Are Dog Training Classes Worth it?

Summary

The author discusses their experience sending their puppy, Scooby, to a training school and shares the benefits and challenges of the training.

Abstract

The author had a history of negative encounters with dogs, leading to a fear of being bitten by their new puppy, Scooby. Despite the cost, they decided to send Scooby to a training school for two weeks. Upon picking him up, the author initially felt the training was a waste of money as Scooby still tried to play-bite. However, they soon noticed improvements in Scooby's behavior, such as easier crate entry and sleeping through the night. The author also learned to provide feedback to Scooby during unwanted behavior and saw improvements in his leash manners and ability to resist food temptation. The author acknowledges that similar lessons can be found online but values the consistency and effectiveness of the training school.

Opinions

The author expresses their initial skepticism about the value of the training school, given the high cost.
The author shares their positive experiences with Scooby's improved behavior and their own learning from the training.
The author acknowledges that similar lessons can be found online but values the consistency and effectiveness of the training school.
The author concludes that the training was worth the investment, despite the initial doubts.

Are Dog Training Classes Worth it?

“You are a very brave boy”, comforted the nurse as she finished pulling the needle out of my abdomen. The pain subsided slowly as my eyes began to sort out the tears that had welled. To my credit, I had not let a single syllable out of my mouth.

The events of this story occurred many years ago. I had suffered yet another encounter with a stray dog. And, those days required me to get 14 painful injections to the abdomen. It was an ordeal and it wasn’t my first one either. In all, I remember more than three dozen jabs because of three different dogs.

But, I never blamed the dogs. I am still a dog person.

Scooby in his winter gear — image from Author

We got Scooby three months ago. He was ten weeks old at that time. And, the timing was less than ideal. We were recovering from Covid at that time but this couldn’t wait. Needless to say, I was very nervous given my own history with canines.

My big concern was (and still is) Scooby unintentionally biting the kids. As first-time dog owners, there were a lot of things we don’t know. And, we had family visiting us over the Christmas break. With so many kids running around him, I was not sure how Scooby or the kids or I would handle any situations. So, we decided to send him off to a training school for those two weeks.

It set us back a nice 2300$. Was it worth it? It’s a lot of money.

On New Year’s Eve, we went back to pick Scooby up. He had finished two weeks of his training and I was curious to see the most obedient puppy in the world. As I entered to pick him up, he ran over to me. I was not sure Scooby would remember me but he dispelled those doubts in less than two seconds. He was jubilant that I was there and I was blown away. But, the first thing he did was try to play-bite me. What the…

I was pretty convinced that this has been a huge waste of our money. At first, it looked like Scooby hadn’t learned anything. He was exactly the same way as I had dropped him off before the break. Oh well.

But, then I noticed a few changes that were heartening. It was easy for him to get into the crate. He sleeps through the night for the most part without the need for me to be in his line of sight. I picked up a few mannerisms that help me communicate with him better. When I took him to his first-ever dog park, people around were amused by his obedience.

I was proud of him. I dropped him off at home to run a couple of errands. When I got back, my son promptly informed me that Scooby had peed in their bedroom. Sigh. Over the next couple of days, I noticed a strange smell in the house and located the source of the smell. He had taken a dump near the dining area. I was livid.

But, being mad at him wasn’t going to matter one bit. It was a great exercise in living in the moment. As angry as I was, he wouldn’t understand it. One of the key lessons, the trainer taught me was that I have to provide feedback to Scooby during the act. One evening, as the kids and I were hanging out with Scooby, I caught him through the corner of my eye. There he was, peeing it up in the living room!

Within 1.5 seconds, I had him out of the house. I made such a big fuss about the act while he was in the act. And, he got it. He knew exactly what was wrong with what he was doing. He hasn’t repeated his transgression over the last couple of weeks so I am thinking he has learned his lesson.

As much as the training session was for Scooby, a great deal of it is in training us to talk a consistent language with him. Going on mid-afternoon walks has become much easier. His leash manners are stellar. He did try to jump on a bicyclist but that was again my fault for not paying attention. It could have been far worse. But, we live and learn.

We can even drop food on the floor and walk away. He wouldn’t eat it until he gets the command. Even my toddler is able to execute this script perfectly. Once or twice at least. The trick is to stay consistent with him. I can see him trying to challenge our assumptions from time to time. Many of these lessons were a direct result of the training classes. With him ‘graduating’ to advanced classes where he will learn to be less distracted and be off-leash even, I am feeling a bit better about the hefty sum we paid. It wasn’t all in vain.

Many of these lessons are available online through Baxter & Bella or YouTube tutorials (an infinite number of tutorials on the internet really). Honestly, puppies are super smart. Golden Doodles in particular are supposedly not so hard to train. So, we might have gotten away without spending on his training lessons. In a parallel universe, maybe, I am regretting not sending him to a training school. There’s no way of knowing.