FREE Puppy Socialization Classes Denver and Boulder Areas - Taught in centrally located Arvada, Colorado

The main purpose of this Denver and Boulder Area Puppy Socialization Class is to teach your puppy to have excellent social skills with other dogs.  Your puppy needs to learn how to properly interact with dogs of different breeds and different personalities.  If your puppy doesn’t learn these lessons before the age of 6 months he or she will have difficulty relating properly to other dogs later in life. 

This can lead to dog-dog aggression and dangerous situations for your puppy and your family and will restrict your freedom to include your puppy in family outings. 

Our puppy class is not a free for all.  We initially keep the pups on leash until they can demonstrate that they can adjust their play to all personality types.  If we gave them free reign from the beginning, the outgoing pups would run over the shy pups.  This would cause the shy pups to get more shy and/or even aggressive and the outgoing pups wouldn’t learn to be diplomatic at all (please see the article on Proper Socialization for a more detailed explanation).  For the purpose of the class it works best if the pups wear a harness, so there is no pressure on their necks while they socialize.

Training and behavior tips covered in Puppy Socialization Class are: housebreaking, puppy biting/mouthing, chewing, appropriate play, different breed temperaments, the subtle signs of aggression and general puppy rearing questions.

Please join us for our super fun drop-in Denver and Boulder Area Puppy Socialization Class in Arvada, Colorado.

Who: all puppies between 12 weeks and 6 months old, up to date on their vaccinations.*

When: Every Saturday morning at 10:15 am.  Please check this page every Saturday to see if the weather and surface conditions are good enough for the play class.  There WILL NOT be play class on Saturday May 12th because of soggy conditions :(.

Where: Oak Park in Arvada, Colorado.  From I-70 go north on Ward Road to 64th.  Go right (East) on 64th to Oak Street, go left (North).  Turn right (East) on 64th Place and park in the parking lot on the left by the baseball diamond and picnic area.  Please keep your pups as quiet as possible as we will be near a residential area.  Thanks!

This a a drop-in puppy class.  There is no need to sign up or make reservations.  Do call us if you have questions.  Come have fun, watch your puppy have a blast and learn too!

We look forward to meeting both you and your puppy!

1. *Vaccinations and Your Puppy
   

Please read in it’s entirety.  This is very important!:

When your puppy was born, he got some immunity from his mom by way of her first mother’s milk, called colostrum.  The problem is that nobody knows when exactly that immunity expires.  It depends on whether your puppy nursed first or last and how immune his mom was in the first place.  That’s why your puppy will get a series of shots.  Until your puppy has had his 12 week or in some cases 16 week shots, there will be a pocket of time where he is unprotected. 

Say that your puppy just had his 8 week shots, but his mother’s immunity was still active.  That immunity will then effectively cancel out the 8 week shots.  If his mother’s immunity ends a week later, your puppy is left unprotected until he gets his next round of shots.  By the 12 week shots, the newer vaccinations will override whatever mother’s immunity is left, while the older vaccinations are only effective once the mother’s immunity definitely has expired at 16 weeks.  Please ask your vet if your puppy can safely play after the 12 weeks shots or if you have to wait until after the 16 weeks shots.  Your vet cannot give the shots closer together because then the shots will cancel each other out.  Quite the dilemma isn’t it?

Our recommendation is as follows: To have the best of both worlds, you can have your puppy socialize with older friendly well socialized dogs who have had all their shots, in a back yard where there is no exposure to foxes and coyotes.  That should be as close to 100% safe as you can get.  Once your puppy has had his/her 12 week shots or in some cases his/her 16 week shots, you can bring your puppy to puppy socialization class. 

For more information about these puppy classes, contact Affection & Praise Family Dog Training, Inc. at (303) 255-3713.  Serving the Denver and Boulder Areas.

****Disclaimer: Please note that there are risks associated with attending the puppy play group.  Affection & Praise Family Dog Training, Inc. accepts no liability or responsibility for any illnesses or injuries that your puppy may sustain.  You join at your own risk.  Please do not take your puppy to the general area of the dog park as you don’t know how well socialized any of the dogs in the general area are and they could pose a risk to your puppy.****