[ThePoodlesMoody]

As you may have seen, we brought home a 10 week old moo last week. I'm signing up for puppy kindergarten and was thinking it might be good to sign her up for two classes instead of just one. What do y'all think?

Due to the pandemic, socialization is a lot harder and I thought this would help her meet more people and dogs. But then I also thought she might get bored of doing it all twice? I dont know.

She's definitely poodle level smart! She's learning well already. She may end up knowing most of the commands before class even starts. Would the class care if she came in an "expert" ? I just want her to see other dogs and humans.

(Bonus pic of my Tpoo Benjamin Franklin teaching new baby Apple Butter how to do the "poodle pile" trick. )

 

[lily cd re]

Given the special times we are experiencing I would go for two classes especially if otherwise will be different puppies and people in each.

 

[Skylar]

I would too.

 

[Thomazine]

My ten week old puppy knows a bunch of commands. However, I took him to puppy kindergarten this morning and he proceeded to lose his mind for fifty straight minutes. He was a barking, yanking, whirling dervish puppy, who was absolutely uninterested in me and my treats as long as there were other puppies in the room. I have literally never seen him like that (and yes, he was the only one behaving like that.) Today everybody else worked on SIT while I worked on trying to get my puppy to stop choking himself trying to reach the Cavalier spaniel on the far side of the room.

I wouldn't worry about your puppy knowing everything already. It's definitely one thing to do the tricks at home and another to do them when there's an enticing golden lab puppy only TWO FEET AWAY.

 

[lily cd re]

Thomazine you should take your pup into pet stores, even if you carry him because of vaccine concerns. This should help reduce the over the top reaction to seeing other dogs.

 

[ThePoodlesMoody]

Good point! She very well may lose her mind when other dogs are around! She is always trying to get our old dogs to play, and they're always too cranky to do much besides hold the toy while she pulls.

 

[Thomazine]

Thomazine you should take your pup into pet stores, even if you carry him because of vaccine concerns. This should help reduce the over the top reaction to seeing other dogs.

He's gone to an independent pet store, Petco and PetValu so far. He's also had yard playdates with older vaccinated dogs. I don't know WHAT today was, unless he thought he was back with all his siblings. I'm still in a mild state of shock. (Also, the instructor spent a good ten minutes lecturing us on how she's a breeder who doesn't let her puppies go to homes unless they're sixteen weeks old and PERFECTLY leash-trained which ALL breeders should do while I tried to settle down what felt like a small hyperactive dragon, so I was irritated AND baffled. Phew.)

 

[Liz]

I think the only potential downside of attending two classes/week is that it can be tiring for a young pup, and dogs seem to learn best with lots of downtime between training sessions. Does your trainer offer any socialization periods outside of a traditional puppy manners class? I might stick to one class for this first session, and then adjust if needed for the next session. If there are no socialization classes, you might be able to arrange outdoor playdate with carefully chosen classmates.

 

[cowpony]

Have you run the question past the trainer running the class, especially if another trainer is running the second class?

I think, regardless of whether you are going to one class or two, you have a poodle puppy. High energy, curious, quick to learn. She's going to go through life like Sheldon Cooper, always exasperated by the failure of the rest of the world to keep up. Dealing with boredom appropriately is a necessary life skill. The puppy class is a good place to begin to start practicing that skill. Just because she's bored with sitting doesn't mean it's ok to tackle the cocker spaniel puppy next to her.

I will admit that Galen was a bit more of a handful than the other puppies when I took him to his teen puppy class. All the puppies in my class had owners who had practiced the basics before the class started. All the puppies knew sit, down, touch before we started. The rest of the puppies were happy to keep drilling things they already knew. Galen wasn't. After the third repetition he wanted to move on. Consequently, I learned to quietly throw in hand signals for another non- disruptive activity. For Example, he would do a few good sits, I would signal him to touch my hand, then ask for another sit. Keeping him engaged made the class better for everyone.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

We did a second puppy class session with Peggy. So it was still just once a week (a good schedule) but we did 10 consecutive weeks instead of 5.

You may find that training at home is very different from training with half a dozen other puppies. So be prepared. Peggy also varied a lot from week to week. Sometimes she was a star, other times a total embarrassment.

But the key for us was to do as @cowpony did, and never demand more than a few reps. Poodles learn differently, and it's important your instructor respect that. You can quietly move on to other things, or just practise calm. We didn't even demand Peggy's full attention all the time. Sometimes we'd just let her lay quietly and watch all the fun. Honestly, that was where we really got our money's worth! A poodle who is content to sit back and watch exciting things is a truly wonderful poodle.

 

[Juliana101]

I wasn’t sure what to expect from puppy class either, but partially depends on what YOUR class doing/structure.
Mine are play-Q&A-potty-skill-play.

We haven’t learned any new skills during the classes (he’s up to quite a few commands already at 16 weeks).
BUT the patience our puppy had to develop of just relaxing on his towel during Q&A time has been great & really tires him out mentally. Also very different for him to sit & look when so many puppies all nearby, which has helped him focus when he needs.

I went for 6 weeks in a row, both for the social aspect of so many different puppies/play style, but also for the impulse/passive do nothing training more than actual skills.

TLDR: he might not learn a specific command, but the patience skills are worth going to as many as you can.

 

[lily cd re]

Since there will be training everyday at home I don't see why training outside of home would be too much training. I would still plan to do the two classes. I think the OP has been working hard on these social skills trainings, but I also don't think you can seriously overdue such things. I took Javelin to my club 2 (sometimes 3) days a week during his first summer. We weren't doing a puppy class since his gotcha day came a couple of weeks after one had started and I didn't want to throw off the dynamics that had already been esablished, but he did get some practice on being in a crate (and jumping out too) and he got to meet many people and well mannered adult dogs.

 

[Skylar]

I wouldn’t do a one hour class followed immediately by another hour class....that’s too much. But a class on Monday and one on Tuesday isn’t a problem.

Different trainers may have a different way to training skills, maybe in a different order etc. but I think it can only enrich your experience.

 

[PowersPup]

I took my 11-week old mini-poo to two Puppy K classes last week. The dynamics of each class were different - different puppies, different trainers, different rooms, etc. It wasn't repetitive at all. I think he benefitted from both classes.