Attending a puppy school can be enriching in many ways. She socializes puppies and owners alike in exchange with other young dogs, owners and dog trainers. Here you can find out when the puppy school makes sense, what costs are incurred and how you can find a good puppy school.
- Attending a puppy school is recommended from the twelfth week of the dog’s life, but not compulsory.
- In the puppy school, basic commands as well as dealing with conspecifics and foreign environmental stimuli are trained.
- The costs of the puppy courses vary depending on the provider and the type of training in individual or group lessons.
When does the puppy school make sense?
According to Digopaul, puppy training can be started at an early age: from around four weeks of age around eighty percent of the brain’s capacity has been developed. The puppy is then in the so-called socialization phase, in which the young dogs no longer forget what they have learned. However, puppies have a small attention span and therefore need several attempts at learning new things. Puppy training is recommended from the twelfth week of life, as the young dogs are stronger and more stable in their behavior within a few months. The training becomes much more difficult at a later point in time.
Is there an obligation?
Attending a puppy school is not an obligation, but an individual decision of the dog owner.
Visiting a puppy school is worthwhile
Attending a puppy school is not only useful for the puppy, but also for experienced and inexperienced dog owners. A central part of the training course is to explain the dog’s behavior to the dog owner. The dog owner is thus also trained. In addition, the dog owners learn how to behave in stressful situations.
What happens in the puppy school?
In the puppy school, the puppy gets to know conspecifics who are of the same age and level of development. Through the exchange with other young dogs, the puppy develops its social skills and at the same time trains the exchange with other dogs. In addition, the puppies learn various basic commands in which they have to concentrate on their owner, even if they are surrounded by other, distracting dogs in the group. So that the dogs do not develop fear of strange noises or surfaces, for example, they are specifically confronted with various environmental stimuli in the course.
In addition to the actual dog training, the dog owners can exchange tips and experiences with each other and also with the dog trainers.
What does the puppy school cost?
The costs of a puppy course in groups vary between ten and twenty-five euros per hour , depending on the dog school . Ten and monthly tickets are often offered. Individual lessons are also possible at the puppy school. The prices here are forty to one hundred euros for an hour. However, it is advisable to attend a trial lesson first in order to then select further courses. In addition to the respective hourly prices, there are also costs for all course materials.
Raising puppies without a puppy school
If you already have a lot of experience as a dog owner and also have an uncomplicated young dog, a visit to a puppy school and later the dog school is not a must. However, the socialization of the puppies with other dogs is central to the further development of the dogs and can be learned above all in joint puppy training. In addition to the puppy courses, there are also specialist books in which you can learn more about parenting methods, for example.
How to Identify a Good Puppy School
When looking for a suitable dog school with puppy courses, you should pay attention to various criteria:
- Look out for professionally trained dog trainers.
- The puppies should be at the same level of development within the course. Several breeds should be mixed in one course. In addition, the height of the dogs should be taken into account so that no injuries can occur in the training and game rounds.
- A dog trainer should not train more than six dogs at the same time, otherwise not all puppies can be adequately supervised.
- It is important that the course schedule ensures variety in the training and rest phases so that your young dog can learn as much as possible.
- Another basic requirement for choosing the right school is non-violent physical and verbal interaction with the animals.
