Just had add another bit I would also never call out to someone like the person did to you (where they a trainer? obviously not very good people skills!).

If i thought two puppies were getting carried away i would go over and explain in a friendly quiet way!

Puppies are invited to outdoor play sessions where they have short off lead play session interspersed with payiing attention to owners before being released to play again. In class they can have sniffs and a little bit of mouthing etc but it is generally a time for them to learn self control and that they can't always get what they want i.e. to leap all over thier neighbour!

Have you considered going to an APDT puppy class......i am pressuming from the description that the one you have chosen is not APDT registered.....am i right?!

Hi Catrin, Well all I know is they are a VERY big club in the obedience circuit, they have an open show which says under KC rules G, whatever that means so I'm sure they are what you are asking!

The reason I am going and sitting in is the fact that they are so very busy they can't fit me in until after Easter, so I'm on the waiting list and hopefully will get in there. In the very first instance though, I have booked myself into the Puppy Classes at another club which starts on the 2nd March, and I just thought, if I go along with Zena to the main big club, we can sit and watch with some other puppies on the stage and I can learn lots. It has nothing really to do with her own training, that will start proper at the puppy training class on the 2nd March which I've paid and booked, along with what I'm doing at home. So by the time I actually get to be on the floor at the other big club after Easter, Zena will have learned all the basics and know how to behave herself when being trained (I hope! ). I'm only there for socialisation, to get her used to being in such close vicinity to older and younger dogs and perhaps she might even learn something whilst watching them all on the floor, coz she did actually spend quite a long time with both ears pricked watching things going on in front of her and in front of me.

Yes, the new puppy class I am going to definitely says APDT on the form so that's ok.

The lady was standing at the back of the stage in another open doorway where people were to'ing and fro'ing and she didn't exactly shout it out to me coz of course we had to whisper on stage, but the thing was it was 2 mins. before it all FINISHED anyway, so why couldn't he have said something in the 45 mins. before that when he arrived then??

Really glad you are going to APDT classes soon.

That woman sounds like a numpty and not very sensitive at all! Bloody rude too!

Unfortunately being KC reg and being big in obedience doesn't guarantee good training techniques really.....and the set up of the chairs and age of the dogs attending highlights that really. It is good that Zena is getting to see other pups and dogs and letting her gently lick and sniff and show happy interest in other dogs in the right thing to do.....so you keep at it!

Thanks for that Catrin. Quite honestly, if I can find somewhere else to go to continue after the puppy training, I will opt for that rather than this huuuge club because their standards are very high (not that I don't want that, but I don't really NEED that, I'm not going on the circuit am I!) I would much prefer to go to a smaller but good training class. In fact, I have recently learned that there is a gsd lady who does agility on the farm opposite my house every Sunday morning and the person who told me about her said she also does training classes somewhere, so if I pop along on a Sunday morning I can have a chat to her and find out more perhaps. That was on my "to do" list last Sunday but it all went a bit pearshaped, I wonder why??!!!! This club used to hold smaller classes in MY local village hall, but now they've all congregated into another larger on and people actually come from quite a way away to attend, that's how very big it is. The amount of people arriving when we left was quite unbelievable and they were ALL gsd's, big ones too!! Poor Zena, but she coped with me by her side, bless.

Personally i prefer pet dog training classes, as you say, it's not because i don't want high standards...just that i am not interested in winning competitions and am far more interested in having a well behaved pet dog who enjoys thinking for themselves.

Trying not to be negative, but i would also avoid classes that containing solely one breed....such as those who class themselves as "GSD classes"......all dogs are individuals and also have breed traits but the theories of how animals learn apply to all breeds and animals (people, chickens, pigs etc etc).

It is important for Zena to meet all dog and be able to interact with all dogs....as all dogs behave differently and look different, and play differently. Sticking to one breed training classes can be detrimental.

Hopefully your APDT puppy classs will have classes that you can move onto with Zena afterwards......as i am sure she is going to be a quick learner!

Hey Helena,

Like I said, yo'll have no problem with Zena, I'm convinced of it. She sounds like a wonder dog!

You never know, if you like the smaller club you've booked into in March and Zena gets on well there, it may be worth sticking with that. I found my small local sclub (run by GSD owners but open to all dogs) is very personal. Everyone knows everyone and even if you're not sure of who to speak to, the dogs arew a talking point so it's a 100% guaantee that someone will chat with you.

See how it goes from 2nd. March and do what you feel is right, not what other people and pieces of paper tell you and you'll both be fine.

At the end of the day, I started taking Zane to training last year because I had forgotten how to train a young puppy. If I didn't have the time or money to take the dogs now it wouldn't be the end of the world because it's my responsibility to train them - and training isn't all about 45-60 minutes in a class full of other dogs once a week. I believe that going to training classes is purely to teach owners how to deal with their dogs and then the real work starts at home.

I see so many people who turn up to our training every week, clearly having done NO work with their dogs since the previous week. The dogs enjoy the social side (and that would be the disadvantage of not going) but to be honest, I think those people are wasting their money!

Laura xx

Hi Catrin, the class I actually watched was a very mixed bag from cocker spaniels, border terriers to a very obedient dobie, so you could tell she had been doing all the stuff back home, coz she shone out to me, her dog was brilliant! Yes, I think that's what I will do, when I start the puppy classes I will ask if there's further classes to go on to, coz I do like small and friendly, and quite honestly, when there are too many in one class, you don't get the opportunity of doing "your bit" in front of everyone else as often if you know what I mean, by the time everyone else has then done theirs and you just stand there Oh I've done all this before I remember one of my pups (the dog aggressive one - my fault though, must have been, I didn't socialise her enough as a puppy, I know that now!)she showed me up a treat at all the classes I attended, trying to attack all the other dogs as we weaved around them all, etc. etc. and so one week I took my super duper big trained dog just to show them that I did know what I was doing as I had trained her myself!! Then I resorted back to the naughty one, but at least they could see the problem I was having because of her dog aggression, she just honed in on all of them - but I will say again, totally MY fault!

HI Laura, Again,what can I say but totally agree with your every word there I've only ever taken 2 dogs to puppy classes, one of which only got to be there two nights because she was so terrified she just couldn't cope with them. Luckily for me, this was my last dog who spent 24/7 around me, so I was able to do it all by myself, I had a horse at the time, so was able to do most of my training up at the yard and my fields, and this dog was eventually almost human in that she knew what I wanted even before I could say it! Take my current big boy Georgie who's 9 now, a rescue of 5 years ago. He had NO recall whatsoever because he had never been let off his lead at 5yrs old He would stamp and show aggression at people when out and other dogs, and yet a further 5 years down the line, this dog is the most perfectly behaved gentleman because I've put in every effort, plus I had that other clever little lady to help me out. She taught him manners whilst at home and outdoors, and if it hadn't of been for her help, I probably wouldn't have got this far with him. In turn, I think Georgie is now passing on those good manners to little Zena, so everything I do will help me to get her to the stage my other dog was, and I hope you're right when you say I won't have a problem. The time she spends playing with him I am surprised she listens to me at all, but somehow, she realises that I AM the one to be heard and not him, but maybe he's already told her that! At the end of the day, I didn't want a dog aggressive dog this time around (been there but only the once) and out of my 6 gsd's I can honestly say, they were a pleasure to own, always well behaved when asked, yes they were all spoiled rotten, but only because they did as I asked without question. I'm really not interested in competition, even with Zena, (but don't quote me on that!Lol!) even if she's capable, all I want is a well behaved, well balanced, sociable dog who listens to me when I say something and obeys. I've never had a dog that doesn't come back first time when called (except Georgie!) or waits when told, goes down when told, etc. etc. so just the basics really, the rest just follows, these dogs learn really fast, and like you say, not just by spending 45 mins at a training class, but by constantly, constantly using a phrase consistently each time something is done or asked of it.

I remember when Cassie was a little puppy and I used to tie her up outside the stable whilst I mucked out, then she got let off to follow me either to the muck heap or up to the field which was quite a long way, and everybody at the yard used to say to me, for God's sake stop nagging that dog Helen, coz I was always saying her name and come coz I always, but always had to know WHERE she was at any given time, unlike all the other dog owners up there. Anyways, a few months down the line, all the dog owners were distraught because their dogs had gone awol, they'd gone off hunting in a pack, except for ....... my Cassie, who was there right by my side with her beady little eyes on me! I think those dogs were gone for almost 2 hours before they came back one by one, and the owners were terrified they'd never see them again. I didn't say a word I want that all over again with Zena, I don't care how manic she is when we're either playing or we're out having fun together, but she has to learn that house rules are my rules and if she's told to be quiet and go and lie down she will do it without question, along with everything I ask of her when we're out, but quite honestly what else would there be when out but "come" and "wait" and "get in" the car!

We all make mistakes with Training and raising dogs and we live and learn....Georgie sounds great and Zena seems to have had a really good start so hopefully she will carry on being a little star who can be very proud of.

I would say i'll look forward to puppy class photos bu i know when Tonks was little i was far too busy with her to try to take any photos!