Puppy Training Classes

Puppy school is one of the most important things you can do with your puppy to help prepare them for the world. The purpose of puppy training classes is not just to help the puppy learn basic training skills and good manners at a young age, but to build their confidence, create positive associations, and give you both skills you will need for life. Together, you will experience a wonderful journey that strengthens your bond, strengthens your relationship, and builds your confidence in handling and managing your puppy.

Studies have shown that early appropriate exposure and positive socialisation experiences play a significant role in shaping a dog’s behaviour in adulthood. A lack of early and ongoing appropriate exposure and training can be detrimental to the dogs’ well-being and can lead to fear and anxiety towards new people, animals, and environments, and may contribute to dog reactivity later in life.

Socialisation doesn’t just refer to dogs playing among themselves but the entire process of learning. That includes gradually exposing the puppy to different things in a gentle manner, without overwhelming them, and causing the pup any shock or distress within the first 16 weeks of their lives. The puppy needs to be visibly relaxed and enjoying themselves. They should not be made to feel stressed when being exposed to different stimuli and environments.

After 16 weeks you are not able to socialise your puppy in the way you think anymore.

After the sensitive period for socialisation ends, puppies enter a new stage of development where they become more cautious and may start to exhibit fear or anxiety towards new experiences. This is because their brains soak up everything they experience like little sponges until the 16-week mark. Thereafter the brain begins to not be so “open-minded” to new things and experiences. This period is known as the fear period and typically occurs between 4 – 6 months of age (Scott & Fuller, 1965). During this period, it is important for owners to continue to expose their puppies to positive experiences to help them overcome any fear and anxieties in a gentle manner.

Young puppies are very impressionable, and their earliest experiences can have lasting effects on their behaviour. We use scientifically proven reward based methods to encourage a fun and effective way to communicate with your puppy. This five-week class is designed to help puppies grow into well-adjusted dogs.

We gently expose your puppy to different situations while creating a positive association with those situations at the same time. We start with small exercises and build up to bigger tasks, this process sets you and your puppy up for success from the very beginning. We want to help our puppy parents gain knowledge and skills to prevent future behavioural problems. 

We cover basic training skills, environmental management, puppy behaviour and development, work on confidence building exercises, focus through distractions, socialisation, as well as how to manage problematic/ undesired behaviours in a kind and gentle manner.