Danada Veterinary Hospital, PC offers a puppy socialization class! Puppy class is one of the most important things you can do for your puppy.
Socialization is a vital experience for your puppy in order for him/her to grow up to be a safe, enjoyable member of the family. The socialization period ends around 12 weeks; this is a crucial developmental stage during which your puppy learns to accept new things, enjoy being around people, and develop appropriate social skills with other dogs.
This is not an obedience class. Although you will introduced to some basic commands, the main objectives of our puppy classes are bite inhibition training, socialization to other people, and teaching appropriate dog-dog interaction. Unlike obedience training, bite inhibition training and socialization have developmental deadlines and must be learned during puppyhood.
During the first part of class, puppies engage in supervised interactions in order to learn bite inhibition and appropriate canine social skills. The second half of class is used to discuss common puppy topics such as potty training, crate training, toys, nipping, chewing and general training principles to help prevent future behavior problems.
Our class is designed so a puppy may enter the class at any time provided there is space available. This is not only beneficial to the individual puppy by keeping within the critical socialization window, but to the class as a whole since your puppy will continue to meet new puppies.
Puppies need to be current on distemper and bordetella shots, have a stool check, and be declared healthy by a veterinarian.
Class is taught by Darci Reagan, CPDT-KA. Darci is a DVH staff member certified through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers, the first national certification for dog trainers. She is also certified in behavior modification through Purdue University CVM and a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers.
Please call the hospital at 630-665-6161 and speak to Darci for more information on puppy class or private lessons.