I have a 7 month old dog and I am looking to take him to some training classes. I have heard great things about a particular trainer at PetSmart (I think her name is Jackie?). I was just wondering if anyone else had any experience in the Raleigh area that you could share. Right now I want to get the dog comfortable being around new people and not to bark at everything/one. He doesn't bite, and it appears to me that this is all fear-driven behavior, as he won't snap and actually tries to hide alot of times, sometimes panic urinating. I also want to get him able to be around other dogs. He loves other dogs, he just plays too rough (doesn't know when to stop). I used to take him to the dog park, but by the end, I had him on the ground in submission more than he was up and about so it really became pointless. If he is calm and there are no distractions, he can behave and listen to commands, but the puppy in him is ridiculous, and more times than not, he won't pay any attention.

Thanks!







*PS: I did search, and no threads were recent enough (and probably not relevant enough)

3/11/2010 1:03:48 PM

Quote :

"I have heard great things about a particular trainer at PetSmart (I think her name is Jackie?)."

Correct. Jackie is great. Go there.

3/11/2010 1:06:31 PM

My dog is similar with playing rough. We have two beagles. The g/f's dog is pretty small (25 lbs or so). Mine is in the 35-40 lb range. They play fine because Kobe (my dog) can always be the dominant of the two. I guess in his head it means he is winning. If he wrestles around with a larger dog, and the larger dog starts to win, it turns into a fight pretty quick.

3/11/2010 1:09:42 PM

^^do you know if she would be willing to meet my dog before i sign up for anything to make sure that my dog would work with her kind of training?

3/11/2010 1:12:50 PM

probably so. just go into the store and ask if she's there and talk to her. she's quite approachable.

3/11/2010 1:30:54 PM

when was the last time anyone heard anything about jackie? i ask because my fiancée took her dog there several months ago and in she came in for one class in the middle of their run and found out the trainer had quit

could be someone else, though...i was just curious

3/11/2010 1:39:47 PM

At which petsmart does Jackie work?

3/11/2010 1:39:55 PM

one in Cary - although I believe she is a contract worker, so she might rotate around to the other petsmarts in the area


^^I went in around the middle of January, and one of the people there tried to sign me up on the spot for one of her classes, but I decided to wait and do a little research


and after having not found much (other than prices and duration of classes), I'm turning to you TWW!!

[Edited on March 11, 2010 at 1:43 PM. Reason : contract]

3/11/2010 1:42:55 PM

Jackie works at the PetSmart on Walnut St. in Cary

3/11/2010 1:47:27 PM

IBT why do you own a dog if you can't control/train it

3/11/2010 1:47:52 PM

Do not -- under any circumstances -- go to "Pet Behavior Help" in Chapel Hill.

This is their description for the puppy primer class:

Quote :

"This class is for puppies 9-14 weeks old at the start of class. Older, puppies who are smaller may be admitted to this class based on the assessment of the instructor."

We had heard great things about them so we decided to sign up our 12 week old golden retriever puppy for the Puppy Primer course. Apparently they did not have enough people sign up for the Puppy Primer class so they merged us with the "Senior Puppy" class.

Unfortunately our class had 8 dogs -- only 2 of us were actual puppies --- the other 6 were rescue/shelter/etc dogs that were between 6 months to 18 months old. Since the class was heavily leaning towards older dogs, the instructors (Yes, instructors, even though it was supposed to be just ONE person) decided to skip all of the basic training and move on to more advanced things that were beyond the scope of what a puppy is truly capable of (Trying to teach your puppy to stay when he still is struggling with sit/lay down/etc).

As for the instructors -- it was two separate women -- was supposed to be just the one. Both had completely different training styles/personalities -- so you would go one week and learn one thing, only to learn a different way to do it from the other trainer a week later while trying to expand on it. No consistency with the trainers was a huge let down.

Best part of all -- class was supposed to be 6 weeks -- 1 hour each Saturday in the "Covered Arena". The actual class ended up being spread out over 11 weeks. As it turns out "Covered Arena" is a fancy word for "Big crappy tent filled with wood chips that does not shelter you from the elements at all" -- because of this, we had 3 classes canceled/rescheduled due to snow/temperatures/cold wind(no joke). During this time, we also had to reschedule 2 classes because the trainers had other commitments (WTF why set a schedule for your training class if you can't even follow it). Thanks to the 3x weather days, and 2x instructor commitment days, the class went a full 11 weeks.

Oh yeah, don't want to forget -- the parking at their "field" is horrendous -- especially if it has rained in the last 1-2 weeks... you are forced to park in a muddy area they refer to as the "parking area" so you get the pleasure of having completely muddy dog the moment he gets out of your car, and a completely muddy back seat once you go to leave (We had the seats covered in towels but he managed to find a way to make it messy anyways)

We ended up going each week class was actually held -- not with the intent to learn anything because we had determined by that point that the class was useless for us, but instead just to let our dog socialize more before/during/after class.

I'd highly advise ANYONE considering them to RUN -- RUN fast and RUN far.

TLDR: Class was for 9-14wk old dogs -- 6/8 dogs were over a year old -- instructor skipped material for younger puppies to cater to the older dogs. Should have been 1 instructor, ended up being 2 who would alternate weeks - both had vastly different personalities and training plans. The facilities are inadequate and due to weather conditions and instructor scheduling conflicts our 6 week class was stretched into a God awful 11 weeks.

3/11/2010 2:01:16 PM

i actually just finished a "beginners" course with jackie at the petsmart in cary. she was recommended to me by petsmart staff so definitely sign up for her classes. the classes were great and jackie really knows what she's talking about. i was hesitant on the first day because my dog was already potty trained, knew how to sit, shake, and lay down but we actually covered a lot of other commands you don't really think about (stay, wait, stop, leave it, yes take it, slow, come, jump, on, off, etc.). good luck! i plan to take one of jackie's intermediate classes this summer.

oh and try to sign up for a weekday/weeknight class if possible. i took a tuesday evening class and it's less crowded in the store and also your class will most likely be smaller. there were some nights where it was only my dog and another dog. it made for very personal training sessions.

[Edited on March 11, 2010 at 2:56 PM. Reason : .]

3/11/2010 2:53:53 PM

Brett, just let Bomber be the boss of your dog for a few weeks and he'll be well behaved in no time

3/11/2010 3:21:21 PM

Is it just me or does anyone else think that taking a 12-week old puppy to a dog training class is a little over-the-top?

BTW, I think the class is more human training, anyways. I've watched the dog whisperer so I know.

3/11/2010 3:29:28 PM

^^haha i wish you had been there when I brought peyton over... he took bombers toys and laid on bombers bed and bomber just sat, stared and took it

3/11/2010 3:47:22 PM

3/11/2010 3:58:17 PM

you know I love bomber though



I think bomber gave it all up because he knew he would end up having to rough-house with peyton if he didn't, and bomber is a lover, not a fighter

3/11/2010 4:29:17 PM

I dunno, he's weird like that. He has no problem picking (play) fights with larger dogs. He routinely fights with my brother's lab that weighs almost triple his weight. At the dog park on Sunday he was antagonizing a dog that must have been around 80lbs.

3/11/2010 4:50:37 PM

Quote :

"Is it just me or does anyone else think that taking a 12-week old puppy to a dog training class is a little over-the-top? "

This is when you are supposed to start their training... the first 3-5 months is when they learn a majority of their permanent behaviors. Also, its a great way to get your dog socialized with other puppies, especially knowing they likely have responsible owners who are keeping up with their shots.

3/12/2010 8:46:19 AM

yeah, as soon as your puppy has all its shots you should socialize him/her with other dogs and people as soon as you can. Helps the dogs behavior big time in the long run.

That dog that barks at everything and everyone? Yeah, never socialized properly (with the exception being abused animals).

3/12/2010 8:59:05 AM

^Funny you say that because my dog barks incessantly when she is outside now (never inside) whenever she sees neighbors/mailmen/people walking by, but she NEVER barked until I took her to a kennel for a weekend. It's like the other shitty dogs there taught her how to bark.

I've been working hard with her on it, and she has cut it down quite a bit recently, but sometimes its like she can't help it.

3/12/2010 9:23:37 AM

^^yeah, that is partly true, but some dogs are just gonna be barkers, and some are just gonna be super calm, no matter what you do


you can socialize most hounds, and they will, in more cases than not, bark around people and other dogs

3/12/2010 1:45:53 PM

Hmm, perhaps I'm wrong.


And perhaps I just have a naturally super chill dog (unless you work him up intentionally).

3/12/2010 2:54:55 PM

we hired a woman named angel (a professional dog trainer) to come out and work with our dog. She's been out to our house once, and that one visit has helped us out a ton!

3/12/2010 4:57:46 PM

+1 for Jackie. I took her class as well and really enjoyed it. Now my dog is a CGC.

3/12/2010 8:09:43 PM

Our dog went through the entire series of classes with Crystal at the Petsmart in Garner off Timber Drive. My dog is crazy hyper, but at least she knows how to do more than my 2 year old.

3/12/2010 9:07:45 PM

bump for wolfpackgrrr

12/27/2010 3:41:39 PM

Looks like we'll be getting a puppy in late-February. Anyone have recommendations for "puppy kindergarten" classes in Cary or the Brier Creek area? Partially I want to do them because I've never owned a dog before and want to make sure I'm doing the training correctly. The other part is I want to make sure the dog is socialized well to other dogs since my grandmother has a bajillion on her farm and we visit a lot

12/27/2010 3:44:08 PM

^^^^^......^ Bomber is a little bitch.

12/27/2010 3:47:38 PM

macho is better than all other dogs

12/28/2010 2:19:31 AM

^^^everyone says that jackie at pet smart is good. We are going to be using the trainer through our vet clinic when we get back though

^if by good you mean pukey!!

12/28/2010 8:38:21 AM

Yeah I think I will look into this Jackie character, see if she still works at the Cary Petsmart.

12/28/2010 9:11:05 AM

she works at all the ones in the triangle (rotates) - you just need to see which days she is scheduled where

12/28/2010 10:04:20 AM

So we've had Eva in Jackie's puppy class for three weeks now. So far I'm really impressed. Our dog has gone from being able to just do sit and "leave it" before we started classes to those two, come, go to bed, stop, stay, and down. She's also the best dog in class so Jackie's been using us as the model dog during classes which I have to admit makes me a proud peacock Today by the end of class I was able to send her to her bed, leave the room, walk around the store, come back, give all the other dogs in class treats, and then release her without her leaving the bed. I never thought three weeks ago that I could get her to do something like that!

My only complaint with the class is I wish she would allow like 5 minutes at the end of class to let the dogs socialize with each other and "let loose." Eventually I want to start agility training so I may try out another training school in the area at that time that has a built-in playtime to their lessons to see how that goes.

3/26/2011 6:28:56 PM

To be fair, I think there's a reason she doesn't want them to socialize... she always told us they were there to work, not play. At first I was a little because there was this really sweet dog in our class. Then ONE time after class Gambit and Sweet Tea started going crazy in the aisle and playing with each other..... the next class and from there on out, it was a bit of a struggle at the beginning of each class to keep them separated and focused.

But yeah, Jackie is the shit.

3/27/2011 11:29:07 PM

Oh I definitely understand the philosophy behind it but still wish they had time to play. Eventually I want to start agility training so I may change to a trainer in Apex that has a full course once we're ready to begin that. They're cheaper than Petsmart too surprisingly.

3/28/2011 9:01:33 AM

Quote :

"to make sure that my dog would work with her kind of training?"

This is the problem I see with almost everyone's training philosophy, giving too much consideration to the dog's feelings or "learning style"....its a dog, you are in control of that animal.

The reason why people think a certain style of training wont work, is because they are giving too much freedom to the DOG, its like asking a toddler what they want to eat or drink. Makes no sense, you are the one in charge, act like it.

Im not saying that a particular trainer or style is better than others, but the biggest factor in getting a dog to behave how you want is CONSTANT attention and a dedicated training program.

3/28/2011 12:11:06 PM

^But mostly positive reinforcement.

I taught my dog to sit and stay over... three weeks?

It took me all of five minutes to teach him to lay down. Once he got a hang of the "I get praised when I do what I'm told (and dog treats)" he'll do just about anything for a treat.

[Edited on March 28, 2011 at 3:56 PM. Reason : I AM A MASTER OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING]

3/28/2011 3:56:34 PM