Castiel is our youngest dog. He is now 8 months old. Having older dogs, we initially decided to skip puppy classes. But as time wore on, we thought we would give Castiel the best chance of being the best dog he can be with some form of dog training. Having missed the boat with puppy classes, we contacted Dogs Trust for assistance. They informed us they offer adolescent classes for dogs. This covers the same lessons as in puppy classes but for the slightly older, adolescent dog.
Castiel, our Cavapoochon is now 2 weeks into his 4 week adolescent dog training classes and I thought it would be the optimum time to give an update.
The Classes
The leaders of the class are incredibly knowledgeable in all aspects of dog training. The class is run by 2 trainers and usually 1 volunteer. They really know their stuff! This is obvious from the way they interact with the dogs, pick up on certain behaviours and how they take us through the class in a very clear manner.
The trainers are also incredibly friendly – to dogs and humans alike! They’re very approachable and we’re made to feel as though we can ask anything we like without feeling stupid!
Castiel’s classes are held in a Church in Bolton. The class is run on a Sunday and lasts for 45 minutes per session. The venue is ideally located, on a main road. There is ample parking and disbaled access to the venue making it incredibly accessible.
We were asked to bring with us our dog’s favourite treats (we go through a lot of them), a blanket/ towel that smells of home and some toys.
Week 1
We were asked to remain in the car park before the class and then greeted by the trainers. They led us in one by one and asked us to take a seat in our little cubicle. Inside each cubicle are two chairs and a bowl of water for our doggies. I wasn’t sure how many of us could attend the class, so it was a relief to see the two chairs there as it answered our question!
Each dog sits in a cubicle with his or her owners throughout the class. There are sides on the cubicle so the dog does not become distracted by the other dogs in the class. This is a great idea and really helps you to focus on what your dog is doing.
In week 1 we covered quite a few lessons. First of all, we were taught how to settle our dogs. This is fundamental as dogs will spend time in the settled position during explanations. It also enables the adolescent dog to feel at ease during classes. A blanket from home is used in the settle exercise. Castiel has grown quite attached to this blanket now and I was initially worried as sometimes he refuses to leave the blanket. The trainer reassured me this is perfectly normal. Castiel is a little nervous in class and he feels his blanket is his safe space.
The next exercise is using a treat to lure the dog into a seating position. Like the other dogs there, Castiel already knew how to sit, but the exercise is there to show how we can teach our dogs to do new tricks using the treat as a lure.
The next step was getting our dog to come to us by using a keyword. Ours is ‘here’. We then used the treat to lure the dog towards us using his keyword.
Week 2
In week 2 we continued to use some of the skills we had learnt in week 1. We built upon these and added some additional exercises.
First, we encouraged our dogs to settle as we had done in week 1. I had brought along the same blanket from the week before and Castiel settled really well.
The next exercise was training our dogs to stay in a seated position at the side of us while we took a step away from them. This is a really useful exercise.
We then moved on to training the dogs to walk nicely on a lead. This was done with the use of treats. In this exercise, we walked towards a marker and kept the dog’s attention with treats in our hands.
We were then taught how to get our dog’s attention when they are distracted, for instance, if we struggle to call our dogs when they are busy sniffing an object.
The final exercise was to encourage our dogs to drop an object. This, we all agreed, was incredibly useful. Castiel as an adolescent dog is fond of stealing socks and shoes at the moment!
It became apparent through the course of the lesson that Castiel was again rather nervous. At times he refused to leave his blanket. The trainers were once again great. They reassured me this was perfectly normal behaviour and that if he felt unable to do the exercises in class, I could simply practice these at home.
Our Experience So Far
We have loved every single one of our adolescent dog training classes with Dogs Trust. Each session is informative and incredibly useful. Not only are we learning how to train our dogs, but we are also learning more about our dogs and why they behave in the way they do.
Classes are very reasonable too and much cheaper than similar classes that are available. Each dog is given a diary so their owner can keep track of their progress. We also have access to a range of Dogs Trust videos which are incredibly useful for training.
We can see a difference in Castiel from his first session. Throughout the week, I implement the lessons we have been taught and he is making excellent progress. He seems much more focused, calm and obedient. Teaching him how to settle has been a real game-changer and has helped us immensely.
We are looking forward to our final two sessions with Dogs Trust and are excited to continue to practice the exercises we have been taught.
