any dog owners here? do you guys recommend obedience schools for dogs? anything to look out for? costs?

I just got a puppy at the end of July. We are currently taking her to Petsmart for training, and it's working very well. I would definitely recommend it. Just make sure the puppy is at least 10 weeks old first, or it might be a little too early to start.

It cost $99 for a 12 week course.

I just got a puppy at the end of July. We are currently taking her to Petsmart for training, and it's working very well. I would definitely recommend it. Just make sure the puppy is at least 10 weeks old first, or it might be a little too early to start.

It cost $99 for a 12 week course.

what did they teach the dogs? basic commands, like sit, stay, etc? any tricks? does your puppy seem to remember everything at home?

You have to work with the puppy at home, because they're smarter than you think. If they think they only have to do tricks at class to get treats, they won't listen to you at home. So you have to keep up with what you/the dog learned that week.

It starts off pretty basic. You'll learn sit and down pretty quickly. They like to work on loose-leash walking so the puppy is more under control. They'll pretty much make it obedient and listen to you. If you're having trouble with the puppy eating shit around the house and jumping on furniture, they'll teach you ways to stop it.

Start teaching them stuff as soon as you get them, even if they arent old enough for formal training. My dog would sit in front of his full food bowl until I fed the cat and said 'OK' when he was only four weeks old. Also remember that what they learn as soon as you get them will stick with them, ie if people walk in and go 'OH MY GOD A PUPPY!!!' and freak out you will always have a dog that freaks out when people come over. I've known people that went with the PetSmart training and it seems to have worked well for them, most importantly it socializes the dog with other random dogs and people. This sounds horrible, but watch a couple episodes of the Dog Whisperer. My dog was being a bitch about other dogs and taking the same aproach as that guy did more than anything else I ever tried.

also, how much does it usually cost for all of their shots as a puppy?

My friend reccently got a Siberian Husky and they're supposedly one of the toughest to train. They bought one of those e-book/forums packages online and for the few weeks of having her she made lots of progress.

However, now she prances around the houses shitting in her favorite spots and tearing shit apart especially when you're not looking. She thinks she the master of my friends now, so let this be a lesson to you: just make sure you're the master.

BTW, it doesn't help either that she's with 2 other dogs (daschund mix, yorkee mix) that do whatever they want. Bad influences.

Would be a sweet dog if she didn't think she was the shit :(

I think my initial vet visit was about $150 for everything.

ojay, they should beat the hell out of that dog. My training philosophy is that animals should only do a particular bad thing once, and never forget it. Worked with my animals.

i like my dog to be us undisciplined as he pleases.

i dont care if he wont sit or stay when i tell him to.

one time he wouldnt shut up about the squirrels and i really yelled at him. broke my heart. he gave me the cold shoulder for a whole afternoon.

the only real concern is potty training and keeping him from destroying your stuff. house breaking a dog is easy, many ways to do it. as for keeping your stuff intact, just be prepared for the fact that some of your stuff will get broken.

There are also products that are effective and cheap

Barking control- http://www.aimhigh.ispeedway.com/default.asp?SID=xMTBEJ522JH6GVW5PS9UFG&S=503&A=E&PKV=PPBARKCOL-50|0

Pet Training- http://www.aimhigh.ispeedway.com/default.asp?SID=xMTBEJ522JH6GVW5PS9UFG&S=503&A=E&PKV=PPPETTRN-36|0

I think my initial vet visit was about $150 for everything.

ojay, they should beat the hell out of that dog. My training philosophy is that animals should only do a particular bad thing once, and never forget it. Worked with my animals.

Yeah I agree. But she's too cute lol.

This guy is all you need.

http://www.dogpsychologycenter.com/

You can watch his show the Dog Whisperer on National Geographic Channel. He will teach you everything you need to know by watching his show.

This guy is amazing and I use his tricks all the time and they work.

It is all about projecting yourself as the pack leader to your dog. Discipline, exercise, affection. If you pay attention to him, you can really take control of your dog within 2-3 weeks. And as he states your dog can be 10 years old and you can still teach him whatever you want him to.

You should never say your dogs name when you are trying to punish your dog. I swear by him. He is so amazing.

BTW he has like 40 dogs at his Dog Psychology Center and I mean anything from Pit Bulls to German shepherds and you would be amazed as to who the pack leader is. A little French Bulldog runs the pack. It is amazing.

What kind of dog do you have? The breed will affect their personality somewhat.

I have a yellow lab and he's high strung. As long as you are playing with him or petting him he's as happy as can be. If you aren't paying attention to him he'll nibble/slobber on your arm until you do. Annoying, but he doesn't bite. We took him to training when he was 6 months old (that's what Petco's min age was). I think there are little puppy ones too though.

Whatever you do, you HAVE to establish dominance in the relationship. If your dog doesn't know you are the boss, you are sunk (I am for the most part sunk). At our training we had to do 30 minute time outs (the dog has to sit/lay at your feet on a leash for 30 minutes once a night), pin the dog, don't feed the dog until after you eat, etc to show it who is in control. Unfortunately that didn't help with my dog. When my dog was a puppy, they were weaned from their mom already for a while. I think that they had anarchy amongst the litter and made their own rules. Thus, my dog only listens for a moment, and then does whatever it wants.

You can do a lot with the puppies right away though. They'll do anything for treats. Another thing I wish I had done is train it to pee in a certain spot in the back yard (like behind the garage). I was so happy to have him house broken that I didn't try it. But now he pees anywhere in the back yard, which is fine unless you actually care about your lawn. My whole lawn has burnt holes in it now. If you can, take him to a certain spot for him to go pee. I know it works because my parents dog did that (always went to the same spot).

That sounds like my dog chris. One other thing I forgot to add, make sure you have a lot more money than you think you need before you get a dog. I dont know your financial situation, just saying. My dog was 'free'. First vet bills werent bad, food n toys werent bad. Then he developed severe food allergies. $550 of tests later, now he can only eat one kind of food and its $40 for an 18lb bag and he eats about 8 cups per day. He also has to take steroids so he can even deal with that food so thats a few bucks a week in pills. Suddenly my dog isnt so cheap anymore :(

she's a Korean breed of dog called a "jindo"....Cross probably has heard of it.

this is what she looks like, but her ears don't point straight up. they kind of droop down right now. supposedly they will perk up as she gets older:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8c/Peeb.jpg/250px-Peeb.jpg

thanks for the tip of the site, Artermis. i'll definitely check that out.

No problem.

You have to give your dog exercise. That is the most important thing. If your dog is high strung he needs 30 minutes twice a day of good exercise. he will be easy to handle after that.

You can teach any dog no matter how old what you want him to do. Anyone who has a dog needs to check out his program. He handles all dogs.

Hey I mentioned the dog whisperer first :P

Hey I mentioned the dog whisperer first :P

http://img414.imageshack.us/img414/2135/thank20you20evrybodynewsk6.jpg

:2thumbsup:

Another thing is to expose them to other dogs and people right away (assuming those dogs are "clean"). I take my dog to the dog park (Orion Oaks) and he gets along great with other dogs now. But, since it is basically my wife and I and the occasional visitor at home...he jumps on other people. He was terrible with that for a while with my parents, but now he listens to them more. get them used to that "stimulation" so they aren't so hyper when they do get it.

and Artemis is right about the exercise. When I take my dog down to the park and throw the frisbie, he gets worn out in about 10 minutes and is calm most of the night.

here is my dog now:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v635/CAHanes/Victor/IMG_0101.jpg

when we got him:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v635/CAHanes/Victor/100_0060.jpg

hey chris, was your dog a natural at catching the frisbee? i really want her to learn to do this, but i'm not really sure how to teach it. she does well at chasing down tennis balls i throw, but she doesn't like to give them back.

no, my dog does not catch them. he only chases them and picks them up off the ground (but it wears him out the same). i imagine you'd have to start with very short tosses and increase the distance (probably with a soft frisbie at first so you don't knock their teeth out).

He will try and catch a ball, but is lowsy at it. i'm sure some breeds are a natural at it. he's very fast, but not agile. he has straight ahead speed only. and probably the fact that he's a labrador retriever factors in (bread to retrieve something from the ground).