Puppy School and Dog Training in Tamarama

We run puppy school about twelve minutes from Tamarama in Paddington, and we train older dogs one to one in your own home across Tamarama, Bronte and Bondi.

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No pain. No fear. No force. Training in your own home · Free meet and greet, no obligation
No pain. No fear. No force. Training in your own home · Free meet and greet, no obligation

Puppy kindergarten and dog training in Tamarama, at a glance

Quick Facts

Where We Work: In your own home, across Tamarama, Bronte, Bondi and Waverley

What We Offer

Council Area

Waverley

Nearest Puppy School Location

Dogs in Town, 308 Oxford Street, Paddington NSW 2021

Distance

About 4.5 km, roughly twelve minutes by car

What We Cover

Puppies from eight weeks, teenage dogs, and adult behaviour

Who Does The Training?

Luke Buchanan. Dog Trainer Academy accredited, Red Cross pet first aid, AFP background checked

Puppy school and puppy preschool near Tamarama

Venue Name

Venue Name

Dogs in Town, Paddington

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Venue Address

Venue Address

308 Oxford Street, Paddington NSW 2021

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Days & Times

Days & Times

Four weeks, one hour a week. Rolling start, no fixed intake dates

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About The School

About The School

Puppy school, puppy preschool and puppy kindergarten all mean the same thing. Vets tend to say preschool, we say puppy school, and it is the same four weeks either way.

Your nearest one is in Paddington, about 4.5 km from Tamarama. It is a purpose built dog facility rather than a hired hall, fully enclosed and properly cleaned, which matters when puppies are meeting each other for the first time.

Classes are capped at ten puppies and we match them by size, so your puppy is never learning next to a dog four times their weight.

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Where we work around Tamarama

What it is like owning a dog in Tamarama

What It Is like

Tamarama is small, steep and almost entirely surrounded by places dogs are not allowed. Tamarama Beach is prohibited, and so is the lower park, not just for off lead but altogether.

What is left is the upper gully, which is off lead all day, and Marks Park on the headland, which is off lead from 4.30pm to 8.30am. Both are genuinely good and both are small, so you are sharing them with the same handful of dogs most days.

The thing almost nobody outside the suburb knows is that Marks Park closes to off lead entirely for Sculpture by the Sea, which is usually a few weeks in spring. If your dog's whole routine runs through that park, you need a plan for that period.

Popular Landmarks
  • Tamarama Beach
  • Marks Park
  • Mackenzies Point
  • Tamarama Marine Drive
  • the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk
  • Fletcher Street
  • Tamarama Gully
Main Housing Style

A small suburb of apartments and semis on very steep streets, with little private outdoor space.

Puppy and adult dog behaviour problems in Tamarama

Local Challenges

  • Very few legal options in a very small suburb, so the same dogs meet the same dogs every day and any friction becomes a daily event
  • Marks Park closes to off lead for Sculpture by the Sea, which removes the main evening option for weeks at a time
  • Recall on a headland. Marks Park is unfenced on Mackenzies Point with cliffs on two sides
  • Reactivity on the coastal walk, which is narrow, busy and has nowhere to step aside
  • Frustration at the beach. Tamarama Beach and the lower park are both prohibited to dogs entirely
  • Steep streets and stairs, which are hard on older dogs and make lead pulling harder to manage

Common Breeds

  • Cavoodle
  • French Bulldog
  • Border Collie
  • Whippet
  • Labrador

Off Lead Spots

  • Tamarama Park, the central area of the upper gully, all day
  • Marks Park, Fletcher Street, middle portion, 4.30pm to 8.30am, suspended for Sculpture by the Sea
  • Bronte Park, the Bronte Gully area, 3pm to 10am
  • Varna Park, Waverley, east end, all day
  • Waverley Park, western and middle section, all day

Busy Streets

  • Tamarama Marine Drive
  • Fletcher Street
  • Bronte Road
  • the coastal walk at weekends

What we get called about in Tamarama, by age

Puppies up to 16 weeks in Tamarama

A very small pool of dogs to learn from

Tamarama is tiny, so a puppy here meets the same six or seven dogs over and over. If one of them is rough, that is a large share of everything your puppy knows about dogs.

Puppy school in Paddington matters more here than in a bigger suburb, because it is where the variety comes from.

Stairs and steep streets

Almost every Tamarama address involves steps. Puppies get carried up and down for the first month, which is fine, and then the carrying quietly becomes the relationship.

We set the stairs up as something the puppy learns rather than something that happens to them, and we tell you when to stop carrying.

Toileting with no garden

Most of the housing is flats and semis with very little outdoor space, so every toilet break is a set of stairs and a street. A puppy who cannot hold it that long learns to go indoors instead.

We build the route before the puppy needs it, so it is boring by the time it is urgent.

Teenage dogs, 17 to 32 weeks, in Tamarama

Recall going at Marks Park

Marks Park sits on the Mackenzies Point headland with cliffs on two sides and no fence. It is also only off lead from 4.30pm to 8.30am, so it is often getting dark when people use it.

We rebuild recall on a long line at the distance it actually breaks, and we are conservative about when the line comes off in a place like that.

Friction with the same dogs, every day

In a small suburb one bad encounter is not a one off, it is a dog your teenager will now meet three times a week. That is how a single incident becomes a fixed opinion.

We deal with the specific relationship rather than treating it as general reactivity, because the two need different handling.

Lunging on the coastal walk

The path through Tamarama is narrow with a drop on one side. There is no space to make, so an adolescent who is only just coping goes over threshold repeatedly on a single walk.

We change your route and your timing first, then close the distance deliberately once they can cope with it.

Dogs 32 weeks and older in Tamarama

Losing the main park for weeks at a time

When Sculpture by the Sea is on, Marks Park stops being off lead. If your dog's whole exercise routine runs through that park, a few weeks of the routine disappearing shows up as behaviour at home.

We build a routine with more than one leg to it, so losing one place does not take the whole thing down.

Barking when you leave

Flats and semis stacked on a hillside means sound travels in every direction. Owners have almost always tried a camera, a longer walk and the radio before they ring.

We start inside the home rather than at the front door, because being left is only unbearable when being together was never neutral.

A dog who cannot do the coastal walk

It is the obvious walk from almost every Tamarama address, and when a dog cannot do it the owner's options shrink very quickly in a suburb this size.

We work out what your dog is actually saying before changing anything, because a frightened dog and a frustrated dog need opposite handling.

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 Tamarama call out, start to finish

A composite of the calls we take here. Details changed, the pattern is real.

The call

A three year old Border Collie in a flat off Fletcher Street. He had had one bad encounter at Marks Park with a dog he now met most evenings, and had gone from relaxed to launching at that dog on sight, then at any dog that looked similar.

What we found

Not general reactivity. A specific opinion about a specific dog, being rehearsed four or five times a week because Tamarama is small and the off lead window is narrow, so everybody is in the same place at the same hour.

What changed

We stopped the rehearsal first, by moving him to Tamarama gully and Bronte for a fortnight so the encounter was not happening daily. Then we rebuilt his tolerance at distance and worked back. About five weeks, and the generalisation to similar looking dogs faded before the original one did.

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

How we train

How We Train

How We Train

Force free, all of it. No shouting, no punishment, no pain, and nothing that works by hurting your dog.

We call it Relational Leadership. It is less a set of commands than a way of behaving around your dog, so that you become the obvious thing to look at when they do not know what to do. A dog that complies because it is worried about what comes next has not calmed down, it has gone quiet, and that comes back later somewhere less convenient.

Luke's Credentials

Luke Buchanan is the owner of The Toe Beans Co and Sydney's Puppy Trainer. He works as a dog trainer and a dog behaviourist, which in practice means the puppy obedience side and the behaviourism side are handled by the same person rather than referred on. He is accredited through the Dog Trainer Academy, Red Cross certified in pet first aid, and AFP background checked. Every session is run by Luke.

Force Free & Ethical. Always.

No pain. No fear. No force. No aggression. That is the whole philosophy in plain terms, and it does not bend for a difficult week or a stubborn dog.

Guarantee

Puppy kindergarten and dog training in Tamarama, in practice

Puppy kindergarten is the same four weeks as puppy school, and for a Tamarama puppy it is where most of the variety comes from, because the suburb is tiny. Classes are in Paddington, and the adolescent and adult dog training happens at your address.

Tamarama is small, steep, and almost entirely surrounded by places dogs cannot go. Tamarama Beach is prohibited, and so is the lower park, not just for off lead but altogether. Mackenzies Bay is out too. In practice the suburb offers two pieces of usable ground and both are partial.

The upper gully at Tamarama Park is off lead all day. Marks Park, on the Mackenzies Point headland, is off lead in its middle portion from 4.30pm to 8.30am. That is a different clock from Bronte and Barracluff, which run 3pm to 10am, and mixing them up is the most common local mistake. Marks Park also closes to off lead entirely for the duration of Sculpture by the Sea, which removes the main evening option for weeks at a time.

Because the suburb is so small, your dog meets the same handful of dogs every day. One bad encounter is not a one off here, it is a relationship that gets rehearsed several times a week, and that is how a single incident becomes a fixed opinion.

  • Puppy kindergarten matters more in a small suburb, because it is where the variety comes from.
  • Adolescent training for recall on an unfenced headland with cliffs on two sides.
  • Dog behaviourism for adults, worked on the coastal path where the problem actually happens.

Puppy school is at Paddington, twelve minutes away. See adolescent training for teenage dogs and in-home behaviour training for adults. We also work in Bronte and Bondi.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about puppy kindergarten and dog training in Tamarama

Common questions we get about our puppy program.

Common questions about puppy kindergarten and dog training in Tamarama

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 currently takes bookings at our Paddington venue and at Neutral Bay on the Lower North Shore. Zetland, Alexandria and Marrickville are venues in our network with no dates open right now, so check the puppy school dates page for what is taking bookings. 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 fixed venues within about eight kilometres of the Harbour Bridge. See the puppy school dates page for which venues are currently taking bookings.

Can you help with reactivity from seeing the same dogs?

Yes. Repeated encounters require different management than random meetings. We teach calm greetings and impulse control specific to familiar dogs.

Can I trust my dog off lead in public if they have good recall?

A good recall is the starting requirement, not the only factor. The environment matters too. A dog with excellent recall in a quiet park may not have reliable recall near traffic or in an off-lead area full of other dogs. Test recall in new environments before removing the lead. Build up gradually.

My dog is fine off-lead but reactive on-lead. Why?

The lead removes your dog's choice to move away from a trigger. That loss of agency creates the frustration that powers most lead reactivity. Off-lead, your dog can put distance between themselves and the other dog if needed. On-lead, they cannot, so they react instead.

Do sighthounds need a lot of exercise?

Less than people expect. Most sighthounds are sprinters, not marathon runners. A couple of shorter walks a day and the occasional off-lead sprint in a safe enclosed area is enough for most. Greyhounds in particular are famously low-energy at home. Between bursts of speed, they spend most of their time asleep on the sofa.

At what age do puppies start to calm down?

Most dogs begin to settle between 2 and 3 years of age, though this varies by breed. High-energy working breeds take longer. The biggest shift usually comes after adolescence ends, around 18 to 24 months. Consistent training and mental stimulation through this period makes a real difference.

Can I just do the four weeks of class, without the rest?

Yes. The entry level is the four weeks of class plus a month inside the online course, and plenty of people start there.

Worth knowing what you are trading off. Class is one hour a week in a room. Everything that actually goes wrong happens at your front door, in your hallway and on your street, and that is what the session at home is for. If budget is the reason, start where you can and step up later rather than not starting.

How often do new puppy school classes start?

New four week blocks start regularly at each venue, and the live dates are always on this page.

Classes cap at ten puppies and are matched by size, so spaces go quickly and once a date fills it goes to a waitlist.

If the next start date is a few weeks away, that is not dead time. The at home part of the program starts the moment you enrol, so you are working on toileting, crate, sleep and biting straight away rather than waiting for a class.

How much sleep does a new puppy need?

An eight-week-old puppy sleeps 16 to 18 hours a day. Most of the behaviour owners report in week two, the harder biting and the evening zoomies, is an over-tired puppy rather than a difficult one. If your puppy has been awake for more than an hour, it is probably due a nap.

Dog Training In Nearby Suburbs

Not sure where to start with your Tamarama dog?

Come and speak with us about puppy school, teen puppy training or adult dog behaviourism. Book a 15 minute call, it's free and no obligation

Book a free meet and greet Pick A Puppy School

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