Puppy Academy

Puppy Academy Basic (4 Weeks)

Our 4 week Puppy Academy Basic Program is an extended program for puppies 8-12 weeks of age. Your puppy remains with us for obedience training between 8 - 12 weeks of age. We have trained a number of puppies successfully in this program. Your puppy will be trained by us, drawing on years of experience training Golden Retrievers. With our experience we are able to help Puppy Academy pups achieve amazing results by the time they graduate at 12 weeks of age. Our Puppy Academy Basic Program focuses on obedience, socialization, and learning verbal commands. We slowly introduce the leash along with some basic commands at this very impressionable age; and we customize the training based on each puppy's individual needs. Some may need more time working on leash walking, while others may need more help with the "sit" command. The main focus is teaching leash walking, socialization, and extensive training of the commands "sit", "come", "lay/down", & "watch me." During this time each puppy will go on safe field trips for socialization (after their 9 week vaccinations). We will help each puppy get accustomed to different environments, sounds, & people. The puppies will also be "groom trained." This involves training the puppies to get brushed, bathed, nails clipped, & ears cleaned. Of course we continue the basic potty training foundation of calling the puppies outside for potty time.

The Puppies will learn

• Come

• Sit

• Down

• Watch me

• Good Girl/Good Boy

• No

• Leash Training

• Stair Training

• Groom Training

• People Training

• Child Training

Our Puppy Academy Basic Program is perfect for those who want a socialized puppy with a basic understanding of obedience commands going into a beginner obedience class. Your puppy will already know the commands and will be the valedictorian of the class. This will allow you to focus on communicating with your puppy and learning each other's language. The program includes 4 weeks of training, food, board, weekly pictures and updates, one visit at or near 10 weeks of age, and an obedience session teaching you how to work with your puppy. Cost: $2000.00

Puppy Academy Advanced (4 Weeks)

Our 4 week Puppy Academy Advanced Program is similar to the 4 week Puppy Academy Basic Program; with some added bells and whistles for puppies 8-12 weeks of age. Your puppy remains with us between 8 - 12 weeks of age. Our Puppy Academy Advanced Program concentrates on obedience, socialization, learning verbal commands, and 2 weeks of crate training. We start with loose leash walking and extensive training of the commands "sit", "come", "lay/down", "watch me", "go get it", "bring it", "drop it", and we begin the "leave it", and the "stay" commands. During this time each puppy will go on safe field trips for socialization (after their 9 week vaccinations). We will help each puppy get accustomed to different environments, sounds, & people. The puppies will also be crate trained (between 10 - 12 weeks of age) and groom trained. This involves training the puppies to get brushed, bathed, nails clipped, & ears cleaned, as well as learning to sleep in their crate. The puppies will sleep in their crates at night starting at 10 weeks of age; until they go home at 12 weeks of age. Of course we continue the basic potty training foundation of calling the puppies outside for potty time.

The Puppies will learn

• Come

• Sit

• Down 

• Watch Me

• Go Get It

• Bring It

• Drop It

• Good Girl/Good Boy

• No

• Leash Training

• Crate Training

• Stair Training 

• Groom training

• People Training

• Child Training

Our Puppy Academy Advanced Program is perfect for those who want a well socialized puppy with an understanding of several obedience commands going into a beginner or advanced obedience class. The crate training will make potty training easier, and the extra 4 weeks with us gets you closer to the time when your puppy's bladder is fully developed and physically able to hold it like an adult dog.  The program includes 4 weeks of training, food, board, weekly pictures and updates, one visit at or near 10 weeks of age, and an obedience session teaching you how to work with your puppy. Cost: $2500.00

Puppy Boot Camp

(8 Weeks)

Our Puppy Boot Camp is our advanced program for more extensive obedience, crate, and potty training. We keep your puppy with us until they are 4 months old (between 8-16 weeks of age). They go home with a full understanding of the commands, they are crate trained, and almost potty trained with very few accidents. I say almost potty trained because your veterinarian will tell you that a puppy's bladder isn't fully developed until they are 6 months old. So while they may understand where they should go potty, they may have accidents while settling into their new environment. The owner will be responsible for watching the puppy for signs and letting them out before they have an accident. The rule of thumb is that a puppy can hold their bladder for 1 hour for every month of age until they are 6 months old. A 4 month old puppy can hold it for 3-4 hours. 

The Puppies will learn

• Come

• Sit

• Down

• Watch Me

• Go Get It

• Bring It

• Drop It

• Leave It

• Stay

• Good Girl/Good Boy

• No

• Leash Training

• Crate Training

• Potty Training

• Stair Training

• Groom Training

• People Training

• Child training

Our Puppy Boot Camp Program is perfect for those who want a crate trained puppy who will be almost fully potty trained. The puppy is well socialized with a good understanding of the obedience commands come, sit, down, watch me, go get it, bring it, drop it, leave it, yes, no, and stay. The program includes 8 weeks of training, food, board, weekly pictures and updates, two visits at 10 & 14 weeks of age, and two obedience sessions teaching you how to work with your puppy. Cost: $5000.00

Trained Adult Dog (6+ Months Old) 

The Trained Adult Dog Package is offered for those who contact us wanting a fully trained dog. This is not for everyone however, we want everyone to understand the amount of work, time, and money that goes into training a dog for 6 months. This includes food, board, crates, training tools, treats, grooming tools, training time, travel time, gasoline, cleaning time, laundry, veterinary visits, the cost of obedience classes, and the cost of trainers all rolled into one. The pricing is slightly less (approximately $5000 less) than larger breeders in our area who employ several workers to train their dogs. We are a family who raises and trains our dogs in our home. We do not employ others to train our dogs as we have been training dogs for 30 years. 

Our Trained Adult Dogs are basically a puppy that we raise and obedience train until they are 6 months old. They are fully trained and potty trained when they go home. Our Trained Adult Dogs are perfect for those who want a trained puppy but don't have the knowledge or time to obedience train, crate train, and potty train a dog. The puppy is well socialized with a good understanding of the obedience commands come, sit, down, watch me, go get it, bring it, drop it, leave it, yes, no, good girl/boy, and stay. We also work on acceptable behaviors in the home, how to greet people at the door, and staying off of furniture. 

The program includes 6 months of training, food, board, weekly pictures and updates, two visits, and two obedience sessions teaching you how to work with your dog. Cost: $20,000 

We will adjust our Puppy Academy Basic program to fit your needs; we will keep a puppy in training for 5, 6, or 7 weeks at the rate of $500 per week if we are available to do so at the time.

Who is a good candidate for our puppy academy? 

Continued socialization is a must for all dogs but it’s very important that puppies continue to be socialized with other puppies and humans of all shapes and sizes. I recommend that everyone enroll in a “Puppy Power” obedience class between 12 and 16 weeks of age. The class environment provides an excellent atmosphere for socializing with other dogs and people; it also helps create a bond between you and your puppy that will last a lifetime. The fun thing about taking a trained puppy to an obedience class is that they have already learned the basics so you will be learning each other’s language. Your puppy needs to learn how you ask for each command and you need to learn what your puppy is trying to tell you with his/her body language. The best candidate for our puppy academy is the person or family who will continue working with their new family member as socialization and training are necessary throughout your dog’s life. We’ve been told many times that our puppy academy graduates are well behaved and better trained at 12 & 16 weeks of age than most adult dogs. However, I can’t stress enough how important continued education is; just as a child doesn’t stop learning after kindergarten; a 12 or 16 week old puppy needs to continue training throughout his/her lifetime. I don’t recommend the Puppy Academy or ANY puppy for anyone who thinks they can take their puppy home and never have to work with the puppy again. In screening homes for our puppies; whether they go home at 8 weeks of age or stay for our puppy academy; we like to make sure that people understand that puppies require time and attention. We encourage you to be honest with yourself and with us when we discuss your experience, wants, and needs as we’re here to help you. Whenever possible, we organize an obedience class with our puppy academy families; to work in a group setting before you take your puppy home. If you plan on spending time with your puppy to create a lifelong bond; if you intend to review what they’ve learned at an early age and continue their education; than the puppy academy is for you.