WARNING!! Never hire trainers who come to your home for two or three hours and charge $300-$400. This is unconscionable. This is absurd and please stay away from trainers such as these.
When searching for a dog trainer, one must always ask many questions about the trainers' qualifications. Do not just take their word for it. Make them show you documentation and proof of what they say is true.
With that being said, let's talk about enrolling your dog in group classes.
Many people are offering group classes for puppies and dogs. They range from 4H clubs to pet stores. What is wrong with this type of training? Everything. Although these people mean well, they do not have the expertise to truly know how to train dogs properly. You must think to yourself, "How can my dog possibly pay attention when there are so many distractions?" What happens when you're working with your dog and another dog is barking and whining? Also if you're heeling your dog and another dog attacks it from behind? These are problems that occur when training at these so-called training classes.
What about the handler? How can the handler be taught when there are so many other things going on at the training facility? Take for instance pet stores. You start training with your dog and you see people buying dog food, toys, going to the grooming shop, etc. Totally impossible to pay attention to your dog when you have so many things going on. How can you possibly train with 10-15 other dogs barking and running around? The answer is you can't. Although as I stated, these people have good intentions, but these are not trainers I would recommend for you to bring your dog to.
What is best for you and your pet is a one-on-one training program where there are no distractions whatsoever. The puppy or dog must learn what is expected of it before distractions can be introduced. Socialization should come after the dog understands what the word NO means. Once the dog is doing well with the obedience commands, then you can take it to group classes for distractions and socialization. I don't know of any professional trainer who would take his or her dog to a group setting at first to teach the dog obedience. It is just not fair to the dog.
At Piazza's Professional Dog Training School/K-9 Services Unlimited, we video tape all of our training sessions and also keep a training log to protect our clients. We encourage all of our students to keep their own training records when participating in our training programs to ensure successful completion of the course.