# Petsmart Classes



## george1990 (Nov 24, 2008)

I'm thinking of enrolling my future puppy in petsmart classes. I know it's not the best, but for the start, I think socialization would be most important as I know some basics on training. Does anyone have any experience with them? I know someone who took the class, but she was disappointed the puppies didn't get to really play and socialize and were just in the same room. Is that normal? Thank you.


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## AbbyK9 (Oct 11, 2005)

I don't know whether that is normal for all the Petsmart puppy classes, but in my area, that's the norm at the local Petsmart stores. The classes here are primarily people sitting on chairs with their dogs on leashes, and the instructor talking. Very little actual "doing" or dogs interacting, even in their puppy class.


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## WiscTiger (Sep 25, 2002)

A little trick I learned with Petsmart. Look for a time they offer classes during the day, usually those are empty. Sign up, you basically get a Private lesson for the price of group.

Some Trainers at Petsmart are ok, some not some good. I liked the distractions. We had fun. The girls with the flat carts would come over and I would put Cheyenne on one in a down, they would wheel it a few feet away and I would call Cheyenne.

I liked the ton of other distractions, I pretty much told my instructor what I wanted to work on and we did it. We did recalls in the food isles. I learned to control my dogs as there were the ill mannered dogs and owners on the outside on the ring. 

So it depends on the trainer and what you are really expecting to get out of the class.

Val


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## Laura H. (Feb 23, 2009)

I had originally had Harley enrolled, then I decided to cancel it. I had taken my first GSD Axel to such an excellent training class in Ohio, it was held outdoors, that I just couldn't see taking an extremely active GSP to the small, indoor spaces they have in Pet Smart.

My new neighbor across the street has two GSDs also. When she first moved in & we met she said she'd give me the name of a training class where they actually train police dogs also.

I expect to see her soon, as nobody comes out until spring here, LOL


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## Laura H. (Feb 23, 2009)

Did you take your dogs to separate classes or did you have someone else with you handling the other dogs?

My DH won't go, but my neighbor had offered to go with me & "train" Brody, but I wonder if that's such a good idea. Since she lives next door & has very little contact with the dogs, should I be taking them to separate classes myself? Or does it matter, as long as they learn to obey the commands?


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Is there no other option? My guess, If I were to be in this class would be take it upon myself to just socialize my pup and work on distractions, then focusing on me. It is after all why they are there for puppy class. Do they put the pups thru an intro to surfaces and textures? This is also important for a pup to be well rounded, maybe you could take your baby to a playground and play on the equipment, if children are there that would be a great benefit. Onyx hasn't a clue as to what makes a small child tick. She does get teenagers???


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## WiscTiger (Sep 25, 2002)

First I took Cheyenne only, then I actually took both Cheyenne and DeeDee at the same time. When I was working one in the ring, the other was actually learning to stay in a down, with the trainer acting as an anchor. If I had someone who would have wanted to come with me I would have taken them up on it. Handling two young GSD's in and out of the store and into the vehicle wasn't always really a lot of fun.

Like I said it depends on the trainer. Soem are pretty easy to get them to do what you want others are by what ever training they had. 

Val


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

Our local PM used to have a really good trainer but he left. The current one has been through their instructor training and is nice enough but doesn't understand what she's teaching (she uses a clicker but doesn't get it). I don't think their program is all that great so unless you get really lucky with the instructor, there may be better options in your community. 

My larger concern with Petsmart though is disease. I would not have any puppy of mine in the floor in one of those places until he or she was at LEAST 4 months old and had finished the puppy vaccination series. I have logged a lot of hours sitting in Petsmart doing rescue adoptions and I cannot tell you how many sick dogs I've seen poop on the floor in there on their way to Banfield to be diagnosed with Parvo or goodness knows what else. And the grassy areas outside the store are virtual sewers. If I had a new puppy, I would investigate the private training center options in my area. I think those are a much better bet. Not only likely to have better trainers but most of those places require that a dog has been vetted before coming there, whereas Petsmart has hundreds of dogs coming through with no screening whatsoever.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Absolutely agree about age and the vaccines. I just have hard time with the PM and training, there are better places, hopefully available.


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## Kayla's Dad (Jul 2, 2007)

You have so many great and IMO better options in the Bay Area other than Petsmart. If you go that route, check out the training classes and instructors in your area. There are good and bad in the Petsmart group. And check out Petco-they seem to have a better standing.

Some other options:

There's a private trainer one of the board member here uses who actually lives on your side the 92 (San Mateo) that she is thrilled with. May be a bit costly and I believe not something you would look at for the initial puppy classes.

A facility down in Redwood City where I took Lancer for his puppy class and where I take Kayla for agility class-with an outside agility class site in Newark where Lancer goes for his agility foundation class

I trained and assist at a non-profit dog training club in Fremont - there's a like-kind club in San Francisco and several others scattered down the peninsula. Some do puppy classes some do not.

Check here for links to several non-profit dog training clubs: Associated Obedience Clubs of Northern California 

The San Francisco SPCA has a terrific rep for their training programs-a lot of local trainers started there. 
Dog Training SF SPCA 

There's the Sirius puppy training - scatterred throughout the Bay Area. Founded by Ian Dunbar, they have just grown and spread out a lot. Cassidy's Mom is taking classes at one of their facilities. Big on off lead training at the puppy level. Siruis Dog Training 

Picture thread of Cassidy's Mom and Halo at their Sirius puppy class
Halo puppy class pictures - squish alert!!!!  

Check some of these out. PM me if you're interested or have other questons.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

George, I don't remember where you live, but I can personally vouch for the Sirius classes. They're more expensive than Petsmart classes, but far superior as far as I'm concerned. There are many locations around the Bay, and I've taken 3 puppies through Sirius classes. Here's a link to the class locations: http://www.siriuspup.com/class_locations.php

Halo starts Puppy 2 at the end of the month at the Downtown Oakland location with Nicole.


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## foader (Dec 19, 2008)

Like the other people had said a lot is going to depend on the trainer they have at the store. The local petsmart that we took our dogs to had a really good teacher. We followed her suggestion on taking the private classes since we had multiple dogs. It gave us more one on one time with the trainer and afforded us the opportunity to ask as many questions as we wanted without wasting other people’s time that may have already been through some training classes before. Also our trainer would bring her dog (a huge Swiss mountain dog) into the ring for a basic socialization and to act as a training aid for us. Also with the personal classes you can take them at peak store times so there are plenty of people and pets there as distractions. They were also very willing to work with us when we had some health issues that prevented us from making a scheduled class. All in all if you've never done any type of training these would be good classes to learn the basics. Bottom line for me was class didn't move very fast we were able to get a lot of questions answered and in the long run the puppies have really learned a lot at the classes and are much better behaved now. But I'd go watch a few classes at the store you're thinking about taking your puppy to just to ensure that that branch has a good trainer at it.


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## george1990 (Nov 24, 2008)

Thanks a bunch guys. I'm looking at the the San Mateo Dog Training Club and Sirius right now. Any estimates on how much puppy kindergarden is?


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## george1990 (Nov 24, 2008)

Never mind, checked the site. I'm leaning towards San Mateo as its cheaper, but I'm busy on the nights the classes take place.


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## george1990 (Nov 24, 2008)

Do you have any experience with the SPCA in burlingame/san mateo area?


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## Kayla's Dad (Jul 2, 2007)

Haven't heard much about those facilities but since you're in a research mode, go on down and check the classes out.

Of the options we threw at you, I would put Sirius (word of mouth, I have not trained with them myself) and <u>*Rav n Dog Training*</u> in Redwood City where I did Lancer's pupy class at the top of my suggestions. I'll probably see the owner of Rav N Dog training this afternoon and can check to see if she knows of other options on the peninsula.


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## george1990 (Nov 24, 2008)

thanks a lot, I'd really appreciate that. How much was Rav's puppy class (you can pm if you want).


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## elly1210 (Jan 4, 2009)

We did PetsMart didn't learn a thing, it was probaby the trianer. The best thing is to ask questions and find out how they train. Last place I went to required choke chains for Sonny there was no way getting out of it...we ditched that class after the last one and went to a positive reenforcement class now. I would ask to sit in on a class without your dog to see how they train first.


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## SusiQ (Jul 27, 2007)

Elly -

Which PetsMart did you go to? I'm also from NE Ohio and had a pterry good experience at North Olmsted with all my dogs. It has especially helped my hybrid come out of his shell, but he is much more wary than a "normal" dog. I can say that my other dogs could have probably benefitted from a stricter environment.


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## blondee127 (Jun 5, 2008)

Our Bandit got kicked out of Petsmart training LOL! Bandit started getting aggressive so we thought more socialization was a must and I signed him up for class. The SECOND we arrived to class the "trainer" look one look at Bandit and said she didn't know if he would be good in her class. This is before he even made a peep so her assumption was just based on his size. Well as other "classmates" started to arrive Bandit starting carrying on. You should have seen the look of fear on the trainers face... which led me to believe she didn't have the experience needed.. so we didn't continue with the class.

I ended up finding another obedience class where the teacher had experience with GSD (and owned one). We also found a local club at the same time so he ended up going to both. 

With our newest addition Baron, of course he is now apart of our club, which trains at my house now







and I also signed him up for the same obedience class that Bandit took but with a different teacher.







He doesn't have issues though like our Bandit.

Especially with a dog with issues, it is so important to find a good trainer otherwise a bad situation can quickly get worse.


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## Timber1 (May 19, 2007)

"Especially with a dog with issues, it is so important to find a good trainer otherwise a bad situation can quickly get worse."

I agree, but will add that if a trainer cannot handle an aggressive German Shepherd, then I would not use that trainer. I guess that is my hang up with PetSmart and some of the other stores that offer basic classes, but could not handle the more severe situations.

I want a trainer that can start with a pup from the basics through protection training, Sch training, etc, and be able to help constructively along the way.

That does not mean the dogs I take, and clearly not my rescues go through all this stuff. But when they have an issue the guy I use is always available, and has years of experience.


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## bergwanderkennels (Mar 26, 2009)

A pet something chain approached me in Virginia to operate their classes and I turned them down because they do not handle aggressive dogs. She (the manager) told me, aggressive dogs could be seen on my own time in private. 
They only accept dogs for class that require purely positive training and soft handling
I thanked her for her time and said no way then we moved back to Germany where I have my own classes in 2 different communities and offer private instructions.


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## Caledon (Nov 10, 2008)

At my local Pet Smart they have a very small room with a huge glass window so shoppers can observe. There was no area to work with the dog and I've seen puppy owners sitting on chairs, trying to control a squirming puppy, looking bored.

I have seen them using the store floor for sit/stay/come exercises. Lots of distractions there. I have seen them work outside of the store as well.

I saw on guy with a very out of control black lab who was allowing his dog to pull him towards another dog who was entering the store. The trainer saw that - yelled at him as she came over to him and told him that his dog does not get the right to greet because he was pulling. I could see the guy melt and the customers in line said that they would behave with that trainer around. LOL. 

For some reason I don't think that Pet Smart classes of of high quality and I've always viewed them as being a way to bring pet owners into the store - as the main objective, training second. I know that this is a huge bias which may/may not be true.

If I was not able to sign up for another class due to the timing I would have taken her to Pet Smart thinking that something was better than nothing.

We were not allowed to have our puppies play with other puppies at my puppy class. I asked the instructor why not as she said that there is too much size difference and temperment that the situation could be out of control really quickly. Some allowed the puppies to great before and after the class, while on leash.


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