What age is Puppy Class for?

Puppy Class is for puppies aged 8 to 16 weeks. Your puppy must have their first round of core vaccines before joining.

What will my puppy learn?

Puppies learn early manners and handling skills, recall, confidence building through age-appropriate activities, and get supervised off-leash play with puppies their own age. We also cover potty training, teething, and appropriate chewing.

How many weeks is Puppy Class?

Puppy Class is a four-week course held indoors at our facility in Airdrie, Alberta.

How do I register for Puppy Class?

You can view upcoming dates and register online at https://www.airdriepuppypals.com/calendar.

Puppy Class

Puppy Class is our group learn-and-play class designed to support families and their puppies as they learn and grow through the first 16 weeks of puppy development.

Together we’ll talk about building resilience, what healthy socialization looks like, how to support your puppy through teething, and how to start building good manners around other dogs and people.

You can learn more about our Puppy Class on this webpage, and when you’re ready to get started, there’s a calendar at the bottom of the page where you can register online.

Register Online

What is Puppy Class?

Puppy Class at Airdrie Puppy Pals brings together training and socialization to support your puppy during their early learning window.

You’ll get hands-on guidance for navigating puppyhood, from teething and potty training to understanding what socialization really means and helping your puppy start life on the right paw. Your puppy will also have the chance to build confidence and practice age-appropriate social skills with other puppies in a safe indoor environment.

Each group class is led by Nikki Nordick, owner of Airdrie Puppy Pals. Nikki holds five certifications in dog training and behaviour, including CDBC, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA, FFCP, and IAABC-ADT, along with hundreds of hours of continuing education in animal behaviour.

Why Early Socialization Matters

Small brown poodle puppy with a black collar bent down sniffing the inside of a pink and white hoop on a gray floor during a dog training class in Airdrie, Alberta .

There is so much information out there about puppy socialization and what puppies should or shouldn’t be doing at this age. For over a decade, we’ve been providing a safe, indoor classroom where puppies under 16 weeks can learn, play, and grow together.

We’ve seen firsthand what a difference positive early experiences can make. With an intentional approach, early socialization can help puppies build confidence and prepare them for the world around them.

Your puppy does not need to have their rabies vaccination to attend Puppy Class.

We follow guidelines from veterinary and animal behaviour organizations like AVSAB, AVMA, and CVMA to keep our classes clean and safe while your puppy learns skills for this stage of life, plays with puppies their own age, and builds confidence in a supportive environment.

What to Bring to Puppy Class

Two small dogs, one with a harness, playing and smiling on a light-colored floor during a puppy class in Airdrie, Alberta .

Here are a few suggestions on what to bring to Puppy Class:

A regular flat collar and or a harness.
A fixed-length leash. Please no retractable leashes.
A variety of treats your puppy will love.

How many people can join?

To help keep class comfortable for all the dogs while they’re learning, we ask that each dog bring up to two humans to class. You’re welcome to switch up which two humans join us each week as long as one person is 18 or older. A junior handler (under 18) is always welcome to join and participate alongside a parent or guardian.

There is off-leash playtime in this class, so your Jr Handler should be comfortable around other dogs. If they’re feeling unsure or uncomfortable around dogs, this may not be the right environment for them just yet. :)

Register for Puppy Class

The calendar below will show you our up-to-date availability for Puppy Class. To register, you’ll need a picture of your puppy’s most recent vaccination record, so we encourage you to have a copy nearby before you get started. :)