Poppins "Super Pups" Training
The Super Pups training program prepares your puppy for a happy, healthy, safe transition to a new home. We potty train, crate train, house train, socialize, and teach basic commands.
I want to stress that training your own puppy is entirely possible! Especially with resources like Baxter & Bella. It is bonding to train your own puppy, and they are so dang cute at that young age.
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However, many of my puppy owners were sending their puppy to board & train programs right when they received them at 8 weeks of age. This concerns me for two reasons. One, the puppies are not fully vaccinated at 8 weeks. And two, the puppies were leaving us, adjusting to the board and train environment, and then adjusting to yet another environment a few weeks later when they finally made it to their new home. That is a lot to ask of a young puppy.
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Over the past year, we have been developing the "Super Pups" training program to address these problems and give every pup the very best safe and loving start to the next phase of their life. ​​​
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The "Super Pups" training program trains 1 to 2 puppies at a time to ensure each pup receives the individualized attention they need to learn properly. We train in a home environment with children around so the puppies will be well adjusted to home life. If we ever have 2 puppies at once, we keep them separate most of the time so they don't bond with each other, but we do allow them to play together!
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​There are 3 training programs, which differ in the length of time and skills they are taught. All of the programs are beneficial and our puppies make progress in all of them! Obviously, with the longer program they become quite proficient!
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Just a Spoonful- is a two week program to establish basic habits. The first two weeks are the most time consuming, and challenging as puppy has much to learn. These two weeks can be compared to bringing home a newborn baby.
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Practically Perfect- This is our five week program where we reinforce the basic skills learned the first two weeks. Puppies get plenty of practice on important behaviors and become fairly proficient.
Supercalafragilistic- During this eight week program puppies learn all behaviors, build upon previous skills and practice them to reinforce habits. Some of the more difficult behaviors aren't hard for them now. It's amazing to see all they have mastered in these eight weeks.
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The chart below provides a breakdown of each program.
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Green - We spend a significant time working on this and puppy will be very familiar with it.
Yellow - The puppy will be exposed to this but is still learning
Red - We won't focus on this.
The trainer provides consistent and constant rewarding socialization, and many short training sessions throughout the day, as puppy attention spans are short.
Early training is time intensive. Establishing potty habits requires the trainer to take the puppy outside every 30 minutes of wake time throughout the day.
Training continues during the night, as the trainer establishes good sleeping habits by reinforcing calm in the crate, and taking the puppy outside to potty during the night if necessary.
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The trainer teaches the puppy basic manners and patience during structured training time and play time. They have short playtimes where the trainer plays with them, introduces them to toys, provides enrichment activities, meets new humans, and other puppies, This is a big and necessary adjustment period for them. Our transitional method makes this less traumatic. The puppies will spend time with people they have known since birth, limiting the amount of factors they are adjusting to at any one time. ​​​
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No matter how much training we do, it is important to reinforce the training when puppy comes home so they can develop lasting habits.
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We will send you home with a full written report of what we have worked on, your puppy's individual progress, and how you can reinforce the training at home.
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*Our Super Pup program is only available to Poppins Puppies from our breeding program.
Potty Training
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We take the puppy potty during the night, first thing in the morning, after every nap, after play time, and every 1-2 hours throughout the day.
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Puppies may wake at night anywhere from every 2 hours, to eventually sleeping peacefully through the night by the end of week 5. We take them potty outside every time they wake up.
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Puppies learn to go potty on the grass.
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We always use a leash for potty time.
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We use the positive verbal marker "yes!" with a treat right when puppy goes potty.
Socialization
Every dog has their own unique personality, but early socialization will help them grow up to be more calm and less anxious.
We familiarize your pup to a variety of sights and sounds such as vacuums, hair dryers, dark places, carpet, grass, wood chips etc. Sometimes we even take them swimming.
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We introduce your puppy to different adults, kids, babies, and other dogs when appropriate.
Basic Commands
These are the commands we consider most essential for keeping puppy safe, teaching manners, and avoiding frustration between owner and puppy. Each command has a unique hand motion and voice tone.
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Sit- teaches puppy to stop and be still
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Look at Me- We teach this alongside sit as the very first commands because it helps regain puppy's attention when distracted.​​
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Down- teaches manners and patience
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Stay/Free- "stay" commands puppy to hold still. We use the verbal release "free!" when it is okay for puppy to move again.
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Off- keeps puppy from jumping on people or furniture
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Drop it- stops puppy from chewing on or eating something they shouldn't. We replace the thing in their mouth with a treat. and are careful not to yank the item out of their mouth avoiding future food aggression.
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Leave it- prevents puppy from eating something dangerous.
Crate Training
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The first step is to create a positive association with the crate. We accomplish this by dropping treats in the crate throughout the day.
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The puppy eats meals in the crate. We start with placing the bowl just inside the crate. Slowly, we move the bowl to the back of the crate and eventually close the door while puppy eats.
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We extinguish whining in the crate by ignoring puppy while they are actively whining and letting them out only when they calm down.
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Puppies sleep in their crate at night and during day time naps.
Bite Inhibition
Puppies will naturally nip at things they are interested in, especially during play time. We work on bite inhibition in several ways.
We redirect by replacing biting with a toy.
We specifically train puppy to get treats with their tongue instead of their teeth, teaching them to be gentle with people.
Leash Training
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"Let's go!" signals to puppy we want him to walk by us on the leash. Puppy is rewarded with treats as they walk right alongside us.
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One of the first commands we teach is "look at me," which we use often during leash training to help with distractions.
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We use the leash for safety and never to pull or yank puppy.
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Once puppy is fully vaccinated, we practice taking short walks wearing a harness with the leash.
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