About All About Puppies
We promote positive reinforcement and gentle training methods to help your furry friend grow into a happy, well-behaved companion. We understand the unique needs of puppies and their humans. We are volunteer, not professional, trainers with lots of experience raising our own puppies and working with other people and their pups. We also continue to educate ourselves about the latest research and methods. Join one of our classes in South Carolina at the Greater Columbia Obedience Club or email us with a question. And feel free to browse and use all the resources here...all for free and fear-free!
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Join A Class
We regularly offer Puppy Kindergarten for folks in the South Carolina Midlands at the Greater Columbia Obedience Club. Check out the website for the latest offerings. You can earn an AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy title in our class and then take your puppy through a lifetime of learning at GCOC! We also offer a shorter Puppy K-2 class that builds on Puppy Kindergarten, designed specifically for our Puppy Kindergarten graduates!
S.T.A.R. Puppy
S.T.A.R. Puppy is an American Kennel Club (AKC) program to get puppies off to the best start. There are 20 guidelines and behaviors to tick off in order to qualify as S.T.A.R. Puppy (although we know that ALL puppies are stars!). Our classes at GCOC prepare you and puppy for S.T.A.R. Puppy. We also offer progressive levels of training through AKC Canine Good Citizen and beyond!
Socialization
S is for socialization. Sounds like a party, right? What we mean by socialization is preparing puppy to live happily in your world. If you live in a city, it means introducing puppy to all the sights and sounds they'll encounter as big-city dwellers. Live in the country? Get puppy up to speed on horses, goats, chickens, and other critters (including wild ones!). Planning to take puppy to work with you or traveling? There will be lots of different people and vehicles and noises! Help puppy learn that all these are okey dokey! Check out the resources on this page to learn lots more!
Training
T is for training! We talk about training puppy, but what we're really talking about is training ourselves! There's so much to learn about how puppies learn and how we can best work with their malleability and sensitivity. It is helpful to focus on a goal, such as "sit," "down," or "stay," but we get there by baby steps (puppy steps!). As humans, we learn a lot about ourselves when we train puppy. Our training kit includes treats for puppy, naturally. It also includes patience, kindness, and humor!
Activity
A is all about activity. We often think of puppies as balls of furry energy, but they are also growing beings. Their bodies continue to develop even when they appear fully grown. Growth plates (soft areas at the end of long bones) may not fully harden until puppy is 18 months. It's important to take this development into consideration when we're planning puppy's activities. Short walks, brief sessions of high-energy exercise, and lots of quiet time for naps are key to planning puppy's activity schedule.
Responsibility
The "R" in S.T.A.R. Puppy is for "responsibility." That means our responsibilities as puppy's lifelong guardian/parent/friend/partner/owner. We are good citizens in managing puppy so they don't disturb other people and dogs, and we provide for puppy's safety and health and well-being. In the S.T.A.R. Puppy evaluation, we pledge to be a responsible dog guardian!