Puppy Day Training
You might have seen some of our announcements about the launch of our new Puppy Prep School, but you might be wondering what that is all about. We are super excited about this program! It was born out of this past year of “pandemic puppies.” There have been lots of puppies that really just needed more support than what we were currently offering. Group Classes and Private Lessons were only getting these pups so far.
Enter Puppy Prep School. We are super excited about this new program! We will now be able to provide an intensive immersion experience for your puppies! Puppies will play, train, socialize, enrich their lives, and learn to relax in our Puppy Prep School.
Elements of Puppy Prep School
Play!
Puppies will learn appropriate social skills while playing with other puppies of similar ages and play styles. For shy puppies who are struggling to socialize with other puppies we can bring out our best puppy trainer, Windsor (Jo’s pup)! Windsor has helped many shy puppies in the past overcome their fears of new dogs. He loves puppies. He actually loves puppies more than other adult dogs. Playgroups will be kept small and the puppy to staff ratio will be 6:1. Play can quickly escalate over the top so our trainers will be closely monitoring play sessions and interrupting play that is ramping up. There will also be elements of group training thrown into the play sessions with recalls out of play and group sits/downs.
Training!
Our trainers will provide top notch instruction to your puppy. Much of our training is game based so puppies will have fun while they are learning! If they aren’t having fun, we aren’t doing it right! We will begin with all the basics such as recalls, loose leash walking, sit, down, stay, and settle on a mat. As the pups master the basics we will increase the difficulty by adding in various distractions while they are training. We will also work on things like cooperative care where we teach the pups it can be fun to consent to grooming and husbandry like weekly nail trims. Puppies will receive a total of 40 minutes of individual training time per day. This may be in 2 longer 20 minute sessions, but will likely be multiple shorter sessions offered throughout the morning and afternoon training sessions.
Socialization!
The most important part of puppy raising and critical to get right. We will help you socialize your puppy to other dogs, people, kids, cats, costumes, textures under their paws, common household sights and sounds like vaccums and hair dryers, and more! This will need to be done carefully and our trainers will be there to make sure the experiences remain positive for your pup! We will also provide you with guidance as to how to properly socialize your puppy outside of school.
Enrichment!
We will provide your puppy with numerous sensory activities to help them express their normal canine behaviors. Some examples of enrichment activities include: various food puzzles, stuffable food toys, snuffle mats, ball pits, chewing toys, trick training, intro to nose work, and tactile experiences.
Relaxation!
Often overlooked, but extremely important! You want a puppy that can relax whenever and wherever. We will teach the puppies to relax in their individual crates as well as on a mat. Having a dog that can settle is an absolute delight to live and travel with. Want to eat at an outdoor restaurant? Easy peasy if your pup can settle on a mat. Hotels stays? No problem if they can settle in a crate!
Benefits of Puppy Prep School
The big one is time. It truly is an immense amount of work to raise a puppy! I even sent one of my own puppies to a Day School Program 5 years ago because my older set of twins had just turned 1 shortly before Flitwick, my Chinese Crested, came home. Being winter in New England with 1 year old twins my chances of getting out enough ever day to socialize him were laughable. So a few days a week, I loaded everyone up in the car and drove him to school. And I did the rest on the weekends. So let us help you out a bit! We can take on a huge bulk of the work and support you the rest of the way.
Your puppy will have an experience like no other! They will be treated like our own pups and receive the same high level of care, training, and love we would bestow upon our own pups. With our immersive program we are striving for your pup to grow up into a well mannered, well adjusted canine member of society that you can truly enjoy sharing your life with.
Our trainers will help get your puppy into a solid routine and assist you with getting into a routine at home as well. Because your puppy will be spending so much time with us, there will be tons of opportunities to reinforce good behavior. Reinforced behavior continues!!! The more we can reinforce the things we like, the better! We can stop bad habits from forming when we start training young, and we can also correct problem behaviors as they emerge.
An investment now into your puppy’s education will go a very long way later into life!
