Puppy Classes???

[Erinbethc]

My Family recently welcomed 8 week old Guardian into our family. Although I was raised around rottweilers it has been years since I had a puppy in the house. I have read many different oppnions on when to start puppy classes. Is it better to wait until she is 12 weeks old, or should we start now. Also she belongs to my 8 Year old Daughter, should I go to the classes with her is it better to let them train by themselves.

[brunie's mom]

Puppy classes are great. Some Puppy K classes require the pup to have the second series of shots...so I guess that depends on when you can start. I would start looking around for a class right now...it depends on when the classes start. You can begin right away to teach the basics...sit, down,come,etc...and getting used to a leash and collar and of course housetraining.

As far as this pup being for your 8 year old daughter...I really don't think a big,strong breed like this should have an 8 year old teaching it. You probably should be going to classes together...you being the main teacher for the pup and your daughter learning from you.

No way is an 8 year old strong enough to be walking a pup that may be 60lbs at 6 months. I guess it would depend on the child?

Gina

[BostonRott]

An 8 year old is NOT powerful enough nor mentally mature enough to "own" a dog. Kids can not hold a stare (if the animal is challenging them), they do not command presence (the way an adult can when they walk into room), and they have high pitched voices.

Your daughter certainly is capable of helping raise the dog, but PLEASE do not think that she is capable of "owning it." You will not find one person here who condones allowing dogs to be left alone with children. Yet an "owner" of a dog is alone with their dog.

You should get the puppy into class as soon as possible. Many around here will let puppies start class at 10 weeks. Your daughter may attend with you and work with the dog, but you need to be sure YOU are getting trained as well. Training classes are as much about training the owner/handler as they are about training the dog.

[BostonRott]

Originally Posted by brunie's mom

No way is an 8 year old strong enough to be walking a pup that may be 60lbs at 6 months. I guess it would depend on the child?

Gina

No.....NO child should be walking a large breed dog alone. What if a cat runs out in front of the dog? An 8yr old is NOT going to stop the chase. The typical reaction of the 8yr old is to run after the dog, flapping arms and screaming. How does an 8yr old scream? With high pitched voice. What does the dog perceive? Child running and flapping with high pitched voice.....o boy, GAME ON!

What if a loose dog came up and started a fight? Both dog and child are likely to get torn up or killed.

IN NO WAY should a child be walking a large breed dog. They can have a second leash attached to the dog and feel like they are helping, but it is irresponsible to allow a child to walk a large breed dog. This breed has too many news stories already, we don't need anymore.

[brunie's mom]

You are right!!!
I thought about that after I wrote it, and there is NO WAY I would have let my kids walk any of our dogs when they were that young.

Gina

[Bob Flynn]

We would not advise our clients to seek puppy classes until after the 6 month mark based upon immune system and mental status. Personally I see taking pups out into situations like this at that age a significant risk. Being over zealous can have a very bad effect though the intentions are well meaning.

Bob-

[BostonRott]

What risks are you worried about in a puppy under six months? Why do you feel that, prior to 6mos of age, there is an immune risk? Dogs show an immune response (if they are going to sero-convert) in 14 days. This is proven via titering. I have never met anyone who suggests holding back on puppy kindergarten classes until 6 months and am curious as to why you suggest this?

[Erinbethc]

I'm sorry I gave the impression that my daughter would be allowed to go out alone with the dog. My daughter has never been allowed to go alone any where before and would not be allowed now. As I said I grew up with Rotties and am aware of Their ultimate size. And although the Puppy does belong to my daughter I would never allow her to care for it with out complete supervision.
However this said I do now see the importance of going to the puppy classes with her. She will be getting her second set of shots this weekend. So the question still remains of when to start classes. I Can't see the benefit of waiting for her to be six months old but would waiting until she is 12 weeks put us behind on her training. She is potty training very well and listens when told no.

[hokisteph5]

Originally Posted by Erinbethc

My Family recently welcomed 8 week old Guardian into our family. Although I was raised around rottweilers it has been years since I had a puppy in the house. I have read many different oppnions on when to start puppy classes. Is it better to wait until she is 12 weeks old, or should we start now. Also she belongs to my 8 Year old Daughter, should I go to the classes with her is it better to let them train by themselves.

The place I normally use had Puppy K for dogs 12 weeks - 6 months. The dog was supposed to have its rabies vaccine if over 16 weeks, but as long as I could show their shot record was up-to-date, they were okay starting at 12 weeks.

My place also offers a service called Puppy Head Start for puppies not yet old enough for Puppy K. If you decide to wait until 12 weeks old, like others have said you can certainly start training now. When Samson and Gretchen started Puppy K they already knew how to do some commands and tricks, like sit, stay, shake. Gretchen more than Samson, but then I had Samson first.

[Bob Flynn]

Why? According to all of my vets and to UC Davis, the immune system is not fully fuctional until 10 months. So, 7 weeks gets Parvo shot...immune suppresses as we all know. 4 weeks later, update shot, system suppresses again. 4 weeks later, update again same deal. This is 4 months now. We go 3 rounds of vaccinations taking them to 5 months of age. This is the current schedule through our vets. So there is many windows of potential problems.

Had a litter in the late 80s, advised everyone to stay away from the puppy classes and the parks, all high traffic/dog areas. By 6 months, all pups dead but mine. All pups where on scheduled vaccs. Do we care to see this happen again??? NEVER SINCE have we had a sick puppy. When our last pups where vet checked, several clients came to watch.They asked as to when they could do the great things with their pups, I told them "minimum 6 months, preferably 10 months" and my 3 vets all stated, "solid, proven advise."

My pups do get out, but the areas are select. Kennel cough, Giardia and the like are doing very well right now.... why make a risk? Paranoid? Maybe but doubtful.... my kennels are healthy and NEVER sick. I strongly disagree with you Greta on this, history has proven it to me time and time again.

To this very day, we still get calls and emails from breeders that have clients that lost pups due to over exposure. The client
then blames the breeder, and they ask how we would deal with the errant client. A ounce of prevention.......

Bob-

[hokisteph5]

Originally Posted by Erinbethc

I Can't see the benefit of waiting for her to be six months old but would waiting until she is 12 weeks put us behind on her training. She is potty training very well and listens when told no.

I think if you wait until 12 weeks old and work on training now, you'll actually be ahead when you start Puppy K. At least that's what I found with Gretchen. Having trained Samson first and already taking him to two classes before Gretchen ever joined the household, I knew what was covered and what I needed to teach.

By the time Gretchen started Puppy K at 12 weeks, she knew a lot of what Samson knew. She certainly knew more than what he knew at the start of her classes. The challenge with her has been keeping her attention.

[brunie's mom]

Each obedience school has different requirements for the pups vaccinations. Our classes required that the pup has had the second series of vaccines...some may differ.

If your pup is 8 weeks old and already had her second set of shots at that young age..the first must have been given very young. and probably gave her no immunity.

I would not wait till a pup was 6 months old to start any puppy class...it's important to start socialization at a much younger age....by then it could be too late. It's been said many times on this forum...."more dogs die because of lack of socialization, then from disease"

Have you checked out any classes yet? I think we started at 11 weeks of age...and Baxter had a blast.
It is something that you and your daughter can attend together.

Gina

[Erinbethc]

Unfortunately I live in a smaller town and the only pet classes offered are at Pet Smart and Petco. I would rather prefer to go to classes at a training school. I am looking into classes in the nearest large city. What are your opinions on the classes offered at the chain pet supply stores?

[Cherry Heart]

In our puppy K class dogs were from 12 weeks to 6 months. Any dog 6 months or older had to show proof of rabies vac. Arwen started class at 16 weeks and got her rabies tag right around the time of class starting. We took Arwen everwhere we could when she was a puppy, normal people places but always kept her off the ground where many dogs would usually be (pet store, park, vets).

Starting class early is great but I don't feel like we were at all behind starting at 16 weeks instead of 12 or at 8 when we brought her home.

[hokisteph5]

Originally Posted by Erinbethc

Unfortunately I live in a smaller town and the only pet classes offered are at Pet Smart and Petco. I would rather prefer to go to classes at a training school. I am looking into classes in the nearest large city. What are your opinions on the classes offered at the chain pet supply stores?

That's what I would've thought too, but my area has message boards and there were recommendations on there. If you have one, check out your local parks & rec department. There also may be an AKC club nearby. If you have a specialty dog store, they may even know of somebody.

Before I started looking, I knew about PetsMart, but the set-up (in the middle of the store) didn't appeal to me. The training area is small and I was afraid either myself or Samson would get distracted. I know some people around here like PetsMart because it allowed them to work on socializing the dog and they enjoyed the trainer.