The worst dog in puppy class!

[Jason Wilson]

Monty has been so good in so many ways. If anything I was thinking that the only problem was that he was a little shy and timid. Then we went to our first puppy class! He was the naughtiest dog there by some distance! He played very rough with other dogs, snarled and stopped listening to me, strained on the leash the whole time, bothered other dogs etc. 

I am wondering if I should cancel the class, as he just was not hearing me at all at the end, and I was having to drag him around. He doesn't act like this with other dogs on the street. Any thoughts? 

[Michele Kiss]

That's the whole reason you SHOULD be going to class. It happens to all of us, our puppy won't listen in class, or won't do the trick he was nailing at home before! It's not a reflection of you being a "bad puppy parent" - they're just puppies! Keep working with and he'll get better over time. 

Last week Fenway was TERRIBLE in class, so this week we tried taking him to the dog park before to get out some of his energy. It helped a little, but we might have taken him for TOO long so he was a little overexcited and then just DONE about 10mins before class. (On the upside, he was VERY good at a down-stay at the end - LOL!!) 

But definitely play around with a dog park / walk / something to release his energy before class... 

[Leslie Kennedy]

Watching this link. We have the next puppy school drop out. Haha! We are tryinig but there are days.

[Cammy Todd]

I know this is an old discussion, but wanted to thank you for posting it.  I did a search here today after having an awful time with Izzy last night at puppy class.  I came home so frustrated.  She wouldn't listen and pulled on the leash so bad (we have been making so much progress with this at home).  I had to step to the side a couple of times and take a deep breath.  There is always next week!

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

Cammy, I have Gracie in training right now. She's 6 mo and I wasn't sure how it would work out, but we have been to 2 classes with 2 weeks in between of me working with her on the lessons. We can see improvements with her daily. So just keep at it and practice as much as your puppy can tolerate.

There is a training group here on dk, it's a great place to ask questions as well.

[Amy and Annabelle]

Annabelle is 10 months old. She is in her first puppy obedience class. She is not the worst, but is not anywhere near the best either. We have gone to 4 out of the 6 classes. She graduates in 2 weeks and I'm worried she is going to fail. We have a great trainer and if a pup is having a difficult time he will take the pup and work his magic and the pup starts doing what is asked of him. There is one little rescue that is so scared. She takes a lot of patience, encouragement and love from both her mom and the trainer. But even she is coming around. He promised he wouldn't let Annabelle fail. She does great when we practice at home, but get her in class with all the distractions and she can't focus. It is just my husband and I and we are quiet. She is just not used to a lot of noise or other dogs. So it is good for her to get this experience. She also starts to get tired towards the end of class and gives me the look like she is over it. Next week we learn recall. That is going to be the big challenge for us. She knows what it is, but has a rebellious streak in her and will only do it when she feels like it. Just tonight she was playing ball in the backyard with my husband. The neighbor drove down the little private road next to our house and Annabelle started chasing the car. She would not come to my husband when he called her. He finally caught up to her because she had her leash on and he stepped on it. While I can see and improvement, there are times like tonight with the car chasing, I think she is hopeless.