A Holistic Approach to Puppy Training
Both our Private Puppy Parent Coaching and our UpPup Academy programmes are designed to lay the foundations of a puppy's training during their critical learning period, i.e. up to 16 weeks old. Our goal is to help you guide your puppy to become the well-balanced, adaptable and loving canine companion that they have the potential to be.
Online training in the comfort of your own home, our programmes focus on fast tracking your puppy’s learning by empowering you with the most modern, ethical and scientifically accurate dog training methods and knowledge.
Online training in the comfort of your own home, our programmes focus on fast tracking your puppy’s learning by empowering you with the most modern, ethical and scientifically accurate dog training methods and knowledge.
Please note: As every household has their own unique goals, obstacles and requirements, our Private Puppy Parent Coaching is designed to be customised to guide you step-by-step in addressing these requirements and achieving optimal results.
Why Choose Our Private Puppy Parent Coaching? Our Private Puppy Parent Coaching is every puppy parent's dream come true! Our goal as coaches is to set you and your puppy up for success from the moment they enter your home.
Under the watchful eye of one of our experienced trainers, you and your puppy will enjoy an unparalleled learning experience focused on nurturing your puppy during their critical learning period, up to 16 weeks of age. Under 16 weeks, your puppy's brain is creating new neural pathways at an extremely rapid rate, learning new habits faster than you can possibly imagine. With this in mind, we are incredibly passionate about training puppies at this age. By teaching your puppy all their fundamental training (including basic obedience, habituation and socialisation) during this critical learning period, we are starting them on their journey to becoming a well-behaved, well-balanced and confident canine companion destined for a life filled with love, happiness and fun-filled adventures. Since we have three-generations-worth of puppy training experience, we will also gladly share our wealth of knowledge when it comes to meeting dietary requirements, making training equipment purchases and selecting any other necessary pet care providers. Alongside your puppy's learning, we are also entirely dedicated to empowering you as the puppy parent so you are fully equipped with the most modern, ethical and scientifically accurate knowledge on how best to raise your puppy for them to reach their full potential. If started from the moment that you receive your puppy, this intensive one-on-one training programme not only fast tracks your puppy's learning but also facilitates you and your puppy gaining an undeniably stronger bond which will put you well on your way to enjoying a lifelong relationship of joy and understanding. Online training sessions run for about 1 hour each, via live video call, and you are sent a recording of the session within 48 hours of it taking place so you have a reference to practise with and help you achieve the best possible results. As professional puppy trainers, our priority is for you to feel supported in your puppy's overall care and well-being, so that you can relax and enjoy the learning experience. |
|
|
Why Choose Our Understand Your Puppy Course?
Our UpPup Academy course, Understand Your Puppy is a 12 part, 6 week group online puppy training course, specifically created for puppy parents raising puppies during their critical learning period, under 16 weeks old.
During this period, puppies pick up new habits very quickly. The 6 pre-recorded video modules in Understand Your Puppy, released on a weekly basis to guide your progress, are designed with that rapid neurological development in mind. Plus the modules are split into bite size lessons, so you can either binge-watch the whole module in about one hour per week or spread out the individual lessons over the course of the week. In addition to empowering you with the core course content, we are dedicated to helping you feel supported in your puppy parenting journey. At the end of each week (as part 2 of your weekly training), we have a live Q&A session in the dedicated Understand Your Puppy Facebook group. We discuss that week's module and you have an opportunity to have your questions answered live by our head puppy trainer. And, if you and your pup are up to it, you may even get the chance to be featured live in our one-on-one video coaching session during the Q&A to show the group a real life example of exactly how to answer your question. If you can't make it to the live Q&A - no worries, live sessions are recorded and available for you to learn from in your own time. |
Why is The Critical Learning Period So Important?Just like human children, puppies go through a number of developmental stages before they reach full maturity.
From the moment they begin to see and hear, at about 3 weeks old, their brains become receptive to new learning experiences. By the time a puppy reaches 5 weeks old, their developing mind is entirely capable of learning and retaining basic training. This can include everything from the beginnings of potty training to socialisation with humans and other canines. In fact, both positive and negative experiences during this time can have long term effects, shaping the way your puppy interacts with his environment going forward. Unfortunately, although breeders and rescues may know how to potty train their puppies and introduce them to basic training and socialisation, most of them just don't have sufficient resources to do so. |
|
|
Since your puppy's critical learning period starts between 3 and 5 weeks old and ends between 12 and 16 weeks old, when you receive your puppy at 8 weeks old, you have absolutely no time to waste in starting their training and putting them on the correct learning path.
During this critical learning period it is imperative that the foundations of socialisation, habituation and basic obedience training are all established. This will help your puppy learn to adapt to a variety of environments and, ultimately, reach their full potential as a well-behaved, well-balanced, loving canine companion. If any of these areas of training are started after this period, there is a much higher likelihood of your puppy developing anti-social behavioural problems. Apart from potentially causing a lot of heartache for everyone concerned, this can also be a very expensive, time-consuming and difficult situation to remedy. Our advice is: Be proactive instead of reactive. Give your puppy the best start in life and set them up for success from the very beginning by booking your Paws and Claws World Private Puppy Parent Coach or joining our UpPup Academy's Understand Your Puppy course before you select your puppy from the breeder or collect them from the rescue. |
Please remember: Your puppy should not leave the litter before 8 weeks old as this can drastically impede their canine socialisation skills as well as prevent them learning to inhibit the force of their bite.
How to Protect Puppies from Killer Diseases?In order to take full advantage of your puppy's critical learning period, it is important to fully invest in their training from the moment they enter your home. However, this can be a challenge due to their immature immune system.
When your puppy joins your family at 8 weeks old, their brain is completely capable of retaining training but, according to WSAVA vaccination guidelines (warning: graphic images), they will only be fully vaccinated when they are 16 weeks old or later. As a result, taking them out of your home for socialisation, habituation or training during their critical learning period can potentially put them at risk of exposure to killer diseases, with fatal consequences. It is also important to note that full immunity can only be expected up to 7 days thereafter, ie. after 17 weeks old. Most doggy day care facilities and puppy classes will take new puppies before they have full immunity. |
|
|
However, attending these facilities before your puppy has full immunity can pose a fatal risk to their health.
As a result, the options for socialisation, training and day-time care need to be carefully restricted before your puppy achieves full immunity in order to protect their health. This can make it challenging to take full advantage of this critical learning period. Paws and Claws World's Private Puppy Parent Coaching and our UpPup Academy's Understand Your Puppy course give you and your puppy the opportunity to overcome this challenge. Positive reinforcement and science based force-free training and socialisation methods are taught online and within the safety of your home, giving you the opportunity to capitalise on your puppy's critical learning period without compromising their health. With the aid of our experienced professionals you will be primed to achieve the best results possible. |
