Addison RoadMarrickville RoadIllawarra RoadCooks River pathEnmore ParkSteel ParkHenson ParkSydenham station

Puppy School and Dog Training in Marrickville

Puppy school Marrickville runs at Dogs in Town, 55 Addison Road, and we train older dogs one to one in your own home across Marrickville, Enmore, Dulwich Hill, Sydenham and St Peters.

See What We Do

Puppy school and dog training in Marrickville, the short version

Quick Facts

Where We Work: In your own home. Dog training Marrickville, Enmore, Dulwich Hill, Sydenham and St Peters

What We Offer

Council Area

Inner West

Nearest Puppy School Location

Dogs in Town, 55 Addison Road, Marrickville NSW 2204

Distance

In the suburb. Our Marrickville puppy school is on Addison Road itself

What We Cover

Puppies from eight weeks, teenage dogs, and adult behaviour

Who Does The Training?

Luke Buchanan. Red Cross pet first aid, AFP background checked

Where Marrickville sits

What It Is like

Marrickville is under the flight path, and that is the first thing that shapes a dog here. Planes on approach to Sydney Airport come over low, they come over loud, and from ground level there is nothing for a dog to look at and pin the noise on. A puppy raised in Marrickville either learns the sound means nothing or learns to brace for it, and which one you get is settled in about six weeks. In my sessions here it is nearly always the first thing I ask about.

The second thing is the housing. Marrickville is Victorian cottages and terraces on narrow blocks, and then, off Sydenham Road and Carrington Road, warehouse conversions with concrete floors and almost no internal doors. Those are opposite problems. A cottage gives you a yard about the width of a hallway. A conversion gives you space with nowhere to shut a door, so a dog can never actually be apart from you while you're home, and the separation work has to be built without the door most methods assume you have.

The green space here is linear rather than open. The Cooks River path runs along the southern edge, Enmore Park sits at the northern end, and most Marrickville dogs get their exercise on a shared path with bikes and scooters coming past from behind. It's where most puppy training in Inner West Sydney actually has to work, on a shared path, on a lead.

Popular Landmarks

Addison Road
Marrickville Road
Illawarra Road
Cooks River path
Enmore Park
Steel Park
Henson Park
Sydenham station

Main Housing Style

Victorian and Federation cottages and terraces on narrow blocks, plus warehouse conversions on the old industrial streets. Yards are small, and many conversions have no internal doors at all.

What we work on, by age

Puppies, 8 to 16 weeks

Sound work first. Luke Buchanan, Owner of The Toe Beans Co and Sydney's Puppy Trainer, starts every Marrickville puppy on it, because this suburb hands you the aircraft for free and the socialisation window closes at 24 weeks. The job is pairing the noise with something good while your puppy is still young enough to accept the pairing. After that, toilet training against a yard a metre wide, and the settle taught on a mat instead of behind a door, because half the homes here don't have one to use.

Teenagers, 17 to 32 weeks

Long line recall along the Cooks River, because Enmore Dog Park is fenced and almost nothing else around here is, and a dog whose recall has only ever worked inside a fence does not have a recall. Lead work on the shared path, where a bike passes at twenty five kilometres an hour and your dog hears it coming before you do. And the settle again, rehearsed while you're home, well before it gets tested when you aren't. That is the seventeen to thirty two week window, and it is the one most owners skip.

Adults, 32 weeks and over

Reactivity to bikes and scooters that has been rehearsed on the same river path for a year. Noise sensitivity that started with a plane and has spread to the bin truck. Barking at the front door of a terrace where the footpath is two metres from the sofa, which comes up here more than anywhere else we work. All of it done one to one at your own address, because the trigger lives there and it does not travel to a hall.

A man crouching in a studio while holding a Dalmatian puppy. The man is wearing a dark navy polo shirt and blue jeans, and the puppy is white with black spots.

A typical Marrickville case

A composite of the cases we see in this area rather than one client.

A Kelpie cross, fourteen months, rehomed at eight months into a warehouse conversion off Carrington Road. The call was about the Cooks River path. She had started lunging at bikes and it had got steadily worse over about three months.

The owners were doing the sensible obvious thing, which was walking her at six in the morning to miss the cyclists. That works right up until it doesn't, because avoiding a trigger keeps a dog under threshold for one walk and teaches them nothing about the trigger.

What was actually going on had two parts. She was a herding breed watching fast things go past, which is not fear, it's a reflex doing precisely the job it was bred for. And she had no settle at all, because the conversion is one room with a mezzanine and she had never been more than four metres from a person. So she arrived at the path already over threshold, before a single bike had appeared.

So the work split in two. Threshold work on the path, at whatever distance let her see a bike and still take food, closing that distance over about five weeks. And separately, at home, a mat, a long chew, and somebody across the room ignoring her. That second one felt unrelated to the owners and did more than half the work.

That is the shape of a lot of Marrickville cases. The problem shows up outdoors and gets fixed indoors.

What owners say, at every age

Absolutely fantastic, we had a 10 week old demanding Labrador puppy, 3 days later he barely lets out a yelp. It seemed expensive to get 1 on 1 help at first, but having him here meant we could remove any doubt about whether we were on the right track. Plus his online course and ongoing support have been a god send.

Mattice, 10 week old Labrador

I'm in Bellevue Hill and I'm struggling with recall and defiance with my 9 month old puppy. He thinks he's the boss. Luke at Toe Beans showed me a series of easy corrections and behavioural skills that my pup responded to almost immediately. He filled in my missing knowledge.

Lesley, 9 month old puppy, Bellevue Hill

I couldn't believe anyone could really have a big impact on a 7-year-old pet but within just one session, I could see a big difference in both of my dogs. They were calmer, more responsive, and Rosie was completely de-stressed around strange dogs.

Adrienne, 7 year old Bordoodle, Mosman

Frequently Asked Questions

Puppy school Marrickville, common questions

Common questions we get about our puppy program.

Puppy school Marrickville, common questions

What are the main services you offer?

Our dog training runs in three stages and you pick the one that matches your dog's age.

8 to 16 weeks: puppy school, which includes four weeks of group class
17 to 32 weeks: puppy training, for the stage where most owners feel they are losing the dog they had. There is no group class at this age
32 weeks and older: behaviour training, one to one in your own home

Puppy school runs at six venues, and all six take bookings: Paddington, Edgecliff, Neutral Bay, Zetland, Alexandria and Marrickville. Start dates vary by venue, so check the puppy school dates page for what is running next. Everything else happens in your own home, across Sydney.

Which areas of Sydney do you work in?

One to one training happens in your home, anywhere in Sydney within roughly a forty five minute drive of the Harbour Bridge. That covers the:

Inner City and City Centre
Eastern Suburbs
Inner West
Lower North Shore
Upper North Shore
Northern Beaches
Hills District
Western Sydney
South Sydney and St George

Group puppy school runs at six fixed venues within about eight kilometres of the Harbour Bridge: Paddington, Edgecliff, Neutral Bay, Zetland, Alexandria and Marrickville. All six are taking bookings. See the puppy school dates page for current dates.

What is the Independence Foundation Protocol?

The Independence Foundation Protocol is the six-step method used at The Toe Beans Co for separation anxiety. It begins with shifting the relational signals in the household before any absence work begins. It then decouples departure cues, introduces micro-absences with a strict return protocol, uses indoor separation to build a daily independence baseline, and only extends duration once that foundation is solid. The protocol addresses the relational cause of the anxiety rather than managing the symptom.

My dog destroyed things while I was out. Should I punish them when I get home?

No. We never punish, and in this case it would not work either. A dog that has destroyed something in distress does not connect a consequence on your return to what it did while you were out. It only adds fear to a dog that is already frightened, and it usually makes separation anxiety worse. Address the cause through the relational protocol, not the symptom.

Are Poodles easy to train?

Very. Poodles are widely considered one of the most intelligent dog breeds. They learn quickly, remember commands well, and enjoy training. They were originally working dogs, and that drive to engage and problem-solve is still very much there. The challenge is usually keeping them stimulated, not getting them to learn.

How long does it take to toilet train a puppy?

Most puppies reach reliable daytime control between 14 and 16 weeks when the schedule runs consistently from week eight. Full night-time reliability typically arrives by five to six months. Consistency in the first few weeks compresses the timeline significantly.

How long does reactivity training take?

It depends on how long the dog has been reactive and how intense the triggers are. Most people see clear progress within 8 to 12 weeks of regular work. Some dogs take longer, and that is normal.