Early Learning Pups

Foundation skills for puppies aged 8–16 weeks.

We love young puppies and have specifically developed this program for early learners that really amplifies their gradual and positive exposure to people, other dogs and novel objects, surfaces and sounds.

Socialising goes far beyond what you may expect so we have designed each class to truly maximise their opportunities for learning through a range of fun games with you, to build trust and engagement. Obedience can be taught at any age but the social acceptance window is up to 16 weeks so we aim to maximise this period as much as possible so have designed the Early Learning puppy program with this in mind.

What do we do differently and why?

Our aim is to make you aware of the priorities with our puppies in this particular age group to build resilience, confidence and the beginnings of focus through different activities each week. We aim to educate you on what to concentrate on during this 'critical socialisation' period and how to ensure you are building the right patterns of behaviour from the beginning.

Socialisation

Each week we add new environmental stimuli into the class. This adds up a lot of elements of socialising to the puppies, as they get to experience different sights, sounds and smells. We observe the puppies personalities, size, age and breeds and match them accordingly for positive interactions.

Manners Training

During your classes we incorporate aspects of focus training which will help calm your puppy and ensure you can reinforce some great manners. This prevents puppies from becoming overstimulated when there are other distractions but puppies have short attention spans so we try to keep them busy with enrichment opportunities.

Travel Training

Going to and from classes ensures your pups are getting used to traveling in your car for a period of time. We don't want the experience to be solely about going to the vets in this period so having a fun class in the middle of your trip can really boost their confidence in the car and minimise anxiety or nausea.

Course Overview

  • For only $240/pup you’ll get 6 x 1hr weekly indoor classes, plus:

    ✓ 2 x FREE PRE-CLASS TRAINING VIDEOS to understand more about positive socialisation and how to clearly communicate and train with your puppy​ before your classes start.​

    ✓ FREE E-BOOK on how to train your puppy and how to deal with problem behaviours such as toilet training, jumping up, biting, nipping and over arousal​ so we can continue to help you beyond your class.

    ✓ FREE MEMBERSHIP TO PRIME PUPS social group page where you can get ongoing advice and support from the page community and trainers

    ✓ FREE SOCIAL DOG WALKS with other members of the Prime Pups and Top Teens Programs where the puppies from all programs get to meet, play and interact with each other in a positive way.

    Once you've graduated, you'll have exclusive access to our discounted Owner Coaching sessions!

  • • Building confidence and body awareness on our unique obstacle and agility course

    • Target training and it’s applications for focus and recall

    • Dog body language and social interactions

    • Building motivation through training games

    • Encouraging play drive and understanding your puppy’s natural instincts that may develop

    • Cooperative handling and grooming (why it is so necessary with a puppy)

    • Teaching a puppy to settle on a mat

    • First steps of loose lead training

    • Positive socialising with children

    • Teaching a ‘leave’ for safety

    • Ensuring dogs are accepting of other dogs and animals (a rural experience off-site at a puppy-safe, private rural property).

  • Other than your new puppy, it’s a good idea to bring along the following:

    • A secure collar/harness and lead (no chain collars or retractable leads)
    • A big mix of smelly treats in an easily accessible pouch or pocket
    • Range of toys
    • Poo bags
    • Water and water bowl for your dog.

    Everything else will be provided, including a large indoor space to ensure puppies have room to move and interact safely without being intimidated; a range of obstacle and agility equipment for puppies to investigate; novelty items each week; sound desensitisation training during play; equipment to build confidence and positivity with handling; a range of toys and snuffle mats for puppies to play with during class, and; individual comfy mats to build safety spots for calmness.

  • Our programs run for 6 weeks. We find that short courses leave too many gaps in the owner's knowledge and skills to be able to build a strong foundation for properly socialising and educating their puppies.

    Puppies have a really short attention span so during each 1 hour class we have several breaks for them to have water and a play to reset them for training and set them up to succeed. These little breaks allow them to process what we are teaching them and build up value for the training, so next time you train they are more likely to want to do it again.

All family are welcome to attend, including children that we can involve in the training under parent supervision.

Course starting Saturday 2nd November

Register Today

View our upcoming intakes below—be in quick as classes sizes are kept small so all pups and their humans get quality time with our trainers.

$240/pup

11:00am - 12:00pm, Matua Hall, Tauranga

Fully Booked

Please read our Booking Terms & Conditions before registering. To secure your place on the program, payment must be made within 48 hours of your registration.

Early Learning Pups must have had their first vaccinations at least 1 week prior to attend the classes.

Next Intake

$240/pup

TBC 2025

Please read our Booking Terms & Conditions before registering. To secure your place on the program, payment must be made within 48 hours of your registration.

Early Learning Pups must have had their first vaccinations at least 1 week prior to attend the classes.

Getting a puppy after our next program starts? Or, do you have any questions before registering? Please get in touch.

What’s next in the training journey?

Early Learning Pups leads nicely on to our School Pups program ​which is the next step in training your dog.