AKC star puppy.

Just wondering, have you gone to the AKC website to see what classes are in your area? STAR puppy classes are basically classes to help socialize your pup.

I would investigate other puppy classes in your area. Go to the classes first to make sure you like the trainer, venue and training style. You will save a lot of money and heartache.

Don’t let too much time pass as you have a short window of time to have your pup experience the world in a positive way.

Good luck and let us know how it goes! I am sure others will chime in to offer great advice too!

 

Great news! It is great that you are starting early and understand the need to socialize your puppy!!!

Just keep an eye out for the best fit for you and your puppy! I experienced classes that had aggressive dogs which scared my young sheltie!

Good luck and please post on how your training goes!

 

Not sure where you are located, but Petco in my area has a puppy playgroup that is FREE. They do check vet records and puppies have to have shots so that is all good. We took Brodie to the free class and then to another puppy play group through a training center. That is all for socializing. You can do some of that on your own as well. Home Depot, Lowes, Petco, Cabela's are all places you can take your puppy - just no paws on the ground - keep him in a cart so he doesn't pick anything up. We still do not allow paws on the ground in Petco because you just can't tell who is up to date on shots and who is not - a Petco vet even told us we were doing the right thing for him when we were strolling through the store last weekend with him in a cart. I keep a blanket in my truck to lay in the cart.

We did obedience after, actually took level 1 twice and then we just finished level 2 and earned our AKC Canine Good Citizen which is step 1 for therapy. Places I have looked into want the dog to be at least a year old to start therapy dog training so we will most likely try rally or agility until he gets older.

 

We did pretty much the same as Sandy. We did (and still do) take Shelby with us everywhere we can. It is very helpful with socializing her. We also went right to the CGC certification. I wanted to do therapy as well but I realized it wasn’t going to be in the cards for Shelby. However I was fortunate that our local nursing home did not require therapy certification for pet visits. Her CGC and a letter from our vet was all they needed. So I would take her visiting a few times a month. We have since moved and no longer are able to do those visits