What Will My Puppy Learn?

Your puppy’s early experiences shape their entire life. At SF Puppy Prep, we focus on the critical developmental window between 8-20 weeks to help your puppy become a confident, well-mannered companion. Every day, our puppy counselors focus on a training theme, and something for socialization. 

Our curriculum includes:

• Essential Life Skills: Your puppy will learn foundational commands like sit, stay, and come when called through positive reinforcement techniques like clicker training, building reliable responses that last a lifetime. More importantly, they’ll start to learn how to learn from you, making training more complex behaviors and tricks easier and more fun!
• Proper Socialization: We provide structured exposure to new people, dogs, environments, and experiences in a controlled, positive setting. This helps your puppy develop into a confident, adaptable adult dog without needing to put them in uncomfortable situations or set them up to fail.
• Handling Tolerance: Your puppy will become comfortable with being touched on all body parts, making veterinary exams, grooming, and daily care much easier throughout their life.
• Play Etiquette: Through supervised play sessions, your puppy will learn appropriate play styles, bite inhibition, and how to interact safely and politely with other dogs.
• Crate Training: The majority of our puppies graduate with greatly improved crating and alone time skills, because we take the time to tailor crate training to their pace and tolerance. 
• Environmental Confidence: From walking on different surfaces to experiencing various sounds, your puppy will develop resilience to everyday urban challenges they’ll encounter in San Francisco.

Why Focus on Socialization?

Socialization isn’t just about meeting other dogs—it’s about preparing your puppy for everything they’ll encounter in life. The science is clear: puppies have a critical socialization period between 8-16 weeks during which their experiences significantly impact their lifelong behavior.

A well-socialized puppy grows into a dog who:

• Adapts easily to new situations without fear
• Interacts appropriately with humans and other animals
• Recovers quickly from startling experiences
• Experiences less stress in everyday life

Studies show that under-socialized puppies are far more likely to develop behavioral problems like fear, aggression, and anxiety. At SF Puppy Prep, we take a methodical approach to socialization, introducing your puppy to new experiences in a controlled, positive way that builds confidence rather than overwhelming them.

Our San Francisco-specific socialization prepares puppies for urban living challenges like elevators, skateboards, crowds, and public transportation—experiences that many suburban puppy classes overlook. We take a multisensory approach using things that you might not that thought of as useful. When we notice a puppy feeling unsure or anxious about anything we introduce as socialization, we immediately start counterconditioning them using positive techniques. 

Why Is Play Important?

Play isn’t just fun—it’s fundamental to your puppy’s development:

Physical Development: Running, jumping, and wrestling with other puppies helps develop coordination, strength, and body awareness. These movement patterns build proper muscle development and joint stability.

Social Learning: Through play, puppies learn crucial skills like bite inhibition (controlling the force of their mouth), reading body language, and respecting boundaries. These lessons form the foundation of healthy canine interactions for life.

Cognitive Benefits: Problem-solving during play stimulates brain development and improves your puppy’s ability to learn and adapt. Play exposes puppies to novel situations, teaching them flexibility and resilience.

Emotional Regulation: Play teaches puppies how to manage excitement, frustration, and arousal—essential skills for emotional balance in adult dogs.

Our supervised play sessions ensure each puppy has appropriate playmates matched by size, age, and play style. Our trainers and counselors actively moderate play, stepping in when necessary to redirect inappropriate behavior and reinforce good manners.

What Vaccinations Does my Puppy Need Before Starting? 

Before we can admit your puppy you must have:

• Brought your puppy home 1 week prior to starting
• Completed a wellness check with a local veterinarian and have confirmed puppy is in full health
• Confirmed your puppy is under 20 weeks old on their start date
• Emailed proof of the following vaccinations, each administered at least 3 days prior to starting school to info@sfpuppyprep.com :
  • One round minimum DHPP/DAPP/DHLPP — (Distemper, Hepatitis, Parvovirus, ParaInfluenza). This is standard at most veterinary practices.
  • Bordetella vaccine —Commonly known as kennel cough. It may or may not be standard practice at your vet clinic. Please speak with your vet about appropriate timing, letting them know your puppy school requires it. 
  • One round minimum Canine Influenza – Recommended (must be Bivalent – covering H3N2 & H3N8 strains.)  This vaccine is NOT standard issue; tell your veterinarian it is needed for prep school.

What Happens After I Graduate?

Graduation from SF Puppy Prep isn’t an ending—it’s the beginning of your journey with your well-started puppy. We offer:

Advanced Training Pathways: We offer clear recommendations for your next training steps based on your puppy’s individual needs and your goals, including our specialized adolescent program, Outdoor Education and our beginner and advanced group classes. 

Itty Bitty Doggy City Daycare: Graduate puppies who weigh under 20lbs are welcome to come right back and join us on site at Itty Bitty Doggy City, our specialized daycare for small dogs of all ages and breeds. With a small counselor-dog ratio and a focus on enrichment, Itty Bitty Doggy City is a great choice to make sure your pup is filling their days with fun! 

Why Do You Use Treats?

We proudly use food rewards in our training because the science of animal learning is clear—positive reinforcement works:

Effective Learning: Food rewards create positive associations with new experiences and make learning enjoyable, leading to faster skill acquisition and better retention.

Relationship Building: Reward-based training strengthens the bond between you and your puppy, building trust rather than fear or intimidation.

Brain Chemistry: Food rewards trigger dopamine release, which literally helps your puppy’s brain form stronger neural connections associated with desired behaviors.

Clear Communication: Treats provide immediate, clear feedback to your puppy about which behaviors earn rewards, making the learning process straightforward and reducing frustration.

Versatility: As training progresses, we teach you how to gradually fade the constant use of food while maintaining reliable responses, eventually replacing some food rewards with real-life rewards like play, freedom, and access to desired activities.

Our trainers are skilled at helping you select appropriate, healthy treats and using them effectively without creating dependency or weight gain. We’ll also work with you if your puppy has dietary restrictions or lower food motivation to find alternative rewards that are equally effective.

At SF Puppy Prep, we combine cutting-edge science with practical experience to give your puppy the best possible start in life. Our methods are based on decades of research in canine behavior and learning, delivered with the compassion and understanding that comes from our team’s 25+ combined years of working with puppies in the unique environment of San Francisco.