best affordable obedience training for my dog – San Francisco?
Posted on 2009 under Dog Training FAQ | 3 Comments20 Nov
my dog: 13 month old shepherd/lab mix
things needing attention: greeting people politely, jumping, consistency in command response, improvement walking on lead, recall, respecting ‘personal space’.
on a budget, want to spend my money wisely. thanks so much!!!
dorothy, while i appreciate the time you took with your response, it was not an answer to my question…it was also a waste of your own time, as you jumped to the wrong conclusion, assuming that i do not plan to, and do not already, train my own dog. i am already familiar with all the information you provided, i am just looking for a professional OBEDIENCE TRAINING PROGRAM for further help. please, provide answers questions in the future. that’s why its called Yahoo Answers. thanks.
by Meredith G, on November 20 2009 @ 3:12 am
Two of the best training programs you could find, are right there in your area. The SF SPCA at http://www.sfspca.org, and the Marin Humane Society at http://www.marinhumanesociety.org Both group classes are very reasonably priced for the quality of training you get.
Also Jean Donaldson, director of traiing and behavior at SF SPCA runs a dog training academey, a rigorous program often described as the Harvard of dog training. I have met many of her students are they are well versed and really skilled. You can find her certified graduates on the spca site mentioned above and there are lots to choose from in the SF Area.
For some immediate tips try out at http://www.pawstitiveexperience.com and go to my training tips page. Check out "jumping",, "polite greetings", "people empowerment program", restrained recall, "off leash recall, and loose leash walking" There are 45 tip there and I will be loading 5 more this next week. One will be on leadership and taking personal space. You can find the article and video at http://www.kohd.com then scroll to Khody’s Tail Waggin Tips. The full two part series on leadership will be available on 3/2. Part one is there now with the full article but part two talks about taking personal space.
Part two airs tonight on our local news program and after that it gets added to the website.
by dorothy s, on November 20 2009 @ 3:12 am
Please do not pay someone else to train your dog; it’s a waste of time and money.
First of all if you want to communicate with your dog, you must appreciate that it does not understand English. Yes you could pay a trainer to control your dog; however this will not help you to communicate with your dog.
People are not consistent with their commands, are you? They ask their dogs to sit and it does not do so, then they say "please sit" and the dog ignores them. Then they use another command and get into a bad temper, consequently the dog is totally confused.
Another thing that dog owners do when they want their dogs to stay is to say "Fido stay". You must never say the dogs name unless you want it to come to you. If you precede a command with a dog’s name it will not stay, it will get up and come to you.
Dogs get very exited when visitors are admitted, they love people. When the doorbell rings, you should put your dog into another room and leave it there until it calms down. Then, before you let it into your living room to great visitor, give it a bone or something to chew and tell your visitors to ignore your dog. Your dog will then ignore your visitors whilst it chews whatever you have given it.
When your dog is running free and you want him to come back, never run after him. Either hide or run away from your dog. If it’s in full flight and it’s running after another dog, a rabbit or whatever don’t waste your time in shouting for your dog. Instead watch for something that your dog may want to chase recall him before he sees this. If he has consistently ignored your recall command in the past, try using a different command and giving it a treat when it returns.
As for pulling on the lead, use a very short lead and go to a local training class for help. Never ever use a flexi lead as this will encourage you dog to pull.
by George L, on November 20 2009 @ 3:12 am
Check with your nearest SPCA, often they will offer training classes at very good prices. If they do not offer classes they should at least be able to tell you what is available in your area.