Your husband does not want a dog. He was not assertive enough to just come out and say it. So it’s like human kids - both “parents” need to be on board, and the no vote always wins.

You need to work on your communication.

You better check on his plans regarding human children. Who knows...

So your husband really doesn't want a dog. Will he be like this with his kids too?

Invest in a personal trainer who comes to your home to train YOU on how to train the dog.

I would not let my husband dictate what is happening with any member of my family.

I knew someone who did this with a puppy, and it was a total failure because the family didn’t know how to reinforce the training. Have a trainer come to your house and show you how. There is no shortcut on this.

Most folks who send dogs away for training are hunters and the dogs are much older.

Dog trainer comes to your house.

Anonymous wrote:He’ll be 15 weeks when he attends. We never had a dog before; my husband is overly worried our life will stop with our new pup. I feel I can tell that my puppy is normal, playful, actually more subdued dog compared to others. He has his playful, stubborn moments but I can tell he’ll be fine when grown. Only way we’ll keep him DH says, is if we send him away to the obedience 8 week program. My heart aches. Anyone done this with their puppy?

This right here would piss me off. Why does he unilaterally decide this? You have the puppy already, it was a commitment.

People really send dogs/puppies to boarding school??

OP, you say "we" have never had a dog before, does that mean neither of you individually has ever had a dog before?

Your DH is insane. We sent our puppy to a 2 week boot camp which really helped her with commands and leash walking, but she was around 8 months old at that point. I would never send a brand new puppy away from its family for 8 weeks.

Why would you send such a young puppy away for so long? Are you even sure he will be treated well? And what if your husband still complains after the training?
I would send your DH instead.

Yeah it would make more sense to me to buy a 1 or 2 year old dog with a lot of training than to send a puppy for 8 weeks.

I agree with PPs that a local trainer would be better but I really think most poppies will do just fine with a weekly or bi-weekly puppy class and daily follow up from owner and thoughtful guided positive experiences (e.g. regularly handling paws/nails so grooming is easy, short, positive car trips, regular guided socializing with other dogs, etc).

Half of training is training the owner. Not sure how that works in a remote program. Obviously seeing eye dogs get trained and that carries over but that takes a year. Can you get a local trainer to work with you?

If your family has the resources for that kind of training, instead hire a personal trainer to come two or three times per week. At the end of the day, training only works if the whole family knows how to reinforce it.

He won't be your puppy anymore once he comes back. Why would you do that to him? he's bonding now.

It's a lot of work having a puppy. Maybe you can adopt an older dog instead.

He’ll be 15 weeks when he attends. We never had a dog before; my husband is overly worried our life will stop with our new pup. I feel I can tell that my puppy is normal, playful, actually more subdued dog compared to others. He has his playful, stubborn moments but I can tell he’ll be fine when grown. Only way we’ll keep him DH says, is if we send him away to the obedience 8 week program. My heart aches. Anyone done this with their puppy?