Kicked out of dog class! Advice?

[wakeupnlive]

Ok. Here's my story. Jackson is our seven-month old, neutered male boxer. He has attended two six-week puppy classes with me and my wife. The classes were great, and when it was play-time, he'd go outside with the "active" dogs. They'd run and wrestle, and there were no problems. In fact, the trainer said Jackson was a good player because he'd jump on top, but also be on the bottom. He likes to jump and put his paws on the other dogs backs, but it was never a problem. The last class was about a month ago.

Well, tonight we started a new class, called "Rompin' Rovers". The class is primarily play time, with some training mixed in. I thought this would be perfect for him, since his favorite thing in the world seems to be playing with other dogs. After introductions, we went outside with the medium and large dogs. Once off leash, Jackson went to his usual running and jumping, and the instructor seemed concerned. Jackson was not really aggressive in a hostile way, but just a VERY VERY energetic playful way. He had a strange interaction with a female pitbull-mix, which she mentioned to me later. We all took a time-out, and then started again. Again, the instructor told me to grab Jackson. The instructor sent all dogs inside except Jackson and one other much larger dog. As soon as he was unleashed, he ran full-speed and jumped on the dog's back. The instructor basically told us that Jackson wasn't really compatible with the class, and so we left.

She said we could possibly come back next week and see how it goes. Or, we could use our $95 entry fee towards a private lesson (which are $85/hour). The private lesson would involve getting Jackson together with another instructor's dog (a boxer, coincidentally) and practice brief playtime and then separations. She told me that Jackson's behavior might be the result of his age right now.

This whole incident kind of shocked me, because he had no problems with his puppy classes. And just yesterday, I had him at the dog park, off-leash, with no problems. However, I did take him to the fenced puppy area and ran him around when we first got there. Maybe that settled him down. Also the outdoor area at this new class is much smaller than the outdoor area where the puppy classes were held.

I guess I'm looking for advice and experiences. Is this just due to his age? Will he outgrow it? How concerned should I be? Should I spend $85/hour to try to change this behavior?

Thanks for letting me vent!

Ryan, Beth & Jackson

 

[Indy's mom]

Personally, I would look to getting enrolled in a good obedience class. Play time is wonderful and so valuable for Jackson so I congratulate you on continuing to provide that for him. However, now is the perfect time to start working on obedience. Don't think that obedience means all work and no play, as it certainly does not. Its so much fun, lets Jackson know how to behave and what you expect of him, and it will help you to make that bond with him stronger than ever.

Where are you in Wi? There is a terrific place in Milwaukee, I refer people there all the time. In fact no only does my Indy go there for continued classes but he also attends doggy day care there. And the trainer I prefer lives with 2 boxer, an American bulldog, one pitbull and one other sweet little dog whose breed I can never remember. The dogs learn to interact well together regardless of size. From smallest to largest.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[MKAD]

Re: Kicked out of dog class! Advice?

Hello; I was in a similar situation. My (almost) 6 mo old brindle female, Sally, would get over excited in puppy training. I was more concerned about it then the trainer. The trainer has a boxer as well and re-assured me that Sally is completely appropriate for her age and breed. We work with training everyday; plus, we go to the dog park almost everyday- there she gets great interaction with all kind of dogs. Hope this helps. Take care- Mary

 

[wakeupnlive]

Indy's Mom -

We are in the Madison area. After the 2nd puppy class the instructor recommended that students either move on to the Intermediate (obedience) class, or Rompin' Rovers class. She said that the Intermediate class would have much less play time, so excitable dogs may have trouble. That's why we chose the Rompin' Rovers class. I am now thinking that was a mistake. Maybe being in a classroom with other dogs, and not being able to play with them would be good for him.

You weren't at the Token Creek dog park in Madison a couple of weeks ago, were you? We met a cute little 5-month old fawn female boxer there named Indy.

At this point, I'm thinking maybe we should just sign up for the next session of the Intermediate class. While we're waiting for that, we could do the one-on-one training with the Senior trainer and her adult boxer. I hate to not have Jackson in any classes for an extended period of time at this time in his growth. Hopefully we'll be talking to the trainer today and getting their opinion. The other option, is we try going back to the Rompin' Rovers class again next week and try to encourage a better outcome. However, I don't think any of the other dogs in the class like to play the way that Jackson does.

Also, I searched the forum for "rough play", and read all of those posts.

Thanks!

Ryan/Beth/Jackson

 

[simmons]

I think I would have been stumped if a trainer said that to me. Especially if she has a boxer, they have thier own kind of play.

One of my dogs is fear aggressive and is sometimes un-sure when he plays with the dogs in his class. Our trainer completely undersands that though and we closely monitor him during playtime. If he starts to show any type of "unsureness" we distract him or remove him for a few minutes. He has totally improved and will continue to improve each week.

I personally think that Jackson needs socialization as well as obidence training, which is why I wouldn't use private training. Although for agressive dogs, private training works great. I guess, if you didn't want your money to go to waste then use the private training class.

Maybe find another training class with a more appropriate trainer. Here's a website http://www.apdt.com/ that may help you find a obiedence class near your area. I would suggest calling and visiting the center and trainer before you sign up. Our trainer suggested we bring both dogs watch her class and get involved with the other dogs. We liked it so much we signed up.

Good Luck!

 

[wakeupnlive]

Simmons -

Thanks for your reply. The trainer of this class doesn't own a boxer. She just told us that a different, senior trainer, with this same company owns a boxer, and might be available for one-on-one training. Sorry I wasn't completely clear on that.

Upon reflection, I am not entirely confident in the trainer of this class. She got worried really quickly. This whole incident is a blur, it happened so quickly. When we were out with just Jackson and the "big dog", I released Jackson about 10 feet away from him and the other dog was not paying attention and Jackson jumped up on his back. That was my mistake. I should have been more careful. After that, the trainer quickly decided that this wouldn't work out.

In our other classes (the two puppy classes), WE were more worried about the rough play than the trainer. That trainer said it's normal, but just watch for signs of aggression or biting.

On the other hand, I am trying to be unbiased here (which is hard when someone says your puppy doesn't play well with others). I certainly would feel bad if I were the owner of one of the other dogs and felt that Jackson might hurt them by jumping on their back or pawing at them. Unfortunately, I'll probably never know if any of the other owners were worried or not.

Thanks for your reply! I awoke in the middle of the night last night thinking about this, and couldn't get back to sleep. I really appreciate the comments and suggestions.

Ryan

 

[Indy's mom]

I really think you should stop worrying. Try to get a few winks tonight.

Jackson is being a big, boxer puppy. We went thru it with Rocky, then Rascal and then our Indiana. Indy is now 3 1/2 at times I thought he would never outgrow puppyhood...but almost overnight he did. Now, I sometimes miss it. Silly me .

Truthfully Jackson doesn't sound like he is being aggressive, just needs to learn the rules for polite play. All dogs need to learn that. Is it possible your trainer may is a bit inexperienced? Possibly was a bit nervous? My thought is that even if the dogs were being aggressive, you would want them to learn proper behavior, but again it sure doesn't sound aggressive from what you describe.

It's hard to be objective when it's your dog, especially trying to view from hindsight. Keep working with Jackson, that lovely boxer spirit is so much fun it just needs to be channeled a bit. Again, we love our obedience classes. In fact Indy went from obedience to passing CGC, Canine Good Citizen before he was a year old. It was great for him and such a good refresher for DH and I. When they're acting up, it usually us giving the wrong signals that tells them it's ok.

I still take Indy to classes. Currently he attends and watches quietly while I assist with two basic classes every week. Then he gets to participate in a refresher CGC and an agility class. He gets so excited to go. He sees his buds and is nice and tired when he comes home.

Keep it up, Jackson is going to be a fantastic companion/buddy for years to come.

 

[ELubas]

Another thought is it is always easier if the dogs are a little tired before class or organized play. I find my boxers are crazy if I take them to a class or a park unexercised. So i always make sure they get a good workout before they go to class, and before they play with unfamiliar dogs. I do not think you need "private" lessons, but you do need a trainer who gets the breed, and many do not. Your boy sounds like a typical rowdy boxer boy to me Good luck and hope you get some sleep too

 

[tianthai]

I think this must be a "boxer" thing. I seem to have the same problem. Instead of taking my dog to the class (with such popular calm breed as Lab, Golden retriever and etc) I hired a trainer for him for a few times. He helped training me to train my dog. But he is still very playful and energetic in the dog run. He loves going on top of dogs to dominate them, loves terrorizing smaller dogs to get their reaction (once he got bitten in the tongue but did not prevent him from doing the same thing to the same dog) and every time I have to take him for "time out". But he is never aggressive towards dogs, never once bites any dog, he just wants to play. Once he got attacked from two Bull Terrier, he just went completely on a "submissive" positions, on his back. So I believe your dog Jackson and my dog Oscar could be brothers, how you described him, seems like my Oscar's twin! Oscar is already 18 months old and has no sign of slowing down!

 

[wakeupnlive]

Thanks ELubas and Tianthai,

After talking to various people, and reading posts, my worries have subsided a bit. I'm thinking this was probably a case of overstimulation (new dogs, new location, etc). His behavior was not much different that his last puppy class (where his play behavior was not mentioned as a problem), a month ago, but was a bit more energetic/excited. Of course, in puppy class he was with a group of 4 or 5 dogs who ran and jumped like he did.

I agree that tiring them out before playtime (or training) is helpful. That's what I always do when we go to the dog park. When no one is in the puppy area (fenced area about 1/2 football field), I take him in there and get him to chase me. When he's a little tired then we walk where other dogs are. This has worked really well. My only problem is that we don't have much time after work, before these classes begin. However, we do have an nice fenced backyard.

Last night we talked to the training company, and there should be no problem applying our class fee toward a different class, such as their Intermediate class (which is obedience). They are checking for any cancellations, to see if we can get into that class right away, but I think we'll have to wait for the next session. I'm hoping we can get into a class with the same trainer that taught Jackson's puppy classes. My only worry is that Jackson may whine a bit during the lecture portions, because he'll want to play with the other dogs so badly. I'll definitely try to run him ragged in our backyard before class! And while we're waiting for the next session, we'll work on recall, no jumping up, sit-stays, and things like that at home.

Once again, thanks for all your comments!