Puppy obedience / socialisation

sorry if this is in the wrong bit!

I cant seem to find puppy soclialising classes near to me, im south nottingham but I cant drive and all the classes this end seem to be in small villages untouched by public transport! My husband drived but doesnt 'believe in' taking the puppy to these classes.

So Im after some advice really, how useful do you think the classes are / can be? What steps could I take to ensure he is comfortable and behaved around other dogs etc without classes?

thanks in advance

Hi Helen try contacting an APDT trainer in your area (list below)..
http://www.apdt.co.uk/local_dog_trainers.asp
..they may know of a suitable class run by a trainer who only uses positive reinforcement training methods and will be happy for you to go and sit it on a class before joining

You could also try ringing a few of your local vet practices as they sometimes know of puppy socialisation classes, or sometimes the vet nurses hold these classes in the surgeries if there's enough demand.

BTW ~ puppy socialisation classes & dog training classes are two different things. Puppy socialisation classes are to help young pups learn social skills around other dogs, to experience meeting different people in new but safe surroundings, under supervision. The puppies are generally left to play & interact with each other, so they can learn, e.g. bite inhibition, canine body language etc. It is not usual for any formal training to take place in socialisation classes. And in any case, that sort of environment is not conducive to teaching a puppy to pay attention to you & learn to sit on command, or walk on a loose lead etc. It's much more fun to play with the other puppies which means you'd have a hard job getting your puppy to pay attention to you & learn anything from you.

If you are talking about training classes, then this is different. Training classes are for owners to learn how to train their dogs to perform basic commands. Most instructors don't encourage too much interaction between the dogs at these classes because of the reasons I've mentioned above. But most importantly these classes are for owners to learn ~ not for the dogs to learn. Owners then carry out the training at home, in the garden or out on walks etc.

I hope you find suitable classes near you ~ I'm not sure why your husband doesn't believe in them, but perhaps you can persuade him how important it is for your puppy to learn how to interact with other dogs.