Puppy hood is very exciting but also a challenging time. It is even more daunting given the current situation from Covid-19 and the enforceable restrictions we are now living under. Even though the shut down and forced isolation is essential to stop the spread of this virus it doesn't make it any less scary of how our puppy's will come out of it at the other end. Trying to raise a well adjusted puppy in a world where exposure to the outside world is limited only reinforces how important the need to still do a puppy class is. 

​

The thing is you and your puppy still need an education, now more than ever. Just because you are stuck at home doesn't mean your puppy is not growing and going through the critical development period. Puppies learn constantly whether we want them to or not, so let's use this time to positively guide them and set them up to succeed for when life inevitably goes back to normal.  And because you still need an education, we think you and puppy deserve the best education and up to date knowledge available.

 

For a puppy, every awake moment is filled with exploration and learning. Between the age of approximately 3 - 17 weeks puppies go through what we call the ‘critical socialisation period’. The experiences your puppy faces during this critical period of learning and development shape and influence its behaviour into adulthood and for the rest of their life. It is vital that in the window of 3 - 17 weeks your puppy has the opportunity to appropriately learn and positively explore and be exposed to different things in the real world, for example; other animals, people, objects, noises, surfaces and textures, environments, experiences, alone time, etc. As you can see socialisation is made up of many more aspects than just letting your puppy crash tackle play with another puppy in a puppy class. But if socialisation is more then two puppies playing and given the current restrictions, how you may ask can you expose and get your puppy ready for the real world? Well this is just one of the multiple points we cover in the online Puppy Skills Class.  

​

Puppy Skills is different to your general puppy classes. Firstly, it is run by a qualified behaviourist with a wealth of knowledge and experience only using positive, modern science-based learning theory which doesn't involve force, fear, pain or intimidation (which is another point we cover in class... before we can understand positive reinforcement we must first understand how our puppies actually understand punishment and why punishment doesn't work).  Before we can even begin to train our puppy, both you and your puppy need to be on the same communication page. A lot of problematic puppy behaviours can be avoided or prevented if communication is there. A lovely analogy to consider is you speak Italian and your puppy speaks french but you both need to learn English so you don't get frustrated when you ask things of one another. This is where Puppy Skills comes in as your translator. Puppy Skills also ​focuses on building a calm, cooperative, focused and attentive puppy that will later develop into a well adjusted dog. This class arms you with the knowledge and skills to create a puppy that has a mindset where they want to work with you not because they have to but because they want to. It will guide you on how you can shape your puppy to positively think and problem solve for themselves and therefore display the correct behaviour from the beginning.

​

Dog training and raising a puppy is more than just obedience and having the most well behaved dog. Your job as their pawrent is to enrich their life.

​

Topics Puppy Skills covers:

• Puppy Psychology (i.e. how they process information and learn, why they do what they do.)

• Learning Theory (i.e. bridging, how to issue a command, lure, capture and shape behaviours, punishment vs reinforcement)

• Dominance Theory

• Ladder of Fear/Aggression

• Body Language

• Fear period 

• Socialisation

• Basic Obedience

• Focusing on you

• Creating positive associations

• Resilience to stress

• Increasing Calm Behaviour Manners

• Impulse Control

• Prevent separation anxiety

• Prevent resource guarding

• Mental Enrichment

• Prevent and stop problematic puppy behaviours (e.g. inappropriate toileting, nipping, chewing, jumping, digging, barking etc.)

• Training games

 

At the end of the four weeks a puppy bible will be emailed to you, this is a extensive document that contains all of the information in depth that was covered in class plus more. If you also have a question, you can contact Tamika by email or phone at anytime during the course. 

 

Next class:

• Thursday 28th May @ 6:30pm (FULL) 

• Sunday 31st May @ 4pm (FULL)

• Spots now open for June class - date, time and if classes can go back to being in person still to be confirmed. 

Where: Online via a live classroom

Duration: 4 weeks

Cost: $150