School Pups

Basic training for all dogs from 4 months of age.

Our most popular dog training program which offers the elements we feel are the most important after years of training our own dogs.

This includes building engagement through games and rewards, systems that ensure you can succeed step by step to build long term behaviours that are applicable and practical on a daily basis. Suitable for fully vaccinated, sociable dogs of all ages (over 4 months), this program works on building response skills appropriate for their current ability. Older dogs are always welcome, too.

Fun and positive systems of training that promote a willingness from the dogs to participate and learn more.

What do we do differently and why?

Classes are held in different public locations over the course of the program for gradual exposure around distractions through our positive training approach. We aim to teach you how to teach your dog through step by step systems that ensure there is clarity in learning for the best outcomes. Some evening winter programs are held indoors for reliability. 

Distraction Training

The classes are held in different locations to increase gradually the levels of distractions for your dogs as we progress through the course. Indoor evening winter programs still have new novel challenges each week incorporated in to their training too.

Behaviour Understanding

Whilst we could just teach you the 'obedience' training, we feel it is important for you to understand more than that, and be enlightened by the science and behaviour behind the learning so you can make better choices with and for your dog.

Practical Skills

We have cherry picked the elements of practical training we feel are most important and useful to both you and your dog, in a way that is broken down into achievable steps. Skills that make sense for safety, enjoyment and the best relationships.

Register Today

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

Starts Wednesday 26th March 2025

$240/dog

5:00pm - 6:00pm, Tauranga area

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.

School Pups must be fully vaccinated to attend the classes.

In the event of heavy rain or forecast thunderstorms, classes will be rolled over to the following week.

1 Space Left!

Starts Saturday 3rd May 2025

$240/dog

1:00pm - 2:00pm, Tauranga area

*Please note: this course skips 24th May

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.

School Pups must be fully vaccinated to attend the classes.

In the event of heavy rain or forecast thunderstorms, classes will be rolled over to the following week.

Starts Thursday 8th May 2025

$240/dog

4:00pm - 5:00pm, Tauranga area

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.

School Pups must be fully vaccinated to attend the classes.

In the event of heavy rain or forecast thunderstorms, classes will be rolled over to the following week.

Do you have any questions before registering? Please get in touch.

Course Overview

This course is a pre-requisite to our Top Teens program, so you and your dog have an awareness of our basic training systems.

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

    ✓ 2 x FREE PRE-CLASS TRAINING VIDEOS to understand how to clearly communicate and train with your dog​ before your classes start.​

    ✓ FREE MEMBERSHIP TO PRIME PUPS online social group page for any Q&A's with our trainers 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 and alumni dogs 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!

  • • Foundational training and handling skills

    • Building a willing Stay or Wait behaviour

    • Loose lead training

    • Teaching a ‘leave’

    • Understanding social and environmental rewarding

    • Long line training (the stepping stone to a free recall)

    • Distraction training (conditioning your dog to ignore distractions and moving objects)

    • Integrating your training to real life scenarios.

  • 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

    We will have toys, mats, and any other equipment needed for classes. Each dog will be provided a mat to train from, and a long line when the class needs it.

  • 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 educating their dogs.

    ​Dogs can have a really short attention span so during our 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 think about what we are trying to teach and build up value for the training, so next time you train they are more likely to want to do it.

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

What’s next in the training journey?

This course is a prerequisite to our Top Teens program which is the next step in training your dog. Or, maybe you want to maintain the skills you’ve learnt? Consider our Training Walks!