Will this type of training work?

Hi, I took my puppy to his first class last night, and well it was a bit of a disaster. My puppy finds other dogs THE most exciting things in the world. Whenever we are out and about and we see another dog he goes daft wanting to play, trying to jump all over them, which isn't often appreciated.

Anyway, he was in doggy heaven last night, as there were 15 other doggies in this class, but it was more like doggie hell for him as he was on leash not gettiing to see and play them.

He wasn't interested in any of the training, he became a bit more interested when the liver cake made an appearance but on the whole his attention was on the other dogs.

I guess my question is will this ever change, after a few sessions will he be any less interested in the other dogs?He does really good when it's 1 to 1 training him and I, but again any distractions and his attention goes.

This will change after a couple of times when he realizes he won't get to play with them, and also he will get more used to them being around. That said, it is very important that you don't let him say hi to or play with them either before of after the class, as it will distract him further.

Also, if you are able, try to increase the distance between you and the others as much as possible. The more distance - the easier it is for him to focus on you rather than them.

Good luck!

Sounds like if the liver cake did good then you need lots of really high value treats - find several things he likes and muddle them up so he dosent know what he is getting

Also do lots of training at home, then in the garden then in the park so he gets used to training with you - and keep it short, v rewarding and fun fun fun

In the class as well try and not tell him off or get angry at him for not focusing on you - that will not make you more interesting instead treat for any tiny bit of focus on you (and remember focus is a 2 way street - you have to have most of your focus on him and only some on the rest o the class - if you are looking about you will miss when he is tuning into you)

and have fun!

You do need to train where there are other dogs, one to one is fine, but doesn't replicate real life. 15 is quite a big class TBH & 6-8 would be my maximum.

You need to work on his concentration on you & clicker based reward training is really good for this.

Do the class teach clicker training ?

Don't forget the dog training classes are to train you how to train your dog & not to train your dog.

It should get better, but as with most things, you only get out what you put in. 3 5 min training sessions a day on specific tasks(at the moment this can be increased slowly) & always end on a good note & play session

You can only train a dog to stay on task around other dogs around other dogs. So keep up your class. Work with your instructor.

If he isn't getting play time with other dogs, try to set up a play date with somebody you know or perhaps somebody in class. Puppies need ongoing contact with other dogs.

No it's not clicker training just with rewards. At the end of the class the puppies got to play all together, there were 5 pups, he obviously loved this bit. So should that not really happen?

I've paid for a block of 8 classes so i'll definitely continue with them, and get baking some liver bread to help matters!

Not really especially if the puppies are all wanting to play during training & it can lead to bullying by some puppies.

I do hate clubs that do "courses"that you have to pay for upfront, it always smacks to me of the money being the most important part.

Our motivational club only charges enough to cover the cost of the hall each week(luckily it is only £12 for 2 hours)& we provide a choice of treats & teach clicker use as well.

We set achievable goals for the owners to achieve by the time of the next class & we don't want more than 6 dogs really.

We have one superstar Jack Russell, who has gone from pulling on the lead & jumping up, to walking on a loose lead, doing a very speedy recall, no longer jumping up(learnt that in 30 secs all on his own !!) using a clicker)& doing stays, he's just started sendaway training using a target trainer & the touch which he has also learnt.

I have to disagree with you there, I started a puppy play group, I did charge up front, in order to keep class sizes down, {not a set course as such, just the first months training, then pay as you go after that,

my reason being, my hall was not as cheap as yours, in order to maintain a small class that got the time needed for pups and to introduce the clicker, I found charging the first month a good thing,

All the puppies got on well but there was one wee shy cocker spaniel, who was let off lead whildt the rest were on so she could go and investigate, which she did.

I just don't want to go to classes that will teach him bad habits, but this is my first dog and i can't tell a good class from a bad one.

Sounds like a typical NID puppy to me !!!!!!