I finally made it to puppy classes.  I am very impressed with the trainer - it was excellent. We had to start from scratch again but it was very useful.  However there were 5 other beautiful quiet pups and there was my bouncy hyper dog.  I could have cried. There was even a pup from the same farm as mine - same father different mother.  It was only 11 weeks old - (I wondered after that i had to wait for 2 lots of injections plus 2 weeks before attending. Obviously not everyone sticks to the rules).  Any way the trainer used my pup first to demonstrate and gave her a treat. That was it - she only had eyes for the trainer not me. obviously her treats were much better than mine.  Not even her toy was good enough.  I shall persevere but my confidence was knocked somewhat - I thought that I had taught her a lot.  Just goes to show how important these classes are.

dont worry, my dog was the worst in class as well but 2 years on (and although i may be biased )i now think hes amongst the best and people that didnt know him as a pup think hes really calm and obedient. just hang in there its only a matter of time, patience and dedication.

Don't panic or worry both of mine were the worst in the puppy class. In fact I swear people would "sigh" when we turned up :)

But they are both beautufully socialised and friendly not sure about well trained but def they are still "nutty"

Peservere and you'll find you really enjoy it.

Kazz, I know what you mean about staffs at puppy class.  I was always told by the trainer that mine was doing well .... for a staffy! 

We are going through the same thing with our BT pup - the trainer keeps using him as the one who probably won't do as he's told!!!! He keeps having to have "time out" as he makes so much noise crying to get to the other dogs while they all sit quietly!  However, we have noticed that he is improving and when we try what we have learnt at home, he is definitely getting the idea - so it does get better!!! Regards, Laura

After having been used to having had THE best dog of them all at our training club, I got a new puppy, of a different breed. And I couldn't get her to do ANYTHING! People nicknamed her "The Pest", and kept asking if I REALLY was going to keep such an awful dog. I felt  even worse than I might have done , having gone from the best dog to the worst -the one EVERYONE talked about. Gosh it was so bad I still shudder thinking about it. Today, that same dog has actually competed in obedience -and won. :D She's often used as an example for newcomers who think their dogs are hopeless. The get sent over to me for a quiet word, and I tell them how awful my dog USED to be. :)

You'll do it!! In my experience it usually takes at least 3 weeks before a puppy settles in in a class anyway, and understands what is expected of them...Good luck!!  PS Liver or hot dogs will do it!!! :D

Marianne

Don't despair, often the most hyper puppies turn out to be the best ones. They are often hyper because they need to be doing things and learning. Once you can channel that and they get used to their new environment, it will all change.

I see this over and over again in my puppy classes. The first week is stressful for the pups and different pups will deal with it differently.

Mind, we sometimes think we have the best pup and a bit of humble pie makes us work harder and train harder. I often find that the clients with the most active/difficult dogs work harder and as a result get the better trained puppies.

So, see it as a definite positive.

Dogs will always prefer novelty, so don't take it to heart that he prefers the trainer - they all do!

Cheers,
Patty

P.S. I go to other trainers' puppy classes with my pup, to ensure that I too eat humble pie and get out of my comfort zone of my own training classes.

Motivation is the key. Try something that will motivate her as what you use at home may be fine but other puppies are much more exciting than a biscuit he may get every day :) take  some cheese, hotdog sausage, ham etc :) He will still be hyper :D but it will help.

Don't worry, honestly :)

My girl had the attention span of a gnat in classes to start with, but as you keep working and training (and you must do this at home, not just at class!!! :D) she improved greatly and hand on heart I can say she's a lovely dog now to have around the home and to be out and about with.

Lindsay
x

My dogs are reasonably good doing the exercises, but after more than 3 years I still can't stop them towing me into the hall, looking like the club's worst possible advert! :-D

Don't worry. We find that the noisy and out of control pups at the beginning of class start to learn very quickly after a couple of weeks, whereas the ones that are quiet turn in to raving loonies. But they all get there in the end. Maybe it is something to do with blasé owners who think that because theirs are quiet they don't have to worry.:-)

Hey!!  Don't panic!!  It is that hyperactiveness which is usually the very thing that makes for a trainable dog!  If they are mad then they have motivation and that makes training soooo much easier.

Thanks for all the encouraging posts.  I have really been made to feel inadequate by this dog - not by the trainer she was excellent at trying to boost my confidence.  She is hard work(the dog I mean) and going to be more hard work.  I knew that really when I got her but when you see other BCs there behaving themselves it really made me feel that a) I choose the wrong dog in the first place - b) I am giving her all the wrong messages.  I came on to this site because my dog growled and snapped at me when guarding food.  She mouths my hand when she wants to make me do something or stop me putting her out of a room that I have barred her from.  I have had lots of advice - echoed by the trainer also and I intend to follow it.  But I can't help feeling somewhere that I have a potential problem.  I have a young granddaughter who I will spend some time minding in the future and I can't keep dog and child seperate for ever.  I HAVE to get this puppy trained.

Haha i know all about trainers and there awsome treats. Basically they give you pieces of soda crackers and they have these smelly huge liver treats.

Well actually we were told to bring our own!  However I have just received my book recommended by Lindsay called understanding the bc.  Excellent. Hey my dog is NORMAL.  that is great to know - I can be positive towards her again.  I knew that bcs were difficult I have read up on web sites, read books etc. but I was convinced by the number of well trained well adjusted bcs out there that it was possible to have one of my own if I was prepared to put in the work.  Well OK perhaps it is going to be harder than I imagined but I still believe it is achievable.  Actually she is so advanced that she was probabally bored with puppy classes.  Our lesson for the week is to teach the sit and down.  ~The game for the week is hide and seek with food.  Well my meg can sit well enough.  We haven't quite cracked the down yet - it is coming with the help of the class. And as for the game? Well how can you hide food by yourself with a puppy close on your tail.  Stay of course - my dog can do that perfectly. However I told her to find it - unfortunately she thought that referred to the ragger so she walked out of the door to look for it! So she IS advanced.  (OK so I have to get her to do all these things with the distraction of other dogs and people about but we will show them eventually!!!!

I guess the grass is always greener........................I thought that my puppy would be a lunatic at classes because he is always racing around at home, but no he is the quietest one in the group, butter wouldnt melt...........looks vulnerable. Then there is the staffie, hyperactive, attacks everything in sight!! I feel so embarassed that my westie justs sits there like a lump, whereas at home he does all his exercises first time. So don't worry, your dog sounds fun, and memories are made of this!!

My puppy was awful tonight - my fault as I haven't found time to train her all week, and it shows! OTOH my older dog was ever so good in spite of almost never training him formally! I suppose it evened out!

^ hehe , my proposition is that dogs get wiser and smarter with age. My oldest can learn new tricks within litterally 3 minutes. Ahh the bond we have with our dogs , its like they know what we are saying!