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Level One Courses
Puppy 1 • pups 8 to 16 weeks
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Socialization: New experiences, environments, people, and dogs.-
Management Skill: Fundamentals of handling, biting management, and strategies for dealing with crying, whining, and crating.’
Biting and Mouthing
Foundational Obedience: 'Sit', 'Down', 'Stay', ‘Come’, ‘Dont touch’,
Walking on Leash,
-Behavioral Basics: Lessons in anti-jumping and impulse control.
-Recall Training: Start with the essential 'Come' command.-
Confidence Building: Engage in activities to boost your puppy’s confidence in diverse settings.
Modern reward-based methods, focusing on your puppy's training and your education as a new puppy owner. Learn essential communication skills and life-long good habits – and normalize puppy behaviors. We emphasize educating well-informed owners for a beneficial experience. -
Your Puppy 😜! Ensure they wear a collar with an ID tag.-
A 6-foot leash.- A mat or towels for your puppy to settle on.
A hands-free reward pouch, also known as a bait bag.
Eagerness: Be ready to learn, practice new habits, socialize, and have fun - laughter and a few tears included!
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Cost: $350 Per Puppy
Number of Classes: 5
- Frequency: Weekly
- Duration: 50-60 min
- Locations: 3119 Vicente Street - 📆
Schedule Here
PupDOG 1 • pups 4 months and up
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PupDOG 1, a course meticulously crafted for pups four months and older, where all breeds are welcomed. If you didn't have the chance to join Puppy 1, don't worry. 🕒 It's never too late. This class is the perfect starting point for adolescent and adult dogs.
In This Class, You and Your Dog Will Learn:- Focus and Attention: Building attention in daily walks and at home - Basic Commands: 'Sit-Stay', 'Down', 'Stay', 'Don’t Touch', 'Come here' - Loose-Leash Walking: Heel work and controlled walks without pulling - Foundation Recall Training: Come when called within 30 feet amidst distractions - Impulse Control: 'Don’t Touch' and other self-control exercises - Dog Walk and Park Etiquette: Be a well-behaved star at walks and parks.
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- Your Dog😜! Ensure they wear a collar with an ID tag.
- A 6-foot leash.- A mat or towels for your puppy to settle on.
- A hands-free reward pouch, also known as a bait bag.
-Eagerness: Be ready to learn, practice new habits, socialize, and have fun - laughter and a few tears included!
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-Cost: $350 Per Puppy
-Number of Classes: 5
-Frequency: Weekly
-Duration: 50-60 min
- Locations: 3119 Vicente Street - 📆 Schedule Here
Come back!
Level 2 Courses
Puppy 2 • puppy 1 or PupDog 1 grads
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-Improved Basic Recall: Strengthening responsiveness to commands.-Heeling & Loose-Leash Walking: Working towards pleasant and controlled walks. Rock-Solid Stays: Increasing off-leash reliability.
-Focus and Attention: Teaching your dog to listen and respond amidst distractions.
-Anti-Jump Techniques: Promoting polite interactions. -Run-Away Prevention: Keeping your dog safe in various environments.
Have you noticed your once obedient puppy suddenly forgetting their training? Are they ignoring you, only listening selectively, or reacting unexpectedly to everyday stimulus, like kids and paper bags? This can be baffling and frustrating for any dog owner. But guess what? Welcome to the teenage years!
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-Cost: $350 Per Puppy
-5 weekly classes-
-Frequency: Weekly-
-Duration: 50-60 min
-Location: 3119 Vicente Street, 94116
- 📆 Schedule Here
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-Your Puppy 😜!
-Dogs must wear a collar with an ID tag.- A 6-foot leash.
A mat or towel for you dog to use in class.
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In This Class, You and Your Dog Will Learn:
-Manners Refinement: Improving the skills learned in Puppy 1
-Quick Sits and Downs and Recall
-Impulse Control: Essential for managing your dog's natural instincts.
-Improved Basic Recall: Strengthening responsiveness to commands.
-Heeling & Loose-Leash Walking: Working towards pleasant and controlled walks. Rock-Solid Stays: Increasing off-leash reliability.
-Focus and Attention: Teaching your dog to listen and respond amidst distractions.
-Anti-Jump Techniques: Promoting polite interactions.
-Run-Away Prevention: Keeping your dog safe in various environments.
Have you noticed your once obedient puppy suddenly forgetting their training? Are they ignoring you, only listening selectively, or reacting unexpectedly to everyday stimulus, like kids and paper bags? This can be baffling and frustrating for any dog owner. But guess what? Welcome to the teenage years!
Welcome to SmartyPup! Puppy 2, where we navigate the challenging but crucial adolescent phase of your dog's development. At around 5 to 6 months, your dog enters adolescence, a time marked by hormonal changes and significant brain development. This p.eriod shapes their decision-making and emotional responses, often making training a challenge. So, no they are not being stubborn, that are in puberty!
Puppy 2 is here to help! Our classes focus on reinforcing commands and proofing them in the face of these new adolescent behaviors. We understand the emotional and developmental changes your pup is going through and tailor our training to address these unique challenges.
✍️ Paw Here to Sign Up.
Puppy 3 • puppy 2 grads
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Improve your dogs heeling, recall and stays - this is a fast paced class meant to improve your handling skills which in turn improves your dog's reliability. Perfect the basics using drill exercises to accomplish better heeling, recalls, stays, focus, and attention.
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- Cost: $350 Per Dog
- Number of Classes: 5
- Frequency: Weekly -
Duration: 50-60 min
- Location: 3119 Vicente Street
- 📆 Schedule Here
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- Your Dog 😜! Ensure they wear a collar with an ID tag.
- A 6-foot leash.- A mat or towels for your dog to settle on.
- A hands-free reward pouch, also known as a bait bag.
- Eagerness: Be ready to learn, practice new habits, socialize, and have fun - laughter and a few tears included!
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In This Class, You and Your Dog Will Learn:
Fade the food from your hands and all those repeated requests.
Two minute down stays....Long Stays and Crazy Distractions -
FOCUS focus, focus. No matter what, you need your dog to be able to focus.
COME - like abdominal exercises, you gotta do lots of reps in order to see results!
Heeling - for longer distances and around distraction.-Impulse Control. impulse control and more impulse control!-Distance Commands
Obedience 123 Class - Dog Drills for Obedience Skills
Refine and perfect your dog's obedience training and build the on skills you are learning.
📜 Requirements
- ✔️ Must have completed at least one SmartyPup! course.
- 🐕 Age: 5 to 18 months
- 😊 Dogs must be friendly towards people and other dogs.
👥 Ideal for Pup Parents Who:
- 🎓 Have graduated or are attending Puppy 1, 2, or 3 and want to refine handling skills and dog's compliance.
•Are between Puppy 1 and subsequent classes, seeking additional practice.
•Want to practice and verify their knowledge.
•Enjoy challenging yet rewarding training experiences.
•Believe in the power of teamwork with their dog.
📅 Flexible Enrollment
•"Drop-in" sign-ups, from a week to a day in advance.
•Suitable for various skill levels.
🚀 Class Highlights
• Fun, effective, and interactive sessions.
•Focus on 1-3 behaviors per session, rotating weekly.
•Multi-level exercises, tailored to your dog's stage.
🎯 Training Focus Areas
• Attention and Focus
•Recall Training (Come)
•Heeling
•Loose Leash Walking (Anti-pull)
•Stay (in distracting environments)
Anti-Jump/Manners
•Don't Touch/Impulse Control
•Distance Commands - Sit, Down, Wait
HOUSE-MANNERS
Hey, Don't touch, eat, or pee on that!**
Potty Training
Crate Training and playpen - home alone training; sleeping through the night, extinguishing distress vocalization.
Furniture Rules-are you ON or are you OFF? Tethering - Safety first, I can't catch my puppy!
Chewing - toy training (entertaining self/settling down).
The Blink Factor – never let your pup run free in the house.
Relaxed Puppy - I can settle on my own and dont mind being on my own
Food puzzle toys
Games
Chewies
Mental & Physical Challenges for a smart, happy tired puppy
I can entertain myself and am ok being alone
BITING, HANDLING AND SHARING
OUCH! Hey that hurts! Don't do that!
•Soft Mouth before 12 weeks!
•Play time with pup - schedule time for play and practice Mouthing during play - use toy exercise for teaching proper play with feedback for illegal bites.
•Hand feeding meals and treats - Taking food and items gingerly (self control)
•Feedback for hard bites – “Time Outs” and verbal feedback, etc.
•Taking things only on request
I CAN be friendly with You, Your Friends, the Vet and the Groomer
•Aggression Prevention and Handling is
•Object exchanges (aggression prevention)
•Food bowl
•People items - kleenex, underwear,
•Handling – examining, vet visit,
•Different positions- you will have to remove a flea, tick or burr from your dogs body one day...learn how to do it stress free!
•Food around other dogs - dog/dog aggression prevention
SAFE SOCIALIZATION and IMPULSE CONTROL
I Like surprises, new people and new adventures!
•Socialization — I am confident in my surrounding=
•People
•Sounds
•Sights
•On leash
•Outside walks (when possible)
•I have good manners and can say Please and thank you
Basic Training Impulse Control — I can wait for the things I want
•Teach me what I should not touch.
•I wont run from you if you need to catch me.
•Give/drop it
•Waiting for what I want – (food, toys, attention, access, release…)
•Don’t touch (management-do not give puppy access to the things you do not want him to have)
In a 90 minute group setting, you and puppy will learn Life Skills.
This includes early prevention of behavior problems, crate training, housebreaking, handling, settling, Q&A, socialization, desensitization. Each class includes play sessions, Q&A time, anti-jump practice, and basic management.
What it costs:
-Puppy and Me: $100 Bring your puppy and a crate.
Just me: $75 When Puppy is not ready to leave the house yet, still with mom or just a twinkle in your eye)
Where:
SmartyPup! Sunset
3119 Vicente St.
SF CA 94116
What is a Puppy Workshop?
•For people with a new puppy, considering getting a puppy, or who are about to get a puppy! This is the class you and family members will especially appreciate. Children are welcome and we encourage you to bring your friends and family.
Who and What:
•Pups under 8 weeks OR over 16 weeks?-Please come without your pup.
•Prior to the Workshop, your puppy must have at least: one distemper, one parvovirus vaccination and one deworming.
•Pup must be in the care of a local veterinarian and/or have had its first health check at least 7 days prior to the Workshop.
•Pup must have been under your care for at least 7 days prior to the workshop.
Fill out our wish list here for future classes and events. As soon as a new course offering is available, we will get in touch!
Puppy in the house... now what?
What you need to know, what you need to have...
Training a puppy should be a memorable and enjoyable experience. Puppies are absolutely wonderful. Not a spiteful bone their bodies, only curiosity, inexperience and a mastery of the here and now. Respect your puppy for its “puppy-ness” . Gently teach your pup your strange human ways: things like “Come” when he is having a perfectly good time doing something else; “No Jumping” when greeting people... a totally natural way for dogs to great EACH-OTHER; “ own” when he is neither tired or chewing on something or even sillier: “Don’t touch” when there is a perfectly good 3 day old piece of salami or electrical cord on the ground…
Please remember you are dealing with a BABY who has been on this planet for less than 4 months. They don’t really know anything for sure! Above all enjoy your puppy like a PUPPY, not a dog, but a puppy!
If you have a puppy you should also have a subscription to The Whole Dog Journal. It is our #1 source for the latest and most trusted information on puppy and dog food, care and training. Seriously there is no better journal than The Whole Dog Journal!
Whole Dog Journal is the ultimate guide to natural dog food, dog care and dog training. They accept no advertising so you get the best information possible. A MUST for all new puppy owners and for the ongoing care of every dog!
paw here for book recommendations!
Alone Time - Teaching puppy to be home alone.
Potty Training - The Procedure.
Management - Keeping puppy safe and out of trouble.
more coming soon...
Crate Kennel and Exercise Pen (X-pen):
Make sure it's only big enough for your puppy to stand and turn around. Used for housebreaking, traveling and training, these doggie caves will give your pup a feeling of security and a quiet retreat when its time for a nap. Line it with a washable mat and/or a few blankets to make it cozy and warm (though keep in mind, some puppies run hot and prefer a cooler, hard surface).
Foldable wire pens are a great way to give your puppy extra space while still confining them. This is an area used for long term confinement, when crating is not appropriate. Puppies may chew through cloth pens, so stick to the wire ones.
Life Skills for Puppies - An absolute must for pup parents! Available for Kindle and iBook
The Crate - a room of my own.
Blanket (we got this one at George)
Safe confinement - help me be a good puppy.
Puppy Safety Room
Stain and Odor Remover: Enzymatic Odor & Stain Remover
This is the item most often forgotten until your puppy has an accident. Bubba, Nature's Miracle, Anti-Icky Poo, and Bubba are a few product options that will eliminate odors and stains with enzymes, and ensure your puppy won’t be drawn back to the same spot by the odor or drive away visitors! Other household cleansers will not work. You need a concentrated bacteria/enzyme formula..Once applied to the urine contaminated area, the enzymes are activated and begin multiplying. The odor-causing urine cells are their food source. The enzymes literally consume the odor-causing cells until they are gone. When the food source is completely gone, the bacteria die and enzyme production stops.
A Variety of Chews & Toys:
bully stick
Raw marrow bone
Our favorite work to eat toy! Kong wishbone
Kongs.. lots of them!
Puppies have an urgent desire to investigate with their mouths so it’s important to keep them interested and busy. Bring out a few items at a time to promote self entertainment and prevent boredom--and the destruction of your favorite shoes and furniture. On the chew side, SmartyPup! recommends digestible chews including bully sticks, beef tendons, raw marrow bones (2-4” for puppies), dried trachea.Another great place to buy bones? Check out SFRAW. No rawhides or smoked bones! Chunks can break off and get caught internally. Plus, formaldehyde and other chemicals like arsenic are often used to treat, bleach and tan them, eiw! On the toy side, we like hard rubber toys for hard chewers, plush toys or squeak toys for less aggressive chewers. Tip: You can also try sterilized bones stuffed with canned dog food (or other healthy foods) or a Kong toy. Trivia: Dogs that start raw bones when they are young have the cleanest teeth, freshest breath--no need for brushing teeth in most cases!
Treats:
And we mean a LOT of them. Look for healthy, additive-free treats. Other super healthy training food reward like, freeze-dried liver, K9 Magic, cheese, all-natural hot dogs - like Let's Be Frank, beef jerky, leftover meats, etc.
Look for products that are not imported from far away places.
Soft treats that don't crumble easily are best. While we use a lot of food rewards (one of the many life rewards used in training) in the beginning, our goal is to phase out food rewards quickly (you will always use food as a reward but we want to make sure you use "life rewards," too). In training, novelty is paramount... surprise your pup with a delicious treat he has never before sampled. And don't forget a pouch to put them in for training on walls!
Leash, Collar and id tag:
2 or 3 thin 6-foot nylon or leather lead is best. Please, please, please, please... absolutely no flexi-leashes. Not only are they dangerous (have you read the disclaimer included with the packaging about finger amputation and strangulation?!), they also teach your pup to walk like a defective yo-yo. Adjustable collars are best for growing puppies, and for small dogs both a collar and a harness is preferred. Tip: For pups that will grow to be bigger dogs, a Gentle Leader Head Harness is highly recommended; for dogs of all sizes a Sense-Ation No-Pull Body Harness is recommended.
martingale safety collar
https://www.chewy.com/frisco-solid-nylon-dog-leash/dp/160837
id tag on your pup at all times!
A Puppy Pouch:
Just like a diaper bag for a baby, you should have a designated puppy pouch! It should come with you on every outing you take with your pup, and in it you should have enough room to carry some extra special treats for training, plastic bags, a chew item, your house keys and maybe even a small camera for those extra special puppy moments! One of our favorite places to find a bag with your own personal style is the Sports Basement.
A MUST HAVE!!!
Interactive Puzzle Toys:
These toys will keep your pup engaged and develop their problem-solving skills. Don't just feed your pup his meal in a bowl! Use an interactive food dispenser....Give him fun things TO DO and teach him to entertain himself! Think Rubics cube, SODUKU and Angry Birds for puppies! Or DIY - make your own. Empty plastic containers of yoghurt, peanut butter, butter, cream cheese, etc... Fill a empty water bottle with a few treats. Place a few treats underneath a clear tupperware container! Watch the games begin and your puppy THRIVE!
Tricky Treat ball - puppy's breakfast and morning workout!
The TORNADO! Let's get this party started!
Hollee Ball - place chews or squeaky balls inside. Better than a walk in the park!
Snack time! Mental Floss for the brain! Puppy not interested? Puppy not hungry.
Tennis slider
Cagey Cube
Kong Wobbler
Smarty cleans up a yogurt container - yum full of healthy probiotics. Good for a puppy belly
Where to shop!
Of course you can find all of these products on Amazon... but lets get local and support or neighborhood pet stores. We are very lucky in San Francisco to have lots of places to choose from for our puppies needs. A few places we know of that will always have the relevant puppy gear are:
Bernal Beast
Have a favorite Pet Store? Let us know
Food: What should I feed my puppy?
Now THIS is like talking religion and politics... an argument no one will ever win. So here is our opinion!
Do your homework when it comes to your dog's nutrition! We strongly recommend a fresh, healthy diet that incorporates a variety of types of foods. The less processed the better. How do you know what is best... a great online resource Whole Dog Journal. We also think the world of Dr. Pitcairn's book Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats.
Premium Canned Dog Food great alternative to dry food and really great for Kong stuffing.
Our preference... raw, freeze dried, and cooked diets. Variety is the best thing you can do for your puppy dog.
Premium Dry Dog Food (kibble) - look for whole ingredients where corn or wheat is not the first ingredient. There are soooo many brands out there. One word of advice - if it is advertised on television, don't buy it. SmartyPup! opinion.