You know how to train a puppy.
I'm going to change the way you think about raising one.
Puppyhood is an extraordinary developmental opportunity, and an incredibly short one. Use these precious early weeks to develop a well-rounded, well-padded, confident and capable puppy ready for whatever life, work or sport eventually asks of them.
Begins September 22 | Live online | IACP Conference Week Special: $350 through August 23
The Dog Beneath The Training
Puppy training has gotten very good. We can produce beautiful engagement, polished behaviors, and impressive foundations very early.
​
But puppyhood is about much more than what we can train a puppy to do.
-
Can the puppy explore without blinders or constant direction from the handler?
-
Recover when something scares them?
-
Settle while life happens around them?
-
Navigate people and dogs appropriately?
-
Handle frustration?
-
Comfortably be alone?
-
Seek support when they need it?
-
Make good choices when nobody is telling them exactly what to do?
AT THE END OF SIX WEEKS...
You will have a clearer understanding of what is urgent and what is important for each individual puppy, how to prioritize your puppy-training goals, and how to make the most of this short developmental window.
PRIORITIZE YOUR PUPPY-TRAINING GOALS
​
Understand the hierarchy of what is urgent versus important, and how that hierarchy changes depending on the individual puppy.
RETHINK AND REDESIGN YOUR SOCIALIZATION PROTOCOLS
​
Move beyond puppy play and exposure checklists. Socialization should teach puppies how to navigate and behave within the world, not simply experience it, so novelty can become normalized.
KNOW WHERE AND HOW TO USE PREMACK EARLY
​
Learn where and how to use Premack early in puppy training, so your puppy learns that access to the good things in life comes through the relationship with you, not in spite of it. Build cooperation and reliability by making engagement the pathway to the world, rather than an alternative to it.
USE MANAGEMENT TO BUILD CAPABILITY
Helpful management prevents mistakes while creating opportunities for learning. Learn the difference between management that supports development and management that continually prevents a puppy from experiencing the world, creating a thin veneer of confidence and capability.
DEVELOP THE DOG BENEATH THE TRAINING
​
Build the foundation for a well-rounded, confident and capable adult dog who can navigate the world without blinders or constant direction from the handler, make good choices, regulate themselves increasingly well, seek support when they need it, engage appropriately with the world around them, and learn to love learning.
WE'RE GOING TO CHALLENGE SOME ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT...
​
Socialization. Engagement. Structure versus freedom. Resilience. Priorities. What puppies are actually capable of.
THIS IS A DYNAMIC LEARNING EXPERIENCE.
We'll work with your questions, your videos, and your client cases. You'll learn to see puppies more clearly and make better developmental decisions about what deserves your attention now and what can wait. You do not need a puppy to attend. Puppies and case studies are absolutely welcome!
PROGRAM DETAILS
​
WEEKLY LIVE LECTURE + DISCUSSION
Six live teaching sessions beginning Tuesday, September 22.
WEEKLY OFFICE HOURS + Q&A
A second live session each week for questions, discussion, video, and cases.
PRIVATE CIRCLE COMMUNITY
Continued access to me and your classmates between sessions. Post questions, upload videos and cases for review, and keep the conversation going.
RECORDINGS
All sessions will be recorded, but live participation is encouraged.
​
ACCESS THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2026
Course materials, recordings, and Circle access remain open through the end of the year.
THIS COURSE IS FOR
Anyone who raises, works with, or plans to raise a puppy, including dog trainers, breeders, behavior professionals, sport and working-dog people, and dedicated puppy owners. I want you to leave asking better questions about why you are doing what you are doing, what your puppy is actually learning, and what kind of adult dog those choices are building.
PUPPYHOOD IS AN EXTRAORDINARY OPPORTUNITY, AND AN INCREDIBLY SHORT ONE.
Puppies arrive biologically primed to learn and absorb an extraordinary amount about their environment during these early months. We can use that to our advantage, helping them learn how to navigate and succeed in our complicated human world. These early weeks are for life skills, resilience, exploration, relationship, learning how to learn, and learning to love learning. We can teach polished behaviors later. Let's make the most of this precious developmental time building the dog beneath the training, and have a lot of fun while we're doing it.
IACP Conference Week Special: $350 through August 23. $450 thereafter
ABOUT KELLY
I’ve been raising and training puppies and teaching the people who train them for more than 30 years. I spent roughly two decades directing SIRIUS Puppy Training, developing and expanding puppy programs and training generations of puppy trainers. My work has also taken me through shelters, companion and service dogs, professional mentorship, and French Ring sport with my own Belgian Malinois.
Puppies have always been at the center of it. This course brings together what those decades have taught me about what happens before, beneath, and alongside the training everyone can see.
IACP CONFERENCE WEEK SPECIAL
$350 through August 23 $450 thereafter