Puppy Start Right Preschool
4-week rolling-enrollment small group program
Monday evenings at 5:30pm
For young puppies beginning their training and socialization journey
Start early. Build good foundations. Keep learning together.
When should my puppy start?
As soon as possible!
Puppy Start Right is specifically designed for puppies in their earliest weeks at home. Puppies can join from 8 weeks of age and must be no older than 12 weeks when they attend their first class.
Starting at 8–10 weeks gives you the opportunity to begin building good habits and positive experiences right from the start, rather than waiting until problems appear.
Want to give your puppy the best possible start?
Bringing home a puppy is exciting. It can also be exhausting, confusing and sometimes a little overwhelming.
Puppies bite. They jump. They get distracted. They have bursts of wild energy and then fall asleep. Something they seemed to understand perfectly yesterday may apparently be forgotten today.
That’s puppyhood.
Puppy Start Right Preschool is designed to help you understand this important stage of your puppy’s life, build a strong foundation for future learning, and give your puppy positive early experiences of the world around them.
This isn’t about creating a “perfect puppy” in four weeks. It’s about giving you and your puppy the skills to keep learning together long after class ends.
Why so young?
Because Puppy Start Right isn't simply an obedience class for small dogs. These early weeks are an important period of development, when puppies are busy learning about people, other dogs, handling, new environments, unfamiliar sights and sounds — and how to navigate the world around them.
We want to help you make the most of that time.
You don't need to wait until your puppy knows some basic behaviors. You don't need to get biting, jumping or toileting under control first. And, subject to appropriate veterinary care and our vaccination requirements, you don't need to wait until your puppy has completed their full vaccination series.
This is what puppy class is for.
Is my puppy too old?
If your puppy is already older than 12 weeks, don't worry — it certainly isn't too late to start training.
Puppy Start Right simply isn't the right program for their developmental stage.
Get in touch and we'll help you find a training option better suited to your puppy's age, experience and individual needs.
Got a new puppy? Don't wait. Start right.
What happens in Puppy Start Right?
Puppy Start Right combines training, carefully managed socialization, exploration, play, problem prevention and practical puppy-parent education.
During your four weeks we may work on:
- attention and engagement with you
- responding to their name
- coming when called
- foundations for polite greetings and loose-leash walking
- settling and learning to be calm
- comfortable handling
- appropriate puppy play and interaction
- experiencing different surfaces, objects, sounds and environments
- building confidence around new experiences
- common puppy challenges such as biting, chewing and jumping
- learning how and when to reinforce the behaviors you want
- helping you recognize when your puppy needs a break, more distance or a little extra help
The exact experience won't look identical for every puppy — because puppies aren't identical.
A confident, outgoing puppy may need help learning that they don't get to greet everyone they see. A cautious puppy may need time and space to investigate something new. One puppy may be ready to work around another dog while another needs an easier starting point.
Good puppy training meets the puppy in front of us.
What does puppy class actually look like?
Sometimes puppy class looks beautifully organized.
And sometimes it looks like…puppies.
There may be barking. Someone may need a bathroom break. A puppy may become distracted by another dog. Another may need a nap. Something your puppy does easily at home may suddenly become much harder in an exciting new environment.
None of this means your puppy is failing.
In fact, learning how to help your puppy focus, settle, recover from excitement and work around everyday distractions is one of the reasons to come to class.
We keep classes small so we can help each puppy and their person as individuals. Please don't compare your puppy with the puppy beside you. They have different personalities, genetics, experiences and developmental needs.
We're looking for progress, not perfection.
What should I expect after four weeks?
Your puppy will still be a puppy!
Four classes cannot complete the process of raising and training a dog, and we don't pretend that they can.
Instead, our goal is for you to leave Puppy Start Right with a better understanding of your puppy, practical training skills you can use at home and a foundation on which you can continue building as your puppy grows.
The behaviors introduced in class will need practice outside class and beyond the four-week program. Just like any other skill, reliable behavior develops through repetition and experience in different situations.
Think of Puppy Start Right as exactly that: a really good start.
Who can attend?
Puppy Start Right is designed specifically for young puppies during their important early developmental period.
Puppies can begin from 8 weeks of age and should start the program while they are still young enough to benefit fully from our early socialization curriculum.
Because the class operates on rolling enrollment, there's no need to wait for the next course to begin. You can get started soon after bringing your puppy home.
Proof of appropriate DHPP vaccination and a negative fecal test are required before your puppy's first session.
A different kind of puppy class
Puppy Start Right isn't simply an obedience class for small dogs.
We want to help you raise a puppy who can learn, explore, communicate and navigate life successfully — while helping you become a more confident and knowledgeable teacher.
We use modern, humane, reward-based training methods. We don't use fear, pain or intimidation to teach puppies what we want them to do.
Puppyhood doesn't last very long.
What you learn during it can last a lifetime.
Ready to get started?
Concerned about attending class before your puppy has completed their full vaccination series? The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior supports appropriate puppy socialization before puppies are fully vaccinated. We encourage you to read its position statement and discuss any individual health concerns with your veterinarian.
