So I took my 10 week old husky puppy to obedience training at Petsmart hoping that it'd be a positive experience for my dog sense he'd get to interact with other puppies. The only other dog was a shitzu and the trainer pretty much was saying that It was a bad decision for me to buy a husky and that shed never own one personally. She also went on to say that she cant wait for huskys to walk out of the door of her class when she has one participating. I found this very rude and disrespectful towards me and my dog. That whole experience made me never want to go back to her classes again.

She hates them because she isn't smart enough to be successful training them. They make her look bad. After giving her a piece of my mind I wouldn't go back. There's no way after comments like that that I could trust her to actually work with my dog properly so that my money wasn't just wasted. I can be a very bitchy person to rude people though and would have probably taken the matter to the manager and started steering every person I could away from her classes. There are way better trainers out there for you to take your pup to. Maybe the fact that there was only one other pup was a sign that she sucks?

I agree completely thats why Im going to demand to see another trainer or to get my money back. I didn't pay for classes to have my dog criticised because of his breed. Especially when huskies are such smart dogs. He's only 11 weeks old and he already knows how to sit, stay , lay down and go to the door when he has to use the bathroom for the most part. I just wanted to work on those commands when theres alot of excitment going on.

i wouldn't entertain that clown for a moment & i can't understand why you do - get the manager & with you present ask her to explain the gross attitude.

I'm so sorry you had that experience! I agree with Jenn, that "trainer" isn't smart enough to handle a sibe. Your pup probably already knows more than she could teach him! Are there any privately owned obedience training facilities around you? I'd try to get my money back and take it elsewhere.

That is so sad. Get another trainer. I go to humane society for training and there is no judgement.

Thank you, all of you guys for the responses. I'm definitely going to seek training elsewhere because that was seriously a joke. There is one place I looked into nearby but it was crazy expensive and they want to board your dog for two weeks which I would not be okay with haha. I'm sure there are better programs though. I just need to really do my research. Your right Cortnie. I feel like she wouldn't benefit him much at all. She was also getting annoyed with him and mad because of how vocal he was as well. He's a puppy and was excited by the presence of another dog and huskys like to tell you how they feel. That sounds nice Jessica because I seriously was upset that i payed money to have someone make me feel like I was a nuisance.

Gahh yeah I would definitely demand my money back. This is actually one of the reasons I am trying to become a trainer, is the lack of people who are willing to work with difficult dogs/breeds. There's so much to learn but she sounds very closed minded to me and seems to want to be pampered with goldens who are robot-trained easily. A shame that a dog with personality means a 'bad dog'.

Over all you should consider it as a good experience for you, because the trainer proved with these words that she is not able to train a dog. I wouldn´t recommend training at Petsmart or similar, go find a real dog trainer that has a natural talent for it and you will be happy in the end.

My training class is more about dogs not breeds. So loki does not get a tarp because he can handle puppy distractions and still pay attention to me. Some puppies do get tarped off. When she did it she just said this puppy is over excited and we all need to keep him calm so he can progress too and week by week he will see more action by removing some tarps. She made it clear he was not a bad dog and his owners were not bad.

I would take that one even further than the manager. I'm sorry that you're just a dog trainer at petsmart and you could never aspire to anything better than a $8/hr job that you got trained how to do in one day, but that' not really my problem. It's also not my problem that my dog is smarter than you are. So you can take your ignorant shit and spew it somewhere else. The fact that this person was stupid enough to actually say that out loud to a customer speaks volumes to me. I would speak to the manager and find out how to get into contact the the DM and RM. That is nothing short of downright unacceptable and that person doesn't need to be teaching training classes. Definitely get your money back and then I would write reviews on every review site ever ever. (Lol yeah, I'm THAT person. I don't care. I've been in customer service/retail since I was 13 so nothing gets under my skin worse than terrible customer service)

In the meantime, before you find another trainer, if what you're wanting to do is work on your commands in excitement I would take your pup to somewhere like Starbucks or somewhere of that nature that you can have him outside. There's plenty going on to distract him and it would be good for him too because if you start him this early then he'll be calm enough to take him places like that later on when he's older. Mila had a very inconsistent past and has had some questionable training before we got her, but one thing someone did right was expose her to alot because I can take her anywhere with me and she kind of just hangs out. I love that I can take her to Starbucks or to a horse show or anywhere else she's allowed that there's alot going on and I don't have to constantly be reminding her to behave. Just a thought I hope you find a GOOD trainer that is actually intelligent enough to help teach your little guy.

I agree with all of you. If your going to be a dog trainer you shouldn't discriminate against any breed of dog and just the fact that someone would lack the common sense that they should keep those comments to themselves when someone is paying them money to work with their dog. Well she got what she wanted and me and my husky are not ever going back to her class again. I'm getting a refund and let her boss know the reason we wont be returning to obedience classes there. Thats a good idea Heather. I'm just going to take the training into my own hands. The only really big problem I have with him is the bitting and him attacking me randomly but Im just going to keep at it until he gets the picture. Thatd be great Megan. It does really bother me that people think certain dogs are bad dogs just because they dont understand the breed. Im glad you found a class like that Jessica because thats how all classes should be. No assumptions due to a certain breed of dog.

I went into a facility this weekend just to check it out and the lady pretty much kept telling me how hard huskies are to train, all the distractions he would cause...then started to tell me about things at home he would do...like jump fences and jump all over people...and on and on... needless to say I did not sign him up. I was at first not sure what to think because she was extremely nice as she criticized my dog choice, I left with that..what just happened feeling.

I never brought Kaia to a puppy training class, I taught her everything she needs To know and don't think she needed a trainer especially cuz I had heard similar horror shows about the petsmart/petco trainers around here. I'm sure if she didn't get it or had an issue I would take her to a trainer but otherwise you can train your dog yourself and save the money!! But def get your money back and complain because that's ridiculous, I heard the same things when I got Kaia, I'd like to say "I told ya so" now!

Just to chime in though, I think it is beneficial for some owners, especially those new to the breed, to go to training classes. Some people think they may have the right methods but a stubborn husky is like no dog you've ever known, not to mention the fact that not many of us get the opportunity to work with our dogs in a setting around other dogs. Having a training class that you go to weekly helps a dog develop focus with distractions because I've seen some dogs that are extremely well behaved and attentive in a home setting, but get them out in public and they become so distracted that they forget all their training.

Right Megan! The truly intelligent owner realizes that they don't and never will "know it all". I find that it can be helpful to have someone else watch you work with your animals (I don't just have dogs) they can see what both of you do and give you insight from a perspective you don't have. I can also see a trainers point of view, a nice class of good well behaved student's and then in comes the smart-alecky class clown who disrupts everything, and be honest, we all great dogs but one of the things that attracts us to huskies is that mischievous streak in them that keeps us on our toes.
I would just take her class, always be on time and make her earn every bit of that fee. Ask for lots of help and explanations, see how frustrated she can get, make a game out of it.
Love your dog, your dog loves you! who cares what other people think, they are not who can depend on.

Yeah its really frustrating to have a trainer sit there and pretty much diss your breed of dog. Very discouraging isn't it Serena? I already got a refund for the classes. I think they were to beginner for him anyway because he already knows how to do all the basic commands. I think I'm going to try training him myself in public places until I find a trainer I really like. I could of done that and gotten my moneys worth out of her. Maybe I should of but I just didnt really trust her training methods. The one day I took him she seemed to confuse him on the things I already taught him. Oh well whats done is done, I wish it could of been a more positive situation but hopefully a better opportunity will come along.

I'm not sure if this is available in your area, but I found a really great training center. It's actually an obedience/agility club. So they do tons of classes all the way up to competitive obedience, sent work, agility, disc dog, etc. I see you're in Illinois, a quick google search led me to http://www.potcdogs.com/index.php?section=9, but of course I have no idea where Peoria is or where you are. I have found that the trainers at the one I go to have been great. Although they did mention that huskies can be challenging, that's exactly how they look at it, a challenge, not a drag. My trainer has been great with Dizzy and she actually said she loves his intensity, she is a corgie breeder and trains them as working dogs as well as obedience. The level of experience is much higher and they have been really great. Just a thought.

I heard the same for the Petsmart trainers in my area. We decided to bring her to a different trainer in the area since this was our first husky and the trainer acknowledged that it was a stubborn breed but totally possible. I wish you were from my area, we love her trainer!