Strong Start Puppies

A confident start for you and your puppy

Bringing home a puppy is exciting, but it can also feel overwhelming.

Everyone seems to have different advice about socialisation, exercise, training, biting, sleep, lead walking, and what your puppy should be doing. It can be difficult to know what really matters.

Strong Start Puppies is a small-group puppy course designed to help you build the skills that matter most for life with your dog.

Rather than focusing on getting puppies to perform on cue, we'll help your puppy develop confidence, resilience, self-control and a strong connection with you.

Because a puppy who feels safe, confident and engaged with their person is much easier to live with.

Suitable for puppies up to 6 months of age

To ensure every puppy receives individual attention, classes are limited to just three puppies.

This allows plenty of opportunity to ask questions, work at your puppy's pace and receive personalised guidance throughout the course.

Classes are 50 minutes long, which gives puppies lots of opportunity to learn and explore without becoming overtired or overwhelmed.

What makes Strong Start different?

At Shaping Dogs, we take a whole-dog approach.

We recognise that puppies are still developing physically, emotionally and socially. Our aim isn't to create little robots. It's to help you raise a dog who feels safe, confident and prepared for everyday life.

Training is force-free, reward-based and designed to support both physical and emotional wellbeing.