Best Age To Start Puppy School

[nicolatu]

I just got a BC puppy and I have enrolled him in puppy school. As he is going to grow up to be large, I think it is worth to socialize more with other breeds and used to people handling him. I already had neighbour and friends come and pat him. I think puppy school will be more than helpful because basic obedience and manners is important when we bring our dog out in future. At least that is what i think.

Nic

[nicole75]

My puppy starts pre school tonight at a vet clinic, it's a 4 week course. They follow the DELTA approach, has anyone heard about this?

[jadesamara]

I too am the proud owner of a new Staffy pup. He is 12wks on Friday. I am tossing up whether to send him to puppy preschool (vet clinic is only option...sorry alpha bet), or wait for enrolment age in proper obedience school close by. As for the socialising factor, I was thinking about heading to a smallish dog park with him, if I don't go with the preschool option. We go for little walks to pick up kids from school, so he is getting used to traffic, kids, people, leash etc. Any suggestions most welcome.

[poodlefan]

I too am the proud owner of a new Staffy pup. He is 12wks on Friday. I am tossing up whether to send him to puppy preschool (vet clinic is only option...sorry alpha bet), or wait for enrolment age in proper obedience school close by. As for the socialising factor, I was thinking about heading to a smallish dog park with him, if I don't go with the preschool option. We go for little walks to pick up kids from school, so he is getting used to traffic, kids, people, leash etc. Any suggestions most welcome.

You can't send him to school - you'll have to take him. ;) He's going to be past a critical socialisation period shortly so the window is closing on your chance to get him started.

I cannot think of a worse place for a young Stafford pup than the local dog park where you have no control over what sorts of dogs he meets and even less over how they treat him. You don't want your dog roughed up or hurt. If you'd not turn a toddler loose into the middle of a rugby match then I'd avoid the dog park.

If friends have vaccinated, well mannered adult dogs, they represent a good opportunity for your pup to do some meeting and greeting under more controlled circumstances.

I hope those walks aren't more than about 5-10 minutes long. He's only a bub so you have to be careful not to over do it on growing bones.

[Sandra777]

I too am the proud owner of a new Staffy pup. He is 12wks on Friday. I am tossing up whether to send him to puppy preschool (vet clinic is only option...sorry alpha bet), or wait for enrolment age in proper obedience school close by. As for the socialising factor, I was thinking about heading to a smallish dog park with him, if I don't go with the preschool option. We go for little walks to pick up kids from school, so he is getting used to traffic, kids, people, leash etc. Any suggestions most welcome.

You can't send him to school - you'll have to take him. He's going to be past a critical socialisation period shortly so the window is closing on your chance to get him started.

I cannot think of a worse place for a young Stafford pup than the local dog park where you have no control over what sorts of dogs he meets and even less over how they treat him. You don't want your dog roughed up or hurt. If you'd not turn a toddler loose into the middle of a rugby match then I'd avoid the dog park.

If friends have vaccinated, well mannered adult dogs, they represent a good opportunity for your pup to do some meeting and greeting under more controlled circumstances.

I hope those walks aren't more than about 5-10 minutes long. He's only a bub so you have to be careful not to over do it on growing bones.

X2

Dog parks can be terrible places for well socialised adult dogs - for a small puppy it's a disaster waiting to happen.

The whole concept of allowing a bunch of strange dogs, many of which are probably rude and unsocialised themselves, to run around together is just bizarre to me - dogs are naturally inclined to like their known and familiar pack (dogs/human/feline/watchever).

Getting out and about picking up the kids from school is perfect - this is the sort of socialisation dogs in the olden days used to get - no preschools for them!

Edited April 21, 2010 by Sandra777

[jadesamara]

Thank you Sandra and Poodlefan. I am not a great fan of off-leash parks (I took my Dobe pup to Kroll at Redcliffe about 13 years ago, and she was fear-aggressive as an adult). I don't blame the park, of course, but she did not like the packs confronting her like that, and I was not comfortable either. BUT, I thought that was the "done thing". I thought they had to be "taught" by other dogs - learn how to act like a dog, and behave correctly etc.

I think I will enrol him in preschool. We live on acreage, so don't have any dogs really that close. I have introduced him to our neighbour's dog Molly, and they loved each other.

While waiting at school a few days ago, we ran into a lady I know. Neither of us knew the other had a new pup - she has an 11wk old Ridgeback. It was wonderful watching Benson (my Staffy) and her Ridgeback interact and "play", (except Benson and I both cringed every time the Ridgeback's huge paw donged him on the noggin )

At his 12wk needles on Friday I will check out the Preschool schedule. I do keep his walks to every other day, and we don't go far - it's mainly for leash practice and to get him used to traffic passing by.

Thanks again for your advice, Sandra and Poodlefan. Do you think I should give the Million Paws Walk a miss? It's May 16, so he'll be just over 15wks old.

[poodlefan]

Thanks again for your advice, Sandra and Poodlefan. Do you think I should give the Million Paws Walk a miss? It's May 16, so he'll be just over 15wks old.

How far is it?

Maybe take him but have something to carry him in? A stroller would work.

[jadesamara]

No, I am going to give it a miss. It's 2km. Probably too far for both of us! I'll just enjoy the puppy stage...I'm sure he'll grow up too quickly anyway.

[poodlefan]

No, I am going to give it a miss. It's 2km. Probably too far for both of us! I'll just enjoy the puppy stage...I'm sure he'll grow up too quickly anyway.

Option 2 is to go for the socialiation/outing but skip the walk.

[jadesamara]

That's true. The dogs should all be on leads, so it shouldn't be too traumatic for him. I read on the other forum pages about a Parvo outbreak in Brissie, so I will monitor that situation before I decide for sure.

Thanks Poodlefan.

[poodlefan]

That's true. The dogs should all be on leads, so it shouldn't be too traumatic for him. I read on the other forum pages about a Parvo outbreak in Brissie, so I will monitor that situation before I decide for sure.

Thanks Poodlefan.

Just keep him out of the reach of dogs that don't approach calmly.

[Sandra777]

I thought they had to be "taught" by other dogs - learn how to act like a dog, and behave correctly etc.

Yes, puppy's do need other dogs to learn how to be dogs, but you have to be so careful to choose the dogs properly, not just let them randomly meet dogs in public park. Sadly many of the dogs you'll meet there are unsocialised and quite possibly damaging to a young puppy, and for small puppies, very occasionally fatal.

Another choice is to find out where the local dog obedience or conformation showing classes are and just go along, no need to participate if you don't want to, but your pup can meet other dogs and you will find some people who understand dogs well enough to know which of their dogs (if any) shouldn't help with your puppy's education. If you choose to do this just be sure to keep out of the way when the serious stuff is happening

[poodlefan]

Oooh just had a thought Jadesamara.. has you pup had its last vaccination yet? Is he on a course of two or three jabs?

If he's not fully vaccinated, I'd not be taking him to public places where there are a lot of dogs.

[RallyValley]

Westozmike, I cannot recommend these puppy classes highly enough:

http://trainapuptime.com/

Very good understanding of different breeds, small class sizes .

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

I'd recommend puppy pre-school but it is important to find a good one.

The one I went to is run by my favourite vet and president of our dog club. He had all the products for "pushing" but was kind of anti push, telling us stuff like a desexed dog needs 1/3 less food than what the packet recommends and maybe less than that depending on how much exercise the dog gets.

We learned a lot about what is good play and what needs breaking up and how to break it up. And general stuff about what a dog needs in terms of on going care. I didn't know much about vaccinations before I got there. I learned they need annual vaccinations and also should not be allowed to socialise with strangers until after the puppy has had the last booster and add two weeks - which I didn't know before. Makes me wonder how long the C5 vaccination has been available.

And we did basic obedience like sit, heel, stay, come with treats like kitten kibble or cheese. We also learned how to teach our puppies not to bite, I didn't find yelping all that effective but a 3 second ignore after the yelp worked well.

Our class had a malamute (huge), a Groodle - working on huge, and my ACD x who was tiny compared to the other two. But I think ACDx became boss puppy, she was more agile than the malamute and more adventurous than the Groodle who had been boss puppy in the previous group she was with. Groodle did come out from under her owners legs eventually and no puppy was savaged or seriously hurt.

It's important that an ACDx is taught to play nice with other dogs, children, joggers, bicycles, cars, tractor mowers... We followed up puppy pre-school with puppy school at obedience dog club. And lots of meet and greet beforehand and at our local dog exercise areas - the unfenced or not quite fenced mixed use sports ovals. The best way you can get good socialisation is to take the puppy when it is too small to do serious damage and introduce it safely to as many new situations as possible. I don't know how you can expect a dog to know the dog ettiquette rules if it never gets the opportunity to learn.

[jadesamara]

Sandra, that is an excellent idea. I have an Obedience Club about 6mins drive away, so I will start with socialising once he's had all his shots, and then start lessons when he's old enough.

Poodlefan, Benson is due for his second shot in two days. The vet said he should have total of 3. However, I have read in numerous books that you should weigh up between keeping pups isolated until all 3 vaccinations have been given (and thus risk having an antisocial dog) OR let them mix with other dogs for the socialisation (and risk them catching a potentially fatal disease). The books tend to lean towards letting them mix early as anti-social dogs are very hard to "fix".

I got talking to the Ridgeback's mum today at school, and we've decided to have "playdates" with our dogs. It turns out her pup is 13wks, not 11wks like I thought, but as he's still not fully vaccinated she is in the same boat as me re socialising.

I'm really trying to do the right thing by him while he's young, as we have children now and I want a confident, non-aggressive, well adjusted family member. Remember, it's been 14 years since we've last had pups, so I am a bit rusty

[nicolatu]

Hi Jadesmara, my puppy is 12 weeks today and had his second booster. The dog trainer in the puppy school said we could bring him out for walks but make sure he doesn't come in contact with any dogs that haven't been vaccinated or any wee/poo on the ground. He said socialisation is important and most dogs get euthanized because of behavioural problems. I just sent an email to my puppy's breeder and ask what she has to say about bringing my puppy out for walk. Will update when i receive her reply.

[GoldenGirl85]

My vet fast tracked my girls vaccinations, I wasnt keen to take her out until 2 weeks after she had her 3rd but if they are involved in puppy preschool the vet gives them sooner than they are 'due' I delayed her second booster because I didnt know this, but she had been given her 3rd and by 14 weeks the 10 day period was up so I could take her out without too much worry

[jadesamara]

Thanks Nicola & GoldenGirl. I'll talk to my vet tomorrow too, at Benson's 2nd booster. I really appreciate all the advice that has been given. What a great, friendly site!

[westozmike]

Thanks Valley CBR.

Someone else (on another post) was singing the praises also. Unfortunately Forestdale is too far from Carine to make it feasible for me.

So far so good at Northern Suburbs Dog Club, though my little terror is a bit much for most of the pups and often has to be put on a lead during free play time to maintain some control. ;)

This is not ideal, but the instructor is working with me to try and teach her some better play manners. My feeling is if there were some other SBTs (or similar strong dogs) in the class she would be better off. But this is just luck as to who turns up on the day.

Edited April 22, 2010 by westozmike