Puppy Foundation Training
The first six months of your puppy's life represent an extraordinary window of opportunity. During this period, your puppy's brain is forming the neural connections that will shape their personality, confidence, and behavior for years to come. Our Puppy Foundation Training program is designed to make the most of this critical developmental stage, building a strong behavioral foundation through positive experiences, gentle guidance, and age-appropriate learning exercises.
Every puppy that comes through our program receives a customized training plan that accounts for their breed tendencies, individual temperament, and your family's specific goals. Whether you are managing a mouthy labrador retriever who thinks hands are chew toys, a timid rescue puppy who startles at new sounds, or a high-energy border collie who needs constructive outlets for their intelligence, our program adapts to meet your puppy exactly where they are.
What Your Puppy Will Learn
Our 8-session program covers every foundational skill your puppy needs to grow into a confident, well-mannered adult dog. Each skill is taught using positive reinforcement and broken into small, achievable steps that set your puppy up for success.
Socialization Exposure Plan
We create a structured socialization checklist tailored to your puppy's temperament. This includes safe, positive exposure to different people (children, men with hats, people using walkers), surfaces (grass, metal grates, tile), sounds (traffic, thunder recordings, doorbells), and environments (pet-friendly stores, outdoor cafes, veterinary offices). Each exposure is carefully managed to ensure your puppy has positive associations, never overwhelming them beyond their comfort threshold.
Bite Inhibition
Puppies naturally explore with their mouths, but learning to control bite pressure is one of the most important skills they can develop. We use a progressive approach that first teaches your puppy to soften their mouth, then redirects mouthing to appropriate toys, and finally teaches them that putting teeth on human skin ends the fun. This is not about punishment — it is about teaching your puppy that gentle interactions lead to more play and engagement.
House Training
We build a reliable house training routine based on your schedule, your puppy's age-appropriate bladder capacity, and the layout of your home. You will learn to read your puppy's pre-elimination signals, set up a management system that prevents accidents, and reward outdoor elimination in a way that accelerates learning. We also troubleshoot common challenges like surface preference issues, nighttime accidents, and regression periods that are normal during development.
Basic Commands
Your puppy will learn six essential commands that form the building blocks of good manners: sit, down, stay, come, leave it, and name recognition. We teach each command using lure-reward and capturing techniques, then systematically add duration, distance, and distraction to build reliability. By the end of the program, your puppy should respond to these cues in your home, yard, and low-distraction outdoor environments.
Crate Training Introduction
A properly crate-trained puppy has a safe space they genuinely enjoy. We teach you how to introduce the crate gradually, build positive associations through feeding and treat-dispensing toys, and extend crate time at a pace your puppy can handle without distress. Crate training supports house training, prevents destructive chewing when unsupervised, and gives your puppy a refuge during stressful events like thunderstorms or house guests.
Leash Manners
We introduce leash skills early because walking politely on a leash is one of the most requested behaviors by dog owners. Your puppy will learn to walk on a loose leash without pulling, stop and check in with you at intersections, and remain calm when encountering people and dogs on walks. We use a combination of attention games, pace changes, and environmental rewards to make walking beside you more interesting than anything else in the environment.
Handling Desensitization
Preparing your puppy to accept handling by veterinarians, groomers, and family members is essential for their lifelong wellbeing. We systematically desensitize your puppy to having their paws touched, ears examined, mouth opened, nails trimmed, and body brushed. Each handling exercise is paired with high-value treats to build positive associations. Puppies who go through handling desensitization are significantly less likely to develop fear or aggression at the veterinary office or grooming salon as adults.
8-Session Program Structure
Each session builds on the previous one, creating a logical progression that matches your puppy's developing attention span and learning capacity.
Sessions 1-2: Assessment and Foundation
We observe your puppy's temperament, identify their motivators, begin name recognition and sit, start house training protocols, and create your customized socialization plan. You will learn the fundamentals of marker training and reward delivery.
Sessions 3-4: Core Skills Development
Introduction of down, stay, and leave it commands. Bite inhibition work intensifies. We begin crate training introduction, start handling desensitization exercises, and refine your house training routine based on progress.
Sessions 5-6: Building Reliability
Adding duration and mild distractions to all learned commands. Recall training begins in earnest. Leash manners introduction in low-distraction environments. Socialization outings to new environments with trainer guidance.
Sessions 7-8: Proofing and Graduation
Practicing all skills in progressively more challenging environments. Troubleshooting any remaining issues. Creating your ongoing training plan for the adolescent months ahead. Final skills assessment and graduation celebration.
Why Start Training During the Puppy Stage?
Research in canine behavioral development has consistently shown that experiences during the first four months of life have a disproportionate impact on a dog's adult temperament. Puppies who receive structured socialization and positive training during this window are significantly less likely to develop fear-based behavior problems, reactivity, or aggression as adults.
Early training also prevents unwanted habits from forming in the first place. It is far easier to teach a 12-week-old puppy to sit politely for greetings than to retrain a 70-pound adolescent dog who has been jumping on people for eight months. Every behavior your puppy practices becomes more ingrained over time, which means the habits you shape now — good or bad — will be the habits you live with for the next decade or more.
Beyond behavior, early training strengthens the bond between you and your puppy. The communication skills you develop during these formative months create a foundation of trust and mutual understanding that makes every future training goal easier to achieve. Families who invest in puppy training consistently report feeling more confident, less frustrated, and more connected to their dogs throughout their lives together.
Puppy Training Pricing
Flexible options designed to fit your budget and your puppy's needs. All sessions are 60 minutes and include homework materials, handouts, and between-session email support.
Single Session
$85
per session
- 60-minute private session
- Customized homework plan
- Email support between sessions
- Written session summary
8-Session Package
$620
save $60
- Complete foundation program
- Socialization checklist
- Priority scheduling
- 30-day follow-up check-in
- Resource library access
4-Session Starter
$320
save $20
- Focus on specific areas
- Customized homework plan
- Email support between sessions
- Upgrade to 8-session anytime
Virtual sessions available at $70/session. Pricing is a general guide — contact us for a personalized quote based on your puppy's specific needs. We offer flexible scheduling including evenings and Saturdays.
What Puppy Parents Are Saying
Our labradoodle puppy was a mouthy, jumping tornado when we started with Global Good Dog at 10 weeks old. Jordan was incredibly patient and gave us a clear plan for managing the biting that actually worked within two weeks. By the end of the 8-session program, our puppy could sit, stay, come when called, and walk on a loose leash past other dogs. The socialization plan was especially valuable — we never would have thought to expose her to things like skateboards and umbrellas on our own, and now she is completely unfazed by them.
Jordan helped us understand that our corgi puppy's nipping wasn't aggression — it was herding instinct combined with normal puppy mouthing. That context alone reduced our stress enormously. She taught us specific redirection games that channeled his herding drive into appropriate activities, and within three sessions the nipping at our ankles had dropped by about 80 percent. She also showed us how to do handling exercises that made our vet visits so much easier. Our vet actually commented on how calm he was for a corgi puppy.
We got our miniature schnauzer at 10 weeks and started with Global Good Dog immediately. Best decision we made as new puppy parents. Jordan created a house training schedule that fit around our work-from-home routine, and our puppy was fully house trained by 14 weeks. The crate training approach was so gentle — no crying it out, no forcing him in. He now goes into his crate voluntarily when he wants a nap. The whole experience set the tone for how we approach training, and our schnauzer is now seven months old and the most well-behaved dog at the dog park.
Jordan Hayes
KPA CTP, Puppy Program Director
About Your Puppy Trainer
Jordan Hayes is a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner and the director of Global Good Dog's puppy programs. With a background in early childhood development and a lifelong passion for animal behavior, Jordan brings a unique perspective to puppy training that emphasizes developmental milestones and age-appropriate expectations.
Before joining Global Good Dog in 2021, Jordan spent three years working at a veterinary clinic where she saw firsthand how early training and socialization prevented behavior problems in adult dogs. She has trained over 400 puppies across every breed group and specializes in helping first-time puppy owners navigate the challenges of those exciting, exhausting first months. Jordan is known for her calm, encouraging teaching style and her ability to explain the "why" behind every exercise so owners feel confident practicing between sessions.
Puppy Training FAQ
Answers to the most common questions from new puppy parents considering our foundation training program.
Puppies can begin our foundation training program as early as 8 weeks old, provided they have had their first set of vaccinations. The critical socialization window closes around 16 weeks, so starting early gives your puppy the greatest advantage. We take careful precautions with young puppies who have not completed their full vaccination series, including training in clean, controlled environments and avoiding areas frequented by unknown dogs.
Your puppy should have received at least their first DHPP (distemper, hepatitis, parainfluenza, parvovirus) vaccination before beginning in-person training sessions. We do not require the full vaccination series to be complete before starting, because waiting until 16 weeks means missing the critical socialization window. We follow the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior's position statement that the risk of incomplete socialization outweighs the risk of disease in controlled training environments.
Yes, mouthing and nipping are completely normal puppy behaviors. Puppies explore the world with their mouths, and they also use biting during play with littermates to learn bite pressure. Our program includes dedicated bite inhibition training that teaches your puppy to control the force of their mouth and eventually to stop mouthing people altogether. We use redirection techniques, impulse control exercises, and structured play to address this behavior without punishment.
Most families notice meaningful improvements within the first two to three sessions, particularly with bite inhibition and basic commands like sit and name recognition. House training timelines vary by breed and individual puppy but typically show significant progress within two to four weeks of consistent practice. Our full 8-session program spans approximately eight weeks, giving your puppy time to develop reliable habits and giving you time to build confidence as a trainer.
We offer both options. Individual sessions are $85 each, and our recommended 8-session Puppy Foundation Package is $620, saving you $60 compared to booking sessions individually. We also offer a 4-session Puppy Starter Package at $320 for families who want to focus on specific areas like house training or bite inhibition. Package sessions do not expire and can be scheduled at your convenience.
Yes, our puppy training program is available via live Zoom sessions for clients anywhere in the United States. Virtual puppy training is surprisingly effective because we can observe your puppy in their actual home environment, see exactly where house training challenges occur, and coach you through exercises in real time. Virtual sessions are $70 per session, and we provide the same homework materials, video demonstrations, and follow-up support as our in-person program.
Give Your Puppy the Best Possible Start
The socialization window closes faster than you think. Schedule your free consultation today and let us help you build a foundation of good behavior that lasts a lifetime.
Schedule Your Free Consultation