One of my strongest beliefs around dog training is that the more we learn to meet our dog’s needs, the better they behave! This is exactly why I structure the daily schedule the way I do for my puppies!

•  Puppies ages 5 to 12 months have important topics to cover in their studies in the Dream Dog Program. A day in the life of a puppy includes carefully crafted socialization experiences with other well mannered  doggy students as well as helpful human mentors. These daily experiences help to create a confident, self assured adult dog and should be applied well after the puppy returns home from the Dream Dog Program! Some of these things include

•  play time with other dogs
•  agility obstacles
•  puzzle games
•  fetch and tug time with humans
•  car rides

•  Rest! One of the most important overlooked aspects of raising a puppy is how much rest they need! Sometimes they trick us(with their spunky energy and zoomies) into thinking they are more like teenage humans instead of what they truly which is newborn babies! Puppies up until the age of one year needed daily naps at least twice a day and for at least 3 hours. Younger puppies need even more than this and can sleep up to 20 hours in a day! Yes you read the right! 20 hours! A chief contributor to puppy biting, excessive chewing, pushiness, and bad puppy decisions is the underlying overstimulation and exhaustion that comes from not taking those regular crate naps. For this reason, every puppy takes varying duration of naps according to how active we are during other parts of the day. 
•  Rotating obedience training! Twice a day our puppies attend their private tutoring with their trainer. Puppy brains are as absorbent as sponges but even sponges have their limit! For this very reason, we follow a five minutes on, five minutes off training approach. The puppy/trainer team will practice obedience command, leash skills, and household skills for five minutes and then take a five minute sniff and fun break. After the break, we repeat the process again for 60 minutes to get ample amount of instruction in. After this time, Dream Dog puppies are tired out and ready for a nap to refresh their brain for the same afternoon schedule of learning. 
•  Enrichment! Another element that I coach my Dream Dog Program owners on is adding daily enrichment to your puppies life. These daily activities can alleviate stress, natural drives, and energy to create a calm, well adjusted puppy. Many training “issues” that clients contact me about such as excessive chewing, anxiety, nipping, counter surfing and more have roots to underlying drives, desires, boredom and energy needs that can be easily addressed with daily enrichment. Plus it is fun for the owners too!
•  Place command and tieback. These two exercises are centric to our Dream Dog Program. The daily life of a puppy here at Western K9 wouldn’t be the same if we did not incorporate a daily patience and settle exercises into their schedule. Great times to incorporate this exercise are after training sessions to relax the mind or just before nap time to help hyper active puppies calm down and prepare for their nap. Even puppies that are excited for their walks or training sessions can benefit from a quick place command and tie back exercise to learn how to regulate their excitement!
•  Outings and new experiences! For many dog owners that want to take their dog beyond the four corners of the backyard, outings are an essential part of the daily life of a puppy at Western K9 Dream Dog Program. We have the opportunity to use our skills we learned in our training sessions in a real life situation! These outings are customizable depending on the puppy’s skill level and the owner’s goals for training. We go to low risk environments such as the park and walks around the block. For puppies that are older and ready for the challenge, trips to our favorite dog groomer Pawtriotic Dog Spaw and their accompanying doggy bakery Patriotic Dog Bakery. Finally for our adventurous puppies that are destined for the trails, we head out for rewarding training hikes on local trails where they practice their off leash recall, hiking manners, and more! These are all super helpful skills for puppies to learn in their first year of life and can include a variety of other options to help them be successful with their families!

I try my best to mimic the ideal lifestyle for my fluffy students that I coach my owners to take at home. Not only does this help puppies to learn quick and have a good time, but it is the best way to set them up for a successful life at home well after they leave “Auntie Hannah’s House”.