Los Gatos Dog and Cat Hospital has been offering puppy preschool classes since the summer of 1999. The purpose of our program is to provide a forum for puppies to socialize in an environment that is low risk for infectious diseases such as parvovirus, since preschool age puppies are not fully vaccinated. Owners learn important leadership skills, the basics of canine communication, aggression prevention, handling and gentling exercises, correction methods, housetraining 101, and much more. Our methods of teaching are based on positive reinforcement, reward-based training.

The first level of our preschool is for puppies 12-20 weeks old. Once a puppy has completed preschool, we strongly encourage continued training in a formal setting so we offer training for adolescent dogs. Since our classes fill up early we occasionally have to refer owners and their puppies to other training programs. We recommend only those whose philosophies of positive reinforcement and reward-based training match our own.

In addition to puppy training we also counsel many pet owners on specific behavior problems of both puppies and adult dogs. Phone or in-home consultations can be arranged. And we have a lending library of problem prevention and problem solving books, as well as a reading resource list available.

Though the majority of behavior questions are related to dogs, we can also provide information on cat behavior problems such as inappropriate urination, destructive behavior, and aggression.

Crate training
Handling
Gentling
Leadership establishment
Socialization