We've been looking into a couple training classes for Kuma, and I'm wondering if anyone here has tried Petsmart classes and knows if they are any good. We spoke to a couple that were leaving the classes at the Petsmart by my house, and they said that the lady there is a great trainer. There are a couple training places that give discounts if you adopted a dog from the shelter we did, but the discounts aren't that great, and they are fairly far away so it'd negate the discount anyway. Whereas Petsmart is just down the street.

It's just going to be some beginner obedience classes, nothing to hard so I can't really see Petsmart being a bad place to start. It's $109 for a 6 week course. The couple we talked to said they give you tons of coupons too, so that might be nice!

There are a few threads about this already.

Honestly, it depends on your location. Go out and talk to the trainers and see which one you feel the most knowledgeable and workable. There is nothing wrong with going to Petsmart as long as you feel the trainer is worthwhile. Most of those places just hire anyone to be a trainer but some of them are professionally trained or just really good at what they do.

I have taken 2 Petsmart training classes, in different states and I was less than impressed with any of them. The one in Arizona told me I would not be able to participate in the 'loose leash' walking exercise because Siberians are too stupid to not pull. Unless of course I wanted to buy any of the anti-pull training tools that were conveniently located near the training center in the building. I did purchase the Halti head halter, the trainer aggressively sinched it down too tight across my boy's face. Dakota proceeded to flop on the floor and claw at his face to get the foreign object off of him. I was told to let him figure out fighting it wasn't going to work. My boy clawed his face until he bled and I threw the Halti in the trash.
I was told in WA that Siberians are not trainable and to not have any real expectations of a behaved dog at the completion of the class. Both trainers were pretty much dismissive to the my dogs in the class. Smug when they didn't obey as quickly as the more biddable dogs in class. And used my dogs as examples of 'hard headed' untrainable animals.
Needless to say I felt it was a complete waste of my time and money. I then found a local training club/kennel club that offered 8 week classes for $50 and actually took the time with us, knew the breed, and even got us far enough to be able to complete our CGC....though I missed both days we could have achieved those titles. I was quite pleased with them and continue to go back for other classes

I truly hope that my experiences were isolated and that if you do choose to go to Petsmart for training you have a very different experience than I did.

We have heard mixed reviews of PetSmart training classes, ours has been pretty positive. We decided on PetSmart because it is highly cost effective. It's not going to be as good as the premiere courses but for us it's pretty good. The trainer has worked with huskies in the past and is really good with her. There has been a maximum of 4 dogs in each of our classes which has been good for attention. We are on the second class as Kai graduated from puppy class not too long ago. It's also good for socialization, as most training classes are. In our puppy class, there was a chocolate lab puppy who Kai would play with for 10-15 minutes before the class even started. Like I mentioned above, our trainer has been great with Kai and has not been negative towards the husky breed, though I have heard of that happening at different locations. So it depends on the PetSmart, I'd talk to the trainer, see if they are familiar with huskies and how you feel once you speak to them.

We went through the puppy class twice. I have to say I really enjoyed it, my trainer was very nice and was really understanding with Nova's antics. If I ever brought up a concern with Nova she would go out of her way to find several different methods for us to use. Plus, Nova adores her, we go to petsmart every once in while now and Nova goes nuts whenever she sees her. I do believe it all depends on your trainer though, they have another trainer who I took a class with because we had to miss our class that week and I really did not like how she taught class and I know its trivial but the whole class she could not remember Nova's name (4 dogs in the class ). So I suggest talking to the trainers and figuring out if there is one you like or not and their opinions on the breed. Also, here if you aren't happy with your class or are concerned that your pup didn't learn something you can take the class again for free. That's why we took the puppy class a second time, just to reinforce loose leash walking and sit for greeting. We are planning on signing her up for the next round with our trainer in September too.

I went to a Petco training class and it was thoroughly a huge waste of my time and money. It cost me $200 and it was ridiculous. The trainer was too obsessed with my cute dog and stuffed her full of treats for NOTHING. When she jumped on her leg, she treated her and told her how cute she was and how she just couldn't help it. I went to two classes and then demanded my money back. It was obvious the trainer had NO idea what she was doing, and I wasn't going to waste 8 weeks of my life with this idiot.

I personally will never go to a pet store class again. To each their own, of course. For me though, I'd rather go to somebody who actually has a REAL training certification.

I'm going to add the flipside- I took two training courses at PetSmart with a brilliant trainer. When I walked into PetSmart with Loki for the first time, she and her Malamute were talking with a cashier. Of course Loki wanted to meet this new friend, and she was very nice. She saw I was having problems (no idea how to handle a dog! lol) and offered advice in a friendly way. She suggested a Halt leader and took me to get one fitted right for him, and gave me her card in case I needed to call her for advice, and mentioned she would be happy to help out for free. She was really professional and knew what she was doing, especially since she had both a Mal and a Husky she was familiar with the breed.

Even after his beginner classes, he was beginning to really become a different dog. After the intermediate classes, he's superb!

I was really fortunate to run into a trainer with a love of the breed, who knew how to handle a husky's personality. I would "shop around" for trainers who know the breed (they really are quite different to train) and perhaps ask for a demo in-store. Sometimes they will even let you sit in on a class for free if they think they can win your business by proving themselves.

It's really a matter of finding a good PERSON, not really all of PetSmart/PetCo in general.

Not hating on anyone who has gone through the PetSmart Training program but someone gave me a little bit of perspective when I was trying to figure out the whole puppy training/schooling thing out.

"You shop at Wal-mart for snacks and video games would you really pay them for an education?"

Dunno why it just resonated well with me so I looked for a puppy school/trainer. But to each their own I've heard good and bad things it really depends onthe trainer. Good Luck

xredrainx wrote:

Not hating on anyone who has gone through the PetSmart Training program but someone gave me a little bit of perspective when I was trying to figure out the whole puppy training/schooling thing out.

"You shop at Wal-mart for snacks and video games would you really pay them for an education?"

Dunno why it just resonated well with me so I looked for a puppy school/trainer.  But to each their own I've heard good and bad things it really depends onthe trainer.  Good Luck

But you can still find a Gucci purse at a Goodwill store. It just takes a little extra digging!  

HuskyMom09 wrote:

I have taken 2 Petsmart training classes, in different states and I was less than impressed with any of them.  The one in Arizona told me I would not be able to participate in the 'loose leash' walking exercise because Siberians are too stupid to not pull.  Unless of course I wanted to buy any of the anti-pull training tools that were conveniently located near the training center in the building.  I did purchase the Halti head halter, the trainer aggressively sinched it down too tight across my boy's face. Dakota proceeded to flop on the floor and claw at his face to get the foreign object off of him.  I was told to let him figure out fighting it wasn't going to work.  My boy clawed his face until he bled and I threw the Halti in the trash.
I was told in WA that Siberians are not trainable and to not have any real expectations of a behaved dog at the completion of the class.  Both trainers were pretty much dismissive to the my dogs in the class.  Smug when they didn't obey as quickly as the more biddable dogs in class.  And used my dogs as examples of 'hard headed' untrainable animals.
Needless to say I felt it was a complete waste of my time and money.  I then found a local training club/kennel club that offered 8 week classes for $50 and actually took the time with us, knew the breed, and even got us far enough to be able to complete our CGC....though I missed both days we could have achieved those titles.  I was quite pleased with them and continue to go back for other classes

I truly hope that my experiences were isolated and that if you do choose to go to Petsmart for training you have a very different experience than I did.  

I know this is very old but wanted further readers to hear this. WOW how awful. Luckily here where I live a lady has training courses and knows a lot of all dogs (100 for 8 weeks free for a year if in 4h so if youre underage like me) she does handling classes, high level obeidnce and show/ultity etc. After 4 sessions big improvement on my older husky who I got as an adult who was taught nothing and we did some training before the class by us we were taking our puppy when it started again and decided to do him too. Not just biddable breeds like labs collies and goldens. Anyone with two brain cells can train those dogs. Huskies are much smarter and can learn faster. Such as labs they will do it but but every new place you must reteach such as they wont know to do it in bathroom vs living room where my puppy after one session will do it anywhere. If you start young you fight the stubborness and they can be obiedent like labs but smarter. anyways the petsmart here has a good trainer but not near as well as Barb Griffin (the trainer I have now) MORAL HUSKIES CAN BE TRAINED N TRAINED WELL WILL BE VERY BIDDABLE you have to earn their respect and love. And huskies can can can learn to not pull my puppy doesnt pull she is still learning as she is only six months and 2 months in on working on this issue she is fine without older dog with her she competes to be in front when he comes along. Gosh they shouldnt call themselves trainers.

HuskyMom09 wrote:

I have taken 2 Petsmart training classes, in different states and I was less than impressed with any of them.  The one in Arizona told me I would not be able to participate in the 'loose leash' walking exercise because Siberians are too stupid to not pull.  Unless of course I wanted to buy any of the anti-pull training tools that were conveniently located near the training center in the building.  I did purchase the Halti head halter, the trainer aggressively sinched it down too tight across my boy's face. Dakota proceeded to flop on the floor and claw at his face to get the foreign object off of him.  I was told to let him figure out fighting it wasn't going to work.  My boy clawed his face until he bled and I threw the Halti in the trash.
I was told in WA that Siberians are not trainable and to not have any real expectations of a behaved dog at the completion of the class.  Both trainers were pretty much dismissive to the my dogs in the class.  Smug when they didn't obey as quickly as the more biddable dogs in class.  And used my dogs as examples of 'hard headed' untrainable animals.
Needless to say I felt it was a complete waste of my time and money.  I then found a local training club/kennel club that offered 8 week classes for $50 and actually took the time with us, knew the breed, and even got us far enough to be able to complete our CGC....though I missed both days we could have achieved those titles.  I was quite pleased with them and continue to go back for other classes

I truly hope that my experiences were isolated and that if you do choose to go to Petsmart for training you have a very different experience than I did.  

I know this is very old but wanted further readers to hear this. WOW how awful. Luckily here where I live a lady has training courses and knows a lot of all dogs (100 for 8 weeks free for a year if in 4h so if youre underage like me) she does handling classes, high level obeidnce and show/ultity etc. After 4 sessions big improvement on my older husky who I got as an adult who was taught nothing and we did some training before the class by us we were taking our puppy when it started again and decided to do him too. Not just biddable breeds like labs collies and goldens. Anyone with two brain cells can train those dogs. Huskies are much smarter and can learn faster. Such as labs they will do it but but every new place you must reteach such as they wont know to do it in bathroom vs living room where my puppy after one session will do it anywhere. If you start young you fight the stubborness and they can be obiedent like labs but smarter. anyways the petsmart here has a good trainer but not near as well as Barb Griffin (the trainer I have now) MORAL HUSKIES CAN BE TRAINED N TRAINED WELL WILL BE VERY BIDDABLE you have to earn their respect and love. And huskies can can can learn to not pull my puppy doesnt pull she is still learning as she is only six months and 2 months in on working on this issue she is fine without older dog with her she competes to be in front when he comes along. Gosh they shouldnt call themselves trainers.

That's a big reason why I love my veterinarian office so much. Not only do they have onsite grooming and boarding, most of the people who work there are also Husky owners. They KNOW and understand the breed. Misty's only been there four times so far, but she's always welcomed and fawned over by the staff. The last time I took Misty to the vet, she couldn't wait to go into the building and see everyone.

Most trainers are prejudiced against Nordic/Spitz breeds and always have been. It's much, much easier to be lazy about understanding ALL breeds and instead focus on the eager-to-please breeds. Those types of people are not good trainers. A GOOD trainer understands ALL breeds, or at least makes an attempt to understand all the breeds that are brought to them, and they can adjust their training methods accordingly. Unfortunately, PetSmart, Petco, and most other pet chains tend to attract lazy "trainers" who just want an easy job or who want to "play with doggies all day" instead of actually being helpful. There are exceptions, of course, since every pet store location is responsible for hiring their own staff. So, when looking for a training class anywhere, it's always best to meet the trainer(s) first before deciding to sign up.

I asked about the puppy class at my Petsmart. the fool trainer wanted to put a choke and a prong collar on my 11 week old pup, claiming "It;'s a sled dog breed, with huskies and malamutes you have to be rough, if it doesn't hurt, they don't know they were wrong."

Stupid so called trainer, I want a trained dog, not a broke dog. Just like horses, you can train them or break them, either gets obedience but, one gets willing obedience while the other gets obedience out of fear of being hurt.

A lot of that is the area I live in, most here are old fashioned and think punishment based BREAKING is the only thing that works on animals. They house break pets, they don't house train them. Sure it works but, that's because the pet is terrified of being hurt if it potties in the owner's house, not because the pet knows it's only okay to potty outside.

@bluemoods I'd have been real inclined to speak with the store owner. From various comments around the web, PetSmart / PetCo have some excellent trainers and they have some real losers. I don't think the manager would have appreciated the way the "trainer" wanted to treat your dog.

Because of our tourist local in the "old west" we have a stable in town - and a fellow who has "broken" their horses using "whisperer" techniques. The most impressive I've seen is a gorgeous, huge stallion who's about as gentle as a puddy-tat. He'll come over to the fence to say "Hi!" to the tourists and if you've got an apple, you have a friend for life!

Store owner is the same "Well sure, if there is no punishment for doing it wrong, the dog will keep doing it wrong, just like kids." Like most around here, correction MUST be punishment, be that pain, isolation, being tied without food or water, etc...

I train my animals, yes a sharp, verbal "NO" to correct them but that's all. I'm not going to tie or choke or, poke a dog for not walking as slow as I walk, I won't spank one for messing in the house, or anything else.

Dog trainers have a lot of weird pre-conceived notions about huskies...

The other day, a lady pulled up in her car beside me and rolled down her window. She said, "I train dogs for a living and I know your breed. The way he's walking on the leash...that's amazing."

I'm like, why should he not obey what he has been taught to do? We practiced a lot. I think I could easily teach him to "Heel" as well, if I wanted to. It never crossed my mind that because he was half-husky, he would be "untrainable."

The teacher in our obedience class said the same thing. In one of the early sessions, she sighed and said, "Well, his breed is independent. It is what it is." Well, in the end Rumo did just as well as the other dogs! ( Even with me dropping treats on the ground, holding them in the wrong hand, turning the wrong way and in general being the clumsiest human in the class...:-)

And Yes - heard bad things about Petsmart/Petco training classes. At our local store, I looked at their training area and it was so small...a big dog like Rumo would be crashing into the other dogs? So we took classes with a local dog training business that was recommended by friends.

Even wolfdogs do wonderfully well with training, with the right trainer. They are intelligent animals. Yes independent but only disobedient if they think it's for their or your good. (Sled dog avoiding thin ice, my babies avoiding snakes and alligators when we go out in the woods or, to the river sort of thing.)

They might be a bit vocal if they really don't want to do something, or really want to do something but, they will obey as long as they think it's safe to obey.

I'm sure PetSmart has good trainers in some stores, just around here, there aren't any good trainers less than 100 miles away. Too much of the old "If it works, don't fix it." attitude here. Step 1. bust the butt, step 2 yell and scream, step three bust the butt again, be that kid, dog, horse or otherwise.

I totally disagree, there are better, kinder ways and, my canines would go off on anyone trying that crud with them. They don't know pain - punishment to them is a sharp "NO!" and me turning my back on them and walking away until they come and "apologize" (sit or lay down and either paw tap or nose bump me for affection.) Never takes them more than two minutes to "apologize." and, they remember the lesson after 1-3 mistakes.

Rewards are special food treats, extra belly rubs, a game of tug-o-war or, a few minutes they get to play maul me. ( I lay on the floor or ground and, let them climb on me, lick me, chew on me, gently of course.)