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Raising a puppy doesn't have to feel like you're negotiating with a tiny, furry tornado every day.
Puppy Foundations is a six-week group class designed to help puppies and their people build confidence, communication, and real-life skills from the very beginning. Through small class sizes and hands-on coaching, you'll learn how to create focus, engagement, calmness, and good manners that carry over into everyday life.
Designed for puppies ages 12 weeks to 6 months, this class focuses on building a strong foundation while helping owners understand how puppies learn, communicate, socialize, and navigate the world around them.
February 13, 2027 at 10:00 AM
February 20, 2027 at 10:00 AM
February 27, 2027 at 10:00 AM
March 6, 2027 at 10:00 AM
March 13, 2027 at 10:00 AM
March 20, 2027 at 10:00 AM
Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Maximum of 5 puppies per class
Six consecutive weeks
AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy Evaluation included
Small-group coaching for individualized support
Owner education, homework, and support between classes
Week 1: Learning How to Learn
We'll introduce marker training, engagement games, focus exercises, luring, free shaping, and the communication systems that make training clear and fun. We'll also talk about how puppies learn and how to start reinforcing the behaviors you actually want to see more of.
Week 2: Puppy Basics
We'll begin building foundational skills including sit, down, recall, leash walking, and name recognition. We'll also introduce cooperative care and handling so everyday things like grooming, vet visits, and touching paws don't become a wrestling match later.
Week 3: Proper Socialization & Confidence
Socialization is about much more than meeting as many dogs and people as possible. We'll work on appropriate exposure to people, dogs, surfaces, sounds, environments, and new experiences while teaching puppies how to confidently navigate the world without needing to interact with everything they see.
Week 4: Raising a Puppy You Can Live With
We'll work on calmness, settling, impulse control, polite greetings, place work, and everyday household manners. Puppies will begin learning that sometimes the assignment is simply to hang out and not be the center of every party.
Week 5: Taking Puppy Skills Into Real Life
Now we start putting the pieces together. We'll increase distractions and work on leash skills, recalls, engagement, neutrality, handling, and maintaining learned behaviors when the environment becomes a little more interesting.
Week 6: AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy Evaluation & Graduation
We'll review what we've learned, troubleshoot any remaining puppy challenges, complete the AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy Evaluation, and celebrate how far your puppy has come over the six weeks. You'll also leave with guidance for what to continue working on as your puppy moves into adolescence.
Raising a puppy doesn't have to feel like you're negotiating with a tiny, furry tornado every day.
Puppy Foundations is a six-week group class designed to help puppies and their people build confidence, communication, and real-life skills from the very beginning. Through small class sizes and hands-on coaching, you'll learn how to create focus, engagement, calmness, and good manners that carry over into everyday life.
Designed for puppies ages 12 weeks to 6 months, this class focuses on building a strong foundation while helping owners understand how puppies learn, communicate, socialize, and navigate the world around them.
February 13, 2027 at 10:00 AM
February 20, 2027 at 10:00 AM
February 27, 2027 at 10:00 AM
March 6, 2027 at 10:00 AM
March 13, 2027 at 10:00 AM
March 20, 2027 at 10:00 AM
Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Maximum of 5 puppies per class
Six consecutive weeks
AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy Evaluation included
Small-group coaching for individualized support
Owner education, homework, and support between classes
Week 1: Learning How to Learn
We'll introduce marker training, engagement games, focus exercises, luring, free shaping, and the communication systems that make training clear and fun. We'll also talk about how puppies learn and how to start reinforcing the behaviors you actually want to see more of.
Week 2: Puppy Basics
We'll begin building foundational skills including sit, down, recall, leash walking, and name recognition. We'll also introduce cooperative care and handling so everyday things like grooming, vet visits, and touching paws don't become a wrestling match later.
Week 3: Proper Socialization & Confidence
Socialization is about much more than meeting as many dogs and people as possible. We'll work on appropriate exposure to people, dogs, surfaces, sounds, environments, and new experiences while teaching puppies how to confidently navigate the world without needing to interact with everything they see.
Week 4: Raising a Puppy You Can Live With
We'll work on calmness, settling, impulse control, polite greetings, place work, and everyday household manners. Puppies will begin learning that sometimes the assignment is simply to hang out and not be the center of every party.
Week 5: Taking Puppy Skills Into Real Life
Now we start putting the pieces together. We'll increase distractions and work on leash skills, recalls, engagement, neutrality, handling, and maintaining learned behaviors when the environment becomes a little more interesting.
Week 6: AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy Evaluation & Graduation
We'll review what we've learned, troubleshoot any remaining puppy challenges, complete the AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy Evaluation, and celebrate how far your puppy has come over the six weeks. You'll also leave with guidance for what to continue working on as your puppy moves into adolescence.
