I apologize in advance for the long rambling post. 
Harlea started her puppy classes at PetSmart the other day and I was pleasantly surprised at how it went. I am well aware of the bully that died after a PS training class so please don't judge as we did our research and after talking with many trainers the PS trainer was the only one Harlea felt comfortable with and would allow us to do the training with a harness and not a collar. Anywho.... enough of that. The main reason we did this was to help reinforce the things that we have already taught Harlea and for assistance on things she is just being a typically bully stubborn with. The class we signed up for is supposed to be a group class, but to our surprise we are the only ones in it so we are getting private lessons for the group rate which fine with me but I hope a few other pups join next week.
I can't say enough about the girl that we are working with. She is young, but she really took the time to understand what we are looking to get out of Harlea taking the classes and and our concerns relating to problems we had heard of in the past about PS trainers being rough with fur babies as well as explain her history with training and the methodology she like to use. As this was a more of a get to know your pup session we told her what Harlea has learned so far (sit, down, hi five, speak(ewok) and tickle monster) and she started to run Harlea through the paces to see for her self and Harlea responded perfectly. Being cautious parents we are we brought treats from the house while working with her for both us and the trainer to use during the classes. We had an even bigger surprise when the trainer pulled out a bag of the Fromm's cranberry grain free treats that we use that she had bought on her own accord after she had talked to us on the phone when we signed up so we didn't have to worry about Harlea getting something she shouldn't have. After i was over the shock and trying to get her to let me reimburse her for the treats we moved on to the lesson of the day.
As Harlea already knows many of the basic commands we started with the "watch me" command. All i can say is wow. She started by using treats while performing the command as she was showing us how to do it and then gradually stopped giving pieces of treats after a handful of attempts and Harlea picked it up right away. I was in shock. Next it was our turn. It was funny because by now there are some more pups roaming around the store starting to distract Harlea but like a trooper she performed the action with only a few corrections and even started to sit on her own as the command was given. We continued this for a few minutes and then we started moving around the store practicing the command but starting in an empty isle and then progressing to areas that had more distractions like the birds, kitties for adoption, fish and finally the checkout area. The checkout area and the kitty area were Harlea's kryptonite. She really struggled in those areas but with consistency and patience she still performed the commands as asked and by the time we were done with the lesson itself she was performing the action on command without having to use a treat so as a special treat she got a small piece of a Kong grain free treat as something different.
All in all it was a great night and I do honestly believe that we picked the best trainer for us and Harlea. We have been working on the command at random times since the lesson to make Harlea think it is part of the daily routine increasing the time we make her watch us each day and she is now up to about 20 to 25 seconds before she gets a bit frustrated but she is being so good about it. To all the peeps out there that say bullies can't be trained... I have this for you....
as me and the wife are 
with happiness right now.
Harlea started her puppy classes at PetSmart the other day and I was pleasantly surprised at how it went. I am well aware of the bully that died after a PS training class so please don't judge as we did our research and after talking with many trainers the PS trainer was the only one Harlea felt comfortable with and would allow us to do the training with a harness and not a collar. Anywho.... enough of that. The main reason we did this was to help reinforce the things that we have already taught Harlea and for assistance on things she is just being a typically bully stubborn with. The class we signed up for is supposed to be a group class, but to our surprise we are the only ones in it so we are getting private lessons for the group rate which fine with me but I hope a few other pups join next week.
I can't say enough about the girl that we are working with. She is young, but she really took the time to understand what we are looking to get out of Harlea taking the classes and and our concerns relating to problems we had heard of in the past about PS trainers being rough with fur babies as well as explain her history with training and the methodology she like to use. As this was a more of a get to know your pup session we told her what Harlea has learned so far (sit, down, hi five, speak(ewok) and tickle monster) and she started to run Harlea through the paces to see for her self and Harlea responded perfectly. Being cautious parents we are we brought treats from the house while working with her for both us and the trainer to use during the classes. We had an even bigger surprise when the trainer pulled out a bag of the Fromm's cranberry grain free treats that we use that she had bought on her own accord after she had talked to us on the phone when we signed up so we didn't have to worry about Harlea getting something she shouldn't have. After i was over the shock and trying to get her to let me reimburse her for the treats we moved on to the lesson of the day.
As Harlea already knows many of the basic commands we started with the "watch me" command. All i can say is wow. She started by using treats while performing the command as she was showing us how to do it and then gradually stopped giving pieces of treats after a handful of attempts and Harlea picked it up right away. I was in shock. Next it was our turn. It was funny because by now there are some more pups roaming around the store starting to distract Harlea but like a trooper she performed the action with only a few corrections and even started to sit on her own as the command was given. We continued this for a few minutes and then we started moving around the store practicing the command but starting in an empty isle and then progressing to areas that had more distractions like the birds, kitties for adoption, fish and finally the checkout area. The checkout area and the kitty area were Harlea's kryptonite. She really struggled in those areas but with consistency and patience she still performed the commands as asked and by the time we were done with the lesson itself she was performing the action on command without having to use a treat so as a special treat she got a small piece of a Kong grain free treat as something different.
All in all it was a great night and I do honestly believe that we picked the best trainer for us and Harlea. We have been working on the command at random times since the lesson to make Harlea think it is part of the daily routine increasing the time we make her watch us each day and she is now up to about 20 to 25 seconds before she gets a bit frustrated but she is being so good about it. To all the peeps out there that say bullies can't be trained... I have this for you....
as me and the wife are with happiness right now.
for doing your research first before choosing a trainer to work with. It sounds as if she really is an excellent trainer, and I can't wait to hear how his training progresses.
