Puppy school Inner West Sydney, now running at Dogs in Town, Alexandria
The Inner West has always been one of Sydney's most dog-forward pockets, from Newtown to Glebe, Annandale to Balmain. Puppy school Inner West Sydney now runs weekly at Dogs in Town on Mitchell Road, the original Dogs in Town site and still one of its most established, with a track record of handling every breed, size and temperament well.
Why Dogs in Town, Alexandria
This is a large, well-maintained facility cleaned to a high daily standard, which matters for young puppies whose immune systems are still developing. The Mitchell Road team has been managing group dog environments safely for years, and it shows. The location sits on the edge of the Inner West and inner south, an easy reach from Newtown, Erskineville, Glebe, Annandale, Leichhardt, Balmain and across to Surry Hills and Redfern.
📍 Dogs in Town Alexandria, 266 Mitchell Road, Alexandria NSW 2015
The Inner West dog owner
We know this crowd well. Inner West owners tend to be engaged, well-read, and genuinely invested in doing right by their dog. What we also see regularly is the gap between good intentions and consistent execution, an owner who has read everything but ends up with a dog that has learned to work the system because the household was not applying it the same way. Our program closes that gap with a clear, practical framework you can actually apply at home, not more theory.
What the program covers
Week 1, foundations. A short, practical briefing, then straight into training. Structured introductions, Sit, Down and Stay, supervised socialisation with narration, and hands-on help with biting, teething and toileting. Your puppy's photo is taken this week for graduation.
Week 2, adding difficulty. Commands under distraction, Stay versus Wait, the start of loose lead walking, and fixes for jumping and attention barking. We introduce the first two of the Five Golden Rules of Relational Leadership here.
Week 3, building reliability. Command chains for mental fatigue, recall under real distraction, off lead structured walking, and separation anxiety prevention, with breed-specific exercise guidance as your puppy grows more demanding.
Week 4, graduation. Walking technique, reading park play properly, early adolescent problem prevention, and a full graduation with your framed Week 1 photo and a final Q&A, followed by an invitation into our Skool community.
What's included
- A 1:1 in-home visit before school starts, covering your setup and the early foundations of routine and behaviour
- 4 weeks of puppy school at Dogs in Town, Alexandria, weekend groups of 6 to 10, joining from around 11 to 13 weeks
- Lifetime Skool community access, ongoing support long after graduation
- The Complete Puppy Program online course, our Weekly Journey through Week 8 to Week 24 plus a standing Problem Library, matched to your chosen tier: Silver, Gold or Platinum
- Personalised homework after every session and a framed graduation photo
Our training philosophy
No pain. No fear. No force. No aggression. That standard holds at every session, at every location, without exception. Our method, Relational Leadership, earns your dog's trust through calm and consistent behaviour rather than treats as the main strategy or physical pressure. Positive reinforcement is excellent for teaching Sit, Down and Stay, that part is straightforward. A dog that knows fifteen commands but has no household boundaries and no reliable recall has not been well trained. Relational Leadership fills that gap.
Common misconceptions we address
"The Inner West is so dog-friendly, surely socialisation just happens." Letting your puppy greet every dog on King Street is exposure, not structured socialisation, and it can just as easily create reactivity as confidence. We teach it deliberately, with managed introductions and real owner education.
"My dog loves other dogs, we just need commands." A puppy that adores every dog it meets and ignores its owner while doing it is not socialised. Engagement with you has to be more rewarding than engagement with strangers, and that is a trained outcome, not a personality trait.
"I've had dogs my whole life, I know what I'm doing." Genuinely useful experience, and raising a puppy from 8 weeks is still a different skill set. Even very experienced owners regularly tell us this changed how they think about the early weeks.
Frequently asked questions
Is puppy school actually running in Alexandria now? Yes, weekly classes are running at Dogs in Town, Mitchell Road, with a rolling start so you can join without waiting for a fixed intake.
What age should my puppy be? The 1:1 in-home visit can happen as soon as possible, there is no minimum age for that. The group puppy school component has to be between 11 and 13 weeks, once your puppy has had their second vaccination.
Is this the same standard as your other locations? Yes, same trainer, same Relational Leadership framework, same Complete Puppy Program structure.
Can I speak to someone before booking? Yes, book a free meet and greet with Luke first.
Ready to book puppy school in Alexandria?
Enrol in the Complete Puppy Program and take your place at our Alexandria school, or book a free meet and greet if you would like to talk it through first.
The Toe Beans Co runs puppy school across Sydney, including Paddington, Zetland, Marrickville and Neutral Bay. No pain, no fear, no force, no aggression, at every location, every time.
