

Holly graduated from puppy class at about six months. We continued training at home until she was a year old. She now has a better attention span. We will be entering her in some advanced classes very soon. She is very well behaved but, she is so darn smart that we feel guilty not training her to the fullest. We plan to have Holly as a therapy dog and to play with agility work.

Here is a link to a dog trick web site...

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/5952/indexorg.html

[Ann W]

Charlie and I are going to be professional dog students! It's great fun and we both get a work out.

[Karen & Lucy]

I agree with everyone here, but I know it can get very expensive and with this economy not everyone can afford that, me included. I too want Lucy to do therapy work, that was a big reason I got her. She did go to formal training, one eight week course, and passed with flying colors. I was soooo proud of her. I just keep reinforcing it at home, although I do get lazy at times, but she picks it up real fast again. I am very lucky though that her inst. has a dog club in my area and anyone that has gone through her class is welcome to come. She only charges $5/month. It is a monthly meeting. She continues training there and I work on it at home. She does different things. We went through rally training, which Lucy did great. She took off 2 months so we are, in fact, going tonight. This is great because Lucy gets to socialize with all of the other dogs and their owners plus furthers her obedience training. So, my point is, research and see if there are any dog clubs in your area and join. All you need to do is continue the training at home, read, and of course use our fabulous resources here on DK. I really do think if I took Lucy to do the testing she would have a good chance at passing, maybe not the first time, but the next. Good luck and have fun with Toby.

[Sandy]

Thanks for the reply. If money were no object, I'd keep going for sure. However, his first set of classes was $200. They were well worth the money. The next set are twice as many classes for $300. Then there are Grades 2 and 3, and Agility. So I will do a little research and see if there is a dog club here.

[Karen & Lucy]

WOW, where do you live???? I paid $75 for 1 day/wk. for 8 weeks. No wonder you can not afford all of that !!!!

[Sandy]

We live in Southern Ontario - we took Toby to McCann's, which is the premiere dog training facility in the area. Maybe if I want to go further with the training I should look elsewhere. They are just so highly recommended, and truly helped solve any issues Toby and I were having.

[Stella]

Wow Sandy, they are so expensive!! No wonder you were thinking of not continuing. I know you said they fit best with your schedule, but were we go is about half the price!!