Puppy Start Right

The Puppy Preschool class is for under-vaccinated puppies 8-20 weeks of age.

Why should you start your puppy in a group class at this young age?
A puppy’s “socialization” window closes at about 16 weeks of age. Before 16 weeks, puppies are more curious and willing to try new experiences and create positive associations. After 16 weeks, puppies may become more cautious and novel experiences may be more challenging.

Young puppies do best with puppies closest to their age and are less likely to be overwhelmed behaviorally. Puppy Preschool is designed to facilitate positive exposures, address normal puppy behaviors, and prevent the development of behavior problems. The primary focus of Puppy Preschool is exposure to people, novelty, and working around other dogs. This class is designed to set you and your puppy up for success with housetraining, enrichment activities, communication with one another, and life skills such as leash walking, coming when called, etc. This class includes an online classroom with an extensive video tutorial library and written handouts to supplement your in-person classroom experience.

After taking Puppy Preschool our Preschool graduates will be ready to enroll in Puppy Kindergarten  Level One. Preschool graduates will be offered a discount for Puppy Kindergarten Level One.

Social time for Puppy Preschool will likely not include off-leash play but rather how to confidently be around other puppies. Our focus for your puppy is to easily be able to focus back to you in the presence of other puppies so playtime may not be part of your puppy’s classroom experience. We carefully make social interaction decisions based on the puppies we have in class. If we assess some puppies to be good together off-leash, we may conduct off-leash play between those puppies while the other puppies in class observe and learn from good social play gestures. Learning is not just a tactile experience.

What is the difference between an under-vaccinated puppy and a fully vaccinated puppy?
An under-vaccinated puppy is not yet fully immunized against distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus, and parainfluenza (DHPP). Puppies begin a series of DHPP vaccinations starting around 6-8 weeks of age. They continue to receive a DHPP vaccination every 2-4 weeks until at least 16 weeks of age. Once your puppy receives the final vaccination in the series, usually between 16-18 weeks of age, they are considered fully vaccinated for DHPP. The first rabies vaccine is generally given at 3 months of age.

Ensure your puppy has received its first vaccine at least 10 days before the class start date and has a negative fecal test result, which is required to register for Puppy Preschool.  Please schedule your fecal test ASAP after bringing your puppy home. A positive fecal test is a very common reason puppies are unable to attend preschool, missing out on an important developmental experience. Should your puppy test positive for giardia, we require a follow-up fecal test to indicate treatment was effective.

You can order a fecal test kit and get the results sent to your veterinarian within days. Many vets have long wait times for appointments so this may be a good option. You can order your kit here.

Class Instructor: Kim Silver or Michele Almeida

Class Length: Four classroom sessions

What Will You and Your Dog Learn:

• Teaching behaviors with luring
• Leash walking games
• Coming when called games
• Great name response!
• Drop/Trade
• Sit
• Focus games
• Exploration of novel objects and surfaces
• Nose touch to hand

Requirements:

• Preschool is available to puppies that are 8-20 weeks of age and who are not yet fully vaccinated. If your puppy is at least 20 weeks of age and fully vaccinated we suggest you enroll in Puppy Start Right Kindergarten (the age range for puppy kindergarten is 5-12 months). Your puppy can start preschool at least 10 days after his/her first vaccine and must have a negative fecal test result from your veterinarian indicating they are free from giardia and other parasites.
• We ask that you please give your newly adopted dog 10-14 days to settle in before coming to a group class.

What to Bring to Class:

• A mat that your puppy can comfortably lay on during downtimes, such as a bath rug or yoga mat.
• Your dog is required to wear either a harness or flat collar and a 6 ft. leash to class. We would like to note that we do not allow choke, prong, electronic collars, or retractable leashes in class.
• Please bring lots of tasty treats and some of your puppy's kibble food if they eat kibble.
• Be on the lookout for an email detailing how to access your online classroom.

Puppy Start Right Kindergarten is for fully vaccinated puppies 5-12 months of age who have graduated from preschool OR are just starting out with training. Kindergarten includes in-person classroom instruction with your certified trainer, tutorial videos, and step-by-step written instructions on how to teach new behaviors.

Class Instructor: Kim Silver or Michele Almeida

Class Length: Six classroom sessions

What Will You and Your Dog Learn:

• Focus Games
• Sit with duration
• Down with duration
• Release cue
• Nose Touch to Hand (distance)
• Wait
• Leash Walking
• Stay
• Appropriate Human Greetings
• Recall Games
• Mat conditioning

Requirements:

• Your puppy must be between 5-12 months old at the start of class and must be able to work around other dogs.
• Your puppy must be fully vaccinated for distemper, parvo and rabies.
• We ask that you please give your newly adopted dog 10-14 days to settle in before coming to a group class.

What to Bring to Class:

• Your puppy! Your puppy must be wearing a properly fitted body harness (strongly preferred for the health and comfort of your puppy) or properly fitted flat collar.
• Lot’s of tasty treats. Bring a variety and more than you think you need.
• Bring a bowl and water for your puppy.
• A mat for your dog to lay on. Bath mats and yoga mats work well.

This course is for puppies younger than 8 months old who are struggling with: people, dogs, new places, etc. This class will focus on confidence building and developing life skills for navigating the world. This class will give you tips and tricks to help your puppy through this developmental time, find the inner patience you may have lost, and teach your dog skills to thrive. We will also teach you how to help you meet your dog’s individual needs based on their breed and lifestyle. Every dog has four L.E.G.S. (Learning, Environment, Genetics, Self) and we will help you uncover any missing pieces to help you and your dog find your happy place.

Class Instructor: Kim Silver

Class Length: Six classroom sessions

What Will You and Your Dog Learn:

• Focus in new environments
• Attention toward handler
• At home skills
• Out and about skills
• Social Interactions with people and other dogs
• Calm behaviors
• Problem prevention and solving by studying your dogs L.E.G.S

Requirements:

• Your dog must be younger than 8 months of age.
• We ask that you please give your newly adopted dog 10-14 days to settle in before coming to a group class.
• If your dog has a history of barking at dogs or people, growling, or has bitten another dog or person, please contact us to discuss if this class is right for your puppy. Private lessons are also available and may be recommended.