Teenage Life Skills
About Teenage Life Skills
Looking to further your pup’s education in a one-on-one setting? Teenage Life Skills (private class) is for you. This class is great for all dogs! If your dog is shy, fearful or overwhelmed in a class setting, a one-on-one setting can be beneficial for them. If they’re highly active who get distracted easily, this private setting can help them focus better.
Similar to Puppy Life Skills (private class), classes that are held in-campus will have the option of socialising with other well-behaved and friendly puppies from the day school that are matched by the trainer.
Class information
Schedule
- Four or six private lessons @ one hour per session.
Age eligibility
- Adolescent or adult dogs
Location
- Newton Campus — 182 Bukit Timah Road;
- Namly Campus — 78 Namly Place; or
- Your place/location of choice.
Price
- 4 one-hour lessons, in-campus — S$817.50
- 6 one-hour lessons, in-campus — S$1,231.70
- 4 one-hour lessons, in-home (core central) — S$1,046.40
- 6 one-hour lessons, in-home (core central) — S$1,580.50
- 4 one-hour lessons, in-home (outside central) — S$1,558.70
- 6 one-hour lessons, in-home (outside central) — S$1,853.00
- You may also take a mix so your pup has the opportunity to socialise with dogs from our day school!
- 6 one-hour lessons; 3 in-home (core central) + 3 in-campus — S$1,395.20
- 6 one-hour lessons; 4 in-home (core central) + 2 in-campus — S$1,460.60
- Additional travel charges apply for outside core central locations (outside of district 9, 10, 11; +S$50/visit).
More about Teenage Life Skills
What will your pup learn?
Maintain your dog’s confidence as they continue growing through their adolescent phase by continuing to: 
Introduce your dog to new people and other dogs; Understand their adolescence behaviour; Have variance in your daily walks; Being calm and happy when alone.
By continuing the handling through your dog’s puppy and adolescent phases, it can help keep unwanted behaviour at bay.
Some of the following basic commands will be taught to your dog in this private class:
🐾 Sit—Stay;
🐾 Down—Stay;
🐾 Come;
🐾 Hand target;
🐾 Go to mat;
🐾 Polite walking;
🐾 Wait at the door; and
🐾 A fun trick.
As this is a private class, you may also discuss with your trainer other areas you want to work on, that may not be in the training plan.
Handling and training doesn't stop after their puppy phase! Continue practicing to keep unwanted behaviour at bay.
What's Teenage Life Skills about?
This class will help your dog focus on you and respond better in stimulating, new situations, including being around other dogs and people.
In Teenage Life Skills (private class), you will learn how to work with your growing adolescent dog through their teenage phase, where you can expect them to grow a lot, not just physically, but also biologically and psychologically. They’ll also be more independent and excited about the world around them.
This class will teach you how to manage their higher energy levels while keeping them engaged with training in a one-on-one setting of your choice. You will learn a variety of mentally stimulating activities you can engage your dog in to enrich their lives, aside from providing them with sufficient physical exercise.
Have other areas you would like to work on that’s not listed in the training plan (for example, barking, chewing, jumping, selective hearing, etc)? You can discuss them with your trainer and they will customise the class to you and your pup’s needs.
As the science in canine behaviour, ethology and neuroscience continue to advance, we come to understand our canine companions better. Thus, allowing us to formulate better ways to connect with them. Whether you’re a first-time dog parent or not, our puppy class curriculums are always evolving, ensuring you have the latest knowledge on canine behaviour.
A dog’s adolescent period can be challenging, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. They may “forget” the basic training learnt and they’ll test boundaries, and that’s just them going through their teenage phase after all! This class will help you understand your growing pup more so you can better work with them and not be caught off guard when their teenage selves start to appear. You will also learn how to set your dog up for success and make this adolescent phase an easier time to grow through.
Read more about the importance of teenage classes here.
Socialisation
Socialisation in the adolescent stage is different from puppy socialisation. During this period, dogs go through more physical and hormonal changes and thus, will behave differently. Female dogs nearing their heat cycle may attract unwanted attention. On the other hand, male dogs with their increased testosterone levels may become bossy or even start humping other dogs, humans or things. So, this class will continue working on socialisation as your dog grows into adulthood.
Greeting strangers politely
Polite greetings that your dog has learned in their puppy classes may be “forgotten” in their excitement of meeting another person. This class will cover different ways of greeting strangers politely through understanding their excitement threshold and creating a greeting routine to improve their impulse control.
Settling and paying attention to you
Settling teaches your dog how to manage their energy, instead of consistently offering behaviours to keep reinforcements coming. This also lets your dog know that a certain activity is over. Over time, small distractions can be added to strengthen their ability to remain settled.
Walking politely on lead
Regular walks are an integral part of a dog’s routine as it provides exercise, mental stimulation and potty breaks. Teaching your dog how to walk politely on a lead will make daily walks a breeze, while still allowing them to explore the sights and sounds around them without tension.
Coming back while off-lead with some distractions
Your dog may “forget” the recall training they’ve learnt, now that the world is more exciting and they’re more keen to explore. While this teenage behaviour will pass, it is still important to continue practicing recall with consistency. By keeping recall sessions short and fun, it will reinforce their recall with greater success.
Disclaimer: The training plan may be adjusted according to the puppy’s needs. Any changes will be discussed with you as your class progresses.
Teenage Life Skills (private class) is great for: Families with young children who need the full attention of the teacher; Families who would like to have individual one-to-one attention for their puppies; Owners with shy dogs that will need individual attention and will do better in a home environment; Owners with very active or challenging dogs that will need extra attention and less distraction in their learning environment; and
🐾 Owners who have specific areas they would like to work with their pup.
Owners may bring two additional family members. Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult, and children under the age of 10 must attend with two adults to provide safe supervision for dogs and children both.
Read more about the importance of teenage classes here.
The Teenage Life Skills private class is designed to facilitate socialisation, address normal adolescent behaviours and prevent the development of potential behaviour problems.
It is not designed for dogs with existing behaviour issues such as excessive barking, over excitement, aggression anxiety, extreme fear or other issues that is beyond their normal behaviour. Should there be any existing behaviour issues, please take a look at the classes offered under Behaviour Modification!
Who can enrol in Teenage Life Skills?
- Friendly dogs with updated annual core vaccination (Parvo, Distemper & Adenovirus) or annual titer test (showing immunity on Parvo, Distemper & Adenovirus).
- Dogs with no moderate to serious behaviour problem. Should your dog have any behavioural problems, a Behavioural Evaluation will be needed to assess the issue(s) in order to estimate what can be achieved during training and incorporate a Behavioural Modification plan into the programme.
