Should I use a puppy kindergarten?

Ely: what is puppy kindergarten?
Is it expensive?

Photo Credit: AMagill/Flickr CC
Answers and Views:

Answer by EbbieDog
Do IT! :D

"The first stage in providing education for the life of your dog is the Puppy Kindy Course. This four week course will cover a number of puppy pertinent topics including:

•the continued socialisation of puppies with people
•the therapeutic socialisation of puppies with other puppies
•development of bite inhibition and a soft mouth
•introduction to basic manners such as: sit, drop and recall
•discussion of puppy specific issues such as household etiquette, attention seeking behaviours, appropriate chew toys and handling techniques"

This is a description of a brilliantly run Puppy Kindy in Perth, W.A. where i took my dog. A good puppy kindy should be well structured and NOT a "free for all". If done well, your puppy will socialise (and you will learn HOW TO) with people, objects, dogs, environments etc (this one here even gives you a check list on what to try and socialise your puppy with!).
Another extremely important thing is - in a WELL RUN puppy kindy (please research before you coose one) there will be qualified trainers supervising and running it. Your puppy will have the opportunity to learn about APPROPRIATE play, and play will continually be interrupted to ensure arousal levels do not get too high!

Good job on taking the time to ask! :D

BTW in Aus you're looking at $ 90 - $ 160 depending on no of weeks etc

Answer by Shamar cg
Puppy kindergarten can give you and your pup a great start together. People with limited dog experience benefit tremendously from well-run puppy classes, where instructors explain the mysteries of puppy behavior and teach handling skills. Unlike training classes for adult dogs, puppy classes tend to include instructions in issues such as housetraining and other management.

Perhaps you’ve trained a dog before and don’t feel the need for help training this one. The puppy needs the experience, even if you don’t. Chances are, though, that you’ll learn new things, too.

Dog trainers continue to come up with ideas that work better for more dogs. They’re constantly improving on ways to teach the humans. Many dogs who would have been considered untrainable in the past are now easy to train thanks to new understanding of how to motivate them. The training equipment continues to evolve, too, and you will need instruction to use some of the tools.

Whatever dogs you’ve trained before, there’s one guarantee: this puppy is different! Every dog is different. Even two puppies from the same litter are different from each other, will respond differently to things, and will require different handling from their humans. A good instructor has much to teach you and to help your young dog. This is an opportunity you don’t want to miss.

Your puppy needs this learning environment during critical development stages. If socialization during these stages is missed, some puppies will never be as successful as they could otherwise have been at fitting into your home or whatever else you hope to do with your dog. Sadly, when a dog can’t function safely with humans, it can ultimately mean a lost home and a lost life.

Good basic handling and training prevent most problems from turning into serious issues as the dog matures. We all want to enjoy our puppies and have them grow into safe dogs who spend long and happy lives in our homes. Puppy kindergarten is a great start to making this happen.

Puppy Kindergarten: $ 50 - $ 150
Group Lessons: $ 50 - $ 150
One-On-One: $ 150 - $ 500

Answer by Lindy
it's a place where they teach dogs all about how to do things and train to not do bad

Answer by olaf
a school for cats

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