Puppies aren’t born into the world knowing how to behave in a human household. In fact, the rules of living with people, in large part, go against a dog’s natural instincts. But even greater than canine instinct is a dog’s commitment to please his pet parents. When it comes to puppy training school, the following is a list of what your puppy will learn:
- Basic house rules
- Basic house boundaries
- Off-limits rooms, furniture, and other areas
- Communication and understanding your verbal commands & instructions
- Etiquette of interacting with houseguests
- Etiquette of interacting with children, other dogs, other animals
- Acceptable behavior in public, during walks and at the dog park
WHAT WILL YOUR PUPPY LEARN?
The specific curriculum of puppy training classes will of course depend on the facility. We recommend that if you’re calling around to find the best puppy training course for you that you ask as many questions as possible, especially those that address any challenges you’ve been facing with your new furry friend. Read on to the end of this article for a list of questions to ask before signing up for puppy training classes.
Generally speaking, the following are typically included in most puppy training courses:
- Basic command training, i.e. down, sit, stay, roll over, come, leave it, etc.
- Behaving calmly around others, i.e. controlling impulses
- Preventing unwanted behavior, i.e. refraining from jumping up
- Toilet training
- Walking on a loose or long leash, i.e. dynamic impulse control
- Behaving relaxed, comfortable, and calm while being handled
- No nipping, biting, and how to train your puppy not to nip and bite
- Puppy owner general education to equip you to continue to train your puppy!
Whatever puppy training course you choose, you can expect the organization to use “reward based training” otherwise known as “positive reinforcement training.” This means that only good behavior and correctly obeying is rewarded. If and when your puppy fails to control himself, behaves badly, or doesn’t obey, then he receives no reward and is not permitted to continue until he holds still and gives you his full attention.
Reward-based puppy training is by far the most effective form of training. Using punishments has been proven not to work with dogs, and so this type of training has been discontinued. That being said, there may be times when negative reinforcement may need to be used, but this probably won’t occur during the puppy training course classes.
You would use negative reinforcements, or providing an experience your puppy doesn’t want, in order to reinforce the point that your puppy shouldn’t behave in a certain way.
For example, if you don’t want your puppy to jump up on people and you tell him “no,” but he ignores you and continues to jump up, then you’ll need to reinforce your “no” by putting him in his crate. By putting him in his crate after he has repeatedly jumped up despite you saying “no!” many times, he will finally understand that it never pays to ignore you and continue unwanted behavior.
Questions to ask a puppy training company before enrolling:
- How many weeks and how many classes per week is the whole course?
- How long is each class?
- What supplies do I need to bring? i.e. leash, toys, treats, poop bags
- What will my puppy learn?
- Are the classes inside, outside, or both?
PETLAND KANSAS CITY PUPPY TRAINING
Petland Kansas City cares about our puppies and the new puppy parents that bring our furry friends home. We equip our new puppy parents with a free puppy training course. This complimentary program unfolds over the course of 6 weeks and will fully equip you to continue to train and work with your puppy even after the Petland training has concluded.
Here is what is included in Petland Kansas City’s 6-week Puppy Training Course:
Week One
Introduction of trainer and background
Explanation of what positive reinforcement is
Explanation of positive markers, negative markers, and rewards
Focus (look) command
Sit and release command
Week Two
Behavior modification
Potty training, chewing, mouthing, barking, jumping
Leash training
Down command
Week Three
Leave it
Stay
Go to place
Week Four
Come when called
Side
Heel
Week Five
Come when called with leave it
Give me paw / high five
Review of all previous commands that have been taught in the course
Week Six
Basic obedience test
Graduation ceremony
Roll over
Explanation of what is taught in the Advanced Training course, which you may want your puppy to attend, and why it is important to continue your puppy’s education and training
Now that you know what puppies learn when they attend a puppy training school, are you ready for your first puppy? Petland is the most-trusted name in purebred puppies thanks to our high breeding standards and no puppy mill guarantee. Learn more about where our puppies come from and the breeders we work with by visiting our Cares and Breeders webpages.