Welcome to SPPOT’s Online Training for Dogs & Puppies

During the 2020-2021 Coronavirus Pandemic, there has been a massive increase in puppy and dog sales and adoptions, but a series of Lockdowns has prevented dog trainers from working, and puppies and dogs from being able to socialise and get used to the world around them adequately.

We have developed our online courses from the in-person courses we run, to enable us to help more puppies and dogs during these unprecedented times and even when things start to reopen, they will help us reach people and dogs who would not normally be able to attend our courses and provide a useful online resource for our in-person courses, when they restart.

We now have two online resources available to purchase.

Download our 40-page Puppy Pack containing easy to follow advice and plans to raise a happy, healthy, and well-behaved dog, by making the early weeks and months as easy and trouble-free as possible.

This is accompanied by videos that verbally explain many of the topics in the Puppy Pack.

The Puppy Pack contains advice and guidance on the following:

• Bringing your puppy home
• Puppy proofing your home
• Purchasing Equipment
• Housetraining
• Crate training
• Feeding puppies
• Teaching puppy to sleep through the night
• Learning to be alone during the day
• Socialisation
• Chewing
• Early lead walking
• Puppy exercise
• Early recall
• Teach Puppy his/her name
• Choosing dog food

The aim of SPPOT’s Puppy & Dog Training Courses is to enable dogs to stay with their owners for the whole of their lives. We aim to provide training courses that enable dog owners to build a lasting bond with their dog, through a shared experience of education, training and fun.

The kinds of things you can expect to learn on our Online Foundation Clicker Course are as follows:

Clicker Training

• How clicker training works and why it is an effective way to train your dog
• The different ways in which clicker training can work
• How to use the clicker method properly, effectively, and creatively
• How to teach your dog Foundation Skills using the clicker

Foundation Skills

• Sit
• Down
• Loose lead walking
• Recall
• Wait/stay
• Give/drop
• Play skills

Underpinning Knowledge

• How dogs learn
• Reward based training
• Physical care of your dog
• How dogs communicate
• Your legal responsibilities

When you purchase this course, you will receive a log-in to access a secure area on our website. From here you can access our step-by-step Foundation Training Course which you can work through at your dog or puppy’s own pace.

Each ‘session’ consists of a set of ‘Training Notes’ explaining how to train your dog or puppy, along with supporting information and guidance.

There are also videos that show you how to train each of the following exercises. These were recorded as part of our accredited training course, which two of our staff did during Lockdown, with some of our daycare dogs.

The added benefit with some of these videos is that the accredited course they did, involved more ‘underpinning knowledge’ training, so we have added these in too, for people who would like a more in-depth course.

Alongside the Foundation Clicker Course programme below, we have created additional videos, as we have worked with our customers’ dogs and our own dogs, showing extra hints and tips for a harmonious and fun life with your dog.

Session 1

• Introduction to Clicker Training, eye contact, sit, down, recall phase 1
• Positive dog handling skills
• Diet, activities & your questions

Session 2

• Developing Sit & Down
• Introducing Loose Lead Walking
• Management & Training
• Which harnesses & leads and how to fit them
• How to teach your dog to be handled
• Recall Phase 2 & Recall Game 1

Session 3

• How to progress your dog’s training effectively
• Training your dog not to jump up
• Developing Loose Lead Walking skills
• Developing Sit and Down
• Developing Recall Skills
• Introducing ‘Wait’
• Canine Body Language Presentation & discussion: & Quiz

Session 4

• Canine Body Language Quiz Answers
• Developing recall training: more games to boost recall
• Learning about play: retrieve to hand and playing tuggy by the rules
• Teaching give/leave/drop
• Presentation & Discussion: Meeting your dog’s needs + homework
• Developing ‘wait’ through doors, and in and out of cars
• Sit and Down
• Loose Lead Walking with more distractions

Session 5

• Meeting your dog’s needs homework discussion
• Developing lead walking with more distractions
• Does your dog know what you think you have taught? Sit & Down
• Introducing distance, Duration and Distractions (the 3 Ds): Sit and Down
• Developing Wait/Stay
• Phasing out the clicker
• Recall practice – increased distractions
• Presentation & discussion: Canine Myth-busting
• End of course quiz, further training, feedback sheets

Session 6

• End of course quiz
• Feedback & further training options
• Managing adolescence & neutering & spaying
• Introducing clicker ‘shaping’ and more ideas for enrichment and fun with your dog
• Showcasing lead walking, recall, wait, play and handling skills

APDT UK Good Companion Awards

The APDT UK Good Companion Awards can be worked towards as part of the online course. This is optional and costs an extra £10 for the video assessment and certificate.