In one of the training DVDS Ed Frawley mentions that he never lets anyone touch his dog. I have read elsewhere that allowing people and children to pet your dog is part of the socialization process. Can a dog be socialized if no one touches the dog but the owner? I am scheduled to begin puppy training at the local Pets Mart and am wondering if I should let anyone touch my dog?

Thanks for any advise.

There really is no need for anyone to pet your pup.

Socialization, as I see it, is getting your pup used to and comfortable with new surroundings and the new people in those surroundings. You're aiming for a dog that is calm, steady, and neutral to external stuff (unless you tell him otherwise) and I don't think having others pet and fuss over him is necessary to achieve that goal. You want him always focused on you. JMHO

You are asking at the right place! There are a bunch of people that will help you out ;-)
(And welcome, BTW)
In that video, I believe he explains why that is, and you can also read it here: http://www.leerburg.com/pdf/whocanpetmypuppy.pdf

This is a good one to read about pups in general and starting out at home:
http://www.leerburg.com/ebooks/puppygroundwork.pdf

The most important thing with a puppy is keeping it's world small until it understands that it has a place in your family. Create a bond with your pup, then allow it to rely on you for security when meeting strange things.
As for the trainer... what type of dog training methods do they use? What kind of equipment do they use? Do they recommend halti's or gentle leaders? Do they use flat collars or prong collars? What kind of equipment do they use for adults? How much experience does the trainer have? Have they been training for years or just the three weeks to get the petsmart "certification" How do they deal with dogs showing aggression? Jumping? Biting? If you don't know the answers to these, I would find out BEFORE you go tot he first class with your pup. I would also read this article: http://www.leerburg.com/pdf/Ed%20FrawleysPhilosophyonDogTraining.pdf on trainers in general to help you decide what kind of trainer to work with. A lot of good dogs are ruined or have setbacks in their training because of bad trainers. If you learn what to ask and what a good trainer does it makes it easier to find one or make sure that you have a good one.

I am in the get as many people as possible to pet my puppy as possible camp. I don't let my puppy just run up to people though. I want him to walk nice with me minding his own business until I tell him it's ok to be petted. I feel this keeps my dog social and friendly without being obnoxious. I want my dog to be good about being handled at the vet without freaking out or becoming aggressive and I want to be able to hand him off to someone at dog shows so I can go to the bathroom or some other errand without him getting upset.

 Quote: elaine matthys

I want him to walk nice with me minding his own business until I tell him it's ok to be petted. I feel this keeps my dog social and friendly without being obnoxious.

You can accomplish this without having others handling or petting him though. And he's more likely to mind his own business if he's not expecting a handout or attention from strangers.
Think about this: it's generally accepted that 100 good experiences can be undone by one bad one, more or less. So, if you allow strangers to pet your pup and one of those people flinches or does something to scare your pup, it has just been taught that SOMETIMES strange people scare you. What then? MORE "socialization"?

 Quote: elaine matthys

I want my dog to be good about being handled at the vet without freaking out or becoming aggressive

If you are calm in a situation, and you have taught your pup that you will protect it, take care of it, etc, it will follow your lead and be calm as well. Vet, judge, etc.

 Quote: elaine matthys

and I want to be able to hand him off to someone at dog shows so I can go to the bathroom or some other errand without him getting upset.

What you are describing here sounds more like separation anxiety than anything else, and that is typically caused by the OWNER not strangers. Making too much of a fuss over leaving your dog, coming home, or other things like this cause the dog to get upset being left without you.
Bottom line, if you are the only one to work with your pup and don't allow anyone else to praise it, pet it, etc, then you only need to worry about your actions and not giving your pup a bad experience. You don't need a bunch of strangers you will never see again petting the dog to get it to associate people with good things, just you.

Thanks for the advise. It is a real good thing to have a place like this where I can get intelligent answers - dog training being pretty new to me. You have all given me better insight.

Hi James, Just wondering why you are taking your dog to a puppy class at PetSmart? Usually not the best training. Do you have any other options in your area?

Nice post, Cameron. I agree. And James, if you must go to a puppy class, I would strongly discourage Petsmart for a number of reasons, not the least of which their "training" is a total of 2 weeks (where I live anyway). Also, it's good to remember, they are employees of Petsmart first and foremost and they will always have an agenda. You will get plenty of advertising pitched as fact involving nutrition and training tools, I promise you: To the tune of "Don't forget to buy our cough cough 'quality' kibble and a haltie on your way out!"

Just my two pennies.

James, I would advise you not take your pup to Petsmart for training. The "trainers" there are taught by Petsmart how to train, the Petsmart way.

You'd do better to train your puppy yourself. Much more fun, no distractions in the learning phase (as there would be at Petsmart with all the other puppies there and all the commotion), and you form the necessary bond between you and your pup. Distractions such as you would encounter at a puppy class isn't a fair environment to start training your pup. Pups have no focus and with all that will be going on there, training will be haphazard anyway.

Better at home, no distractions until the pup has learned the commands 100%, and begins to learn to focus on you, rather than everything else going on around it like in a puppy class.

I will admit, I took a puppy class at petsmart, before I had found this site....

Hi, my names Shody, and I've been clean and smart for 10 months now.....

I will say that the girl who did my class wasn't all bed, and even admitted that she hated thier methods. I gave her the information on this website later, after I had found it, so I hope she spent some time reading here...

Now I have found that my local Kennel Club has obedience at all levels, including agility, for half the price of a petsmart 6 session class, and the price covers a whole year of training!

If you really want to do an obedience class, check if you have a local Kennel Club, and what they offer.