On Sunday 7 May we enrolled our not so small puppy Zara into level one of puppy school. I am not sure who was more excited, us her pawrents, or her! The entire drive to school was filled with severe bouncing around and howls out the window as if to say “dad please can you drive faster so we can get there faster” haha!!
Our first attempt at puppy school was back in September 2016 when Zara was just 12 weeks old, but there was a sudden parvo outbreak within the area and being the neurotic pawrents that we are we pulled her straight out until she had completed her full course of puppy injections as advised by our vet. Fast forward to January. We were very hesitant to let our now big bundle of joy out the safely of our own garden. We slowly began with puppy socialising, and took Oscar with so he could have some fun too… Well, little did we know that when we walked into the social ring with our two gorgeous babies that all hell would break loose!! Oscar and Zara became gangsters of puppy school. The two of them ganged up on everyone. We were of course horrified! We tried this for quite a few weeks trying really hard to get them both to settle down and play with the other pups in the ring.
On one particular Sunday the teacher came to us and said perhaps we should try next week with just Zara, we of course said ok. We knew Oscar could be a grump at times but we could not believe Zara’s behaviour. The next week came and we took Zara alone… The difference was mind blowing! She was suddenly this happy go lucky pup who played with everyone! It turns out when she has her brother with her, she knows she is the biggest pup around and of course Oscar is her back up!!
The next step was to start level one of actual school and so on 8 May our training began… From the very first lesson Zara became the teachers pet, always stepping forward to volunteer how good she can be. The teacher was amazed and so were we at how quickly she learns what is being asked of her. Zara is extremely treat driven and will do a handstand for you if it means she gets a treat, which makes training her an absolute breeze. Of course training isn’t only one hour a week, I worked very hard practicing what we had learnt each week and by week four Zara was even surprising herself. We can successfully sit, down, paw, sit slightly on her back legs, stay, steal, circle and just be outright cute! Everyday we practice what we have learnt so far and Zara absolutely loves it.
I would most certainly recommend puppy school to any new puppy parent! Not only does your pup interact with other pups and people but the two of you get to connect on a different level together. You get to learn more about your pup and you get some extra quality time together. Our pups want to please us all day everyday and training is a wonderful way to connect on that level.
Here are some tips on choosing the perfect puppy school for you:
Visit the school without your pup before hand. Observe the goings on and see how things take place. If you like it enough then take your pup for a visit and see how she reacts. Notice if she is afraid, happy or excited. Listen to your pup!! If she is not happy then move along. Training is all about her and she needs to be happy and comfortable in her training environment.
Don’t be afraid to ask a million and two questions!
Ask what their rules and regulations are. If you are not happy with any of them challenge them and ask why they implement that rule.
Speak to the teachers, ask about their experience. Ask how long the school has been going.
There are many different training methods out there, find one that suits you the best and find a school that uses it too. (Our puppy school uses clicker training and only positive reinforcement training)
Which ever puppy school you decide on make sure you are one hundred percent happy with everything! It is a fun and exciting time for your pup so have tons of fun with her. A well trained pup is a happy pup 🙂
Thank you for reading!
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