How many dogs in a class and why the mixture?

rune

As for those "puppy parties" well, I went to the right one, totally supervised at my veterinary hospital, everything would be fine....... not! They didn't allow all the puppies to scrum in together, it was all very controlled they told me, only two at a time, but what happens?? One of the puppies at the other end of the waiting room who had been yapping and creating constantly since it came in, had it's eye on my puppy all night, when they let that one off with another one, it came hurfing straight at mine, frightened the life out of her, so she spent the rest of the night hiding under my chair Yeah, great! Won't be doing those again!

It didn't get any better at puppy training classes either 2nd time around at a bigger club (the first, small club was fine). A staffie walked past us doing its heelwork and suddenly, out of the blue, it lunged at my poor dog who was sitting there at my feet minding her own business Under the chair she went again

Max number is 10 & this is dictated by the size of the hall & the number of instructors/assistants.

The mixture is largely down to a first come/first served basis. I don't run the classes, I only assist, so it's not really my decision. But the instructor issues a questionnaire prior to enrolling with the aim of weeding out any dogs with behavioural problems that are unsuitable for class training. And the first session is owners only, no dogs so that we get the chance to meet the owners, talk through any problems, explain & demonstrate clicker training & give a talk on general dog behaviour, body language & canine communication.

It's not an infallible system & relies on the owner's description/analysis of any problem behaviours. So sometimes a dog that can't cope with group training classes is referred for one-2-one help. It's rare that we get elderly dogs, most are puppies, & the vast majority under 3 years old, with the occasional 5-6 year old rescue dog.

What a shame ~ you haven't had very good experiences.

I've rarely seen any problems at the training classes I help with but I think this is partly due to the screening at the very start of each class. Many dogs are just not able to cope with training in a church hall with a group of strange dogs, so these are referred for one-2-one training & may rejoin the group at a later stage. It can be quite scary, so firstly we do all we can to help keep things calm (owners & dogs!), make sure everyone has plenty of space, identify any eye-balling at a very early stage & ensure those dogs ar kept apart & on lead. The ratio of instructors/assistants to dogs is high, probably 2 to 3 dogs per person, so we can make sure everyone stays safe & mishaps are very infrequent, in fact I can't remember one in the last few years.

I've often seen puppy socialistion classes advertised in vet waiting rooms & run by vet nurses, &, like you, I would have high expectations. But a free-for-all scrum is certainly not what I'd want any puppy of mine to be subjected to!!

I think socialisation is very important for puppies, ideally with all ages of dogs (not at the same time).

Puppy socialisation classes can help, but it has to be controlled. When Luchi was about 14 weeks we joined a puppy class, it was ridiculous. The hall was freezing cold, puppies yapping, trainers shouting above the din. End of session we were instructed to let puppies off. (there were about eight) Luchi was petrified, and some of the bolder pups made a bee line for her. We never went back. After that she would be petrified of any dogs coming over to her, To me then dog socialisation was more important then ever, there was no way i wanted her fear to develop into defensive aggression (she now weighs 47kg).

From that point I made sure that I was in control of all her meetings with other dogs (apart from the odd off lead dog that ran over but that's another story),

Patience and perseverance, always keeping cool about other dogs,watching her body language and not pushing her. she has progressed amazingly and now absolutely loves other dogs.

I wouldn't pay someone else to do something I can do better myself and everything I need is available at the local park.
There are far too many behaviourists advertising their services these days when they have very little experience of dogs, let alone dogs with issues, they've passed a course and read a few books that they like to quote to back up their theories and yet have very little practical experience IMO.

Yes I completely agree ~ it's about time the industry was regulated so the hard-earned cash of the general public isn't given to charlatans that decide to call themselves "behaviourists"!

Have to agree with you on that one. IMO practical experience is imperative. No matter how many courses someone has been on and how many books someone has read, it doesn't necessarily mean they can read the dog itself and know how to tackle problems.

Think it has to be a combination of knowledge (not necessarily qualifications as such but someone who has a knowledge of up to date methods) and practical experience. Also how they get that knowledge across to the person they are training as it is that person that will have to actually train the dog itself.

I have been very pleased with the Vets puppy classes our vets run.

They are very careful about the age of the pups they allow, and the type of play, the main reasons for running the classes as they do - to start off the socialisation, (they also have CDs going/skateboards/pushchairs etc), one of the VNs that runs, also has a lovely older lurcher who comes in to supervise play sometimes.

They are very careful about dogs who are nervous or stressed and will readily say so if they feel that this is not the best environment for the dog, they explain a lot about basics and start very simple training (sit/come/watch).....

Then they pass them on to me.
I have to say - I have never had a puppy come on from their classes that has been in anyway traumatized or stressed by what went on there (I have also taken 2 of my own pups along).

There have been a couple of pups they have referred straight on to me without allowing them into the puppy course as they have felt that it would not be a great environment for learning for that pup.

Possibly other Vets classes run differently, (I have only had experience of this one as - as far as I know - they are the only vets locally who run such a thing).

That's very reassuring to hear

Some classes are very good, some not so good & some are downright dangerous! The trouble is that how does the dog-owning public distinguish? They can usually only go by recommendation, word-of-mouth or spends lots of money on classes run by APDT members.

I think if people find good classes with knowledgeable & caring people running them, then they should spread the word.