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Every Pickwick Puppy is trained from the minute they are born until they leave us to go to their new homes at 12 weeks of age. It is our hope that their new owners will continue to train them throughout the remaining weeks of the critical socialization period, throughout their puppy months, and throughout their life.
"Think for a minute about the characteristics you would want to see in a puppy, whether that puppy belongs to you or is one that you encounter. Most people would probably list confidence, good manners, housetrained, healthy, friendly, and happy on the list of desirable traits. On the other hand, a puppy that cowers with fear, barks incessantly, jumps up on you, destroys your possessions when you aren't looking or nips at your heels has behaviors that are not so desirable." --- AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy Following Puppy Culture and AKC S.T.A.R. puppy protocols, infused with important skills we've learned through our training with such important experts as Ian Dunbar, Victoria Stillwell, and others, we invest a tremendous amount of time with each puppy on a daily basis. We believe strongly that what is accomplished, and how it is accomplished, during the first critical 12 weeks of a puppy's life is paramount to their success, happiness, and health throughout their lifetime ... both physically and emotionally. Every Pickwick Puppy goes to his or her new home with a diploma (and graduation photo!) after graduating from our "Star Puppy Academy", having worked daily on such important skills as leave it, drop it, sit, down, stand, wait, watch me/attention, loose leash walking, crate training, and even fun tricks like spin, shake, and hi-5. Similar puppy training programs and "bootcamps" can cost anywhere from $7,000-$20,000, in addition to the price of the puppy and so often, the puppies are sent to training facilities where they are housed in kennels, separated from their littermates and mother too early, and in actuality only receive minimal attention and training day. That is not the case with a Pickwick Pug Puppy who receives individual attention and training many times each day, as well as important socialization with its siblings and family which is invaluable when learning the customs and manners to thrive in the dog world. And Pickwick Pugs does not charge extra for all of this additional training because we believe strongly that what is accomplished, and how it is accomplished, during the first critical 12 weeks of a puppy's life is paramount to its success, happiness, and health (physical and emotional) throughout its lifetime. Pickwick Pugs believes there are 4 important elements that go into making a puppy a STAR! 1) Socialization (we expose puppies to a wide variety of new things, including people, places, and objects in the environment) 2) Training (for puppies, training goes hand in hand with socialization; puppies need to be trained how to interact with people and other dogs) 3) Awesome Genes (Beauty and Brains is our motto! We only breed pugs with immaculate pedigrees who pass important standards of temperament.) 4) Research (At Pickwick Pugs we are constantly learning more and more about the latest research on our breed, ranging from the latest health screening tests available, to the latest treatments, discoveries in nutrition and supplements, or advances in the field of animal behaviorism as we learn more and more about the canine brain.) 1. Socialization Sometimes, when people consider getting a puppy, they think of training but they forget to think of the importance of socialization throughout the puppy's life. To socialize a puppy means to expose him to a wide variety of new things (including people, places, and objects) in the environment. Socialization should continue throughout a dog's life, but it is most especially important during the puppy's first 3 months of life. "While a puppy comes readily equipped with plenty of instinctual behaviors, in many ways his young brains is like a blank slate ready to learn about life. Failure to be exposed at an early age to the kinds of things he will encounter later in life makes it much more difficult for a puppy to learn to cope with the world later on." --- AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy **Read more about socialization below. 2. Training Each Pickwick Pug Puppy enjoys daily, individual training sessions. All master important life skills and many even obtain their 1st "AKC Title" in Novice Tricks before even going to their new home! We use positive, clicker training techniques and, by the time Pickwick puppies go to their new home, they've worked daily on important skills like:
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