Have you got a puppy under 24 weeks old or an Adolescent dog aged between 6-18 months old?
If so keep scrolling …………..
Pre Puppy 1-2-1 Session
Waiting for your new puppy to arrive can be exciting… but it can also feel overwhelming.
Everyone seems to have an opinion on what you should do, buy, feed, or train, and with so much conflicting advice online, it’s easy to feel confused before your puppy has even set paw through the door.
If you’d like to get all your ducks in a row before bringing your puppy home, a Pre-Puppy 1-2-1 Session is the perfect place to start.
Together, we’ll create a plan tailored to you, your home, and your puppy, so you can feel confident and prepared from day one.
During your session, we can cover topics such as:
🐾 Setting up your home for success
🐾 Helping your puppy settle in during those first few days and nights
🐾 Crate training and creating positive sleeping routines
🐾 Toilet training and avoiding common pitfalls
🐾 Managing puppy biting and chewing
🐾 Choosing the right equipment and enrichment
🐾 Socialisation and building confidence safely
🐾 Addressing any worries or anxieties you may have as a new puppy parent
Whether you’re planning to join puppy classes later or simply want personalised guidance before your puppy arrives, this session will give you the knowledge, confidence, and practical steps to help you get started on the right paw.
Because raising a puppy is much easier when you have a clear plan from the very beginning.
In Person 6 Week Classes For Puppies With About Town Pets
Knowing how puppies learn, prevention and confidence building are the building blocks for a great future together.
Puppy Classes: Building the Foundations for a Lifetime Together
You’ve prepared for your puppy’s arrival and perhaps even had a Pre-Puppy Consultation. So what’s next?
The first few months of your puppy’s life are some of the most important. While there is plenty of advice available online, nothing compares to having expert guidance, structured socialisation opportunities, and real-life practice in a safe and supportive environment.
Our six-week Puppy Course at St Edward’s Hall, Peverell, Plymouth, is designed to help you build confidence, prevent common behavioural issues, and give your puppy the skills they need to thrive in the real world.
More Than Just Training
Anyone can teach a puppy to sit.
Our goal is to help you understand why we train, how puppies learn, and how to build behaviours that will last long after the course has finished.
You’ll learn how to use positive reinforcement techniques to teach new behaviours, how to motivate your puppy, and how to use your puppy’s natural breed strengths to make training easier and more enjoyable.
Structured Socialisation
Socialisation isn’t about letting puppies run around together in a free-for-all.
During class, your puppy will learn valuable life skills including:
🐾 Remaining calm around other dogs
🐾 Building confidence at their own pace
🐾 Learning to focus on you in distracting environments
🐾 Appropriate greetings, interactions and play
🐾 Understanding body language and communication
These experiences help create confident, resilient puppies who can cope with the world around them.
We’ll Cover the Most Common Puppy Challenges
Throughout the course, we’ll work through the issues that most new puppy owners face:
✔ Socialisation and confidence building
✔ Settling at night
✔ Toilet training
✔ Mouthing and biting
✔ Jumping up
✔ Recall
✔ Loose lead walking and pulling
You’ll leave with practical solutions you can use immediately at home.
Preparing for the Future
Puppyhood doesn’t last forever.
We’ll also help you prepare for the challenges that often appear during adolescence, including
– managing distractions,
-maintaining training through the teenage phase,
-preventing common behavioural issues before they develop.
We’ll introduce cooperative care exercises to help your puppy feel comfortable with handling, grooming and veterinary procedures, making life easier for both of you in the future.
Real-Life Skills for Real-Life Dogs
Our classes focus on helping puppies succeed in everyday life.
We work on settling around distractions, building focus, developing good choices, and teaching skills that help puppies become enjoyable companions at home and out in the world.
Because raising a puppy isn’t just about obedience.
It’s about creating a confident, well-adjusted family dog and giving you the knowledge and confidence to guide them every step of the way.
Course Information
📍 St Edward’s Hall, Peverell, Plymouth
🕕 Sundays at 6pm currently £100pp
📅 New courses start every six weeks
Suitable for puppies who are ready to begin their training journey and build the foundations for a lifetime of success
Check the dates of my upcoming classes here 👇
In Person 6 Weeks Teen Dog Classes
Teen Dog Classes: Helping You Navigate Adolescence Together
Has your once-responsive puppy suddenly developed selective hearing?
Do they seem more distracted, impulsive, excitable, or less interested in training than they used to be?
If so, you’re not alone.
Adolescence can be one of the most challenging stages of dog ownership. Between 6 and 18 months, your dog is going through significant physical, emotional and hormonal changes that can affect how they learn, behave and interact with the world around them.
Many owners worry that their dog is being stubborn or ignoring them on purpose. The reality is often much simpler: their teenage brain is under construction.
Our Teen Dog Classes are designed specifically for adolescent dogs who may have outgrown puppy classes or missed them altogether. We help owners understand what’s happening inside their dog’s developing brain and provide practical training solutions that work with their dog, not against them.
Understanding the Teenage Dog Brain
Before we can improve behaviour, we need to understand it.
Throughout the course, we’ll explore:
🐾 Why adolescent dogs can seem more impulsive
🐾 How hormones influence behaviour and learning
🐾 Why distractions suddenly become more important than you
🐾 How frustration affects training and everyday life
🐾 Why previously reliable behaviours can appear to disappear
Understanding these changes helps owners feel more confident and realistic about what their dog is capable of during this stage of development.
Training That Works for Adolescent Dogs
Teen dogs often struggle with long training sessions and repetitive exercises.
That’s why we focus on:
✔ Short, structured training sessions
✔ Using novelty and play to maintain engagement
✔ Building motivation and enthusiasm for learning
✔ Working at the individual dog’s pace
✔ Creating success through thoughtful management and realistic expectations
Rather than fighting against adolescence, we teach you how to work alongside it.
Building on Foundation Skills
During the first week, we ensure every team has a solid understanding of:
✔ Motivation and reinforcement
✔ Luring
✔ Shaping
✔ Target training
From there, we begin developing more advanced training concepts suitable for adolescent dogs.
Taking Skills to the Next Level
As your dog matures, they’re capable of learning more complex behaviours and understanding greater levels of responsibility.
We’ll explore:
🐾 Reward-specific markers
🐾 Release cues
🐾 Building behaviour chains
🐾 Creating fluency and reliability
🐾 Developing focus around distractions
🐾 Strengthening engagement in challenging environments
We also introduce the “3 Ds” of training:
✔ Duration
✔ Distance
✔ Distraction
Helping you gradually proof behaviours for real-life situations.
Solving Common Teen Dog Challenges
We’ll tackle many of the issues owners commonly experience during adolescence, including:
✔ Recall
✔ Loose lead walking
✔ Jumping up
✔ Barking at home
✔ Barking when out and about
✔ Frustration around people, dogs or exciting environments
✔ Maintaining focus around distractions
You’ll learn practical strategies that can be applied immediately in everyday life.
More Than Obedience
Our goal isn’t simply to teach your dog new cues.
It’s to help you understand how your adolescent dog learns, why they behave the way they do, and how to guide them successfully through one of the most important developmental stages of their life.
Because adolescence isn’t a phase to survive.
It’s an opportunity to build resilience, confidence, communication and a stronger relationship that will last for years to come.
Course Information
📍 St Edward’s Hall, Peverell, Plymouth at 7pm
🕕 Weekly in-person classes
🐾 Suitable for dogs aged approximately 6–18 months
Whether your dog has completed puppy classes, missed out on early training, or simply needs support through adolescence, our Teen Dog Classes will help you build the skills and understanding needed to navigate this exciting stage together.
Need More Help With Recall Or Loose Lead After In Person Classes? No problem check out My General Training Page Here
Got A Lead Reactive Teen Dog? Check Out My Dog Behaviour Page Here
Got A Dog That Struggles To Be Home Alone Check Out My Behaviour Specialism Page Here
Want The Answer To A Burning Dog Training Question Now?
Search for your issue on my Training and Behaviour Blog Here👇
Or Check Out Plymouths Positive Dog Training Community On Facebook Here👇
The dog trainers and behaviourists in this group have all been vetted for methods ethics qualifications and experience and all adhere to the R+ (positive reinforcement first and foremost) way of training – a full list of their credentials and specialisms can be found in the files section of the group – I am also an admin for this group and may be able to answer your questions in person.
About Town Pets 