Early Beginnings Puppy Training

Let be honest, brining home a new puppy can be overwhelming, but there’s nothing to worry about – we’ve got you covered.

Puppies need routines and schedules. Lots of them.

We don’t mean to overwhelm you, but having a schedule for toilet training, feeding, socialisation, crate training, and sleeping will make your life much easier in the long run! Ah, and let’s not forget also ones for learning Life Skills or obedience.

Our week-by-week puppy training schedule will show you the way to raise your puppy into a polite, well-behaved ready to take on the world dog!

By setting the ground rules for your puppy while they’re young, you’ll have no worries as they grow up. With your guidance, and a good start from us, there’s no doubt they will become the hottest dog in town in no time.

Some general advice upfront

Why start off at 8 weeks?

Well to keep it short, the earlier the better.

A puppy’s prime learning age is before they are 16 weeks old, when they’re the most eager and willing to listen. Better not wait until they hit their teenage years – we all know how much of an uphill battle that age can be.

USEFUL INFO: Puppies are always learning, from the moment they’re born. Their mother teaches them their first set of valuable skills to set them off for their new lives with you such as how to feed, where to go to the toilet – and their littermates teach them how to play.

Why do I need to have puppy training schedules and routines?

Just like people do to be honest, puppies thrive when they have a routine. Routines help make a little more sense of the world as it becomes predictable; yet never boring.

It also helps them gain confidence in themselves, as they know how to deal with new experiences and situations better and better.

Having a puppy training schedule will help you to

Speed up the learning process of house training
Feel less of the stress and worries you go through as a new puppy parent
Have a confident puppy!

What do we include in your puppy’s daily training schedule?

Here’s a few that we include in your puppy’s daily training schedule:

Toilet Training
Sleep Training
Alone Training
Enrichment
Playing, chewing, tugging and sniffing
Socialisation (at home exercises).
Walks and socialisation field trips
Life Skills and Obedience Training

We know what you’re thinking – it definitely looks way too much for a small puppy. And there are so few hours in the day! But there’s nothing to worry about. We’ve kept in mind how everyone’s lives and schedules are different and we will help with this transition.

What kind of training methods will we be using?

Positive Reinforcement training, alongside management protocols, is the latest and most modern training method. This is the one we’ll be guiding you with – let us explain why we trust it.

The reward based system of Positive Reinforcement training has been scientifically proven to effectively encourage the behaviours that you want to see your puppy do, and to give them confidence when entering a new situation. To put it really straight forward – more rewards mean more good behaviour. More good doggies, more happy humans!

What we mean by ‘good behaviours’ could be anything like having our pups sit, lay down, settle, or come back when we call out their name.

Rewards can be all sorts of things such as:

Treats,
Toys,
Praise,
Or anything else your puppy likes. Let’s not make it money though, that hasn’t worked out too well for humans.

What does Management mean in Puppy Training?

Management is all about controlling the situation and environment around your puppy to help them avoid making mistakes or getting into sticky situations (can be meant literally, if they have a toilet-related accident).

Although you might think management makes you look like the fun police, it’s quite the opposite in the long run really. Management will help them familiarise themselves with the rights or wrongs by setting them up for success, rather than learning by mistakes!

Here’s a few examples of how you can practice management with your puppy:

Getting a crate to keep your puppy safe.
Restricting an area or room of the house with a baby gate to prevent your puppy going in somewhere we don’t want them.
A harness and lead to stop them from jumping up on people with their muddy paws.

Do we use punishments?

No, no.

Punishing puppies is way behind the times! Doesn’t really make sense to expect your puppy to know the ropes straight away anyway, right? There’s plenty of research in puppy development that shows how punishment methods are just dodgy too.

With positive reinforcement, you’ll learn how to teach them correctly so that rewards aren’t withheld, and corrections needn’t be made.

Train them with love, kindness, patience and consistency.

At what time should I train my puppy?

Throughout the day. At the beginning you’ll have to adjust your personal schedule to set time aside to train your puppy.

The easiest times to remember to train your puppy are usually:

First thing in the morning (around 7am): Make it after your puppy’s been out to the toilet and use some of their breakfast kibble as food rewards.
After their post breakfast wee
After their mid-morning nap
Before you give them their brunch (around 11) – you can use some of their food ration as treats.
After their afternoon nap
Before Dinner time (around 3pm) – use some of their dinner to train
Before supper (around 7pm) – using some of their food to reward them with

As you can see by our collection of nicely organized bullet points, puppy training relies on repetition and consistency. And patience. Learning (for any kind of living organism, to be fair) works best with a groundwork like this; which we’re more than confident you’ll be able to get the hang of eventually. Once you start seeing the progress with your puppy, we assure you that the excitement will only make you want to keep going further.

What does a day in the life of my puppy look like?

Below, you’ll find a 24 hour sample puppy training schedule. It includes everything you’ll need to do for the day and big arrival to get yourself (and the little one) into a smart routine and on the right track.

Time	Activity
5-7am	Wake up and Toilet Time! We’ve put this in the same box because they’ll happen almost at the same time. As soon as your eyes open, go straight to your puppy’s toilet area. Take your puppy with you when you do this, of course (we know the struggles of a sleepy head in these early mornings).
5-7am	See if your puppy will go back to sleep after their early toilet break. If not, well, get the coffee on to start your day as well.
7.00	Breakfast – In an activity feeder or Kong to keep them busy and unbloated.
7.15	Toilet Break
7.30	Play and Training
8.15	Toilet Break
8.30	Naptime
10.30	Toilet Break
10.45	Training
11am	Brunch
11.15	Toilet Break
11.30	Play and Training
11.45	Toilet Break
12.00	Play and Training
12.30	Naptime
2.30	Toilet Break
2.45	Play and Training
3.00	Dinner Time
3.15	Toilet Break
3.30	Play and Training
3.45	Toilet Break
4.00	Naptime
6.00	Toilet Break
6.15	Training
7pm	Supper Time
7.15	Toilet Break
7.30	Play and Training
7.45	Toilet Break
8.00	Relaxation and wind down
10.45	Toilet Break
11pm – midnight	Bed Time
3am	Wake up and take your puppy to the toilet. Yes, you read correctly, 3:00 am. Not forever though!
3.15	Calmly go back to bed.
5-7am	Good morning! Start all over – first stop, toilet area.

Do I have to follow the schedule you’ve set for me?

It’s up to you. First, have a look at the schedule and test out how you and your puppy adjust around it. In broad brushstrokes, one of the most important things to implement is opportunity for toilet breaks, especially after playing, training, napping and eating.

What does the Early Beginning Training packages cost?

Below is the pricing for the Board and Train programs we'd be able to offer. All programs include weekly notes for you showcasing your pups training and improvements.

2 week Board & Train (Travel not included, must be willing to get the puppy from us in Mount Vernon, WA) $2000

4 week B&T (Travel not included) $3750

6 week B&T (Travel not included) $4500

8 week B&T (Travel to and from included within 2 hours of Mount Vernon If a flight is needed, cost of flight and hotel not included) $5,000

10 week B&T (Travel included within 2 hours of Mount Vernon If a flight is needed, cost of flight and hotel not included ) $7,150 B&T

12 week (Travel to and from included within 2 hours of Mount Vernon If a flight is needed, cost of flight and hotel not included) $9,150