Beginning to Understand

By: Courtnee Rattigan

WINTER GARDEN, Fla. – It’s been said that old dogs can’t learn new tricks. Jessica Robinson, the Village PetSmart dog trainer with five years’ experience under her belt, strongly disagrees.

The Tuesday, March 31 evening class of two golden retrievers, a black mutt, a teacup Yorkshire puppy, and a Lhasa Opsa filed into the training ring for their weekly lesson. This class in particular was for beginners, either graduates from the puppy class or dogs that have sufficient knowledge of basic commands.

“It’s much easier to train something new than to try to fix something you’ve already ruined.” Robinson said to her class. The class of five dogs and their human companions watched as Robinson demonstrated with her own 7-month-old German shepherd puppy, Taser, how to get their dog to ‘come on command.’ Having correctly responded to his master, Taser was rewarded with a soft treat.

Mighty, Ashley Patterson’s Yorkie, understood the command on his first attempt. “We never used to praise him or give him treats or anything. His training works so much better when he’s praised.” Patterson said.

To help her more stubborn students, Robinson got on the floor and demonstrated how to correct a dog by gently tugging on its collar.

“The class is helping us understand how to get them to obey commands.” said Terre Peter when asked if the class was helping. Her husband held her playing sister golden retrievers, Callie and Penny. “Being in here gives us ideas for things to do to help them better understand what we want them to do.”

Robinson teaches training classes five days a week, but another trainer teaches on the other two. The other classes offered are Puppy, Intermediate, Advanced, and Canine Good Citizen. Classes meet once a week and cost $109 for an 8 week session. All classes are offered at every PetSmart.