Puppy School and Dog Training in Woollahra

We run puppy school five minutes away in Paddington, and we train older dogs one to one in your own home across Woollahra, Edgecliff and Double Bay.

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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 preschool and dog training in Woollahra, the basics

Quick Facts

Where We Work: In your own home, across Woollahra, Edgecliff, Double Bay and Paddington

What We Offer

Council Area

Woollahra

Nearest Puppy School Location

Dogs in Town, 308 Oxford Street, Paddington NSW 2021

Distance

About 1.5 km, roughly five minutes by car and walkable from most of the suburb

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 Woollahra

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 on Oxford Street in Paddington, about 1.5 km from Queen Street and walkable from most of Woollahra. 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 Woollahra

What it is like owning a dog in Woollahra

What It Is like

Woollahra is one of the few parts of the eastern suburbs where a lot of dogs still have a garden. That sounds like it should make the job easier, and in some ways it does. It also creates its own set of problems that flat dwellers never have.

A dog with a garden gets left in it. They watch the fence line, they hear the street, and they build a job for themselves that nobody gave them. Most of the barking and boundary work we are called about in Woollahra comes from dogs who have too much time outside on their own, not too little.

Then there is Cooper Park, which is genuinely one of the better dog spaces in Sydney and also a bushland gully with paths, a creek and steep sides. A dog with unreliable recall in Cooper Park is not somewhere you can see them.

Popular Landmarks
  • Queen Street
  • Cooper Park
  • Moncur Street
  • Woollahra Oval
  • Ocean Street
  • Trumper Park
  • Edgecliff Station
Main Housing Style

A mix of terraces, semis and larger houses with gardens, plus apartments toward Edgecliff. More private outdoor space than most of the eastern suburbs.

Puppy and adult dog behaviour problems in Woollahra

Local Challenges

  • Fence line barking. A dog left in a Woollahra garden all day gives themselves the job of patrolling it, and neighbours notice long before owners do
  • Recall in Cooper Park. It is a bushland gully with a creek and steep sides, so a dog who ignores you there is a dog you genuinely cannot see
  • Reactivity on Queen Street and Moncur Street. Narrow footpaths, shopfronts and cafe tables mean dogs pass at close quarters with nowhere to step aside
  • Off lead access on a timetable. Moncur Reserve only runs 3.30pm to 10.30am, so the middle of the day is on lead everywhere except the top of Cooper Park
  • Door and gate manners. Larger houses mean more doors, more gates and more chances for a dog to decide the front of the house is theirs
  • Dogs who are good at home and unmanageable on the lead, because a garden lets an owner avoid the walk for months

Common Breeds

  • Cavoodle
  • Labrador
  • Golden Retriever
  • Border Collie
  • Miniature Schnauzer

Off Lead Spots

  • Cooper Park upper section and Bellevue Gardens, at all times
  • Lower Cooper Park, 3.30pm to 10.30am, except during organised sport
  • Moncur Reserve, 3.30pm to 10.30am, not the basketball section
  • Royal Hospital for Women Park, Paddington, 3.30pm to 10.30am Monday to Saturday only

Busy Streets

  • Queen Street
  • Ocean Street
  • Moncur Street
  • New South Head Road at Edgecliff

What we get called about in Woollahra, by age

Puppies up to 16 weeks in Woollahra

A garden that does the toilet training for you, badly

Owners with a garden usually think toilet training went well, because the puppy will go outside. What often has not happened is the puppy learning to ask, because they never had to. That shows up the first time you take them somewhere without a back door.

We build the asking deliberately, so the garden is a convenience rather than the whole system.

Too much time alone outside

A puppy put in the garden to burn energy is a puppy left to invent their own entertainment. In Woollahra that usually means the fence line, the gate, and whatever is happening on the other side of it. By four months it is a habit rather than a phase.

We set up what a puppy should actually be doing with their day, which is far more sleep and far less garden than most people expect.

Socialisation that gets left too late

When the garden covers the basics, the walks start later. The socialisation window does not wait for you, and a puppy who meets the world at fourteen weeks instead of nine has a harder job.

Puppy school is five minutes away in Paddington and starts as soon as the second vaccination is done, which is the point of it.

Teenage dogs, 17 to 32 weeks, in Woollahra

Recall failing in Cooper Park

The recall you had at twelve weeks stops working somewhere around six months, and Cooper Park is where Woollahra owners find out. It is a bushland gully with a creek, paths and steep sides, so a dog who chooses not to come back is out of sight in seconds.

We rebuild it on a long line at the distance it actually breaks, rather than in the kitchen where everyone practises it.

Guarding the gate and the fence

Adolescence is when a dog decides what their job is. A Woollahra teenager with garden access and a low front fence usually decides the job is the street, and once that decision is made the barking is not the problem, it is the report.

We take the job off them rather than trying to stop the noise, and change what the garden is for.

Pulling on Queen Street

Narrow footpaths, shopfronts, cafe tables and dogs tied outside them. A teenager who pulls is bad enough on a wide street. On Queen Street it means you have no way of giving anyone space.

We fix the lead work where you actually walk, at the hour you actually walk it.

Dogs 32 weeks and older in Woollahra

Barking at the fence all day

The most common Woollahra call. A dog left with garden access while everyone is out, patrolling a boundary they were never asked to patrol. Owners usually hear about it from a neighbour rather than noticing it themselves.

We change what the dog is doing with the day rather than trying to interrupt the barking, because a dog with a job they invented will always find another one.

Reactivity that only appears on the lead

Plenty of dogs here are completely social off lead in Cooper Park and impossible on Queen Street. That is not two dogs. It is one dog who can create distance in one place and cannot in the other.

We work it on your streets, because a demonstration in an open park does not transfer to a footpath with a cafe on it.

A second dog that has not gone to plan

Bigger houses mean more second dogs, and more households where the two of them have worked out a pecking order that the owners are not part of. Resource guarding between two dogs in the same home is a different job from either dog on their own.

We work with both dogs in the house rather than one at a time, because the problem is the arrangement rather than either animal.

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 Woollahra 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 house off Ocean Street. Barking at the front fence from about nine in the morning until someone came home. Two neighbours had raised it. The owners had tried a longer morning walk, then a much longer one, and it had made no difference at all.

What we found

Not under exercised. Over employed. She had free access to the front garden all day, a clear view of the footpath through the fence, and roughly two hundred things to react to before lunch. The extra walking was making her fitter and no calmer, because the issue was what she did with the other nine hours.

What changed

We closed the front garden off during the day and rebuilt what her time indoors looked like, so switching off became something she could do rather than something she was waiting to be released from. The barking dropped inside two weeks. The walks got shorter, not longer.

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 preschool and dog training in Woollahra, in more detail

Puppy preschool is five minutes away at our Paddington puppy school and is where most Woollahra dogs should start, before the garden habits set in. Dog training for teenage and adult dogs is done one to one at your house.

Woollahra is one of the few parts of the eastern suburbs where a lot of dogs still have a garden, and that creates a set of problems flat dwellers never have. A dog left in a garden all day does not relax in it, they work in it. They watch the fence line, they hear the street, and they build themselves a job nobody gave them. Most of the barking we are called about here comes from too much unsupervised time outside, not too little exercise.

Cooper Park is the main off lead space and it has two different rules inside it. The upper section, Bellevue Gardens and the amphitheatre are off lead at all times. Lower Cooper Park is off lead only from 3.30pm to 10.30am and not during organised sport. It is also a bushland gully with a creek and steep sides, so a dog who chooses not to come back is genuinely out of sight rather than just far away.

Worth knowing what is closed. Chiswick Gardens Reserve on Ocean Street has dogs prohibited at all times, and dogs are off the Woollahra Oval 1 playing surface entirely.

  • Puppy preschool five minutes away, before the garden habits set in.
  • Adolescent training for recall in a bushland gully and lead work on Queen Street.
  • Dog behaviourism for adults, including multi dog households.

Puppy school is at Paddington. See adolescent training and in-home behaviour training. We also cover Paddington and Double Bay.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about puppy preschool and dog training in Woollahra

Common questions we get about our puppy program.

Common questions about puppy preschool and dog training in Woollahra

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.

My dog barks at the fence all day. What do I do?

Fence barking is usually territorial or boredom-based. Limiting access to the fence, increasing exercise, and adding mental stimulation during the day all help. Some dogs need the fence line blocked from view completely.

What is the best way to teach a dog recall?

Start in the house with no distractions. Call the dog's name, say 'come,' and when they arrive, reward with something very good. Gradually move to the garden, then to quiet outdoor spaces, then to more distracting environments. Use a long line to maintain safety while the recall is still being built.

Is my reactive dog dangerous?

Most reactive dogs are not dangerous. They are stressed. The big reaction is often a dog trying to increase distance from something that scares them. That said, any dog that has bitten should be assessed by a qualified trainer.

Do Golden Retrievers suffer from separation anxiety?

They can. Goldens are social dogs that thrive on company. Left alone for long periods regularly, some develop anxiety. Teaching your dog to be comfortable alone from puppyhood, and gradually building up the time you're away, makes a big difference.

How much exercise does a Border Collie need?

A lot. At least 1.5 to 2 hours of physical exercise per day, plus mental stimulation on top. A Border Collie that only gets a walk around the block will be difficult to live with. Agility, fetch, herding activities, and puzzle feeders all help. Physical exercise alone is not enough for this breed.

Group or private training, which is better for my dog?

For a confident puppy, group first, because socialisation with other puppies is the thing a private session cannot replicate. For an adult dog, or a puppy already showing fear or reactivity, private first. Most owners get the best result from both.

Do you offer free meet and greets?

Yes, we offer complimentary meet and greets for all of our services. You can schedule them using the booking links and we will be in touch. If you cannot find a time please call on +61431622887

My dog never did puppy school. Is it too late?

Not at all. Adolescent dogs respond to structure faster than owners expect, because the brain is rewiring and the relationship dynamic is being renegotiated anyway. The Adolescent Program is built specifically for the four to twelve month window, whether or not your dog did puppy school.

Dog Training In Nearby Suburbs

Not sure where to start with your Woollahra 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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