Signed Gracie up for her first training sessions.

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

I think this is more like beginner classes which has me wonder how much she will gain from it since we have (mostly) basic obedience down such as sit, stay, wait, working on come. She is 6 months so she's testing the waters to see if she really has to do what I say. ;) I'm hoping to polish her up and to get advice about her jumping on us when we come home or on guests when they come over. Plus, she's pretty much full grown size as far as height goes. I can't imagine what she will be like with more muscle mass!

I have chatted with the trainer via email and it will be a small group training session. In fact as of the other day Gracie was the only dog signed up. It doesn't worry me too much because we are in a very small rural area and economically I doubt many people pay to have their dogs trained. But, this trainer works on other things as well taking the dog's age into consideration. I'm hoping that maybe Gracie will eventually be a good candidate for therapy training only so that we can visit schools and nursing homes.

Anyway, we are pretty excited. Well I am. Gracie will just be excited to go for rides - maybe eventually she will be excited about the training.

[BG and Gavin]

I loved attending trainining classes! I bet you will too. If the class size is small it is a great opportunity to work on specific behaviours. Have fun. Gavin was always exhausted after training classes so I can imagine Gracie will be too.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with BG; in a small class, you have a chance to work on individual issues which you might not get in a large class. Have fun and keep us posted on Gracie's progress. 

[Kate, Mel, Tenley & Harper]

I love classes. We still go to them even though he already has his CGC and CGCA, he really enjoys obedience training so we did a short 3-week competitive obedience prep class just for fun. It's a great way to bond, wear them out, etc. We have to take a break for the summer because we travel a lot and can't consistently go to class at a certain time, but he's going to start treiball and scent classes this fall in addition to some advanced trick training and continuing his agility. The possibilities really are endless! 

Hope you guys have a lot of fun too. It's great to get her out into a class setting (and other real-life settings) if she already mastered the skills at home. Practice makes perfect!

[Amy and Annabelle]

Annabelle had her first class Tuesday. She is now 8 months old and we have had a private trainer come to the house since November, but this is her first class. She knows most of the commands, but this was to work on her socialization skills which are severely lacking. She needs to be able to go on a walk with me without wanting to play with the other dogs or chase after the roller bladers. She does great when it is just us and the trainer, but add anything else into the mix and she goes beserk. There are 13 dogs in this class. It wasn't too bad for the first class. It was funny, the larger dogs seemed to congregate together on one side and the smaller ones were on the other side. Annabelle was kind of afraid of the big German Shephard with the deep bark. Mine is a mini and weighs 13lbs so were with the other littles. The little rottie was out of control so that made it interesting. I do 3-4 10 minute training sessions with her daily for our homework. The trainer with this class uses the pinch collar, so we are getting used to that. It does look like a torture device, but it doesn't seem to bother her. She seems to listen to me more when she is wearing it. Go figure. I did take her for a 2 mile walk before class so she wouldn't be so hyper.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Good for you and Gracie!  I can't wait to hear more about how it all goes.  We always loved our training sessions...special bonding time.