Pickwick Pugs
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  • About
    • About Us
    • Pedigrees
    • AKC Bred With Heart
    • Health Screening
    • Training & Socialization >
      • Puppy Culture Protocol - What Has Your Puppy Been Up To These Past 12 Weeks?
  • Available
    • Inquiry Form >
      • Planned Litters >
        • Stars Fell on Alabama - Current Litter >
          • It's a Barnum and Bailey World
          • Casanova in Disguise
          • Show the World How to Smile
          • Even the Moon is in on My Scheme
          • Unforgettable in Every Way
      • Fosters Needing Adoption
      • Retired Show Pugs & Adults
      • Past Litters >
        • Begin the Beguine Litter
        • Thrill Litter
        • Lemaître Litter >
          • Stewart All Eyes Look at Me
          • Coco (Pickwick's Cold Champagne in the Afternoon)
          • Winston (Pickwick's Cosmic Constellation in the Stars)
          • Rocket Girl (Pickwick's You Can Call Me Rocket Girl)
          • Marie Claire (Pickwick's Cotton Candy in the Sky)
          • Stella Artois (Pickwick's Watching the Stars Align)
  • Resources for Owners
    • New Owner Page - Checklists, Training Goals etc. >
      • Training
    • Purchase & Contract Page >
      • Contract
      • Health Guarantee
  • Our Grumble
    • Champions & Show Pugs >
      • CH Peachtree's Kirkcudbright Kayleigh, CGC, RN, RI)
      • CH Pckwick's Child, That Hemline's Out of Sight), TKN
      • Lilly (Thrill on Blueberry Hill)
      • Annie (Zobear's American Idol)
      • Princess Buttercup (Forever is Now)
      • Stella Artois (Watching the Stars Align)
      • Marie Claire (Cotton Candy in the Sky)
      • CH Hill Country's I'll Bee Your Shining Star
      • CH Pickwick's Peachtree Hill Country Mighty Macintosh, TKN
    • Fosters, Rescues, Companion Pugs (altered, not part of breeding program) >
      • Sebastian, BGR, CGC, RN, RA, TKN
      • Charlie Chaplin
      • Rocket Girl (Pickwick's You Can Call Me Rocket Girl)
  • Blog
    • Rally Training Boot Camp
    • Canine Freestyle
  • Photos (Random Extras)

Training
​Star Puppy Academy

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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:
  • Attention ("watch me")
  • Leave It​
  • Sit
  • Down
  • Stand
  • Wait
  • Touch (hand and target stick)
  • Give Paw (touch with paw)
  • Shake
  • Bow
  • Spin
  • Hi-5
  • Tug (gentle tug)
  • Fetch
  • Take
  • Drop
  • Paint (yes! they paint a painting before going to their new home which can be proudly displayed!)
  • Come ("Puppy Puppy Come")
  • Loose Leash Walking (just beginning this at 12 weeks as is age appropriate)
  • Crate Training (the puppy will have worked for many weeks on crate training games, and enjoy short intervals in the crate for quiet time or enjoying a yummy chew treat. They will find the crate as a happy and comforting place which makes it easy for new owners to use crates as needed -- for travel in car, to the need to stay in one at a vet, to crate training if that is the preferred method of continued potty training as the puppy's bladder continues to mature.)
  • Potty Training (Young puppies' bladders are not ready for long periods of crate confinement, so our puppies are litter box trained (rolled paper litter) initially, and we use a combination of a babypen/xpen with a litter box, combined with outside potty breaks and short stints in a crate for no more than an hour or 2 at a time. We recommend continuing this setup for the first couple of weeks at the puppy's new home as they continue with their potty training as their bladders mature. This setup not only allows the puppy some space to move and stretch its legs but also helps the humans avoid having to take puppy outside for potty breaks throughout the night every 2-3 hours for those first weeks of adjustment!
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Click here for pages on specific training techniques we have used (weeks 6/7-12) and goals for continued training weeks 12-approximately 6 months.
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Pedigrees
    • AKC Bred With Heart
    • Health Screening
    • Training & Socialization >
      • Puppy Culture Protocol - What Has Your Puppy Been Up To These Past 12 Weeks?
  • Available
    • Inquiry Form >
      • Planned Litters >
        • Stars Fell on Alabama - Current Litter >
          • It's a Barnum and Bailey World
          • Casanova in Disguise
          • Show the World How to Smile
          • Even the Moon is in on My Scheme
          • Unforgettable in Every Way
      • Fosters Needing Adoption
      • Retired Show Pugs & Adults
      • Past Litters >
        • Begin the Beguine Litter
        • Thrill Litter
        • Lemaître Litter >
          • Stewart All Eyes Look at Me
          • Coco (Pickwick's Cold Champagne in the Afternoon)
          • Winston (Pickwick's Cosmic Constellation in the Stars)
          • Rocket Girl (Pickwick's You Can Call Me Rocket Girl)
          • Marie Claire (Pickwick's Cotton Candy in the Sky)
          • Stella Artois (Pickwick's Watching the Stars Align)
  • Resources for Owners
    • New Owner Page - Checklists, Training Goals etc. >
      • Training
    • Purchase & Contract Page >
      • Contract
      • Health Guarantee
  • Our Grumble
    • Champions & Show Pugs >
      • CH Peachtree's Kirkcudbright Kayleigh, CGC, RN, RI)
      • CH Pckwick's Child, That Hemline's Out of Sight), TKN
      • Lilly (Thrill on Blueberry Hill)
      • Annie (Zobear's American Idol)
      • Princess Buttercup (Forever is Now)
      • Stella Artois (Watching the Stars Align)
      • Marie Claire (Cotton Candy in the Sky)
      • CH Hill Country's I'll Bee Your Shining Star
      • CH Pickwick's Peachtree Hill Country Mighty Macintosh, TKN
    • Fosters, Rescues, Companion Pugs (altered, not part of breeding program) >
      • Sebastian, BGR, CGC, RN, RA, TKN
      • Charlie Chaplin
      • Rocket Girl (Pickwick's You Can Call Me Rocket Girl)
  • Blog
    • Rally Training Boot Camp
    • Canine Freestyle
  • Photos (Random Extras)