Puppy classes are, without doubt, one of my favourite courses to run. With every new group, I meet owners committed to giving their puppy the very best start, and young dogs who are right in the middle of an important learning stage where every experience counts.
Many owners arrive expecting to “teach commands” such as sit or stay. The reality is different. Training isn’t a one-way street. Puppies don’t speak English; they communicate through body language, and the subtlety of that body language is something we humans often miss. A head turn, a paw lift, a lip lick, or a yawn can all be signs that they’re feeling uncertain. Once owners start to notice and respond to these signals, training becomes a two-way conversation rather than a list of instructions.
It’s also important to remember that puppies are learning 24/7, not just for the time they spend in class. Every interaction teaches them something. If we laugh and fuss when they jump up, we’re showing them that jumping earns attention. If we always give in to barking, we’re reinforcing that barking works. On the other hand, when we notice the quiet moments — the puppy who settles calmly on their bed whilst you have a cup of tea, or the one who glances up and checks in with you whilst you’re cooking dinner — and we reward those behaviours, we’re saying: “Yes, more of that, please.” Marking and rewarding behaviour we like makes it far more likely to continue. And in the long run, that means fewer of those “How do I stop my puppy from…” questions. Prevention really is better than cure.
Not every puppy bounds into class full of confidence. Some find it worrying at first. They may bark at the other dogs, hang back and refuse to join in, or even switch off entirely. It can be hard for an owner to see their pup struggling like that, but with carefully managed classes, patience, guidance and positive reinforcement, those same puppies almost always begin to relax and find their feet. Week by week, they grow in confidence, start to explore, and begin to enjoy themselves. Watching that transformation is one of the most rewarding parts of my job; it’s a reminder that progress isn’t always about being the quickest learner, but about building confidence at a pace that works for the individual puppy.
Classes also offer structured socialisation. Because we train outside, there are natural distractions: background traffic noise, smells on the wind, changing surfaces underfoot, horses grazing and of course, other puppies. Left to their own devices most would dash straight off to play, but here they learn how to handle those distractions, how to greet politely, and how to come back to their owner when called. It’s not always neat or tidy, but it is real life — and that’s exactly the point.
Across six weeks the progress is striking. Puppies that were pulling, jumping and ignoring their owners in week one are calmly waiting, recalling and walking nicely by week four or five. To make things easier, owners also receive a weekly email recap after every class, creating a resource you can keep and refer back to long after the course finishes.
So yes, I love running puppy training classes here in Southampton. Not because they’re perfect — they’re often messy, sometimes noisy, occasionally chaotic — but because they’re real. They give owners the tools and understanding they need, and they give puppies the best possible start in learning how to live with us. And at the end of those six weeks, what you see isn’t just a puppy who can sit or stay. It’s a partnership beginning to take shape, built on understanding, patience, and communication.
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