Is Petsmart a good place for training?

last night we were in petsmart and there was a class going on. at our petsmart the training area is in an enclosed area with glass windows. so we stopped to watch for a few minutes. not so much to watch the training as much as to look at the cute puppies that were there. i am not sure what exactly was going on but the trainer and the handlers were letting the puppies have a free for all and they were rolling around and playing. i assume the trainer didnt like the play biting that they were doing because she kept squirting them with water. not sure what that was all about. 

We've had great success at our Petsmart. Odin just graduated last night from beginner class and starts intermediate on Sunday. Last night, Loki started Advanced class. We've had the same trainer for all of our classes and she's great. Loki is actually starting agility class with her in a few weeks outside of Petsmart. Besides our trainer, what I like most about Petsmart is the opportunity for the dog to learn in a ring with 7 other dogs. If they can learn with all those distractions (plus the distractions of other people in the store), they'll be that much better at home. Petsmart uses positive reinforcement only and the techniques can be found in books and online, but having a good trainer show you how and what do to is really good.

I am an Area Trainer for PetSmart, yes we have good and not so good trainers but the vast majority are very good at what they do.  Like any job there are ones who maybe were not cut out for this.  I tell my students that I help them train their dogs, I do not train their dogs.  Yes, you can find any of what we teach online or in books, but we add the person part to help trouble shoot.  Example:  Billy is trying to teach Fluffy to "sit, stay"  But Fluffy keeps breaking her stay, Billy is doing everything by the book, but he doesn't know that each time he says "good fluffy" that that has accidentally become his release to her.  Why because everytime Fluffy has performed any behavior Billy always says "good Fluffy" and rewards her, thus now she thinks it means she is done.
 
I do suggest anytime you plan on doing dog training whether with us or any other, you go observe at least 3 classes, speak with your trainer candidate, and don't be afraid to talk to the students taking the class.  I have never minded someone being sure of me and my ability.
 
PetSmart uses positive reinforcement, clicker and treats, but we also reccomend life rewards, like pets, love, walks, rides, toys. Most stores have more than one trainer so meet them all and see who you fit with.  I am pretty loud and like to make my classes fun and enjoyable, usually with a great deal of laughing (Lets face it dogs can crack us up sometimes) but some folks get frightened of it and maybe they fit better with one of my other trainers.
 
Just my two cents

i assume the trainer didnt like the play biting that they were doing because she kept squirting them with water. not sure what that was all about.

 
*cringe*  I am at a loss for words.  All I can say is this is NOT what I would do, nor would my trainers.

well. we took our fila when he was 3 months to a puppy class at Petco, it was interesting and pretty cool, the trainer really knew what she was talking about. But when it was time to take him to basic obedience we decided to go to a "training facility", boy was that a waste of money. The owner of this place is suposed to be a very experienced trainer, she competes in obedience and agility etc. and they throw her credentials at you every chance they have. The thing is, we never even met her, instead the actual person that taught the class was this younger trainer, that wasn't very consistent and I found several "holes" in her teachings, one time I asked her about a very specific problem and she said that she'd consult with the owner, well, in the six weeks that the class lasted we NEVER even heard from the owner, and she was supposed to be available for consultations. So, one day while buying food for my dog at Petco I see the other trainer, and she asked me how my dog was doing etc. I told her about the issue i wanted to consult with the other people about and she talked to me for a good 30 minutes about how to solve it. During the conversation I found out that she is part of a Schutzhund club, and helps train the local SAR dogs. So, in one hand we have the Petco trainer that trains SERIOUS working dogs, and in the other we have the fancy training school trainer who I never got to meet. Long story short, look at the credentials of whoever is going to be teaching the class, and ask to see THEIR personal dog, if they say they don't have one, for whatever reason, walk away.

We just graduated last Sunday, and as I have said before, HoneyBear is a much better dog than she was eight weeks ago.
But, I should mention that our trainer had a big thing for the squirt guns.  HB took a few well aimed hits.  It startled her and stopped her behaviour.  It also freaked her out about anything I pick up in my hand that might look like one.

you let a virtual stanger squirt your dog in the face with a squirt gun?

Yes, I did.  I wasn't looking at her as a 'stranger' by then.  We had met with her a few times prior to class and I was looking at her as 'our trainer'.  The trainer had explained in our first class that this was a method of 'correcting' poor behavior.  So, I was aware of the concept. When she saw poor behavior, she squirted.  My dog and other dogs.  I have to say that it did work.  It stopped the poor behavior in it's tracks.
I've since seen that it is not all that uncommon... I've read about it on a lot of dog training sites and forums.
But, really, I don't do it myself.  I try to correct her behaviour in other ways.
 
 

I first started training with my pomeranian with a personal trainer.  I knew him from where I used to work.  He left his 'career' and started working with animals.
 
He taught 'me' the basics...sit, down, stay, etc.  I only worked with him twice, and had a lot of success.  But, I wanted more socialization for my dog, so I went to 2 different training courses at PetSmart.
 
I was very impressed with my trainer.  She was very knowledgable and believed in positive reinforcement.  My pom graduated with top honors...best behaved, etc.  She graduated, got a diploma, and wore her little graduating cap whereas the other dogs wouldn't have anything to do with wearing the 'cap'. LOL.
 
I still have trouble with my dog barking (nature of the bread), and she still doesn't walk nicely on the leash, distractions are still a problem.  But I consider that to be more of 'my' problem by not working hard enough on it with her.  She does all her other commands extremely well, and she learned them 'very' quickly.  I taught her extras like rolling over, paw, other paw, bring, drop, etc. in less than 15 minutes per activity.
 
In my opinion, there are so many variables to consider when training...the trainer, the owner, the temperment and age of dog, distraction level, whether or not they are food motivated (mine was extremely so), etc.  Clicker training was very helpful too.
 
So, I would give it a try.  The socialization alone is well work it.

I've watched a number of classes at Petsmart, and well, they seem ok.
I love petsmart for training-- not their classes, why bother, but they let you bring your dogs in and do anything, you can stay all day and never spend a dime and they are happy to have you come back. Great place to socialize your dog-- so many friendly strangers to meet, and such lovely distractions to train around.

I wince whenever Petsmart trainer topics come up. My friend and neighbor has been the Petsmart trainer for more than 10 years in the same location. She is wonderful - I started my dog with her, and she signed our CGC certificate in 1996. I went on to get two CDX titles on this dog, and had to retire her just before her Utility debut. I know that we received a wonderful start in competition training ~ at Petsmart.
 
It isn't the store, it is all about the person that is teaching you to teach your dog. My Petsmart trainer has become a good friend since those days. I've even got her competing and earning titles on her own dogs. She would open her own school if she could, but she's not independently wealthy. She works for a living, and Petsmart offers benefits and a decent wage. She loves what she's doing, well most of the time, and I just get upset when she's dissed, only because she's working for Petsmart. Truly, she is one of the better trainers in this town!

and further... if your dog can perform at Petsmart in the aisles on a busy Saturday ~ then you've got some solid behaviors!

It really depends on the trainer at the location. One of my friends took her dog to PetSmart for training and they had a wonderful, productive time. Anoher of my friends took the classes at a different PetSmart here and had a horrible time.

Mudpuppy-- It's funny that you should mention going in to Petsmart and training your dog, because I had a bad experience with that! A couple of my friends and I took our dogs in to Petsmart once , to shop and stuff. While we were there we decided to work with them a little bit; and so we went to the back of the store, and started to do some heeling, sit and down stays, etc,. When someone ( I think it might have been the manager) came up and told us to stop training our dogs. He said that we weren't allowed to do that in the store, because it was distracting people from their own training classes! I didn't understand that because there wasn't a class going on, we weren't bothering anyone, or anything. So we said "Ok, whatever" and then went to walk around and look at stuff. The whole time this same guy was sitting in a chair and watching us, like he expected us to do something wrong! And so while we were walking around, we had the dogs heeling next to us, and when we stopped to look at something, had the dogs sit next to us. Not a problem, right? But then the guy started to 'yell' at us, he said that he told us to stop 'training' our dogs, and he was upset that we didn't! I could understand him not wanting to actually work in the dogs in the store ( possibly) but when we were simply having the dogs behave while we walked around, he accused us of 'training' the dogs! Apparently, they would prefer to have a bunch of untrained dogs lunging around on their leashes and sniffing everything, than to have dogs that behaved and had nice manners!! Boy, that made us pretty upset. So we left and went to another store.[:@]

So....about the training classes, I personally wouldn't take one, because I believe they are pretty poor quality. And when teaching the dog something, I would try to avoid a highly distracting environment. Teaching and training are two different things.....once the dog knows the command, working them in a distractinng environment to proof them is a good idea. But as far as trying to have them pay attention and learn something inside a petsmart store, I wouldn't do it.