Puppy School *long*

[MavRick]

So Maverick attended his first puppy kindergarden this past saturday and the results where a little "tough". See Maverick loves to play, and he shows it in everyway a puppy loves to show it (tail going a million miles a sec, bouncing, ect.) So we were expecting him to act his normal way. Well, to our suprise he was acting A LOT different. He still wanted to play and was himself as long as none of the other puppies got on top of him or seemed to be getting the best of him, if they did either of these he would get really really pissed. It wasn't the play growl and bark anymore, he flat out did not want to be the bottom dog. And it didn't matter how big, how old, gender of the other dog he went off. Even the 7 month old male boxer in the class was no exception. So the trainer called a friend, she brought in her 5 year old female irish setter (she said that she knew dog language better and would settle things down) well she was right to an extent. All of the puppies definatly settled down (including Maverick) but they all still wanted to play, and Maverick still hated being on the bottom. The trainer told us at the end of the session that it was normal and that he would be fine, he is just an "alfa" male. Under a normal situation I would take her advice and trust that she was speaking from experience. But during the training part of the session she openly stated to the othe boxer owner in the group that she did not like the breed but was willing to try and train them. Now when we went in to check out the class before hand and see the area and environment we had asked about enrolling our boxer puppy and they all said great!

So I guess my biggest question is his behavior normal, and if not how do we divert some of the energy? I understand the socialization is important and that it is supossed to help, but as I said before he has never acted like this before. Secondly should I take this ladies advice from here on out? I mean all of her methods are positive reinforcement, and the things we went over and learned are working for Maverick, but she was pretty blatant about not liking the boxer breed. Anyways any advice would be awesome. Thanks for your time...

Don Braz

 

[sgbtab]

don
you need to be comfortable with the trainer. and if she does not like the boxer breed how can you get the right answers that you need. look around for another trainer or get a behaviorist.

 

[Bustrsmomma]

I too have a pup that wants to be the alpha. He has gotten a lot better in his dealings with other dos but was having a little trouble with a shepherd mix at class last week. I do think that the behavior is "normal" to a certain extent though you don't really want your pup going off on or bullying the others around. The way that our trainer nipped it in the bud was by clapping his hands and that got the pups' attention and they pretty much forgot they were hating each other for a few minutes. When it happened again, distraction was used and was effective. After a few times, the guys pretty much ignored each other.
As far as the trainer goes, it is really up to you whether you want to continue to work with her or not. If it were me, however, I would continue. My take on the classes that I am in at PetSmart is that they are just teaching the parents how to train their own dogs. In my limited experience, the trainer's interaction with the individual puppies is minimal. As long as she is teaching you useful, positive methods for training your dog I really wouldn't care what she thought of the breed. As long as she does her job and he is learning, I would stick with it. Good Luck to you!

 

[boxergirl76]

Don,
I have a 6month old that I just started in puppy school and I was also worried that the trainer would be against my boxer since they are hyper then other dogs and are very very social ..but to my suprise she understands how the breed acts and personality and absolutley loves him even though he is wild and crazy at times ..and bigger then every dog their..if your trainer is saying she dosent like the breed I would say possible go to another trainer...because you want positive reinforcment and puppy class should be fun and a learing experiance for both ...also thats normal for dogs to be alpha and etc...my dog always likes to be on the top of everyone and thats just how he is ..hope this helps

 

[Dixie_Belle]

The trainer we chose OWNS a Boxer and a Dalmation so definitely understands the hyper/high maintenance breeds. We are very comfortable with her and our first class (also last week) went great. I'd say shop for another trainer.