sometimes I see the comment "i cant afford expensive training" on here and other doggie forums and I am a bit confused by this. Within 10 miles of me there are 4 dog training schools and they all charge about £3.50 for an hour (group) but you get a bit of individual help. I think this is really good value? especially compaired with the other costs of having a dog! Perhaps I am lucky in my area and elsewhere such choice does not exist?

Thats a great price to pay.After all how much would you spend in an hour of bingo or down the pub?You couldnt even buy a pint for that price.!!!!! Its great to get out and meet people who have the same interests and also to get to know your dog better,let alone the fact that you get to train your dog aswell.Its a great social circle to be in and theres alot of people that can give help and advice on many doggy difficulties.You get to make alot of new friends too.Well worth the money if you ask me.
Best thing is that its an excuse for some "me" time away from the kids and OH and all the hassle of day to day life.Try it,its fun. :)

I wonder if people get training confused with specialist one to one behavioural advice - not that I'm suggesting behavioural advice is unreasonably expensive I hasten to add!

But there's plenty of inexpensive training classes round here too. Although I guess if anyone thinks £3.50 is expensive they're unlikely to be persuaded of the good value offered!!

Ha HA HA!!! You LUCKY dogs!!!! I would go every day if it was that cheap!!!!

The first three courses I did were £65 for 6 classes of 1 hour; and now I'm going to another woman who charges £85 for 8 classes of 45 minutes (5 dogs in the class)!!

One trainer I've spoken to was asking £99 for a private session and the other £120 + travelling time plus mileage!!

I guess it all depends on where you live. I paid £70 for a 6 week block of claases with my first mal a couple of years ago and it looks as though (if I want to start clicker training with my youngest) that it will again be £70 for 6 sessions (45 mins each - up to 8 in a class).

However if I go to my normal training class (who don't do clicker training), then it is only £2.00 for 1/2 hr (however this is outside of London and the other classes are in Greater London).

It's really expensive here as well.  There's a big dog place not far away from me but there prices are just too expensive for the average person I definitely couldn't afford it.

In Slovenia I pay 150Euro for 2 months. Each months we have 8 lessens, so all together 16 lessons. i think that's about an average price in Europe.

Our classes are £2.50 for 3/4 hour :) Usually about 6 in a class - although sometimes 8 :) Annual fee about £10 for the intermediate and advance classes, but not for puppy. I've been going for 6 years - we have a really good laugh (don't go to our classes unless you have a good sense of humour and a thick skin :D ) :)

Daisy

I don't know about "average people" although I guess I am average enough and it still strikes me that £10 a class isn't silly money. £10 wouldn't buy a round of drinks round here! Plus, if training is one's sole source of income you aren't going to get tremendously rich from earning £50 a night and I speak as someone who doesn't work in this line of business but does suffer from people thinking that self-employed professional people can afford to live on air!

Well I can see it from both sides. I used to live in London so expected to pay that amount, however I now have 3 dogs which would be £30 per night - add to that I sometimes take them to ringcraft, that would be another £30 - so £60 per week on training. Looking at it like that you can see how it can work out to be very expensive.

Where I train at the moment, it is £2.00 per dog, then £1.50 for each subsequent dog - so I can take all 3 of mine to classes for £5.00 per night.

I think in some ways you do pay for what you want; as an example, I went to a top working trials lady for one to one on the scale jump.
One hour of intense, very good help and if I remember correctly it was £30 BUT to me that's money very well spent and an investment in knowledge for years ahead :)

Others have to pay a lot for the halls etc - so few halls now allow dogs in, often due to mother and toddler groups getting concerned re disease as they see it  - and they often have to pay a lot to just have classes there.

Lindsay
x

>> I think in some ways you do pay for what you want

True - however in both the cases I outlined above, the actual classes were virtually the same. The first one was slightly longer though the second often overruns, thus making it longer. I would definately recommend the classes I go to at the moment, but not the first mainly due to the way it was run and the actual trainer. Both the first class and the one I attend at the moment have 8 - 10 dogs in the class and you are given the same amount of individual time. With respect to the actual quality of the trainers - I think the people who take the classes I currently attend are far better than the people who ran the first class.

In the example you gave, I would also consider that money well spent. If you want one-on-one tuition then it will obviously cost more.

I recently took my puppy to two different socialisation classes. The first was ran by our vets, with a dog behaviourist and a max of 7 puppies and was absolutely excellent - and FREE :)  The second was our local training club, £3 for an hour, 30+ puppies present - great for socialisation but I did feel sorry for first time dog owners who could have used a bit more attention from the trainer.

I, personally, would prefer classes run by people whose main source of income was NOT as a dog trainer :) (Although not for the top end of the obedience rainbow)

Daisy

Having met the scary dog training woman in the next village,Daisy, I'm inclined to agree! :)

I went to a puppy class for the first time last week & i am going to take older dog to seperate class when her season is over. They are run through Kennel club. The registration fee was £12 per person, not per dog & £2.50 per class. I thought this was really good. There was quite alot of puppies there but mine although was a bit nervous really enjoyed it.

I must be really really lucky, I take my dog training every Sunday morning, (And Wednesday evenings in the summer) with the most fantastic trainer ever and it costs....nothing. 

You pay for what you get!!

Yes, that's OK if you can afford it but it's no wonder that many people cannot cope with dogs.  To me, a single person, who has her own house so has to pay the mortgage, the heating bills, the dogs food, my food, all other bills, run my car etc. etc. this list goes on, £10 a session is way above my means!

So I end up saving my money to do all the necessary health tests etc. on my dogs.

Luckily I've found a Club which is £40 for the year, but I can only do one dog at a time so don't get to train the rest who really need it too!

I've been to quite a few training classes over some time (not all at once).

Here are what I've paid (all within the same area):

£60 for a 6 week course

£45 for a 6 week course

£25 for a school term (12 wks!)

£20 a month, running on

Those were all for obedience classes and puppy classes.

For agility I've paid £40 for a 10 wk course, followed by £3 a week running on.

I also pay £35 for a whole day's seminar on several occasions a year (petrol costs high to these as well).

I try to take puppies to as many classes a week as possible - at least 3 different classes a week.  I keep this up till they are 6 mnths and it's more for socialisation than training.  If it was just training, I could do that myself at home, but I can't provide access to all those other pups at my house. 

I live in mid-wales and there is only one training group in my area, the lady also does hydrotherapy and k9 capers who've toured europe doing agility, they used to charge £25 for 6 weeks 10 years ago, now they charge £60.
I just wish i had more choice, but sadly no chance as we're quite cut off.

The club I attend cost £10 per year for membership (that is for me and my OH) and £1.50 per class per dog. I think £3 per class for both my dogs is really great value for money and as the class is quite small, each dog gets quite a lot of individual attention.

Where i go, a first time owner pays a one off fee of £12 for a pack including clicker, targetting stick and mat and training booklet, and then subsequent lessons are £5 for an hour. You pay as you go, so only pay for what you attend. THe classes  are rolling ones so there is no set course. I am in the fun and games class which is £4, and a subsequent £2 for second and third dogs. I take all three of mine for lessons, monday, tuesday, wednesday. (One dog per day). To me its a small price to pay for our enjoyment, they have learnt loads, taken the kC awards and our inhouse certificates and i've got to know loads of like minded people. I also pay £4 for an hours agility class, and the same for an evenings flyball to cover the cost of the venue. Yes it works out as pretty expensive over time, but it is my social life and we all enjoy it, compared to what most people spend going down the pub on a friday night its nothing! For someone with just one puppy its a very tiny cost with so many benefits, so i can't understand it either. I think often what they mean is the haven't got the time or can't be bothered, most of which makes you wonder why they would have the puppy at all. It sounds harsh, but if they can't afford £5 a week then how can they afford all the things that come with a puppy? training classes should be budgetted for when pruchasing a puppy, and  i think should be essential for first time owners. I met an 18 month old rottie today that had serious resource guarding issues and is on the brink of pts. He had never attended a traing class in his life and didn't even know how to sit or lay down on command. I would expect a 6 month old puppy to have grasped this is owned from 8 weeks! Its so sad for both the dog and owner as they have missed out on so much and now it might be too late.

We charge £20.- for a course of 8 classes basic obedience.
It`s more inportant to us to get people- and their dogs ofcourse- to the class, in the hope we can help and educate them, than to make a profit.
As long as the costs are covered, we`re happy.

All of this talking about classes is getting me thinking - obviously some of you have really good trainers and we often get people coming here to ask if anyone knows if there's an obedience class in their area. 

We could have a thread which is just a list describing the type of class it is, the things covered in it, how long it is, how much it is, and the area it is in, the methods used etc.  We don't have to put any contact details up, because people could Message the person who posted about the class, to ask them for contact info, if they are interested.  Each person can add a message to the thread, covered those factors for the class they recommend.  What do we think?