Hey everyone,

I apologized if this has been discussed, I tried several search queries and couldn't quite find what I was looking for, so here it goes: Do you recommend taking puppies to obedience classes? If so, what should we look for in a class, and how many of these classes (beginner, intermediate, etc) should we attend?

Thanks in advance, I'll be popping in and out for study breaks (yay finals!)

I firmly believe all dogs should go through a basic obedience course. Not only is it good for learning manners, it's good socialization, and it's a good bonding experience.

I think in general puppies need some sort of formal obedience training, as do we as the humans who have them.

Whether or not you should go to a class depends on your own familiarity with training and your confidence in doing it.

The greater benefit is probably to the human, not the pup. They just need structure and regularity and consistency, but a class isn't required to provide them with that if you can just do it yourself on your own terms.

I personally brought Link to puppy kindergarten (play/socialization) because that I can't do on my own, but I didn't take him to obedience training because I had a firm grasp of what and how I wanted to train him.

I generally don't participate in public group things like this anyway, but in this case, I just felt I could do as good if not better a job on my own and for free. I read a ton of books and went from there.

I think in short if you feel like you have something to gain, then go for it. All they will do anyway is train you how to train your dog at home for the most part.

Good luck.

Yes....what Samantha said, for sure.

That part is invaluable and a class is an easy way to get those interactions.

I wonder though how much play and socialization is done at obedience class?? I wouldn't know but I don't imagine it's that much.

Thanks guys! My husband's at home with our pup throughout the day and has been doing great with teaching him not to pull on the leash and other commands. Fortunately, our building has a ton of dogs of different sizes, so Achilles is getting to know many of them (he even has several friends!) We do need to work on socializing him with people, which I can do by taking him down to the lobby for thirty minutes or so a day, but more puppy socializing never hurt!

Have any of you had experiences with the Zoom Room? They're a chain, but it looks like a cool place to take a pup. Heck, Achilles/my husband might even get to try agility and like it!

I've never heard of Zoom Room, but heck, it sounds awesome!

Honestly, I think socialization is extremely more important than obedience training, especially for a Husky. Proper and thorough socialization is a great way to prevent the need for active obedience work in the first place.

Socialization will build trust and respect, and hence bonding with your dog and this will automatically put him in a position to behave better for you all together.

seattlesibe wrote:

I wonder though how much play and socialization is done at obedience class??  I wouldn't know but I don't imagine it's that much.  

I start with puppy kindergarten. It's structured but with play time at the end of class. At around 5-6 months I like to do a formal basic obedience class through my local kennel club, and there is no play time. Its purpose is to teach calm behavior (heel on loose lead, etc) in spite of the distractions of other dogs and people around and to prepare for the Canine Good Citizen test. One can successfully do that on their own if they get out and about with their dog regularly, but I need the structure to make myself keep up with it since it's a long drive to a dog friendly public place for me.

Up to this point I have mostly trained and socialized Dizzy on my own. We did sign up for a class at one point, but stupidly I did it on a week night, and with traffic, and the class it ended up taking up about 4 hours of my night after work. I'd have to rush home to leave for class by 5:30 (class was at 7) stay for class and then drive home, and it was less than 20 miles away, but out in the burbs. I didn't take into account the madness of rush hour traffic. I have done very well with him, but have definitely made mistakes and had setbacks. Also, raising a puppy in nyc means that I never had to worry about socialization. He meets dogs and people every time we leave the apartment. He's in this phase now that he wants to say hi to every single person we pass, especially those that look like they may have something in their hands. However, I am nerdily into dog training. I obsess about it, read about it, discuss it with friends, and on and on. When Dizzy has an issue, I think about what I'm doing wrong and strategize on how to fix it. Last weekend I realized he has an issue with resource guarding toys, he's never had to share toys before.

This weekend, we are starting a basic obedience class because of one issue specifically. He wants to play with every dog he sees. This is something I've been working on, and we've been making progress, but I think a formal training environment will be extremely helpful for this. Because all the other dog owners will have the same goal, meaning they won't be allowing their dog to approach Dizzy when I'm desperately trying to get him to pay attention to me. Plus, since we will be moving in about 7 months, I'd like to have his CGC, that will make it much easier in case we need to rent or convince a co-op board we are worthy.

Also, these dogs are extremely intelligent. Taking classes with them will give them an outlet for some of that intelligence and mental energy. You can work with that at home, but this will give you ideas on what to do, how to work on specific things, and generally just allow you and your dog to have fun together! For most huskies, training can be a fun mental game that they get to play with you, much more positive than rolling a treat ball around the floor.

If there are a lot of dogs in your complex, make sure to talk to them too - the best form of advertising would be word of mouth... I've never heard of Zoom Room before so I can't really comment on them, but ask for references (preferably from previous husky owners too if possible). Good luck!