With all but one of the pups in their new homes, I felt it was time to make a post about puppy class.  You each you should be looking around for a suitable class for your new baby.  Not all puppy classes are created equal.  If you locate a training center near you, please drop in on a puppy class and see exactly what they do as far as training.  If they do not have a class going, speak to the instructor to get an idea of what you will learn in their class.  What should you be looking for in a puppy class?

The class should be structured, a basic obedience class with more breaks (breaks to pee, breaks to play with YOU, etc).  It should not be a free for all puppy play date.  You can arrange play dates with other family, friends, or people I suggest as ‘safe’, but do not go to class looking for an hour of puppy play time.   Class is the first step to having a well trained dog who understand how to focus on you and not the dogs and people around their environment.   If 6- 8 weeks is spent letting the puppy play with classmates, you will spend the next 6 months correcting the dog for not paying attention to you in class or on walks.  These next few months are the sweet spot for training.  You will never have a more eager to learn dog than these first few months.  USE IT!!  Teach them as much as you can think of while they are little sponges.   Before they hit teenager and blow you off.  Before they learn bad habits.  Your new puppy should be able to get SIT, DOWN, STAY, COME, HEEL within a few short days.  After that you can teach subtler things like WAIT and PLACE.  That is right… days.  If you are consistent and take 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes in the evening every single day, you will have a star.  When you go to class, you can focus on getting your puppy to focus!  They will know the behaviors so you can use the class to show them “yes, you have to sit here, around all these dogs and people, and be quiet”.   There are some classes which are ‘half and half’ style, where you learn obedience and then have play time.  This can be a good training tool, depending on how the instructor uses the time.  Are they knowledgeable in dog behavior and body language?  Are the pups in their class having a good time or is one getting picked on?  Are the owners encouraged to let the pups play then leash up and go back to training to teach the puppies to refocus and know when play time is done?  It takes a real experienced trainer to allow ‘play time’ and not leave you with more baggage and bad habits than when you started class.   My dogs have never been to a ‘puppy play’ class and they are all good with other dogs.  I just socialize them with friends, family, neighbors and call it done.  When we are out in the world (local park, dog shows, pet supply stores, etc) they are not there to play with dogs, they are there to be with me, and they should be focusing on what we are doing, not what the Golden over the hill is doing with his family.

Below is a training video of Sonata.  This is his second training session.  He is 9 weeks old.  Let’s see what he can do in about 10 minutes of training.

So, you can see here why a ‘puppy play’ class would be a waste of your Poodle’s potential.  These pups are calm, focused, and can become amazing creatures with a small fraction of your time and energy.  You spent months researching what type of dog, and where to get it.  I have given your baby a great start.  Now keep up my work and put in the time to grow a family dog we all can be proud of.

HOMEWORK:

1. Find out what snack your puppy loves
2. Teach your puppy to play with you.  Tug and Fetch are both great.  Do not expect your puppy to simply know how to interact with you.  You must teach him.
3. Get your puppy doing both SIT and DOWN.  Anytime you see your puppy sitting or downing tell them what they are doing right  “GOOD SIT” and walk over to pet them for being so smart.
4. You can teach this all on the tether first to keep a silly distracted puppy from wandering off.  I would rather you not hold the leash, but tie it to something.  I want you focusing on food rewards in one hand, guiding the puppy with the other.  Trying to hold a leash makes that complicated.  I do it off leash, but I am experienced.   Do not feel bad if you first teach these things to a tethered puppy.