What to look for when inquiring about training courses?

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

At the moment Gracie is 11 weeks and doing fairly well with what I've been working on with her. Since doodles are super smart, I don't want to end up with some sit and stay class. So, what should I look for? I know it's just puppy classes now - but I'm also interested in more training later.
So, I would like to know what to look for in the future as well.
What kind of questions to ask, etc.
Thanks!

[Laura and Angus]

So when Angus was younger we started with just "puppy socialization" classes. Basically we took him to a place with a bunch of different puppies and they would play together and the trainers were there to help the puppies learn the signals of other dogs and assist them in beginning socialization skills. BONUS puppy playtime :) Now at 6 months old, Angus will be starting a structured training class that is centered around teaching your dog to be well-mannered -- this includes both at home, on the leash, and out and about. We also didn't want a simple "sit-stay" kinda class since Angus already knows sit-stay-lay down- drop it - leave it- paw. It kind of depends on what behaviors you're looking to work on too, I think. While Angus is super duper smart, he's sneaky and chock full of crazy puppy energy - so obviously the description of needing to work on doggie manners was very appealing to us (e.g. appropriate greetings and leash training).

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

We have an older dog who is 7. Is that enough socialization or does it need to be puppies?
Gracie sits, lies down, rolls over (halfway). She is working on leave it and drop it. Plus she comes when I say Gracie come. Well mostly. She's doing well with my leash training. However, I'm afraid I might be doing something wrong. Lol
I'm definitely going to have her in classes when she gets older, but just didn't know if it's something I should do now as well.

[Laura and Angus]

It's a good question, but from my reading about puppy development, you want them to be exposed to all types of different experiences. We waited until Angus had all his shots before we did puppy class, but there is some debate about that since the socialization period kind of happens before puppy shots are completed. I'd say if you can expose your puppy to lots of different doggies (that have had their shots) that would be best to have a socialized adult dog...

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

We live in the country so it's limited for what I can do w/o driving for an hour. We also have some dog that comes into our yard and poos. I know this because he has gigantic piles! Grrrr... If it's one set of dogs (my in laws) then it's not too bad because they are vaccinated. But, I don't know if it is this other dog - a lab down the road. I don't know his history.
It's kind of gross too. I mean with my dogs well it's expected (kind of like your own kid), but I don't want to pick up someone else's dog poo!!

[Laura and Angus]

Makes total sense then. If you can arrange playdates with family members or friends maybe that's a way to get Gracie exposure to other pups? I drove an hour and 10 min to a coworkers house so Angus could play with her golden retriever haha. But frankly, you can only do what you can do. Maybe a local vet knows of some trainers/classes in the area for socializing? Good luck!

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

I'm getting some info. I found one that starts Saturday, but not sure about it because they use clicker training. I don't have an opinion on it, just am not sure about it.

[Adina P]

Socialization is about getting your dog to feel comfortable/at ease in the world around it.  Let's imagine that you knew with 100% certainty that your dog would live with you for it's whole life and you would never take your dog away from his home or yard.  In that case, you would not need to socialize it to the world outside of your home.  But if you plan on including your dog on trips here and there or taking it on walks in town, etc., then it's a good idea for him to be acquainted with these things from puppyhood -- as long as these things are safe and not too scary for him.  Same with other dogs.  Socialization means being comfortable around other dogs and knowing how to act around other dogs.  It does not mean puppies have to play with every dog they might encounter.  Socialization does not mean "play with" -- only be comfortable in the presence of and to have interaction skills with those things.

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

Thank you. That makes perfect sense.

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

When I took Kona to puppy kindergarden at PetSmart, he was already good at all of the basic commands before week one. So sometimes it felt like I was wasting my money, but I'm still glad I did the 6 week beginner class just for the socializing it offered and helping him deal with noisy crowds (they did some of the training in the aisles of the store to learn how to ignore distractions). And learning how to sniff and settle down around other strange dogs big and small.  I adopted Maggie when she was already 10 or 11 months old and a runaway stray and I wish I had her from 8 weeks old!  She missed out on some of that very young socialization that Kona got, so she is still overly assertively playful at the park and I'm still having to work on obedience training with her to get her manners in place.  So take advantage of these young, seemingly boring classes while you can. 

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

Good to know. Thanks! I was thinking my pup was too smart for petsmart. Lol. But, what about her not having all of her vaccinations?

[Julie and Max]

Find a trainer that fits your style. You may want to look for someone that does a lot of different things. My trainer does basic, intermediate and advanced obedience as well as rally, scent detection, agility, competition obedience. She has like 20 years experience with training and her style of training is what I like which is positive (no alpha stuff). Max started out with the basics and we've continued on trying out all her different classes. 

Remember too that what your puppy will do at home might not be the case when you're out where their are distractions such as other dogs, people, squirrels etc, so you want to be training in a lot of different environments as she gets older, most dogs will do all the stuff at home but it becomes much harder in different places. 

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

Yes. Thank you! I would actually like to do whatever is available. I'm looking into options!