Summer Socialization for Young Pups (4 months or younger)

Exposure to positive new experiences is something that should continue throughout your dog’s life but the careful introduction to a range of new people, objects and sounds is particularly important in a puppy’s first few months. 

The Nantucket Community School is excited to announce its first ever summer socialization program for young pups (4 months and younger)!

Summer vacation is a great time to bring home that new puppy but then what? Perhaps you’ve left a great puppy school back on the mainland or you’re looking for a safe and secure environment here on Nantucket in which to introduce your young dog to other pups and people. For the first time ever the Community School will be opening its doors this summer for a regular puppy socialization and play group. Come to our puppy-safe room in our beautiful Center Street building where young pups can meet and play with each other,  be exposed in a positive environment to a range of new experiences, and learn some foundational training.

Group size will be strictly limited to (5) and will be supervised by our Basic Manners instructor Als Allan to ensure all puppies (and their pet-parents) are having a wonderful time. All attendees will have to provide proof of initiation of vaccination series at least 10 days prior to class.

Als is a student of the Victoria Stilwell Dog Training Academy and lifelong dog lover. Victoria Stilwell was the star of Animal Planet's "It's Me or the Dog" and is a leading advocate for positive reinforcement based training. Als's classes use the same positive reinforcement methods and are strictly aversive free.  Positive reinforcement training methods focus on building a strong but compassionate bond between person and dog.

Positive training takes into account each individual dog's cognitive, physical and emotional strengths and aims to set the dog up for success. Rather than fearing training sessions, positive reinforcement based training is fun for both person and dog!