Needing to vent..

[danyp1]

I called a person up for puppy training classes. Everything sounded great. I was told I could watch one of his classes. And the new puppy class would start on Sunday 28. I went to his class last wednesday and I liked what I saw and I talked with him after the class for about an hour and he answerd all my questions. When he heard that Sam was born on July 3 he said that it would be better for her to go to the obedience class since a new one started on the 6 and he felt it would be better since she was old enough to go. So I agreed but I still felt like she should go to the puppy class because of social. but he said she would be fine. On Saturday I went to the vet and she was rather shy and did not let herself be picked up by the vet and she said she would be better in puppy classes. So I tried to call the trainer to tell him I would go to the puppy class anyway and if he still thought obdience would be the way to go than I would try for a few times and if I did not like it look for someone else. Anyway he was not answering his phone so I called the office to let them know I would come in on Sunday. Just I kinda thought they told me that they did not have enough puppies for the class and they canceld it. I was so upset. Since I`m not sure if this guy had an alterned motive for signing me up for the obdience class... I called another place and they told me they just had their first class and they would not have another one until Nov.. So now I`m trying to make it to that one which was my sec. choice... I`m so upset about this.. And I know she needs to be socilized. I still wanna see about having her go to other class. But isn`t ob. to earlie?
Thanks

[TrinityRun]

It's never to early to be socializing. Take her to local parks, PetCo, outlet malls. You should take her for walks in different places and always play with her when she goes some place new.

Have you looked into Petsmart for puppy class? How about the local kennel club?

[pbach]

PetsMart is a great place for socialization. Also you can take her to Home Depot. Most Home Depots let you take your dogs in. (Might want to check that out.) Parks are always a great place for socialization.

Good luck.

Patty

[Rott-Wiley]

You didn't say how old your pup is but I would definately start to socialize them now. You don't need a class for that. Take them every place you can and make it fun for them. In addition to the places already mentioned, you can also go to a local airport to socialize them. It's an excellent place with a lot of confusion and distractions. Hope the class schedules do work out for you.

[Wookie'sMom]

I e-mailed home depot and asked about their corporate policy and they said that they DO NOT ALLOW DOGS IN THE STORES. Just thought everyone should know. I've had a frustrating experience. If you are going to try it you should call and talk to the manager before you go.

[Brooke&Ryan]

We took Julius everywhere when he was younger (well, we still do but we were more vigilant about it when he was younger since he was a bit hand-shy w/ strangers)

Some of our favorite places to go with Jules were:

1. The bus stop: We have this central bus stop downtown (we live in a college town) and there would be practially 100 students at most times of the day waiting for the bus. So we would just go down there and sit.

2. Farmer's Markets: Julius loved the fruits that people dropped on the ground. He loves to help clean up. :p

3. Dance Marathon: We have this marathon every year where people dance to raise money for cancer. We just sat right outside where people we coming & going.

Socializing is so much fun. Make sure you have a bag of yummy treats. We would give them to the person who was petting Jules. Our work has now paid off. We have a dog who takes maybe 10 seconds to warm up to a person & isn't hand shy anymore unless someone is pulling their hand back or is a bit intimidated.

Your work will pay off. Good luck & have fun!! :)

Brooke

[danyp1]

Thanks for all your suggestions. I`m just really frustraded and feel kinda stupid for letting me talk into the obedience training even when I thought she needs more socialization. He just sounded so good and knowledgable and nice :(
I hope they still take me at the other training class for puppy which started yesterday (but this one was my sec. choice because of the instructor..)
I also have two smaller childeren which makes it a bit harder for all 4 of us to go out unless my husband is with me. I go out with her when my husband is home but unless I can rely on her wakling on the leash I can not go since my kids use a double stroller. I started walking with her without the kids in it so I can concentrate on her walking with me and do not have to worry about the little ones and I hope that I will feel comfortable enough taking her with the kids in the stroller by myself. She is only about 13 weeks old (July 3.)
It just makes me so I was so looking forward to take her to that class. Because I know how important it is for her. So as I said thanks for letting me vent and I hope that the other instuctor still takes me. I will go there today and find out what I need to do...

[flyballmom]

So we're talking about an appx. 3 month old pup here? And the trainer thinks he's too old for puppy kindergarten? My trainer won't even consider taking a Rottweiler pup into puppy class til it's 16 weeks because of their susceptibility to parvo. I agree, all those places are great for dog/human socialization, but for dog/dog socialization, puppy/ob classes are the safest. Puppy class would be great for Sam...Just my 2 cents worth...

[danyp1]

Originally posted by flyballmom
So we're talking about an appx. 3 month old pup here? And the trainer thinks he's too old for puppy kindergarten? My trainer won't even consider taking a Rottweiler pup into puppy class til it's 16 weeks because of their susceptibility to parvo. I agree, all those places are great for dog/human socialization, but for dog/dog socialization, puppy/ob classes are the safest. Puppy class would be great for Sam...Just my 2 cents worth...

Thanks for your 2 cents :)
I was actually waiting for this last vaccination round. My vet said I need to have this one and than I would be fine.. So I should be ok. And yes I was wondering about that same thing he said 15-16 week old is the cut off for puppy`s but as I said he might have had an alternate motive. At least I was able to sign up for the other class but I already missed the first class so the trainer will contact me and tell me what I missed. Thanks again.

[danyp1]

Originally posted by Brooke&Ryan
We took Julius everywhere when he was younger (well, we still do but we were more vigilant about it when he was younger since he was a bit hand-shy w/ strangers)

Some of our favorite places to go with Jules were:

1. The bus stop: We have this central bus stop downtown (we live in a college town) and there would be practially 100 students at most times of the day waiting for the bus. So we would just go down there and sit.

2. Farmer's Markets: Julius loved the fruits that people dropped on the ground. He loves to help clean up. :p

3. Dance Marathon: We have this marathon every year where people dance to raise money for cancer. We just sat right outside where people we coming & going.

Socializing is so much fun. Make sure you have a bag of yummy treats. We would give them to the person who was petting Jules. Our work has now paid off. We have a dog who takes maybe 10 seconds to warm up to a person & isn't hand shy anymore unless someone is pulling their hand back or is a bit intimidated.

Your work will pay off. Good luck & have fun!! :)

Brooke

Thanks for your tip. I did not know farmers market would be fine.. I know swap meets will not let you in.
But I will check out the famers market. :)

[danyp1]

Originally posted by TrinityRun
It's never to early to be socializing. Take her to local parks, PetCo, outlet malls. You should take her for walks in different places and always play with her when she goes some place new.

Have you looked into Petsmart for puppy class? How about the local kennel club?

The one I will go now is the one at petsmart.. It was my second choice but it will have to do and if I really do not like it I will just have to look around some more.... :)
Thanks for your help