PetSmart Training vs. Independant Trainer

Hey so I am trying to decide between petsmart classes for my dog which are about 100 bux or the lady who runs www.ourpack.com she specializes in apbt and preps the dogs for the cgc certification but she charges like 210 bux for 6 weeks.

Is it worth it to go with the one who specializes in the breed?

 

210 bucks for 6 weeks doesnt seem TOO bad imo.
i wouldnt do anything that has the words PETS MART in it. not when it comes to APBT's anyway.

 

Petsmart ain't good for anything past getting some feed or a odd few things, I would go with the person who knows the breed if it was me.

With that said though, Make sure she does in fact know what she is talking about when it comes to dealing with this breed of dog. You can pay a fruit loop at petsmart and you can also pay a fruit loop that calls themselves a professional and wind up with the same results.

 

Anything is better than petsmart. From personal experience and from what I've heard, they have no knowledge of canine behavior and psychology whatsoever... and if they do, it's fairly limited to watching Dog Whisperer, lol.

I'd ask the independent trainer about her views on DA v. HA, and the breed as a whole, if you haven't already had a nice conversation with her.

 

Holy Crap! That is expensive!
Our training club is $80 for 7 weeks.
Mid FL APBT Association also offers a "pitbull" obedience class to prep the dogs for the CGC test.
Where are you located?

 

too bad your not located in CA, id be your #1 customer! lol

 

i payed 750 for full obediance (on leash and off) for the life time of the dog.... i knwo 750 is alot but i think pound for pound its the best thing....

 

Petsmart is a bad place for training. where do you live?

 

Again, where do you live? I know of some trainers in different parts of the country, so maybe I can recommend someone for you.

Petsmart training is not professional. You would do better on your own using common sense. Pick up "Obedience without Conflict" and "The Game" by Ivan Balabanov...or go to a local independent trainer that has a good reputation. Ask for a demo.

 

Under normal conditions that is true but there is a Petsmart here that has a wonderful young girl who is great with APBTs and owns 3 herself.
Most petsmart hire GSD trainers and they know nothing about bulldogs except that they are afraid of them. So they like to isolate them from the rest of the class.

 

Don't judge a trainer unless you've interviewed them. There are good number of Petsmart and Petco trainers that absolutely suck and have no actual working knowledge with our breed BUT there are a few out there.

I worked, for a time, with Petsmart until I moved on to a better paying job. A lot of other stores sent their pit bull clients to me because I own the breed. I was able to guide them in the right direction for things like dog-dog aggression and other breed traits that the dogs are known for - especially when 99% of the people were new to the breed and had done absolutely no research.

That being said, if the trainer is incredibly specific in working with APBTs and their kin, I'd aim toward that. $210 isn't bad if it's private. I'd never charge that for group classes, though. I'm currently paying $65 for 6 weeks of Novice Obedience and that's pretty darn reasonable - not that we couldn't do it at home, but the exposure and polite behavior around other dogs along with numerous other distractions is invaluable.

 

Anyone have any recommendations in the greater Seattle area???

 

I will go with the www.ourpack.org lady. She trains therapy dogs and Canine Good Cert. etc.

 

Have you contacted Ellena from PNWPBR? She's a pretty good trainer and does CGCs and is bully breed oriented.

 

Also check out clubs they might be decent priced. The prices you gave seem really expensive! Our AKC club charges 85 for 8 weeks and I charge 85 for 6 weeks and that is pretty much the norm here. If you go into private lessons then they get more expensive.
I would NOT go to petsmart! I had a good friend who was a manager at Petsmart and he tried to get me to teach some classes but after I saw what the program was about NO Way!
They make you pretty much teach out of a book and I would never go to someone for training advice who moved up from a cashier to trainer is just a matter of months. It takes years for a trainer to be credible!

I have never met an Petsmart trainer who know what they were doing! lol
I took a few of my dogs and was working on down stays and the trainer always come over and ask for tips on working with there dogs! WTF? aren't they suppose to be the head trainers and their dogs can't do a down stay in a store? They know I own my own business so they always follow and ask questions.:eek:

Stick to someone who has accomplishments with their own dogs and has several years experience with dog training.

Good luck finding a trainer

 

I wouldn't use the Petsmart Classes, they only focus on parlor tricks not obedience.

 

You don't live in the southern cali area do you? There's a guy that runs a class for free every Sunday at the coliseum near USC. I guess I'd be able to guess where u from if the website ourpack.com would work on my computer

 

One of the area trainers here in Michigan has loads of obedience, agility and flyball titles on his dogs and works for Petsmart. Depending on the store, they let the trainer use more their method, but they do focus a LOT on straight pure positive - which a lot of dogs don't need.

 

If that trainer is so good why are they working for petsmart? That is not something I would want on my resume IMO Just like I talked to another Petsmart trainer in Colorado and she was bragging that she worked at seaworld training whales....... and she gave all that up to make 9.00 an hr at Petsmart:rolleyes: I doubt that!

I wold be interested to know what kind of titles that trainer has and why they would not work for a more reputable place?

 

yesterday i watched a petsmart trainer unknowingly teach a dog to bark non stop within the 10 mins i was there...


shows how smart they are... yuck