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🐾 Programme Overview & Structure

The puppy socialisation programme at Palm Gardens is conducted in a secure, disinfected clinical environment to ensure both mental development and disease safety.

  • Who the Classes Are For: Puppies aged between 8 and 16 weeks of age along with their pet parents and family members.
  • How the Programme Works: Weekly 45-to-60-minute sessions structured around gentle exposure, interactive play, handler communication, and problem-solving.
  • Small Class Sizes: We intentionally cap our groups at small numbers so every puppy receives individual attention from our certified instructors.
  • Positive Reinforcement Only: Built entirely upon modern, fear-free behavioural principles with reward-based motivation and gentle boundaries.

🧠 Why Early Socialisation Matters

A puppy's primary socialisation window closes around 16 weeks of age. Experiences during this critical period permanently shape how your dog perceives the world.

  • Building Lifelong Confidence: Exposing puppies to novel sights, sounds, textures, and people in a controlled manner teaches them that the unfamiliar is safe.
  • Positive Handling & Vet Exam Comfort: We teach puppies to enjoy ear inspections, mouth examinations, temperature checks, and paw handling — ensuring future veterinary visits and nail trims are relaxed.
  • Preventing Adult Reactivity: Puppies denied early socialisation are statistically far more likely to develop fear-based aggression, territorial barking, and separation distress as adults.
  • Sound & Environmental Desensitisation: Exposure to common domestic triggers such as vacuum cleaners, thunderstorms, clippers, umbrellas, and novel walking surfaces.

🎓 What Puppies & Owners Learn

Our classes coach both ends of the leash, giving owners practical skills to navigate early puppy parenthood with confidence.

  • Polite Canine Greetings & Body Language: Reading reciprocal play signals, learning when to pause, and disengaging politely from other dogs.
  • Bite Inhibition & Gentle Mouthing: Teaching puppies appropriate jaw pressure so they learn never to apply force on human skin.
  • Basic Focus & Settle: Developing attention on the handler, responding reliably to their name, and learning an "off-switch" settle cue amid distractions.
  • Practical Home Guidance: Expert advice on house training (potty training), stopping destructive furniture chewing, safe crate acclimatization, and preventing separation anxiety.

📋 How to Join & Enrolment Requirements

Because young puppies have developing immune systems, our classes take place in a thoroughly sanitised indoor area with strict entry health checks.

🛡️ Health & Immunisation Prerequisites:

• Age Window: Between 8 and 16 weeks at the start of the course.
• Vaccination Course: Must have received at least their first core vaccination (5-in-1 / Parvovirus) at least 7 days prior to attending class.
• Parasite Control: Up to date with age-appropriate deworming and veterinary tick/flea treatments.
• General Health: Free from coughing, sneezing, vomiting, or diarrhoea.

  • Upcoming Class Schedule: Contact our reception desk to find out the start date of our next weekly enrolment intake.
  • What to Bring to Class: High-value soft training treats, a flat collar or harness, a standard 1.5m leash (no extendable flexi-leads), and your puppy's vaccination booklet.

GIVE YOUR PUPPY THE BEST START IN LIFE

Contact Palm Gardens today to enrol in our upcoming puppy socialisation classes.

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