We're ready to sign Fargo and Sadie up for their first training class which will start at the end of the month. I've trained the basics at home so they'll be starting in an intermediate class. Ursa will be halfway through a different intermediate class which will give us plenty of refreshers on the the things she's learning.
Two questions/issues/concerns have cropped up though. Number one - when Ursa started the beginner class she was a total goober. It took a few classes until she associated the training ring with working and settled down. Now she's usually good as gold in the ring because she knows that means it's time to work. Fargo and Sadie have never been to class though. Will they be at a disadvantage? They know all of the commands from the beginner level and a lot of intermediate work is done outside the ring but still - I want them to be successful.
Number two - we were talking with our trainer today about who would be in the upcoming class and she mentioned that there's only one other student. No problem there until she mentioned that the other student is in a motorized wheelchair. Neither of us has an issue with that - I applaud her for getting out there and going for it! Fargo, on the other hand, is a bit nervous around things that move and sound like a motorized chair. So I'm torn. I'd like to take him to this class and use the opportunity to acclimate him to new people and things but at the same time I don't want him to be so nervous that he doesn't learn anything.
What would you do? Sign him up for the class and hope that the trainer can come up with some strategies to help him get past his nerves (without making the other owner in our group feel like the class project)? Or wait until the next class which doesn't start until mid Feb? I don't want to switch trainers as this one is excellent with the giant breed dogs.