Puppy Training Bellevue Hill
A family on Bellevue Road called us last month, their 10-week-old cavoodle was keeping the whole household up at night. The puppy wouldn't settle, was biting everyone, and they were at their breaking point. Does your new puppy have you questioning all your life choices right now?
Getting a new puppy in Bellevue Hill should be exciting, but most owners don't realise that puppy training needs to start immediately - not when problems are already out of control. We've been helping families across Sydney's eastern suburbs since 2018, and the ones who start puppy training early always have the smoothest experience.
The truth is, puppies have a small learning window between 8-16 weeks where everything is easier. Miss it and your making life harder for both you and your pup.
Puppy Preparation (0-8 Weeks)
Before you bring your puppy home to Bellevue Hill, there's prep work to do. Most people skip this step and then wonder why the first week is complete chaos. Your puppy learns habits from day one - good or bad.
Puppy preparation means understanding what your getting into. Where will the puppy sleep? How will you handle toilet training? What supplies do you actually need versus what pet shops try to sell you? These decisions matter more than you think, especially in a Bellevue Hill home where you probably don't want puppy accidents on expensive rugs.
Our pre-puppy program walks you through everything before the puppy arrives. We cover puppy-proofing basics, setting up a realistic schedule, and understanding what your specific breed needs. A border collie has completely different requirements than a maltese.
You'll learn about the critical socialisation window, toilet training strategies that actually work, and how to set boundaries from day one. Most puppy problems start in those first 72 hours because owners make mistakes they don't even realise are mistakes.
Starting puppy training Bellevue Hill before your puppy arrives means your not scrambling later. Your setting yourself up for success instead of just survival.
Puppy Program including Puppy School (8-16 Weeks)
This is the golden period for puppy training in Bellevue Hill. Between 8 and 16 weeks, your puppy's brain is absorbing everything. What they experience now shapes their adult personality. Good experiences create confident dogs, bad experiences (or no experiences) create anxious, reactive dogs.
Our puppy school runs with 8-10 puppies per class. This gives the perfect balance - enough puppies for proper socialisation, but not so many that it becomes overwhelming chaos. Your puppy gets to interact with other pups while still receiving individual attention when needed.
Puppy training at this age focuses on socialisation first, obedience second. Sure, we teach sit and drop and walking on a lead. But more important is exposing your puppy to different people, surfaces, sounds, and situations. A puppy who only knows your quiet Bellevue Hill street is going to freak out at Bondi Beach or Double Bay shops.
The program includes:
- Meeting different types of people (kids, elderly, people with hats, wheelchairs, etc)
- Experiencing various environments and surfaces
- Learning basic obedience (sit, drop, come, loose lead walking)
- Playing appropriately with other puppies of different sizes and breeds
- Building confidence around new things
- Understanding puppy body language
Last spring, a family near Cooper Park had a groodle puppy terrified of traffic noise. By week 6 of our program, that puppy was confidently walking down busy streets. That's what proper puppy training Bellevue Hill does - it builds real-world confidence.
Post Puppy Program (16-52 Weeks)
After 16 weeks, your puppy hits adolescence. This is when owners think training is done. Big mistake. Adolescent dogs are like teenagers - they test boundaries, forget stuff they knew, get distracted constantly.
The post puppy program includes 2 more group training sessions where we dive deep into behavioural issues. Then you get months of online support covering everything you might encounter during that tricky 16-52 week period.
Here's the thing - we help you identify potential issues before they even happen. Then you've got the training ready to go if (or when) these problems pop up:
- Reactivity and aggressive behaviour towards people or dogs
- Off lead walking and better walking practise
- Stopping your dog jumping up on people
- Dealing with separation anxiety
- Biting and chewing problems
- Poor or no recall when you call them
- Reducing unnecessary barking
- Managing hyperactive or fearful dogs
- Potty training issues that persist
One family in Bellevue Hill had a kelpie who started getting reactive around 7 months old. Because they'd done our post puppy program, they already knew exactly what to do. They followed the online training modules and within 3 weeks the reactivity was under control.
Most adolescent behaviour problems are totally preventable if you know what to watch for. But even if they do develop, having a clear plan makes all the difference. That's what the post puppy program for Bellevue Hill families provides - the knowledge and support to handle whatever comes up during that first year.
