A year ago, we brought our rescue dog Smiley to Petco for their Adult Dog Training program. Dog training is great for all dogs, even semi-perfectly behaved boys like Smiley. He was our first rescue and I was surprised at how easy he was to integrate into our lives. He was already potty trained, knew how to sit but he was resistant to learning new tricks. That’s when a friend recommended Petco.
We already loved Petco because of their amazing dog grooming services. Also, unlike other chains, they do not discriminate against any dog breeds. We had personally experienced their friendliness towards our pit mix at various visits. Even when he was rowdy and lunging (in a friendly way) at other dogs, everyone loved him.
Petco offers classes for puppies (2-4 months old) and adult dogs over six months old. Prices vary based on your location and you can look it up here. Currently in our area a six-week course costs $129 with more comprehensive packaged available for $229 (12 weeks) and $349 (18 weeks). They often offer discounts or packages for multiple dogs.
Our Training Experience
We had our course with an amazing dog trainer named Molly who was very passionate about dogs. There was one other dog in the class, a very naughty pug who at one point bit Smiley’s butt. But Smiley doesn’t hold grudges and they made up. Our class was originally supposed to have three dogs to keep it small but the third dog turned out to have dog aggression issues.
While all trainers at Petco have different approaches, her approach involved a lot of positive treat-giving which Smiley loved. The point was to set the dogs up for success and reward every good action with treats. Smiley may have gained a bit of weight every week at training but it worked. It also taught us how to keep training him on our own at home.
After six weeks, our happy boy Smiley had one last test and he passed with flying colors! I definitely recommend Petco for simple trick training and general obedience. Obviously it’s not the place to go for behavioral issues like aggression or recourse guarding.
