cost of training?

[Nina&Bill]

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. I'm glad that I was able to make some of you feel better about whatever you were paying for training ;)

Have you done some scouting around? Watching the classes that are in session before you sign up to make sure you are comfortable with the trainers methods and do the methods work with the owners of the dog?

You bet, RD, thanks to some of the great advice that I got on this board when I asked about how to find a trainer or school in the first place :).
Since baby girl is pretty submissive her foster family suggested that the best training for her would be positive reinforcement with lots of treats. That's what these classes are, working off of the dog's natural inclinations and they seem to be real confidence builders besides. And I do so want to help build my mush's confidence up (although she's getting great about meeting people & being the center of attention).

The training is IMO 90% training the owners on how to work with their dogs. You cant expect a trainer to train a class of dogs on there own, they are trying to pass knowldege on to the individual owners. If there are problems with 1 particular dog, will they work with the dog and handler to try to solve the problem but not at the expence of the other dogs. They may use a dog as an example or spend time after class to help fix any problems. If that is the case it would be money well spent. Shop around before you make a decision.

Actually what you describe is exactly what the classes are like, along with two assistants on hand to offer help & clean up any unexpected messes ;) I have no doubt that my husband and I both need training as badly as Amber does. I'm 11 years out of practice and he's never experienced dog training before...when he joined the household Smidgen was already trained :D

We've already signed her up so the deal is pretty much done. I really, REALLY like the class & the instructor and I think that Amber will too so I have no qualms about having made a bad decision, maybe just a financially stupid one

How far are you from Brookfield CT or Goshen CT? Canine Sports Center has GREAT classes, and I know there is a place in Brookfield that comes highly recommended (and I for the life of me canot recall the name!).

Anne, I LOVED the CSC! But Goshen's about 1 1/2-2 hours from me & Brookfield is about an hour. Apparantly there's a place in White Plains, NY that I can take Amber for agility if we decide to pursue that.

Boy, I'm sure glad she was one of those "cheap" rescue dogs! ;)
It's OK, if she enjoys & does well in the class then it's worth it. I don't know what her prior history was but I don't want to run the risk of making any mistakes with her now.

Although to see her now you'd hardle recognize her as the trembling pile of bones that you met up at the CSC :D

Thanks, everyone!

Nina

[sophie's-mom]

When I got Sophie, there were some things going on in my life that actually caused Sophie to exhibit some TERRIBLE behavior that I was not able to correct. I took her to one of the BEST places (around here) that I could find. It was the TRAINERS that made me decide that's where Sophie would go, not the cost.

I paid $975.00 to these people and couldn't be happier. Sophie got the training that she needed and the behavior problems were resolved. This was 85 miles north of where I live and I went there TWICE A WEEK after work so that I could work WITH my dog.

:)

In 28 days, she and I learned enough to get us through a LOT of problems.