Is 13 weeks too young for formal obedience classes - Page 1

Hello. She will be 13 weeks when the class begins. It runs for 10 weeks. She will be a companion animal... She has already got the basics of come, sit and down (with the aid of kibble) and is 10 weeks old. Am I pushing it too soon? Thanks!

Would you expect a 2 year old child to do college level work or even H.S. level work. She's a baby, let her grow up. Continue with food motivation, that's fine. Guide her and teach her. When she's a little older then you can train her. With a pup at that age even as a pet do lots of socializing, take her to the park to climb on eqiupment etc. Build her confidence. Give her time let her mature.

IMO it depends on what the class is really all about, the experience of the instructor and the personality of your dog. I've taken puppies this age to kindergarten classes where they learned to play with other pups and interface with strangers and felt they were worthwhile. Formal OB training at this age would not be something I'd do with any of my dogs.

Agree with VHDOOSEK9. 10 weeks is too young to start training, especially if the program involves leash corrections, because their necks are way too little at that age to withstand corrections. My latest pup didn't begin formal training until he turned 5 months a couple of weeks ago, and neither did my other two dogs. And VHDOOSEK9 is also right about the main focus at this age being socialization and confidence-building. My new guy arrived when he was about 16 weeks, and while it was obvious from his calm and happy demeanor that he'd already been extensively socialized, I've continued to thrust him into new situations as much as I possibly can. It's pretty easy to do, too: when you go shopping on the weekend at the mall with your spouse, take the pup with you and sit on a bench outside the entrance. You'll get 10 kids per hour minimum who want to pet her, and sometimes as many adults - puppies, especially GSD puppies, are people magnets and will naturally attract folks to come over and see them. Take the pup to the park on weekends to meet more strangers. Bring her into the pet store when you go to get her food and toys. Eat at outside cafes with her. Leave her in the car by herself every so often when you are running a quick errand so that she gets used to the idea that she won't be coming with you everywhere you go. Let her play with other dogs that are puppy-friendly (although it is very important to avoid unpleasant experiences with other dogs at such a young age, so choose wisely). Make sure you handle her all over, especially paws, ears and tail, so she won't react defensively when your two-year-old nephew latches onto those areas (I even go so far as to grab my little guy's "package" every so often - hey, you never know when some little kid is going to do it!). Try to puppy-proof your house in order so that she doesn't have the opportunity to get into trouble - this can mean trash baskets on the counters for a while, putting your leather gloves away in the drawer as soon as you walk in instead of leaving them on the chair, etc. A puppy can wreck things and/or get into harmful stuff in an amazingly short period of time, so if you're distracted by or busy with something else, put her in her crate until you are free to keep an eye on her - just as you would put your year-and-a-half old toddler in her playpen so she doesn't get under the sink and dring the Drano. When she does get ahold of something she's not supposed to have, calmly tell her "no," take it away from her and substitute one of her toys. During waking hours make sure you take her outside every couple of hours to avoid accidents in the house. But above all, have fun! Maximize the pleasant experiences, try to avoid the negative ones, and worry about training a couple of months down the road.

I agree with the other replies/posts. This is too young for formal training. However, you should be motivating the puppy and teaching the important things, if she sits for a reward that is great, if not, just do it again and reward her when she does it (even with help). There will be another training class in a few months and you’ll enjoy it more when you can show how much your little girl understands. Socialization, meeting people, being touched, all of this has to be taught and nurtured. They are only a puppy once, enjoy it for as long as you can. You be amazed what she can learn if you are patient and consistent.

Thank you for your replies. I hear you! It would have however only been motivational techniques being applied at that age at the "class". Thanks for the continued advice and help! cheers

If it's motivational training, 13 weeks is not too young. She's constantly learning and she'd better be learning the right stuff, rather than have to retrain her later on. I agree with everyone on the socialization but I guess it depends on what you mean by formal training. In the old days, with tons of correction, the attitude was to wait till pups were 8 months or older so they could withstand the corrections. Nowadays, I hope we have learned some gentler methods and can start right away.