PetSmart

Ammohouse · Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 8:05 pm Post subject: PetSmart

I was thinking about trying out the classes that they give.
We just got a PetSmart here in Rapid City and I was wondering if they're any good or should I stay away from them. I don't have any idea on who else offers classes in this town. Any inputs? Thanks

AmyB · Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 12:11 am Post subject:

I've heard good things and bad things about them. I would find out who the trainer is and what kind of experience they have. Also make sure that you are okay with the method that they use to train their dogs. I know the ones by me uses the clicker training with treats which I don't like (but alot of other people do) so I found someone that doesn't use treats at all. I would suggest going in to observe a class and maybe going to a few other places as well (if they let you).

Cathy · Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 6:59 am Post subject:

I found my puppy kindergarden class in the yellowpages actually. I didn't like that the Petsmart class was right in the middle of the store.
I ended up going to a non-profit organization and it was about $40 less that Petsmart. The instructors were volunteers and loved the dogs. It also was a large building with an outside yard for the dogs to train and play in.
Marley and I both loved it and we begin obedience in about a month. You can always sit in on a class before joining. Good luck.

kamfam · Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 7:40 am Post subject:

Yeah, I'd try shopping around a little bit - you may be able to find a better class for less money. When they are so young (yours is just little, right?), it's mainly getting them used to other people and dogs. So IMO, for small pups, any training is better than none.

Trene · Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 7:49 am Post subject:

I think Anne posted this before. You can find a certified pet trainer in your area here:

http://www.apdt.com/

nenny · Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 9:02 am Post subject:

Ammohouse I had the same questions... I heard both good and bad about Petsmart. I decided to go with a local trainer in my area. We start at the end of the month. Which is good b/c it is getting cold, and Toby doesn't seem to care too much about the cold weather. She has a huge building and outside area for the dogs to play. What sold me was she had a lot of continuing classes such as agility and field training. I don't know if I will ever enter Toby. But if he loves the classes then I will probably keep him in there as long as I can .

Beth · Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:09 am Post subject:

Just went on that site, found someone near me and this is on the calendar
what do you think of this price for this hour???
BASIC OBEDIENCE Tuesday 10/30/07 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. $135.00

(figured out today that Daisy knows the sit command already, go dais)

kamfam · Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:26 am Post subject:

Trene · Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:31 am Post subject:

I'm paying $130 for an hour and 1/2, I think 7 sessions.

I found way more expensive, and one that was like $30 cheaper.

kamfam · Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:35 am Post subject:

Cathy · Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 11:27 am Post subject:

I only paid $70 for 8 weeks of 1 hour classes. I guess I got lucky because it was the first place I found.

Actually, if you take 2 classes with them, you can become a member for $85 and train unlimited dogs in unlimited classes for a year. That will really pay off when I get another dog. It even says on the site, you can train every dog on the block if you want to Shocked

.

Although they offer at least 10 classes, I doubt I will be getting in those specific to competition. But I might try out agility just because I can. Marley would love it.

Rosko · Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 5:48 pm Post subject:

In my area, Salt Lake City, Utah, Petsmart doesn't seem to be a very good choice. Many of my neighbors have tried them only to be let down as the class had very few or no other dogs in it so the entire socialization thing went out the window (which is the biggest thing, imho, for these classes). Not even touching on the 15 yr old trainers, etc.

http://gsldtc.com/Classes.html

is where most people here that are serious go apparently. They offer classes for _everything_ (including AKC/etc certifications for obedience, etc.) and it's all non-profit so it's only $60 for 8weeks. The classes are almost always 'full' so socialization is great. The location is very good also with an excellent agility course area even.

I'd imagine clubs like this would be available in most populated areas so you may want to do a quick google search in yours.

SpartacussMommy · Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 1:26 pm Post subject:

When we first got Sparty we enrolled him in the puppy class at PetsMart and it definitely didn't hurt anything aside from our wallet. PetsMart puppy class is good for socialization and thats about it! We taught Spart to sit, stay, come, leave it, oh and "take it" which sparty has no problem "taking" anything from my hand. Smile

we were only 3 weeks into our 8 week class ($119 I think) and our trainer said I'm really sorry (just to Kris and I) your puppy is too smart for this class he really should be in the advanced class! Sparty was definitely his fave puppy and had all 8 weeks worth of training done on our 3rd session (we missed our second class due to having new windows being put in at our house so we set up a private session this is how we learned all the other "tricks" for the rest of the "puppy semester"). We stuck it out just so he could play with all of his friends! Smile

katiesue1506 · Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 2:26 pm Post subject:

Yeah, we had Lexie trained at a local petstore called Speck's, and it was
$85 for 8-week one hour sessions. We were looking into furthering her education and stopping at PetSmart... I didn't like how small the area is, and I thought they were expensive. I think we'll just take her back to the place we were at before because they liked her. Told us she should be a show dog.

sterlingsmom · Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 3:50 pm Post subject:

oh, boy..you think that's expensive?? Try the $1,000 we're about to spend after Christmas for Sterling to go to a "canine college"