Our Puppy School covers all your puppy training needs
As a new pet owner learning to understand your puppies behaviour is invaluable, and puppy training classes are a great idea. During the ages of 8-16 weeks, puppies absorb new information much easier and quicker than after this age. This makes puppy training so important, so we provide a dedicated puppy preschool. Its also a great way to meet new puppy friends, and be exposed to environments.
We also offer a follow-up programme (Puppy Level 1 training) for Puppies 3-10 months old. This continues the learning process.
What is Puppy Preschool?:
This 4 week course is run in partnership with our trainers - Lyn Spathis who has over 30 years experience working with dogs, is a qualified veterinary nurse and national obedience champion trainer, and Louise Lumsden, a qualified dog behavioural trainer and member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers of New Zealand. Classes are made up of up to 6-9 dogs, aged between 8-16 weeks old, in our safe dog centres. Our groups are focused to optimise puppy training and learning.
Classes will be held at The Dog Den in Takapuna, and Silverdale in our day care facilities.
We cover basic obedience & socialisation to get your pup to be comfortable, focused & following your directions.
We also cover:
- Toilet and crate training
- Learning positive training techniques
- Puppy problems e.g. mouthing, jumping up, etc
- Basic obedience skills: recall, sit, down. lead walking
- How to enhance puppy/owner relationship
- Puppy parents will also gain an understanding of canine communication, to help understand how your puppy is feeling.
- We will provide an introduction to doggy day care.
What is Puppy Training Level 1 (3 - 12 months)?
This 4 week course is run in partnership with Louise Lumsden, qualified dog trainer and member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers of New Zealand. Classes are made up of up to 6-8 dogs in our Silverdale centre. NOTE this programme is only available in Silverdale. This programme covers:
- Recall
- Loose Lead Walking
- Release Cue
- Leave It
- Dog Games
- Positive Reinforcement
- Unwanted Behaviour
- Enrichment +
- Verbal Cues
- E-book and how-to videos
At the end of the 4 weeks, on both courses your puppy will be presented with a personalised graduation certificate and a voucher for 1 full day or two half days, day care at The Dog Den.
How to prepare for our puppy training classes:
- Your puppy should wear a collar and be on a lead (no choker chains please). Bring a mat or blanket for your puppy to sit on. This will be his or her safe and ‘calm' area.
- Please don't feed your puppy before the class and instead bring your puppies dinner kibble or high-value treats with you to be used as a training aid.
- We suggest you bring along some of your puppies favourite treats and perhaps a "chewy" to keep them occupied while we are talking.
- Please do not bring your puppy to class if he/she is unwell. We suggest that you still attend the class yourself to observe what is being discussed.
- Please toilet your dog before coming to class.
- Classes are limited to two persons per puppy. If you have more than two family members interested in participating, we suggest alternating weeks between you, to give everyone a chance to attend.
How to enrol:
Takapuna Course Dates (Puppy Preschool only):
- Puppy Preschool: 13 January 2025 Monday 7pm to 8pm
- Puppy Preschool: 10 February 2025 Monday 7pm to 8pm
- Puppy Preschool: 10 March 2025 Monday 7pm to 8pm
- Puppy Preschool: 7 April 2025 Monday 7pm to 8pm
- Puppy Preschool: 5 May 2025 Monday 7pm to 8pm
- Puppy Preschool: 2 June 2025 Monday 7pm to 8pm
- Puppy Preschool: 30 June 2025 Monday 7pm to 8pm
- Puppy Preschool: 28 July 2025 Monday 7pm to 8pm
- Puppy Preschool: 25 August 2025 Monday 7pm to 8pm
- Puppy Preschool: 22 September 2025 Monday 7pm to 8pm
- Puppy Preschool: 20 October 2025 Monday 7pm to 8pm
*If one of the 4 classes in a course falls on a public holiday, that class will instead be held on the Wednesday of that week
Silverdale Course Dates (Puppy Preschool and Level1):
- Puppy Preschool: 19 Oct 2024 (Silverdale) Saturday morning 9-10 am (Enrolling Now)
- Puppy Level 1: 19 Oct 2024 (Silverdale) Saturday morning 10-11am (Enrolling Now)
- Puppy Preschool: 23 Nov 2024 (Silverdale) Saturday morning 9-10 am (Enrolling Now)
- Puppy Level 1: 23 Nov 2024 (Silverdale) Saturday morning 10-11am (Enrolling Now)
Enrol online (see below)
Cost is $220 for all programmes and a great investment
To ensure the best protection for your puppy, puppies will need to have had their 1st vaccination to attend.
Your puppy preschool course comes with a pass for 1 day for your puppy at our daycare centre, and 50% off your first groom with our award winning groomer. We are also currently sponsored by Blackhawk, so there are gifts and puppy food included as well.
Payment for Puppy training is due within 48 hours of enrolling to secure your place. Our classes are usually over-subscribed, so we may need to offer the space to the next puppy waiting to join the class if payment has not been made.
About our Trainers
Lyn (courses in Takapuna):
Lyn is the proud owner of two Border Collies, Cobber and Gusto. Her life and passion is all about dogs! She has worked as a veterinary nurse for over 30 years, taking puppy classes during this time, and also works as a dog walker.
One of her hobbies is Competitive Dog Obedience and she has attained the title of Obedience champion with two of her dogs. She also enjoys instructing at the North Shore Dog Training Club. In July 2020 Lyn and Cobber achieved the title of Obedience Grand Champion.
Her aim in taking puppy classes is to encourage, and see develop positive relationships between people and their pups.
Louise (courses in Silverdale):
Originally from Arbroath in Scotland, Louise moved to NZ in 2008 with her husband and two girls. 
Studied Music at Aberdeen University and spent 22 years as a Music Teacher in Primary and Secondary schools in Scotland, England and New Zealand. In 2020 Louise returned to Uni to study Canine Behaviour and Animal Management. Louise is a member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers NZ
This was a choice driven by her desire to help others achieve a relationship with their dogs like she has with her dog Putu.
Terms and conditions
All dogs must have had their first set of vaccinations to attend. The Dog Den is sanitised daily to a very high standard. All dogs attending are fully vaccinated. Every attempt is made to prevent any spreading of disease, although this cannot be guaranteed 100%
To prevent the spread of infections between centres, we have a stand down period of 7 days if any dog goes to another dog daycare centre or kennel. So if you puppy attends another dog daycare centre they must have 7 clear days before they can attend our puppy class.
Up to 2 persons per dog may attend. More by prior approval. We don't want the experience to be overwhelming for the dogs
If your dog is sick, please let us know and don't attend. We will either organise for you to join the same session on another programme, or supply you with the information missed, or organise a replacement session.
By enrolling for this programme you give us permission to hold your data in accordance with our privacy policy (see main Terms and Conditions at bottom of page).
Payment must be made in full before the programme starts. Payment can be made on-line through our on-line store. Or in person at The Dog Den via Eftpos or credit card.
Weekday programmes will start promptly at 7pm. Saturday programmes start promptly at 9am.
The course contents remain the intellectual property of Lyn Spathis. Louise Lumsden and The Dog Den Limited.
CANCELLATION POLICY
Because the course is arranged in advance, and costs are incurred, once the course has commenced, i'm afraid we are unable to make a refund. If you wish to cancel please contact us at least 48 hrs before the first session.
Testimonials
Thanks so much Steve! We loved the puppy school it was really educational and fun for us! Lynn was amazing too. Great job! Would recommend to anyone!
Thank you Steve for a great Puppy Preschool class at The Dog Den. Lyn is an amazing teacher and Gus & Cobba are inspirational. It's a wonderful safe environment, Pippi and her humans have learnt some valuable skills! She loves her new possum toy! Thanks so much, thoroughly recommend and look forward to using your daycare in the near future 😊”
Thank you so much for a fantastic course. We really enjoyed it .Also a very big thank you for the generous gifts .Much appreciated . Have a lovely weekend everyone Lyn , Bill & Roxy.
Thanks so much Lyn and Steve We loved our puppy training you will see Frankie soon I'm sure he'll love day care once a week. Regards Corinne 😊😊
Thank you for having us at the puppy training. I’ve learnt soo much from the classes we had. And I would really recommend it to anyone. keep up with the good work and stay safe. Kind regards Penehe and Ruffus
The puppy school was fabulous. Fuji had socialision issues in his early years and Lyn facilitated a way for him to co-exist and play with dogs much bigger and active than him. The littlest tips from Lyn go a long way as well, she really knows her stuff "We are very happy with the grooming and daycare facilities at The Dog Den. For a 4 month old puppy who was quite introverted and cautious, he comes out of his shell when at TDD. Also the groomer is one of few in the market who understands the complexities of grooming a double coated breed. Highly recommended."
Being first time puppy owners choosing the right puppy pre-school was so important to us. Steve and Helen were great answering all of my questions in advance so we knew what to expect and so welcoming each week even remembering all the puppies names. Preschool was great - Lynn the trainer was amazing and the classes weren’t limited to training but also covered grooming, well-being and whatever else people were struggling with. The class was disrupted for Covid lockdown and the communication from Dog Den team during this was outstanding. We have finished preschool feeling less overwhelmed and are now excited to have Bailey start daycare at the Dog Den confident that Steve and Helen love her as much as we do and that she will have the best time.
"Louise is clearly passionate about dogs, genuinely caring about their well-being and always patient. I would 'highly recommend' this course to others and only wish it was longer than the 4 weeks. We consider The Dog Den incredibly lucky to have such an expert 'resource' in Louise. Thank you for supporting this training programme at your facility, it has made a huge difference to one sweet little border collie - Skye.
"I just want to congratulate you on having such a wonderful trainer in Louise. She is a amazing, caring and experienced trainer with lots of great ideas. A real asset to your business. My dog and I had a wonderful experience at puppy school we both learnt a lot."
Thanks so much Louise, Keiko and I have learned so much, I am already seeing a positive difference in us both. We’ve both really enjoyed the sessions, the information you pass on is so practical, it just makes sense and it’s easy to do. Keiko loved his rope toy, as soon as we got home where there were no distractions, he carried it around playing with it and showing it off for ages. Thanks again. Karen and Keiko