puppy class

Puppy Class

The Club runs a 7 week programme for puppies under 6 months of age and their handlers. We help you introduce new skills with your puppy and build your confidence as a handler. We cover simple activities you can practice with your puppy to gain their focus, communicate and build a strong and happy relationship.

Handlers and puppies will be introduced to:

  Reinforcing sought behaviour, the importance of timing and role of rewards

  Basic training techniques including classical conditioning, desensitisation  and luring

  Position changes including sit, stand and down

  Attentive response to name

  Recall

  Loose lead walking

  Socialisation

  Plus advice on routine activities including handling, grooming, play

During the 7 weeks we will also cover the material set out by The Kennel Club Good Citizen Dog Training Scheme – Puppy. At this stage the focus is on introducing basic training in a fun environment rather than assessment. In the later classes you will have the opportunity to achieve Bronze, Silver and Gold Good Citizens Awards with your dog, if you wish to enter those assessments.

The early weeks in a puppy’s life are crucial in their development and socialisation, so to make the class as accessible as possible we allow people to join the class at any time in the 7 week programme. Those joining the class part way through are often invited to continue in puppy class for another term, so that they have the opportunity to cover all of the programme content.
Every puppy learns at their own pace and they “graduate” to “big school” at different times. The aim of our training instructors is to ensure that each puppy feels happy and is growing in confidence.

Golden Rules of Training

Train when you are in a positive frame of mind.

Keep training short, frequent and fun.

Timing is everything.

Reward your dog when they offer the desired behaviour, sometimes even if you haven’t asked for it. 

Set your dog up for success  and always end a training session on a high.

Ask for help when something is not working.

Build distance - duration - distractions gradually

Be patient, you and your dog are doing great.

More about all this in class!