Hi all,

I have a 1.6 year old boy and he needs some training. I’m sorry if this may be a repeat post, but bear with me. I’ve heard mixed reviews about trainers from Petco and Petsmart. So I plan to avoid them in general.

Now that I’ve been looking at other facilities that offer training, what exactly should I look for? The website are generally the same, but what should I be asking the trainer specially? I’m new to this and am looking for advice.

Thanks!

You have a teen aged puppy so expect him to be fractious but that's no reason to throw up your hands in disgust (not saying you are, but others have!) It just means that you have to exercise him to the hilt and then try some training sessions while he's still 'tired'.

Those mixed reviews from both PetCo and PetSmart are a mixed blessing. There are some stores with excellent trainers and there are some stores where the trainers should be taken out and (I can't say that in today's world, inciting violence.) I'd schedule a one-on-one interview with the trainer and take my boy to the store to see just what the trainer thinks about working with a Husky. Both the trainers and the breed have very mixed reviews - some trainer will work with a Husky and some want nothing to do with them because they "aren't bred to please." Having a set down will give you a good idea of whether this might be workable. In terms of socialization, it's a good bet; it'll give you and your pup the chance to work with and around other dogs which you might never get with an individual trainer. Just saying there are some upsides to PetCo / PetSmart if the trainer isn't a complete dud.

Another thing is ask for references and actually make the effort to talk to the references. Colorado has had some really bad trainers in the news lately. And of course evrywhere is going to have mixed reviews because the same method of training is not going to work on every dog. Also check the facility out in person before committing to anything and carefully watch the trainers interaction with your dog. I like classes after my dogs are semitrained to get the experience of the other dogs and people and i tend to use classes more to work on focusing in new or chaotic situations and private training to work on specific things that are new. A center about 100 miles (not far for here) has a class specifically for primative, northern breeds and wolfdogs. Its a very fun class and helped immensely with spider. Maybe Wisconsin has something like that

I would look for training classes where dogs are actually working towards and getting titles/degrees like CGC (Canine Good Citizen), therapy dog certification, or they have classes like agility, nosework, etc.?This shows that their training ability is such that they can actually get dogs into high levels of obedience, and produce results...

( As a sidenote - when my dog attended obedience class, our teacher looked at him and said,"Well, with his breed, it is what it is." So as Al said, yep, you may encounter husky stereotypes! Try not to let it get to you...and don't compare your dog to that Border Collie across the room...:-)

Spider can outdo any border collie with the right motivation. The husky gives her a stubborn streak but the wolf in her she can watch a dog do something once and then do it perfect the first time. I wish squirt was like that shes more typical husky personality. And spider is trained as a seizure alert dog just not service dog material as she gets really anxious in new places