Why the generic puppy school can fail dog owners
Are you in the process of looking for a puppy school in Geelong?
When I was studying my dog training certification, my experienced teacher told me something that stuck with me until this day: “Puppy school should only be run by the most experienced dog trainers.”
Initially I was baffled because thinking about those generic puppy schools run in vet clinics and organisations and how they usually put a bubbly vet nurse on board for the basics, but upon learning about what puppies need… boy it made me question how things are run not just here but Australia wide.
Puppies require proper socialisation, bonding with their dog parents and a whole bunch of developmental understanding to ensure training is done accordingly (critical periods, fear periods… fancy words!). If this is the first time though that you have heard a trainer mention this, do not be surprised.
Most Geelong dog parents do not know that puppy training is a set up that can change the way you live with your dog in the long run.
My client recently shared with me her regrets around her puppy school experience.
She stated that her dog’s intense reactivity towards other dogs where he lunges and growls started when he went to an unregulated puppy school at a daycare and was essentially bullied by another dog. In her own words:
“I wish I knew better and went to you instead… maybe then we would not be in this situation.”
The problem with most puppy schools is not necessarily that they are useless, but that they focus on the information that does not prepare dog owners such as:
Sit (okay… most dogs can learn this at any age).
Playing with other dogs freely (I will talk about the issues around this being done poorly another time).
Lack of information around the dog’s breed needs, adolescence and actually knowing about critical periods (between 3-16 weeks all training matters).
Lack of knowledge from the trainers (generally) who are usually inexperienced, vet nurses or store attendants.
This leaves dog owners:
Unprepared for what happens in adolescence.
A focus on obedience skills eg. sit and drop, and thinking that is all a dog needs.
Not being aware on how to tackle behavioural issues as they pop up (and they will!).
Not preventing behaviour they will dislike down the line because they are unaware on how to stop it from happening in the first place.
But is it all doom and gloom? No!
Luckily in Geelong there are trainers that are realising this and are shifting the way they do puppy training. At Mindfulness we focus on creating training programs that set owners up with support from the get-go so that they are raising healthy puppies with confidence!
Rather than a “one-size fits all” our training is targeted and personalised to a dog’s breed/behaviour and to your lifestyle that you desire with your dog. We work one on one with you and really build that professional relationship to get to know you and your pup, rather than have an influx of owners who are just numbers.
You just cannot get training like this from your generic puppy classes.
Yes it may be enough for plenty of owners with biddable dogs, but what if you are not one of them?
What if you have a Jack Russell showing signs of preydrive?
What if you Dachshund is more bark than handbag dog?
Maybe we should be thinking more about how we become more tailored to dog owners as dog industry experts, so that less people end up with broken relationships, rehoming issues and misunderstanding with their dogs; and more people will actually love their dogs for who they are for the 10-15 years they get with them.
