Puppy classes?

Question

I just got a pit bull mix and I read in many books that when your puppy is 8-12 weeks old you have to socialize it with other puppys. Or you puppy wont have any social skills. Please give me links on where to find classes to put my 10 week old puppy in new york city

Answer 1

Look in the phone book under dog training, there must be a gazillion puppy kindergarten classes in NYC.

I agree, puppy K is very important for socializing your puppy!

Answer 2

The best thing I did, when we got our Border Collie puppy and we wanted to persue agility, was to contact our local Agility Club who then referred us to an excellent, inexpensive trainer. They take training seriously, so I trusted the people they had worked with too. Our trainer is strictly word of mouth and doesn't have a big facility to pay overhead on, so our classes are inexpensive. This is definitely the way to go.

Socialization is really important for any puppy to help them learn to get along and "play nice" with other dogs. Even making regular trips to a local doggie park would be a good way to socialize, but I would really suggest persuing training if you can... it's so beneficial.

Answer 3

Call your SPCA. They can point you in the right direction. Just make sure you sit in on some of the training classes before you sign up to make sure their technique is one that you agree with. My dad sent one of (my mom's) dogs to a training school--dog went but her humans were not allowed--and the dog came back cowering and skiddish and totally insecure, and this was an outgoing, happy dog before she went. And since her humans had not also been trained, whatever training she got in school wasn't carried over after school was over so it was useless and now, 10 years later, she still isn't the happy dog she once was (and still isn't trained of course).