During the formative time of the young dog’s life, it is essential to allow the puppy to go through its natural stages of development while providing gentle guidance and leadership, something the puppy's’ canine parents would have naturally provided.

   Puppy Kindergarten introduces puppies as young as 8 weeks old to junior basic obedience and offers many forms of social interaction and proper introduction to other puppies, dogs and people.  With the help of our trainer, the owner will also gain an understanding of what is normal puppy-hood behavior and what may not be. The owner will learn how to avoid the most common training mistakes made during this crucial time in the puppy’s life, instead allowing for a balanced relationship to be built between dog and owner. Many training and behavior issues are created during the first year of the dog’s life. Examples of some of these are excessive attention seeking, hyperactivity, destructiveness, separation anxiety, over- stimulation around greeting scenarios and in public places, excessive barking and whining, anti-social behaviors, potty issues, fears, phobias, jumping and chronic leash pulling, Many of these issues would never develop if the puppy and owner receive proper training and guidance from the start!

   The puppy is naturally “programmed” to explore its surroundings, and will attempt to build confidence in many situations and around many environments.  The program was designed to target this crucial time in the puppies life and lay the ground work for a happy, confident, well-balanced and obedient dog. The early training offers an opportunity to teach and reinforce positive behavior, while teaching the owner how to avoid accidentally reinforcing negative behaviors.

   Puppy Kindergarten is available Tuesdays and Thursdays 8am-5pm. All days include trainer supervised play/socialization sessions with other puppies, junior obedience training and unlimited outside park and pool playtime for puppies over 16 weeks. Owner and trainer work very closely together in several individual training sessions and consultations. We have an open-door policy and welcome owners to watch playtime and training through our observation windows. The direct availability of our trainer will allow for unlimited access to expert advice on the many issues and challenges that surround being a new puppy owner.

   Each program will vary slightly depending on the puppies’ personality, stage of development and individual need. Only the most advanced forms of Positive Reinforcement techniques are used. Daily Report Cards and Homework is also included.  Personal references from active clients are always available, and we strongly advice checking references before selecting a trainer for your dog.

  Course Curriculum

• Socialization and proper play techniques

• Bite inhibition and reinforced down times

• Reinforced potty training and potty command training

• Basic junior obedience commands: Sit, down, stay, let’s go, wait, come, fetch, drop it, leave it

• Introduction to distraction training, teaching puppies to listen even in the most distracting of situations

• Leash walking and leash handling skills

• Introduction to hand signals

• Introduction to Better Companion Commands such as Wait by the door, Settle Down, Place and Proper Greeting Procedure

• Prevent attention seeking behaviors (Owner education)

• Grooming, handling and introduction to “weird stuff” (Umbrellas, strange things, loud noises etc...)

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 TESTIMONIALS