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Everything you should know about puppy school

Puppy school also called puppy pre-school has become quite popular with most pet owners. This is because such schools offer you and your puppy a fun experience with plenty of essential learning in group settings. Remember that puppy school is designed to help a puppy to grow into a sociable, well-behaved, and confident dog. Besides, it can also help you to improve your relationship with your puppy and give it the best start through learning.



A professional trainer usually achieves this by offering a series of classes where a puppy has the chance to socialize with other dogs and people in a controlled and safe environment. Also, you have the chance to learn about dog behavior, handling, and basic care. Puppy school Melbourne is recommended because it gives a puppy early socialization and training during the crucial socialization period, which can be between 3 and 17 weeks old. This article discusses everything you should know about puppy school.


The type of training

Reputable puppy schools usually use reward-based dog training. Therefore, they reward a dog for performing good behavior, meaning that they give a dog something positive like verbal praise, food treats, a favorite toy, pats, and many more. While doing this, the dog trainer ignores unwanted behavior. For instance, if your puppy jumps up for attention, the dog trainer can tell you to avoid encouraging this. Instead, you should ignore the puppy, even avoiding eye contact. But you can quickly give your pup a reward when its four legs are on the ground.


Most veterinarians encourage reward-based training because it’s humane and fun. It also offers many other benefits like enhancing the bond with your puppy. You need to watch an instructor practice reward-based training so that you can practice at your home, where most of the learning happens. It’s important to keep the practice sessions short. And, you need to note that training your puppy is often an ongoing commitment, so you have to continue after puppy school and look out for advice from a certified reward-based trainer.


The requirements for a puppy school

A puppy needs to attend puppy school once they are between 8 and 16 weeks old as long as they are vaccinated and healthy. The environment of the puppy school should also be clean. This can prevent the spread of some fatal infectious diseases like distemper, parvovirus, and canine hepatitis.

In most cases, a puppy school may advise you that your dog can start classes after 2 weeks pass since their first vaccination. A puppy doesn’t have to complete all its vaccination before it can attend puppy school as long as you take these precautions.

Other requirements for your puppy to attend a puppy school are that the handler needs to accompany the dog. The puppy should also be kept on its leash and should not show any aggressive behavior towards people or other dogs. If you have some concerns, then you can talk to your veterinarian. They can sometimes advise that your dog may benefit from individual training programs before they can start beginner training classes designed for puppies over the age of 16 weeks old.

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