Hi

I would like to take my cocker spaniel puppy to obedience classes but my hubby is not keen and thinks we can just train her ourselves, is it really worth paying the money to go to obedience classes and can anyone recommend one in the Tyne and Wear / Northumberland area?

Definately worth it.  Even if your husband is an excellent trainer I doubt he could as readily arrange such good opportunities for socialisation and training opportunity amidst other dogs.  I think he will be quite surprised to find very experienced owners continuing to attend classes regularly and if he is that good he might find himself interested in competitive obedience.  I hope you manage to a good one locally as Cockers can be very willful and, if your husband is not quite the expert he believes ;-), you may find professional assistance extremely useful.

> my hubby is not keen and thinks we can just train her ourselves, is it really worth paying the money to go to obedience classes

The answer to the second point is yes definately worth the very small amount of money it will cost (relative to the cost of puppy)

and to the first point ... if I had a £1 for every owner who has come to my class and uttered the immortal words
" Oh dear - He does it at home" then I would be rather well off !! You'll need to train with distractions or pup's obedience will go to pieces out of it's home environment where it will be most needed.

I'm very happy to read that pup's murmur is not as serious as you first thought... good news.

" Oh dear - He does it at home"

otherwise known as the plaintive call of the pet owner :-D

I live in Tyne & Wear so have PMd you. As for your husband, training clubs serve a couple of purposes. They not only teach you how to train your dog they provide a venue to get your dog used to working with distractions in a controlled environment. I am perfectly capable of training my dogs myself and my youngest was ready to sit her gold good cit by 9 months old - but I still took her to the club to practice and proof her training around other dogs. Going to classes doesn't mean you are a numpty that can't train your own dog. But even the best trainers can pick up tips and new ideas from working with others. ;-)

Plus you get to spend time drinking tea and hanging out with doggy people! (part of our club anyway)

Tea?   Hummph.  Not at our classes.  I was very pleased with all the new things we were learning till I read that.  :)

The Good Citizen scheme is excellent. It is about training skills that are useful in real life - like how your dog should behave around other dogs and learn to focus on you. You can find a class near you on the Kennel Club site, or search on Good Citizen and your area on the internet. We have recently got our Bronze award, and start work on our Silver soon.

Especially with a puppy it will be of great benefit to attend a class and socialise him with other dogs. It's also lovely to share problems/successes/experiences with other owners, and to have an expert on hand to ask for help if you need it!

Good luck,

Julie

I attend a great training club that most of the attendees are trainers who run classes themselves. So much to learn, all of the time. So much fun. And the other things that I find most people say is 'at 9 weeks he would sit on command'. Everyone says it! They think 'cracked it'! Especailly when their dear little sweet baby is now a hormonal, unruly huge adolescant!

GL, Couldn't agree more.  How many stop at puppy class because the babies do sits and downs on command and come back when out. And then, at 6-8 months it all starts going wrong and baby suddenly develops hearing problems!

They are the best thing you will ever do for your dog! :)
We took our first girl and we are taking our boy as well, its so much fun and a real chance to ask questions about any small behaviours your worried or thinking about, cant say it enough about obediance classes go go go!!! :-D

I would highly highly recomend a cocker to classes, I have a 16 month old cocker and its more than just training per see, ius socialising. Getting them to listen to you and not be distracted by other dogs, and last and by no means least its fun. You also get tyhe chance to explore what works for your dog. Very much like children whats good for one may not work for another. You could try clicker training for instance. Yes we can alol part train our dogs, sit stay come. Get in a field with three of four others and a cocker goes deaf!! plus he'll come as long as nothing interfers with his nose or he's off in a world of his own. They are fantastic, loving dogs but do need training or you will spend time at home with a perfectly trained animals that has never heard of you when you go out. Let OH take him out for a bit then you book the course it dirt cheap and train him properly.

Viv

The centre run in Northumberland by jackie hall is excellent

I have been going to training classes regularly since 1981! :) I know I am capable of training my dogs, but a class situation is so much better as you just cannot replicate it at home. And it's my evening out! Not to mention that if you only train at home, it's so easy to say "Oh I can't be bothered today, I'll do it tomorrow" -in a class you do it when the class is on and you don't have to get yourself motivated first. I know I definitely work like that myself.

And it's such fun too - I love teaching my girl to do things, and even my boys that aren't any good at competition obedience love to go along every so often and do their Good Citizen exercises. And you get to know the people there, you are reassured that you haven't got the only mad puppy in the world, and you can spend some time nattering to people who understand your love for your dogs! :-)