FOUNDATION PUPPY GROUP CLASS - 5 WEEKS
Foundation Puppy Program
For puppies approximately 10–24 weeks of age at the start of the program
5-week in-person program | Monash ACT
The Positive Pooch Solutions Foundation Puppy Program is designed to help puppies and their guardians build the foundations for a calm, confident and connected life together.
This is a structured training program—not a puppy playgroup. Puppies are supported as individuals and are never expected to meet or play with every other puppy. Carefully selected, supervised interactions may be introduced where appropriate, based on each puppy’s individual body language, confidence, arousal level and readiness.
Throughout the five-week program, guardians learn how to understand their puppy’s communication, recognise subtle body-language signals and respond before their puppy feels the need to escalate. Puppies are given opportunities to settle, observe, disengage, explore and learn at their own pace.
The program introduces practical foundation skills for everyday life, including settling on a mat, engagement and connection, polite behaviours, safe swapping and trading, early loose-lead skills, recall foundations, safe collar handling, brief waiting, hand targeting and learning to disengage voluntarily from distractions.
Cooperative care is introduced progressively throughout the program. Puppies begin with gentle handling and learn foundation behaviours such as Stand, Chin Rest and Wait, which can help prepare them for grooming, veterinary care, ear and eye care, nail trims, clippers and everyday body handling.
Puppies also have opportunities, when appropriate, to explore different surfaces, ramps, hoops, low hurdles, a ball pit and other novel experiences, helping build confidence, body awareness and positive curiosity without force or pressure.
A major focus of the program is helping guardians understand that successful socialisation is not about meeting as many dogs and people as possible. Puppies learn that they can notice another dog, person or stimulus, make the choice to disengage and reconnect with their guardian. Carefully selected puppy interactions are supervised and used as real-time opportunities to help guardians learn about canine body language, mutual choice, appropriate play, arousal and when an interaction should stop or not happen at all.
By the end of the program, guardians will have a practical toolkit of foundation skills they can continue using in everyday life, while puppies have begun developing the confidence, communication and connection needed for the next stage of their training journey.
The program includes a training pouch, clicker, comprehensive weekly digital homework sheets and individual weekly training plans to support practice at home.
Calm first. Training second. Foundation for life. 💜🐾
