The employees go to "school" to be a trainer, but the curriculum varies by teacher. I used to groom at Petsmart and have seen some pretty awful trainers and one really great one. The great one taught the class I took Mya to. The other one that trained was terrible! She couldn't even control her own dog! When I got Mya, all she told me was good luck... and she wondered why she couldn't fill her classes..
I think we were one of the few cases of having a good experience at the petsmart classes but that was only because we had a very passionate trainer that never forgets the name of any of her students no matter how many years ago she taught them. She was so great we also did our intermediate classes with her. I hate hearing about all these bad experiences. I consider the petsmart classes the McDonalds of dog training. They are more of a convince then actual good quality training
I am going to be a trainer at Petsmart at the end of July, you're all welcome to come take my class. :P Each trainer must teach (or provide tools to teach) certain commands depending on the course. How they go about it is up in the air. We're expected to sell head halters, no pull harnesses, and other accessories during class, even if they aren't needed. I'm really bad at selling things people don't need. The thought of selling classes makes me nervous because I learned all of my training for free, feels like cheating to have someone else pay me to help them lol.. It goes for any and all trainers though, not just at Petsmart, ALWAYS sit in on a class and ask questions before handing anyone money.
The trainer I took London to - and the only reason I became interested in dog training and the career I took - is a Petsmart trainer. She's fabulous. I'm taking TK to one of her classes next.
I do agree that it varies wildly, though. I think the same goes for many training facilities. Each trainer is different, though it does seem a little counterintuitive for a large franchise (thus, implying a certain amount of uniformity) would allow such wildly different viewpoints and training.
Though, if it's anything like the franchise I trained for, once the trainers are in, there wasn't a huge management system in place. I had 2 bosses across the country from me dictating what was and was not acceptable. I followed the rules (because I agreed with the philosophies), but I can see how it would be easy for other trainers with that franchise to do whatever they wanted. My immediate boss (the owner of my specific location) had no idea about dog training or what I was doing at any given time.
Currently a Petsmart Pet Trainer. Having been through the 80 hours allotted to me to follow a trainer around and observe her classes I can say that the preparation is not enough. I am fortunate enough that I have been working with dogs for years and have done a lot of research on my own but other people who enter the program and have never worked with dogs before must have a really hard time. I was terrified when it was time for me to teach on my own because I did not feel even close to prepared to stand up in front of people and declare myself an authority on their pets. It's been a few months now and I am much more comfortable but I still struggle with the sales aspect since there is a lot of pressure to sell classes.
As for the negative experiences a few of you went through I can only sympathize and say that policies are very strict and prong/chain/shock collars are not allowed in class so hopefully things have improved at those stores. There is also a class guarantee so you can definitely get a refund if you are unhappy, though they will offer you a chance to retake the class first so they can keep the money. I am also lucky that my two fellow trainers and I do a lot of research on our own and share it with each other so we can be giving out the most up to date information. Trainers are given a lot of flexibility in our classes and at our store we use the curriculum as more of a guideline than a strict book that needs to be followed exactly so unfortunately classes do vary depending on who your trainer is. I try to keep my classes fun and let the puppies play whenever I can but in classes with older dogs we can't always let them socialize since they sometimes have baggage.
I hope one day to move on and train dogs in something more interesting like agility or nosework but Petsmart seemed like a decent jumping off point to get experience teaching a class and working on my dog handling skills.
Currently taking Tsuki to one near me right now for puppy classes.
The trainer is decent in my opinion. Though she only had socialization afterwards for the first class. There are 3 other puppies in the class, one BIG 4-5 month old husky, a shitzu mix around 4 months, and a rescue toy poodle looking pup around 6 months old. On the first day, it was just Tsuki and the Husky, and they played along great. TBH, I feel like I should take Tsuki to private classes to get her more accumulated to different commands in a better more concise way instead.
I'll reserve judgement of this class until the end.. And possibly either get my money back if I feel dissatisfied or find a better trainer in the area.
It's hard to wade through the listed trainers though. I wish someone in my area had experience with some of them, but alas, no one I know does.
To me a puppy class should be about socialization. In the beginning I went the puppy to have fun and enjoy being a puppy. I want to get in that so very important socialization early on. After puppy class, I will then look for a more structured obedience class if that what I want to do. I usually use a puppy class for socialization, and then do my own obedience training.
@TheSquatchQueen I know how you feel about Petsmart not giving enough tools to feel comfortable with the job. It's the same with their groomers. I went through their program thinking I would be much more comfortable grooming than I was. They also gave crappy advice at my training location, like to shave the neck of every dog down to the skin. Who does that? Nobody, that's who. I did a lot of research on my own, and that's where I really learned a lot.
With those chain stores, it's all about quantity over quality. I was expected to upsell all my grooms and charge people a lot of money for extra stuff they didn't need. That doesn't sit well with me. The only thing I was asked to get for training was treats, but our trainer said pieces of their dog kibble would be fine. If we hadn't had such a great trainer at my location, I wouldn't have taken Mya anywhere. The only other person I could find used shock collars and a freaking bull whip to train dogs. That's abuse in my book, and my dogs will have no part of it.
Sorry I went off on a rant... it's just infuriating to me that some places charge an arm and a leg for training and then make you feel like you need to buy all kinds of other crap.. especially when the only other option is going to a trainer that abuses dogs into some sort of submission.
Edit: that abusive trainer died shortly after I found out what his techniques were, otherwise I would have reported him.
@Myabee09 I completely agree. I work in the salon once a week as a bather and it drives me nuts that using any shampoo other than the standard one costs $7 extra, bandanas are extra, can't use Furminator brushes on a dog unless they pay for it, etc. I just try to fly under the radar and do what I can to make the dogs look good. I understand that it is a business first but some of the prices are a bit ridiculous.
I'm lucky that my store manager supports the training department and will write off treats and toys for us, he is also going through all of my classes with his new dog right now.
I used to do what I thought was necessary... I didn't use the furminator brush hardly ever, but if a dog was going to be shaved because of shedding I always told the owners to do a furminator treatment. If they didn't like it after a week, I would shave the dog for free. Never had to do that
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Each trainer must teach (or provide tools to teach) certain commands depending on the course. How they go about it is up in the air.
We're expected to sell head halters, no pull harnesses, and other accessories during class, even if they aren't needed.
I'm really bad at selling things people don't need. The thought of selling classes makes me nervous because I learned all of my training for free, feels like cheating to have someone else pay me to help them lol..
It goes for any and all trainers though, not just at Petsmart, ALWAYS sit in on a class and ask questions before handing anyone money.
I do agree that it varies wildly, though. I think the same goes for many training facilities. Each trainer is different, though it does seem a little counterintuitive for a large franchise (thus, implying a certain amount of uniformity) would allow such wildly different viewpoints and training.
Though, if it's anything like the franchise I trained for, once the trainers are in, there wasn't a huge management system in place. I had 2 bosses across the country from me dictating what was and was not acceptable. I followed the rules (because I agreed with the philosophies), but I can see how it would be easy for other trainers with that franchise to do whatever they wanted. My immediate boss (the owner of my specific location) had no idea about dog training or what I was doing at any given time.
As for the negative experiences a few of you went through I can only sympathize and say that policies are very strict and prong/chain/shock collars are not allowed in class so hopefully things have improved at those stores. There is also a class guarantee so you can definitely get a refund if you are unhappy, though they will offer you a chance to retake the class first so they can keep the money.
I am also lucky that my two fellow trainers and I do a lot of research on our own and share it with each other so we can be giving out the most up to date information. Trainers are given a lot of flexibility in our classes and at our store we use the curriculum as more of a guideline than a strict book that needs to be followed exactly so unfortunately classes do vary depending on who your trainer is. I try to keep my classes fun and let the puppies play whenever I can but in classes with older dogs we can't always let them socialize since they sometimes have baggage.
I hope one day to move on and train dogs in something more interesting like agility or nosework but Petsmart seemed like a decent jumping off point to get experience teaching a class and working on my dog handling skills.
Currently taking Tsuki to one near me right now for puppy classes.
The trainer is decent in my opinion. Though she only had socialization afterwards for the first class. There are 3 other puppies in the class, one BIG 4-5 month old husky, a shitzu mix around 4 months, and a rescue toy poodle looking pup around 6 months old. On the first day, it was just Tsuki and the Husky, and they played along great. TBH, I feel like I should take Tsuki to private classes to get her more accumulated to different commands in a better more concise way instead.
I'll reserve judgement of this class until the end.. And possibly either get my money back if I feel dissatisfied or find a better trainer in the area.
It's hard to wade through the listed trainers though. I wish someone in my area had experience with some of them, but alas, no one I know does.
With those chain stores, it's all about quantity over quality. I was expected to upsell all my grooms and charge people a lot of money for extra stuff they didn't need. That doesn't sit well with me. The only thing I was asked to get for training was treats, but our trainer said pieces of their dog kibble would be fine. If we hadn't had such a great trainer at my location, I wouldn't have taken Mya anywhere. The only other person I could find used shock collars and a freaking bull whip to train dogs. That's abuse in my book, and my dogs will have no part of it.
Sorry I went off on a rant... it's just infuriating to me that some places charge an arm and a leg for training and then make you feel like you need to buy all kinds of other crap.. especially when the only other option is going to a trainer that abuses dogs into some sort of submission.
Edit: that abusive trainer died shortly after I found out what his techniques were, otherwise I would have reported him.
I'm lucky that my store manager supports the training department and will write off treats and toys for us, he is also going through all of my classes with his new dog right now.