About Proper Poodles Obedience School

Proper Poodles Puppy/Adult Learning and Socialization School runs group classes from a farm on Sing Sing Road in Horseheads, at the northern edge of the Elmira area. Everything the school publishes comes through its Facebook page, where the standing description of the business is a list of what it teaches: AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy, CGC, Barn Hunt, Happy Ratters, RALLY, and Outdoor Obedience.

Method

The school describes its own classes as "always fun, unique, reward based training with thoughtful exercises to help our poodles to make good decisions." The framing throughout its posts is on giving dogs the practice to choose well rather than on suppressing behavior, and class write-ups describe working through specific everyday problems: jumping up, leaving food and other distractions alone, and pulling on the leash.

Classes

The class list is broad for a rural school. Puppy and adult learning and socialization sit at the base. AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy runs for the youngest dogs, with the school noting new starters coming into those classes. Canine Good Citizen sits above it. Outdoor obedience classes are described as exercise-based and run in the open rather than in a hall. Beyond obedience the school runs rally, barn hunt, and "Happy Ratters" rat-hunting events, which it hosts on its own farm and invites people to come and watch.

Setting and schedule

Classes run on the farm at 637 Sing Sing Road in Horseheads, which the school's own posts refer to as "our farm in Horseheads." Evening classes on Mondays and Thursdays are the school's busiest slots, with the page noting those are close to full while spots remain elsewhere. The school posts breaks in the schedule when it is away, including weeks with no barn hunt or obedience classes.

Beyond the classroom

The school also competes. Its page records a student earning four first places and an AKC Agility Open title, which gives some sense of where the sport side of the program leads.