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.

Puppy School Zetland and Green Square | The Toe Beans Co

Q: What are the main services you offer?

Our training comes in five forms.Puppy School: four weeks of small group class for puppies up to 16 weeks, with home sessions and the online course from Silver up.Private Puppy Training: the same levels, run in your home with no group class, and an extra home session at every level instead.Puppy Orientation Session: one 90 minute session in your home for a new puppy, at $375.Adult Dog Training and Behaviourism: one to one sessions in your home for dogs 32 weeks and older, at $465 per 90 minute session.Never Guess Again: our online course on its own, with a live Zoom Q&A every week.Puppy school runs at six venues: Paddington, Edgecliff, Neutral Bay, Zetland, Alexandria and Marrickville. Start dates vary by venue, so check the puppy school dates page. Everything else happens in your own home, across Sydney.

Puppy school Zetland runs at Dogs in Town, 44 Epsom Road, a short walk from Green Square station. The Toe Beans Co trains dogs past puppyhood one to one inside your own apartment, because the lift, the lobby and the shared wall are where the problems actually live.

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Puppy school Zetland and Green Square, the short version

Quick Facts

Where We Work: In your own apartment, across Zetland, Green Square, Rosebery, Beaconsfield and Waterloo

What We Offer

Council Area

City of Sydney

Nearest Puppy School Location

Dogs in Town, 44 Epsom Road, Zetland NSW 2017

Distance

In the suburb. Our Zetland puppy school is on Epsom Road, a short walk from Green Square station

What We Cover

Puppies from eight weeks, adolescents, and adult behaviour work

Who Does The Training?

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

Puppy school Zetland and puppy classes in Green Square

Venue Name

Dogs in Town, Zetland

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Venue Address

44 Epsom Road, Zetland NSW 2017

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Days & Times

Room held Tuesday to Friday evenings from 6.45pm, Saturday from 4.30pm and Sunday mornings. Four weeks, one hour a week. Check upcoming dates for the next Zetland intake

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About The School

Puppy school, puppy preschool and puppy classes all describe the same four weeks. Green Square owners tend to search for whichever word their vet used, so it's worth saying plainly that they're the same thing.
The room is on Epsom Road, a few minutes from Green Square station and East Village, so for most of the suburb it's a walk rather than a drive. It's a purpose built dog facility, fully enclosed and cleaned daily. A Green Square puppy has usually done all of its socialising in a lift, a lobby or a narrow footpath, and it needs one space where it can be off lead and still under threshold, meaning aroused low enough to still take information in. Every class is run by Luke Buchanan, Owner of The Toe Beans Co, Sydney's Puppy Trainer.
Ten puppies to a class, split by size, because a nine kilo puppy and a two kilo puppy learn nothing useful from each other at that age. Second vaccination has to be done before the group component. Full venue detail sits on the Zetland puppy school venue page, and if the dates don't line up, Paddington puppy school and Alexandria puppy school are both close.
Luke runs regular puppy schools across Sydney, with venues in Paddington, Edgecliff, Zetland, Alexandria, Marrickville and Neutral Bay. All six are taking bookings, and anyone in Sydney can attend any location. Check upcoming dates and book your spot.

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Where we work around Zetland and Green Square

Where Zetland sits

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What It Is like

Zetland is the middle of Green Square, and Green Square is the largest urban renewal project in the country. Around 13,000 people live here already, almost all of them in apartment towers built in the last fifteen years, and the wider renewal area is planned for about 63,000. That's the densest patch of new housing in Sydney, and plenty of those flats have a young dog in them.

The pattern I see most often here isn't a puppy that's missed out. It's the opposite. Your puppy meets more strangers in the lobby in a week than a dog on a quiet street meets in a month, and every one of those meetings happens in a space it can't leave. A lift is a small box with a moving floor, a mirrored wall and a stranger in it. That's a lot to ask of a nine week old puppy, and most of them are asked on day one.

The other thing that shapes it is grass. There isn't much, and what there is fills up. Nuffield Park and Joynton Park absorb most of Zetland's dogs, so your puppy's whole off lead social life happens on one crowded lawn at the same hour every evening. Handled well, that's a gift. Handled badly, it's where lead frustration gets built.

Popular Landmarks

Green Square station
East Village
Nuffield Park
Joynton Park
Gunyama Park Aquatic and Recreation Centre
Joynton Avenue Creative Centre
Epsom Road
O'Dea Avenue

Main Housing Style

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What we get called about in Zetland

Local Challenges
- Lift and lobby manners, where there's nowhere to move away from an oncoming dog
- Toilet training that stalled after a patch of artificial grass went on the balcony
- Barking when left, and the strata email a fortnight later
- A dog that can't settle in an open plan flat, because you're always in sight
- Recall at Nuffield Park, which is off lead, unfenced, and has roads on two sides
- Over-arousal at the six o'clock rush on the same small lawn every day
Dog Areas
- Cavoodle
- French Bulldog
- Miniature Dachshund
- Italian Greyhound
- Groodle
- Pomeranian
Main Roads
- Nuffield Park, northern grass lawn, off lead at all times and unfenced
- Joynton Park, Zetland
Nearby Areas
- Epsom Road
- O'Dea Avenue
- Bourke Street
- Botany Road
- South Dowling Street

What we work on, by age

Puppies, 8 to 16 weeks

Toilet training from the eighth floor, which is a different job to toilet training from a back door and needs a tighter schedule, not a looser one. The lift, the lobby and the fire stairs, introduced deliberately rather than endured. Switching off in an open plan flat where there's no door between the two of you. And the socialisation list, which in Zetland is half done for you by the building and half missing entirely, because a puppy here can meet fifty people and almost no grass.

Adolescents, 17 to 32 weeks

Lead work on footpaths too narrow to create distance on, which is where most Green Square lead reactivity starts. Recall on a long line before anyone trusts Nuffield Park, because that off lead lawn has no fence and a road on either side. And settling, because an adolescent that can't deescalate in a small flat is the one that becomes a strata complaint. Most of that sits in Private Puppy Training.

Adults, 32 weeks and over

Barking when left is the single most common reason Zetland owners ring us, almost always after somebody else raised it first. Lead reactivity rehearsed on the same two blocks for a year. Reacting to the hallway, the lift chime and the front door, because in a tower there's movement outside your flat all day. We work all of it through one to one in-home dog training, in your own apartment, because that's the room it happens in.

Zetland questions

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Where is your Zetland puppy school?

Puppy school Zetland runs at Dogs in Town, 44 Epsom Road, a short walk from Green Square station and East Village. Ten puppies to a class, split by size, four weeks, one hour a week. Group classes run at six venues across Sydney and all six are taking bookings, so check upcoming dates for what's running next at Zetland.

Can I toilet train a puppy in a Green Square apartment without balcony grass?

Yes, and it's worth the effort. A balcony patch works for a fortnight and then costs you months, because your puppy learns the spot rather than the surface, and the spot is indoors. Take your puppy down on a schedule instead, roughly hourly at first and always after sleeping, eating and play. More lifts in week one, far less undoing at eleven months.

My dog barks when we go out and the building manager has been in touch. What now?

It's the most common call we get from Zetland, and it splits two ways that sound identical through a wall. Some dogs are genuinely distressed at being alone. Others have never been asked to switch off while somebody's home, so the empty flat is the first time they've had to cope by themselves. Those need different work, and guessing wrong costs you weeks. We work it in your own apartment.

A typical Zetland case

A composite of the cases we see around Green Square rather than one client.

A Miniature Dachshund, eleven months old, ninth floor of a tower off O'Dea Avenue. Toilet trained to a patch of artificial grass on the balcony since eight weeks, and now refusing to go outside at all.

The owners had done the sensible thing at the start. New puppy, no yard, a lift and a lobby between them and the street, and the balcony solved it. What nobody told them is that a dog doesn't learn toilet on grass. It learns toilet in this spot. By eleven months the balcony was the toilet and the footpath wasn't.

There was a second problem underneath it. Every trip outside started with a lift, and the lift had become the bit to get through rather than a normal part of the day, so arousal was already high before the lead went on.

So the work went in that order. Lift first, at a quiet hour, doing nothing except standing in it and getting out again. Then toileting moved outward in stages, balcony to lobby door to kerb. The balcony patch came out last, and not before.

That's the shape of most Green Square cases. The thing the owner rings about is usually the last link in a chain, and the fix starts three links back.

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 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.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions we get about our puppy program.

What are the main services you offer?

Our training comes in five forms.

Puppy School: four weeks of small group class for puppies up to 16 weeks, with home sessions and the online course from Silver up.

Private Puppy Training: the same levels, run in your home with no group class, and an extra home session at every level instead.

Puppy Orientation Session: one 90 minute session in your home for a new puppy, at $375.

Adult Dog Training and Behaviourism: one to one sessions in your home for dogs 32 weeks and older, at $465 per 90 minute session.

Never Guess Again: our online course on its own, with a live Zoom Q&A every week.

Puppy school runs at six venues: Paddington, Edgecliff, Neutral Bay, Zetland, Alexandria and Marrickville. Start dates vary by venue, so check the puppy school dates page. 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.

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.

Can sighthounds be let off the lead?

Only in fully enclosed areas. Sighthounds have a strong chase instinct and can reach speeds that make recall impossible once something has their attention. A rabbit, a bird, or a moving car will trigger that instinct instantly. Off-lead parks are not safe unless the area is fully fenced. Secure dog parks or sports ovals with high fencing work well.

When should I book puppy school in Sydney?

Book the at-home session early and the group class from around 11 to 12 weeks, once the second vaccination is done. The Toe Beans Co takes bookings for puppy school at six venues, Paddington, Edgecliff, Neutral Bay, Zetland, Alexandria and Marrickville, and anyone in Sydney can attend any of them. Start dates vary by venue, so check the puppy school dates page for what is running next. The first fortnight at home is for settling in.

What are your puppy school locations?

Group puppy school runs at six venues, and all six take bookings: Dogs in Town at 308 Oxford Street, Paddington; Dogs in Town at 44 Epsom Road, Zetland; Dogs in Town at 500 Glenmore Road, Edgecliff; Dogs in Town at 266 Mitchell Road, Alexandria; Dogs in Town at 55 Addison Road, Marrickville; and DoggieLove at 71 Military Road, Neutral Bay.

Anyone in Sydney can attend any of them. Start dates vary by venue, so check the booking page for what is running next or ask us and we will tell you.

Your one to one sessions happen at your own address wherever you are in Sydney, so only the group class brings you to a venue.

Puppy School And Dog Training Nearby

Your nearest puppy school: Puppy School Zetland