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Paw-sitive Puppy Start
When your dog has confidence and a balanced personality, you'll have fewer behavioral problems, and they'll have more opportunities to have fun.
Don’t Miss the Most Crucial Weeks of Your Puppy’s Life
From 8 weeks to 6 months, your puppy undergoes powerful genetic and developmental changes that will shape their future. Confidence, trust, manners, personality, formative associations, and emotional balance are all being formed right now — once this window closes, you can’t go back and redo it. This is more important than any training you will do with your dog later on.
Every single interaction teaches your puppy something. Whether you mean to or not, you’re training them with every look, word, and moment of attention or inattention.
The question is — are you teaching them the right things?
Our exclusive Puppy Foundations Program is designed to make sure you don’t miss a single critical step. This program was designed with, and initially for, a local veterinarian. Because real results take time, patience, and total focus, we only accept one puppy at a time — ensuring your dog gets the expert, personalized training they deserve during this once-in-a-lifetime stage. The sooner you do it, the better. We prefer to get puppies right at 8 weeks of age, but certainly before they are 12 weeks old.
Spaces are extremely limited — apply now to reserve your puppy’s spot.
Please note that this is not obedience training. We will not be attempting to build obedience training skills as we do in our board-and-train program. Your dog will be well-positioned to enter our board-and-train program as soon as they are old enough.
Benefits of the Puppy Start
Manners
Don't let your puppy turn into a monster!
We will set boundaries and discourage bad behaviors such as destructive chewing, scratching and biting. We will also create predictable routines to help your puppy feel secure.
Less Fear
of Vets & Groomers
Handling work gets your puppy used to being handled and touched in sensitive areas like ears and toes.
Socialize for a more Balanced Personality
A dog who has had proper, intentional and sustained socialization and normalization training will have a more balanced, less anxious personality.
Housebreaking
Prevent accidents in the house by helping your puppy understand where its acceptible to go to the bathroom.
Leash Introduction
We will introduce your puppy to the leash as well as gentle direction to make walking your puppy on a leash a pleasant experience.
Phase 1: Bonding, Structure, Sensory Socialization/Normalization
Focus: Building Trust, crate training, house breaking, normalizing every day life.
Environmental Exposure
Continued exposure, to vacuums, blenders, doorbells, TV's, as well as Humans of different appearances, surfaces, car rides, handling by others.
Name Recognition, Engagement
Puppy gets used to his name and we practice paying attention to the Humans!
Positive Exposure
Socialization doesn't mean your dog wants to play with every person or dog they meet.
Positive and passive neutral exposure to a variety of sights/sounds, environments and people.
Intro to Place
Jumping on people, or barking when they come to the door, is not usually considered good manners
Intro to Leash Pressure
Respecting leash pressure, tethering and structured walks inside.
Phase 2: Confidence, Core Obedience Foundations
Focus: Building Trust, crate training, house breaking, normalizing every day life.
Introduce obedience basics like Sit, Down and Place
Sit, down and place, without sustained duration.
Leave It
Redirection and intro to threshold boundaries
Calm Greetings / Environmental Exposure
Continue human engagement work in an appropriate manner so as not to encourage or promote jumping.
Short neutral puppy safe public outings. (No feet on the ground before full vaccination.) Exposure to mild stressors in a controlled manner to build stress tolerance.
Indoor recall
Foundations of recall in low distraction environments - initially on a training lead.
Loose leash walking
Walk nicely on a leash (not a heel) In low-distraction environments.
Phase 3: Generalization & Impulse Control
Focus: Apply learned behaviors in public settings, add light distractions, and reinforce emotional stability. (Assumes Vaccinations are complete.)
Environmental Exposure
Continued calm crate behavior with noise or movement around
Exposure to higher energy environments, parks, big box stores, downtown areas
Passive neutrality to the presence of other dogs.
Recall from a Distance
Stronger long-line recall
Positive Independence
Strengthen independence with solo time during periods of busy human activity
Sustained skills
Place / Sit with increased duration + moderate distractions
Calm “settle” periods in the house (during meals, work hours, etc.)
Leash Walking with medium distractions
Loose Leash walking in moderately distracting areas.
Phase 4: Maturity, Structure, Transition Prep
Focus: Build reliability, maintain calm in stimulating environments, and prepare for reintegration into the owner's home.
Light-Neutral Pressure introduction
Initial introduction to basic low e-collar sensations and leash pressure and an understanding of what the pressure means.
Lays the foundation for advanced training.
Recall from a Distance
Stronger long line recall
Dog Exposure
Neutral Exposure to ambient dog presence with passive neutrality to dogs walking by or barking nearby.
Improved to home skills
Place with increased duration (20+minutes)
Manners: polite exits, sit at thresholds, automatic sits when stopping
Calm “settle” periods in the house (during meals, work hours, etc.)
Intro to Heel Position
Heel position introduced via luring and shaping. Structured leash walks in public areas
How it Works
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Your dog will live in my home for a minimum of 28 days
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I will raise your puppy to a Standard
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If it takes longer than 28 days, that's what it takes, and there are no additional charges to you
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Your dog will not stay in a warehouse or separate kennel facility
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To achieve greater success, we begin training in a home environment around friends, family, neighbors and their dogs
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Your dog is cared for and monitored 24 hours a day
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Trained at a minimum of 6 locations for conditioning and exposure to distractions
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Socialized around other people and dogs, in public places to improve confidence and reduce anxiety
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Get acquainted with the process of getting into a vehicle and embarking on a trip.
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Between 9-12 days, get an update of our progress, including areas to be addressed and things we are focusing on
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Continue to monitor your dog's progress on our Facebook page
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Receive video clips of training sessions
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Make sure to Like, Share, and Comment!
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After training the dogs we train the Humans!
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Our 2-3 hour graduation lesson includes critical dog owner and handler skills, including leash handling, reinforcement drills, and canine leadership - everything you need to maintain your dog's training
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The tools we use to train your dog come home with your dog. They will be customized to your dog and we will teach you how to use them, it's all included. No upsells, and no hidden fees.
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At the end of the program, you'll receive lots of documentation including a 30 page guide, e-collar instructions, vocabulary and house rules, as well as links to training videos by James Hamm
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We're here to support you for the life of your pet
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If there is anything you are unsure of or need help with, contact us, and we'll make arrangements to help you until you get the desired results
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If you need help, you are welcome to come back with your dog as many times as necessary so that I can work with you as a team