Why is Puppy Preschool Important by Dr Anne Fawcett

Puppy Preschool should be seen as important to your puppy’s long-term health as vaccinations and good nutrition, as it offers you the chance to positively influence how your puppy will interact with other dogs and people for the rest of its life. Puppy Preschool teaches puppies more than basic…

Puppy Preschool should be seen as important to your puppy’s long-term health as vaccinations and good nutrition, as it offers you the chance to positively influence how your puppy will interact with other dogs and people for the rest of its life.

Puppy Preschool allows even the most well-behaved puppy to learn even better manners and also equips them with skills to deal calmly and appropriately with a variety of behaviours that other puppies may exhibit. These skills persist into adulthood and can help your puppy when it is older and dealing with other dogs that may not be as nice and friendly!

Between the ages of eight and 14 weeks of age a puppy is considered to be in its ‘critical socialisation period’. During this period a pup will learn many of the social skills that it will retain for the rest of its life. It is important for puppies to be exposed to a wide variety of people and other dogs during this period of time, preferably both in and outside of the household.

It is vitally important that these interactions are positive and non-intimidating to the pup because unpleasant experiences that occur during this time may have a long-lasting effect of the behaviour of the puppy. The puppy must also be protected from the risk of infection during this period. The people and other dogs that interact with your puppy and the location that this takes place in should therefore be carefully selected.

Contact your local Sydney Animal Hospital for more information on Puppy Pre-school.