Your puppy DOES NOT have to be fully vaccinated. In our classes the floors are sterilised using vet grade cleaning products to ensure there are no nasties that can harm the puppies. Your puppy does need a minimum of one vaccination to attend however all puppies are in the same boat and we ensure that they are carried into the room so they cannot walk in any infection diseases that may be in the ground. Many people assume they have to wait until their puppy is fully vaccinated and by that time your puppy has passed the peak socialisation age and cut off age for puppy classes.
Ensure you book as soon as you know you are expecting your new furry family member. Our Baby Puppy classes are our most popular classes and often book out weeks in advance. You do not need to wait until your puppy has arrived in your home to book, its better to make arrangements in advance to ensure you secure a spot.
Puppy class trainers should have formal qualifications. We often have clients come to us after they have had a bad experience at another puppy class run by staff of pet stores etc. It is always best to ask questions about the qualifications of the trainers as you are trusting them with your puppy in their peak socialisation period where any bad experience can stick with them for life. Most classes run by qualified trainers will book out well in advance, so as per point number two, make sure you book in as early as possible!
Play interactions need to be controlled. When puppies are having their first interactions in puppy school it shouldn't be a free for all where all the puppies are let loose at once to run amok, it should be controlled play to ensure all puppies have a positive experience. By letting all dogs off at once you can create a vert scary environment for the shy pups, and those that require more time to gain confidence. Our classes are structured so we only ever let one puppy off in the first week and gradually match puppies into pairs and groups of similar play styles and confidence, sometimes we even separate the class in two so the quieter dogs can have fun without the energetic confident puppies in their face.
It isn't all about the play! Many think that having the puppies play is the most important part of puppy classes. However it is equally important that our puppies learn manners and the ability to focus on their owners in busy environments. We do not want to create puppies that ignore their humans when their puppy friends are around, we want to also ensure the relationship between puppy and owner is strong to set them up for success for the rest of their lives with their owners.
Puppy class sizes should be small and manageable in size. We make sure our class sizes are kept small so that we can create a controlled, stress free environment and where applicable we have two trainers per class so that every puppy can receive the attention and training they need. We often see clients coming from larger puppy class sizes where their pup was overwhelmed and spent time hiding under seats or in the corner and were unable to be given the appropriate guidance to help them build their confidence.