The DogSmith Free Puppy Class Goals
The DogSmiths run FREE puppy classes each month at various locations.
- The goal is to have 6 attendees in each class so their puppies have lots of other dogs to socialize with and they also meet five new humans.
- Each attendee receives a Puppy Promotional Bag containing 1 FREE puppy socialization brochure
- Our FREE puppy class is fast paced and fun. Our goal is to show puppy owners how puppies play, how to teach a soft mouth, how to lure a sit and a down, how to lure a trick ‘spin’ and how to desensitize the collar and body parts of the puppy.
The DogSmith Free Puppy Class Structure - off leash in a safe and secure area.
- No lectures, no theory. A very quick 3 minute introduction on why puppy class is so important. We cover key topics such as socialization and bite inhibition
- We show you how to lure a ‘sit’, you let your puppy play with the other dogs for 3 minutes and then we all retrieve or call our puppies back and have them sit again. This teaches puppies that they must pay attention to us and if they do then they are rewarded with play time. We need dogs that are obedient in real life situations with lots of distractions
- We show you how to help your dog learn to have a ‘soft mouth’ while you hand feed your dogs treats. We explain the importance of no ‘teeth contact’ before we work on ‘no mouthing’
- We then show you how to lure a ‘down’, we have the dogs play for 3 minutes, and then we call or retrieve the puppies again. We then have them do a ‘down’ again. Once they ‘down’ they can then go and play with the other puppies again.
- We throw toys on the floor for the puppies to interact and play with. The toys are different shapes and sizes.
- We swap puppies and have everybody work for a couple of minutes with another dog, we play ‘pass the puppy’. Everyone gets to have contact with the other puppies during the training. This way the puppies have contact with different people.
- As the dogs play Your DogSmith will narrate for you and explain your puppies body language and play behaviors. We will teach you how and when to intervene, if that becomes necessary
- We will show you how to desensitize your dogs collar by having your dog sit, taking the collar and then feeding your dog a treat.
- We finish the fast paced class by having everyone sit on the floor with their dogs in a 'down'. While we summarize the class we show you how to touch all parts of your dogs body rewarding them for nice calm behaviors.
Treat your Puppy to a DogSmith FREE Puppy Class