Puppy Pre-School & Training

Our Puppy Pre-School classes are suited for puppies 8-18 weeks of age, your puppy must have his/her first vaccination to be able to attend class. A vaccination certificate must be provided.

Our Private Puppy Lesson training is suitable for puppies from 8 weeks old and onwards
(please be advised that you should not adopt a puppy before 8 weeks of age)

We do Puppy Pre-School a little differently to others!

That’s because we are also adult educators and we want to ensure that your education is targeted to you and your puppy. We design every puppy class to our learners needs.

On enrolment, you will be asked to specify what you would like covered in our classes and what issues you are currently having with your puppy. We then design the class based on that information. We have puppies from all over the Hunter Region coming to our classes including the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie areas.

Most of the time, we will cover the following:

• How puppies learn
• Why we use positive reinforcement training
• How to read your puppy’s body language?
• What is your puppy trying to tell you?
• Toilet training
• Mouthing and chewing
• Loose lead walking
• Socialisation and habituation. What to do and how to do it.
• How to enrich your puppy’s life?
• Should I crate train?
• Where should my puppy sleep?
• Should I take my puppy to dog parks and dog beaches?
• Teach life skill behaviours for safety

• Our trainer is highly experienced and a fully qualified Canine Behaviour Consultant with over 20 years experience.
• Our Puppy Pre-School is of the highest quality and therefore we do not use vet nurses, groomers, pet shop attendants or unqualified dog trainers or volunteer trainers to deliver our classes.
• We use science based, positive reinforcement methods and continually keeps abreast of latest research so you get only the very best and the most up to date information and knowledge for your puppy!
• We don’t cram you into a small waiting room, make you sit in the back of a car park, put you out the front of a pet shop or expect you to come to a local park! Our training location is fully fenced and secure with over 2 acres accessible with a number of different spaces in that area where we can conduct our puppy training.
• We have small numbers of participants in our classes to ensure you get a great learning experience!
• We care about your and your puppy and we want you to feel confident in raising a behaviourally healthy puppy!

We pride ourselves on offering a high quality experience for you and your puppy so we only allow a maximum number of 4-6 puppies in each class. Our class sizes are strictly limited to ensure quality.

The Puppy Pre-School class will operate when numbers reach a minimum participants. By enrolling you are reserving a space in one of our courses.

If a class does not meet minimum numbers, the class may be rescheduled or cancelled.

Puppy Pre-School class will operate when numbers reach a minimum participants. By enrolling you are reserving a space in one of our courses. Our class sizes are limited to ensure quality.

We regret that we cannot refund enrolment fees if less than 7 business days notice of non-attendance is given.

NO REFUNDS will be given if less than 7 business days notice of non-attendance is given. If you cannot make a particular class in the course, no refunds will be given. We DO NOT provide make up classes if you cannot attend a class in the course.

If you do give 7 business days or more notice, all refund requests must be made in writing.

If we cancel a class, you will receive a full refund. Please carefully consider your schedule, commitment to training, and your dog before registering for class.

Sometimes Puppy Pre-School doesn’t suit every puppy (and every owner!) For that reason, we offer Private Puppy Lessons for you and your dog!

Puppies, like children, can be easily distracted and there are lots of things for them to learn. In outdoor settings, or small rooms with lots of other people and animals, your puppy can become quickly overwhelmed, stressed, confused or overly excited.

Imagine trying to learn algebra for the first time in the middle of a theme park – that’s what it is like for our puppies! Sensory overload.

As an alternative to Puppy Pre-School Classes, we also offer private puppy training lessons where it’s just you (and your family members) and your puppy. We have puppies and their parents coming from all over the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie area.

These Private Puppy Training lessons are run at our home office in Adamstown Heights(or we can come to you for an additional fee). You’ll also have more one-on-one time with the trainer so you can concentrate on precisely what you and your puppy need.

While this is slightly different from the traditional puppy training you might be familiar with, research shows that training in high stress, high stimulation environments for some puppies can impair learning and have some negative consequences. Our modernised practices, supported by behavioural research, delivers affordable puppy training results.

We also know puppy parents are busy, and there is a lot to take in for the humans too! So, we can work with a ‘hybrid’ online-offline approach if that is what you would like, that maximises your support and your puppy’s learning while being flexible with your busy life.

We DO NOT cover extensive behavioural issues you are having with your puppy in these Private Puppy Lessons such as growling, biting, separation anxiety, guarding food and problems with another animal in the home.

For these issues, please book a Behaviour consultation.

Yes for Private Puppy Training we have 2 packages. Please see here

If you cancel or re-schedule your consultation / training lesson with us within 3 business days of your scheduled appointment time, the full fee will be charged.

Please understand that we have other people waiting to see us and we also need to pay our bills and run our business.

We are happy to re-schedule or cancel your appointment time if more than 3 business days notice is given. This must be done in writing to us via e-mail.

We do not need to see your puppy’s behavioural issues happening at your home or at our practice.

Just like a psychologist does not need to see your child having a meltdown in front of them to be able to help you and your child. We do not want to add any further stress or anxiety on your puppy so please, do not feel that you need to show us your puppy’s behavioural issues.

If we need to see your puppy’s behaviour, we may ask for some video, however this is not common.

We also encourage everyone to read our blog: “What is involved in a Private, One-on-One Dog Training/Behaviour Consultation” so you understand exactly what is involved.

Located in Kotara, NSW, our home office is the default location for ‘Private Lessons and Behaviour’ Consultations. The address will be provided on booking. Should you require an in-home consultation, please contact us directly for a quote as an extra travel fee applies.

However, our group classes are held at Adamstown Public School.

Dogaholics Dog Training and Behaviour services in and around Newcastle and Lake Macquarie area. We also have clients from Central Coast, Port Stephens, Maitland and the Hunter Valley areas.

Services include:

• Puppy Pre-School
• Private Puppy Training
• Private, one-on-one dog training
• Behavioural Consultations
• Dog Training classes
• School Support Dogs Training and Assessment
• Greenhound Assessment for Greyhounds
• Behaviour Assessment / Temperament Test for Menacing or Dangerous Dogs
• Assistance / Service dog training
• Cat Training and Behaviour Services

• On the day of your appointment, make sure you are prepared by bringing plenty of food to be used for training such as cut up cooked chicken breast, cooked kangaroo sausages or any other meat that is healthy for your puppy. You can also bring cheese. Remember to cut the food up into small pieces.
• Your puppy/dog will need to have a flat collar (normal) collar/harness and you will need a lead. No choker chains are allowed in training. Please also bring a mat for your puppy/dog to sit on.
• Please ARRIVE ON TIME. We have clients before and after you and if you are late, we cannot run into the next client’s appointment time. This means if you run late, your consultation will end at the allocated time and you will not receive your full allocated time.
• CANCELLATIONS OR RESCHEDULING – We require 3 business days notice for any changes or cancellation otherwise the full consultation fee will be charged. This is to protect our small business so we can continue to pay our bills and continue to operate.
• NO SHOWS – If you do not attend your consultation and do not give any notice, the full consultation fee will be charged and there will be NO REFUNDS. Please be respectful as we have set aside time for your consultation that others could have taken.