Puppy Classes

RE: Puppy Classes

Julie-Anne Wilson — Wed, 23 Nov 2016 20:55:32 GMT

We cover different things. Sit/lie down, recall, patience, pay attention, bed etc. We just have them separated with different subjects and spread out. We actually have a qualified behaviourist on staff that runs out teenager classes and she came up with the protocol we use just now.

We've never had any owners complaining they feel they're dog is too advanced for some weeks so it must work.

RE: Puppy Classes

Catriona88 — Wed, 23 Nov 2016 07:48:37 GMT

Hi Julie Anne,

Thanks for your reply. What do you cover in each class? How do you make classes 1 & 2 so they're not a step back for a pup joining in say week 3?

RE: Puppy Classes

Julie-Anne Wilson — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 09:31:37 GMT

That's how we run our classes. We have our classes worked out Week 1-4 but dogs don't always necessarily start on Week 1 but since they stay for 4 weeks, they still get the full rota of classes. If they start on Week 3 then they get 3, 4, 1, 2.

RE: Puppy Classes

Jo Mackenzie — Sun, 09 Oct 2016 14:45:55 GMT

I've tried to run them this way once in the past (again my bosses idea, not mine!) and to be honest it was a logistical nightmare! I think if you are doing puppy parties solely for socialisation purposes then it could work, it might even be beneficial as the puppies would get to interact with a greater number of other puppies and different people rather than the same ones every week. However, the classes I had done prior to this and since also included puppy care information and advice for the owners and some basic training that was followed on and built on week by week, which I think is important and part of the appeal for a lot of owners, and I found it was almost impossible to incorporate this into rolling classes. I found myself repeating myself a lot for the benefit of newcomers, or people asking questions about something which had been talked about the week before, which then had to be explained to people who had just started. It also meant that there could be quite a big age difference between puppies within a class, which could lead to bigger puppies trying to bully younger ones or younger ones being more shy than they might have been with other puppies of their own age - 4 or 5 weeks can be a huge difference at that age. There might be a way to structure it to make it work better than I managed, but personally I found it too chaotic and that I wasn't able to give as good a service or overall experience to the clients.