Like children, puppies have short attention spans, no impulse control, and high levels of curiosity. Imagine leaving your two-year-old human child loose in the house with minimal supervision. How do you think that would go? The child would accidentally destroy things, potty on the floor and even injure himself. We know human babies cannot handle this so why would anyone assume a baby dog can? When you are bringing a new puppy into your home you need a plan. A strategy that creates an environment where the puppy is kept safe while simultaneously learning how to be a good house dog. Dogs love patterns. They can love good patterns or bad patterns. When you bring a puppy into your home and your life, creating management systems that will yield good patterns are crucial to success and avoiding bad behavior patterns like separations anxiety, messing in the house, reactivity and more.

Obedience training done right can save your puppies life! Imagine your puppy heading towards a busy road. You call her, she immediately hits the brakes and jets back to you. This situation and many like it lead to countless dogs being injured or dying every year. Not only does puppy obedience training save lives but it also enhances them. Our Shield K9 puppy training system focuses on the following fundamental behaviors:

• Place Command
• Recalls
• Sit/Down/Stay
• Heel
• Crate 
• Leave It
• Structured Play

Our puppy training system is designed to make learning as positive and fun as possible for the puppy. The puppy learns the basic concept of all the listed behaviors. The pup learns that training with the handler is fun and rewarding. He also learns in an age appropriate way that some things are not optional and that he must do them. This foundation training will pave the way to future learning and will accelerate the puppy to quickly master the more advanced behaviors we ask of our young adult dogs.

Perhaps the most misunderstood component of puppy training. We see many handlers making many critical mistakes when it comes to properly socializing their puppy. Unfortunately, in this instance google and other easily accessible information sources on puppy training lead most people down a dead-end road when it comes to socialization. Ever wonder why the dogs trained in our system regardless of their past are able to ignore strange dogs, strange people and give their handler complete focus and attention no matter where they are? It’s all in how we socialize them. Contrary to popular belief good socialization is not running your puppy through dozens of social interactions with strange people and dogs. Doing this, no matter how many treats are involved will only cause you puppy to be more anxious about potential social interactions or hyper aroused and excited by them. Neither extreme is productive. Instead there is a middle ground where the puppy learns to not be overly concerned with strangers and social interactions. Where he learns to be calm and attentive to the handler regardless of the behavior of other dogs in the environment. We will show you how.