[nmaj]

Hi,
I have a one year old golden girl Casey. I looked into signing her up for PetSmarts puppy training but what I saw what it entailed I decided to train her myself. Casey can sit, lay down, stay.. all the basics on command. What I can not get through to her is behaving when new people and other dogs come around. She is a pretty calm dog the majority of the time but when I take her out and she sees other dogs or when visitors come over she just looses it and I cant calm her down. What really throws me off is that Casey lives with a 8 year old Cairn Terrier and a 2 year old golden retriever so I thought she would have adjusted to other dogs. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

NMaj

 

[Pointgold]

And this is exactly why a class situation would be beneficial. Learning to work with you through the distractions of other dogs and people in a social situation such as a class is invaluable. Even if you are fully capable of teaching the commands, the socialization is important.

 

[cubbysan]

I reluctantly just went through a class at Petco. I have not been able to find any other classes near me, so I thought it was better than nothing.

Yes, there were a lot of distractions, and as for training I did not get the best. The socialization though was awesome. There was just so much traffic with people of all ages and dogs of all ages. All the smells (hamsters and fish). They purposely would make us practice in spots that did have all the smells a golden would love. It was worth taking the class just for that!

 

[FlyingQuizini]

Ditto on the benefits of attending a class.

 

[GoldenFan]

yep, socializing is key. in addition to the petstores, i know my local kennels do some training classes. when i lived in a home where i didn't have doggie neighbors to socialize with, i'd take my dog with me to as many places i could. when i had no where specific to go, i'd just take her with me for a good walk around the Petstore or Home Depot (yes, they allow dogs) just so she would get a little exposure to both people and dogs. also, i've picked up lots of little training tidbits simply by watching animal planet and like channels. everything from "the dog whisperer" to "its me or the dog." you might check some of those out. think positive re-enforcement for calm moments and/or "sit/stay" behavior...

 

[lgnutah]

In my class at Petsmart, there was never any "socialization" time. I mean, we were all in the class together, but there was no free play time for the dogs. You were to keep your dog in the space where you were working. We even had a session where you and another owner were to walk with your dog on lead, coming from opposite directions, and your dog was to ignore the other dog.
Or, is this socialization?

 

[zeke11]

Home depot allows dogs, for real?? Wowsa, this would be totally awesome. We have one just blocks from our home and its been sooo cold lately that I haven't been able to walk my dogs much. A visit to home depot would do a lot for their excess energy!

Kris

 

[cubbysan]

In my class at Petsmart, there was never any "socialization" time. I mean, we were all in the class together, but there was no free play time for the dogs. You were to keep your dog in the space where you were working. We even had a session where you and another owner were to walk with your dog on lead, coming from opposite directions, and your dog was to ignore the other dog.
Or, is this socialization?

We only had three puppies in our class, so they did greet each other. The socialization I had was with the customers and the employees. Most of the class was in different aisles of the store. We would only be in the "class area" at the beginning and end of the class.

 

[Selli-Belle]

Not all Home Depots allow dogs, we were asked to leave when we took Selli as a pup. She wasn't enjoying herself anyways!

 

[FlyingQuizini]

In my class at Petsmart, there was never any "socialization" time. I mean, we were all in the class together, but there was no free play time for the dogs. You were to keep your dog in the space where you were working. We even had a session where you and another owner were to walk with your dog on lead, coming from opposite directions, and your dog was to ignore the other dog.
Or, is this socialization?

I still consider it socialization, but it's more urban socialization than dog-dog socialization.

I do dog/dog stuff in my puppy class for pups under 16 wks, but once they get into beginner class, we keep dogs apart so they can start learning how to focus on their owners around the distraction of other dogs. We talk about doing play dates between class if they'd like, but class time is training time.

 

[Katieinsequim]

Socialization is everything. Our new pup is very well socialized but our 10 year old is not. The 10 year old golden loves people but hates other pets, except for our new puppy which she has claimed as her own. The more people and pets you can be around the better.

 

[vixen]

I live in a vilage where you could walk every day for a year and never see another dog. When we first moved here we stopped training classes as we didn'y know of any, and max attact 3 dogs in 7 days. We found a new place and been going near;y every week for the last 5 years. Max also went as a younster, I think in all we only had a years brake from training classes since Max was 17 weeks old he now 10 and half.

not only is is good for him to keep his brain active its great for me meeting new people, and making friends.