Dog Training and Behavior Consulting serving the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago
Group Puppy Classes With Happy Hound University (for puppies 18-24 weeks)
Start off on the right paw with Happy Hound University’s Puppy Classes!
Classes held in the basement of St Martin's Episcopal Church at 1095 E Thacker St, Des Plaines, IL.
Happy Hound University specializes in puppy classes for all breeds and sizes of puppies.
Happy Hound University’s puppy classes are unlike any other puppy class around; we support you from the beginning, when you’ve just brought your adorable pup home, well into adolescence.
We specialize in socialization and building and reinforcing confidence in social situations/off leash play in addition to basic manners training!
"Mary is a very experienced trainer that uses positive reinforcement only to train dogs. We have taken our Puppy through Puppy 1, 2 and are now in puppy 3 class and it is the highlight of our Daisy's week. She has learned so much and we have too. Classes intermix puppy socialization (which was key for us) and various training exercises. Mary is always open to answer our questions and give us helpful tips and pointers. 5 stars!"
-Daisy's Person
Where to begin?
You and your puppy will start in Puppy 1 class. Our Thursday 8 PM puppy 1 class is a class for puppies 18 weeks to 24 weeks at the start of class. Please note, your puppy must be friendly with new dogs and people to enroll in this class.
This class focuses on laying a strong, positive foundation for your puppy’s social experiences with the other puppies and meeting the other human guardians in the class. We also go over “need to know” puppy info like how to potty train, prevent jumping, how to teach your puppy not to guard their food, toys, and other items, and more!
Ideally, puppies would join a puppy class before their critical window of socialization closes at 16 weeks of age, however sometimes that's not always possible. So our puppy class for older puppies will offer the same opportunities that our younger puppy classes offer but with an older group!
Please note, if you have the option to sign your puppy up for puppy class before 16 weeks or wait, it's always better to start sooner rather than later! So, if you are looking for puppy classes for your puppy and they are 17 weeks or under, please see our puppy classes for young puppies instead!
Class is rolling enrollment which means you can start any time as long as there's an opening!
What sets Happy Hound University apart from other puppy classes? Our training space allows us to set aside space for shy and nervous puppies, and allows us to split the room if we have players of different temperaments! Socialization is about your puppy having POSITIVE experiences with the other puppies, so we are careful to make sure that every puppy in class walks away feeling good about their play time. We also have two handlers per class, so that we can make sure no puppies are getting steamrolled or bullied. Your puppy’s emotional well being is our number one concern!
After each class you’ll receive an email with homework and relevant articles to what we discussed in class, and in between classes you’ll have direct email access to Mary, our trainer, so that you can ask questions as needed!
Puppy 1 for puppies 18-24 weeks is held Thursday nights at 8:00 PM. Class sizes are small (4 puppies or less) to allow for one on one time as needed. Class cost is $255 for 6 consecutive weeks of class.
Interested in joining our class? Our puppy classes are rolling enrollment, which means you can join class as soon as there’s an opening! Get signed up at the button below, or email info@happyhounduniversity.com with any questions!
What about after puppy 1?
After your puppy graduates from puppy 1 class they’ll move into our puppy 2 class. Puppy 2 for large dogs is held Thursdays at 6 PM, and puppy 2 for small dogs is held Tuesdays at 5:30 PM. These classes will build on the skills learned in puppy 1, introduce some new skills, and continue to allow off leash play so that your puppy continues to practice their social skills as they move into adolescence!
Puppy 2 class is rolling enrollment, like puppy 1, which means that you and your puppy can jump right into the next class as soon as there’s an opening! Class is 6 weeks long and costs $235.
Finally, after graduating from puppy 2 class you can jump right into our last puppy class, Puppy 3: Adolescence and Beyond which is a rolling enrollment class like puppy 1 and 2!
Again, puppy 3 class offers off leash play with similar sized and temperament playmates and builds on the skills learned in puppy 1 and 2! This is our more advanced puppy class, which means we really start to increase the difficulty of our training exercises as we continue to build on the concepts learned in earlier classes!
IMPORTANT: To be eligible for puppy 2 and puppy 3 you must join these classes within 6 weeks of your graduation date.
To get the sign up links for puppy 2 and puppy 3 email info@happyhounduniversity.com!
