Puppy class in The Hague

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Photo credit: Unsplash http://bit.ly/2aBkJ8c (CC0 licence)

For whom is our puppy class?

For people who want to raise a ‘bomb-proof’ dog: a dog who is relaxed and polite in everyday family and city situations.

The course is designed for any owner (experienced or less experienced) who would like to receive advice and guidance based on modern professional and scientific insights. 

In principle, pups between 10 and 16 weeks are welcome to join but we always look at your personal circumstances. Should your pup be a little younger or older than that, you can still sign up and we will discuss the best options with you. 

Is your pup 5 months or older? Then you can sign up for the Obedience training course. 

If you have any question, do not hesitate to contact us. It would be our pleasure to help you. 

If you are curious about how what puppy owners think about their experience with us, check our testimonials page (look for the word ‘pup’). 

Objectives of our puppy class

Do you want to give your pup a good start in life? During our puppy lessons, we give the pup real life skills so he approaches life confidently and calmly.

At OhMyDog!, we teach your pup to feel secure and recover quickly from life’s little scares. It is also the opportunity to let him see other dogs in a controlled environment.

We will also show you how to curb bad habits before they become entrenched.

Additional information

• Focus on life-skills: The lessons focus more on life-skills (impulse control, good manners, bounce-back – stress resilience, patience and socialisation) rather than obedience (like ‘stay’). This gives your pup the best shot at growing up into a happy, well-behaved, well-adjusted and sociable dog and reduces the chance that they develop common behaviour problems. 
• Open enrolment and small groups: Puppies can start every week so that you don’t have to wait long before joining. We ensure that beginners and advanced puppies are challenged at their respective level through giving much individual attention (small groups and two trainers per group). Open enrolment also gives your pup a chance to be exposed to a greater variety of puppy sizes, breeds and ages. 
• Vaccinations: We prefer waiting until the pups have received their second vaccination (so from 9-10 weeks). If you are worried about the health risks of enrolling your pup before their third round, see our vaccination section of our FAQ. 
• Supervised play: We let the pups play under supervision during a dedicated lesson. We then match compatible play partners together, give ‘live’ commentary about their body language and interactions, and show you how and when to have them take a break. This helps you understand and supervise play sessions between dogs in a well-informed way. 

Central themes: socialization and habituation

If you introduce a person, situation or object a few times in a positive way to a 6- to 12-week-old pup, the positive association will stick for the rest of the dog’s life. Expose them any later, and they may approach with caution or fear, with all the headaches this entails. At OhMyDog!, we pack your pup’s socialization window full of positive experiences with joggers, uniforms, kids, hats, umbrellas, and all sorts, so the dog gets used to them in a gentle and positive way, and learns to behave calmly and confidently around them.

At OhMyDog!’s puppy classes, we also give you the key to dealing with typical puppy problems like jumping up, play biting, destructive behaviour, or house-training.

A sample of our puppy class

(video courtesy of Lucy Irvine, filmed on our old field)

These are some of the things we’ll tackle with you in class:

• Getting your dog used to, and confident about, unknown situations and objects
• Making the veterinary check a relaxing experience
• Teaching self-control in play (no painful nips)
• Teaching basic obedience skills like sitting on command
• Teaching good manners with greeting (no jumping)

And a little extra help

• Crate train Rex: Teach Rex to relax in his crate
• Rex stays home alone: Teach Rex to be cool with a little alone time
• Housetrain Rex: Teach Rex to hold it in
• Make Rex brave: Teach Rex to get over life’s little stresses, and to find a loud truck, horses, a vaccuum cleaner, the most normal things in the world.
• Help! My puppy bites: Learn the various reasons pups bite, and strategies how to deal with it
• Socialisation and habituation checklist: All the things to get Rex to love, in one neat little list.

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