I really need to have my dogs schooled. Even though they're 4 and 8, there are things I'd like to do with them (like walks!) that I just can't do. They have a lot of issues from being rescues, etc., and I am sure I've made them worse.
I met with a really great trainer the other day who can work with my dogs in private lessons and then group lessons, but her price seems steep. I know Petsmart, etc., has cheap classes, but my dogs need more specific help.
If you worked with a trainer, how much did you pay? Did you pay by hour, by class, etc.? TIA
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"We live in an age where unnecessary things are our only necessities." --Oscar Wilde
Hmmm...Mitch has known a few different trainers. The trainer we work with charges $140 for her 6 week obedience classes. We've paid between $40 and $70 for private training.
Petsmart's prices for individual training is about $60 per session IIRC. We took the puppy class and the intermediate class - they were 10 weeks long and cost $100. The thing I like about them (if yours has a decent trainer - it can be hit or miss) is that you can retake the group class again at no charge if your dog isn't able to do what was taught by the end. They give free individual makeup classes if you have to miss, too. Also, even in our puppy class which was quite full, our teacher always gave individual help or modifications for each dog as needed. The beginners classes for older dogs or dogs with no previous training are significantly less busy - we only had 2 other dogs in our intermediate class! It was basically a private lesson for the price of a class.
Anyway, you could start off with a class and use your trainer as a resource to ask how to deal with specific problems then. If you need more help one-on-one you could move on to private lessons from there. But IMO the trainer is there to teach you and maybe get your dog started a bit, but the sessions with the trainer aren't where the behavior changes take place. I actually found the one individual makeup class we did to be a little intense (even though we loved our trainer) and an hour at a shot was just too much. A 30-min individual would have been better.
My point really is that I found there to be a bit of a learning curve for both me and my dog, and I think it would be more effective to get in the swing of things in a basics class (that you could retake!) that's cheaper and save the private lessons for more trying or lingering issues once the wiggles are out.
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To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment ~ {Ralph Waldo Emerson}
We got a really good deal, ours was around $50 for a 6-week class. It was through a community education thing. But the class was really big, too. Traci had some real behavioral problems when she was little (I'm convinced she'd still be a holy terror if it wasn't for her great trainer), so we did the group class and we also had several private lessons with the same instructor (we just asked her after the first class if she'd be interested in 1-on-1 lessons and she agreed) and I think that really helped a ton.
ETA: I don't remember how much the private lessons were, it was like $10 for 30 minutes or something like that.
-- Edited by ttara123 at 11:54, 2008-02-06
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Fashion is art you live your life in. - Devil Wears Prada | formerly ttara123