Puppy Classes

… and why I don’t like them. Or something like that.

Don’t get me wrong, I love training puppies. Puppies are awesome little sponges that are a blast to work with, so fun, so innocent and in general, just hilarious. But I’m not a fan of puppy classes. I’m not a fan even though I do run them (sometimes) and I will tell you why.

My main reason for the dislike is that no matter what I tell people or explain to them, a portion of people put far TOO MUCH pressure on young puppies to be perfect. And I hate this. They pressure them as they would an adult dog. They expect them to perform as a mature animal and get frustrated when they don’t. They think that puppy class should be enough to round out their new dogs education. They want to over socialize with other dogs and under play with their humans. None of this is done with malicious intent, rather it seems to be done out of “hurry up and get this over with”.

In addition to this, people tend to forget that a group class is a completely different environment then their living room or kitchen, or other familiar place to their puppies. People, in general, tend to expect their puppies to act the same in a class environment as they would in their living room, even though there are new (sometimes scary or over exciting) things to smell, see, touch and play with that are way more interesting then their handlers. Nervous puppies have a much harder time dealing with new environments, and bold puppies can “check out” and completely immerse themselves in the surroundings instead of their owners. This frustrates people, and can cause them to put even more pressure on their puppies, even if I explain, it’s ok, let them take in their world by just observing and being in it. Instead they want them to hurry up and do, rather then slow down and be.

It bothers me to see the pressure and disappointment that some people can project on puppies without taking into account their age, maturity levels, drive and abilities. Puppies feel this. Be happy with your puppy, even when they act like idiots – this idiot puppy behaviour is normal. Don’t try and crush it – try to work with it. Try to remember that every single thing your puppy does is because they are a young animal, and this is what they were built to do.

We don’t expect young children in kindergarten to be perfect, to focus completely on their lessons, to not be interested in the new and exciting or scary world around them, to read novels, to solve complex problems, so why do we do this with puppies? Yes, puppies are not kids, but is a very similar concept and the comparison can help you step back and take a hard look at if you are expecting too much.

As the years have gone by, and as dogs have come and gone throughout my life, the things that stand out that they have all taught me is have a sense of humour and have fun with your dogs. Enjoy them when they are young and ridiculous because it doesn’t last long. And at a young age you absolutely HAVE TO expect less (sometimes much, much less) just like we do with children. Stop trying to make puppies perfect. If you are not perfect (which you definitely aren’t) do not expect them to be either.