If you want to help your puppy be the best dog they can be, then our Puppy School is for you. Beautifully mannered dogs don’t train themselves – their owners invested considerable time and effort in the formative months of their life. The key learning timeframe for puppies is 8-20 weeks of age, so it is crucial that your puppy learns how to communicate effectively with both you and other dogs, as well as training and socialisation at this age.

What is Puppy School?

Puppy School is an 8 week course, for puppies aged between 8-12 weeks of age.  Starting at this age gives you an opportunity to identify and resolve or prevent any early behavioural concerns, and set you on a good path for teaching and learning with your puppy. We will focus on taking the first baby steps to build your understanding of how dogs communicate with each other and how we can use these skills to teach your pup to adjust to living in our world as well as the dog world.

The first class of our 8 week Puppy School course is just for the parents! We do ask you to leave your new best friend at home (just for this first lesson) – they can join us from week 2 onwards.  A puppy-free class allows our trainer Lisa to cover much of the theory behind these first crucial months with your puppy and gives you the unique opportunity to ask any questions you might have about training and socialisation, toilet training, communicating with your puppy and anything else that springs to mind, without any chaotic distractions from the puppies!

What is Puppy Management?

Puppy Management is a 4 week course, for puppies aged 13-20 weeks of age.  It’s there for any puppies that missed out on the opportunity to start puppy school earlier. The puppy management course is aimed to expand the knowledge of dog to dog communication, ongoing socialisation for your pups, basic communication training and preparation for obedience classes and the big wide world.

What do you and your puppy learn during the courses?

Topics that will be covered include

• Calming & trust training
• Communication
• The 6 Commandments – Leave it, Sit, Down, Stay, Heel, Come
• Socialisation tips with other dogs, people and kids

And most importantly, you and your puppy will have fun whilst you’re teaching and learning together!

You can find out more about our trainers Lisa from Starbarks Dog Training, and Neri and Ash from Dog Whispering, here.

When and where are the classes held?

Our classes are held on both Saturday and Sunday mornings at Swanbourne Veterinary Centre, with a new course starting every two weeks.  We have a large enclosed outdoor space at the clinic with plenty of room for puppies to play and learn. Towards the end of your course, we move the classes to a small grassed area a few doors from the clinic, where your puppy will be challenged to learn with a few extra distractions! But don’t worry, we have a dedicated team of behaviour and training experts to teach you and your puppy all that you need to know.

How to enrol?

To confirm your place, you will need to complete the online enrolment form and submit full payment.

For more information please contact us on (08) 9384 2644.

Training Courses Terms and Conditions

Please be advised there is a non-refundable administration fee of $10 for all Puppy School bookings.

You can find our full Training Courses Terms and Conditions here.