The short answer
Pre-School Puppy meets once a week for a straight 45 minutes in groups of six dogs or fewer, asks only that your puppy be at least 20 weeks old and current on vaccinations, and runs on open enrollment so you can start this week instead of waiting for a session to fill.
On this page
A first class carries no grade and no finished-dog expectation. Most families walk in worried their puppy will be the one who cannot sit still, and most puppies do exactly what puppies do: sniff the floor, lose focus for a minute, then come back around. One Cave Creek family summed up the actual experience better than a syllabus could.
"Went to our first Puppy Class. We had a good time getting acquainted and playing with toys and meeting some challenges. Thanks. Tulah had fun!"
Charlene D., Cave Creek
Here is exactly what happens across those 45 minutes, session by session, so day one holds no surprises.
Every Group Classes session opens the same way, whether it is week one of Pre-School Puppy or a Dogtorate session years later. A master trainer greets each handler by name, checks in on the week's homework, and gets dogs settled into a loose sit or down before the clock starts. The shape of the hour does not change as your dog levels up, only the difficulty inside each block does. That consistency is deliberate: a puppy who knows what a class feels like from day one has less to figure out later, and a trainer who already knows your dog's name is one less unfamiliar thing in the room.
New puppy owners often expect something closer to an evaluation. What they get is closer to an orientation, with real coaching starting immediately.
"Had our first class this morning. Heather, our trainer, was great and answered all our questions and concerns. Can't wait till next week."
Kyann J., Cave Creek
Every session breaks into four blocks in the same order, whether your puppy is in week one or grade eight. Each block trains a different part of a behavior, not just the same behavior at a different volume.
| Block | Length | What your puppy does | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interval | 20 min | Rotates through small stations for focused, one-on-one reps with a trainer | Concentrated repetition moves a new behavior from first attempt toward reliable |
| Group | 15 min | Practices the same behavior while the rest of the class works nearby | Proofs the behavior against the pull of other dogs and handlers in the room |
| AMRAP | 5 min | Drills one behavior for as many clean reps as fit in the window | Rep volume turns a known skill into an automatic one |
| Demo | 5 min | Watches a trainer demonstration and gets one focus for the week | Keeps home practice aimed at the single thing that will move the needle |
AMRAP borrows its name from strength training, as many reps as possible, and it works the same way here: pick one behavior, run clean reps until the five minutes end, and stop before your puppy gets sloppy or bored. The Demo block closes every class the same way, with one specific take-home focus rather than a vague reminder to keep practicing.
Group Classes cap at six dogs or fewer per session, and that ceiling is what makes the Interval block possible. With six dogs, a trainer can reach every station inside 20 minutes; with sixteen, the math stops working and reps get thin fast. A small room also means your puppy meets calm, handled dogs at a manageable distance instead of a crowd, which is the kind of exposure Pre-School Puppy is built to deliver rather than a free-for-all.
Fewer dogs in the room also means an instructor who can watch your specific puppy work through a station, not just the group moving past it, and that stays true whether your dog is on week one of Pre-School or years into Dogtorate.
Pre-School Puppy is the entry point, not a test of prior training. The only firm requirements are age and paperwork: dogs join standard group classes starting at 20 weeks old, about five months, once vaccinations have had time to take full effect, and current vaccination records should be on file before the first session.
A puppy who still mouths and nips during play, jumps up to greet every visitor, or isn't yet reliably potty trained fits right into week one. Those are the exact categories Pre-School spends its first weeks on: manners, confidence, etiquette, and socialization, built through short, structured reps rather than a lecture on what your puppy is doing wrong.
Pack light. None of it needs to be new or specialized:
Leave the favorite tug toy and the full water bowl at home. Trainers introduce Pre-School's own tools, including a slip lead or a martingale collar, as your puppy's handling improves week to week, so you do not need to arrive with specialized gear already in hand.
Pre-School Puppy is grade one of eight in Partners Dogs' cumulative curriculum, and nothing above it skips a step. A behavior taught in one grade moves into Reinforcing at the next, then Proofing, then Maintenance, so a skill your puppy learns this month keeps getting used rather than learned once and set aside. Every behavior is tracked through those stages in the PD360 Pet Progress Tracking System, the same scoring that follows your dog into DaySchool, DayCamp, and boarding later on.
Puppies coming straight from home almost always start at grade one and work through Pre-School's Puppy track until 12 months. Camp graduates typically skip ahead to Kindergarten instead, since Foundation Camp already covers Pre-School's first behaviors before a dog ever sets foot in a group room.
Group Classes runs on open enrollment year-round, so there is no fixed start date to miss and no waitlist to sit on. Join this week's Pre-School Puppy session at either the Scottsdale or Cave Creek campus, and the class simply picks up where your puppy's skills are.
The structure is modular by design. Behaviors repeat within a grade level, so missing a week does not erase what your puppy already learned, and a level can be repeated as many times as it takes before moving up. A puppy who needs three passes through Pre-School to hold Manners and Etiquette under real distraction is not behind, that is the curriculum working as it was built to.
Puppies join starting at 20 weeks old, about five months, once vaccinations have had time to take effect. Pre-School's Puppy track runs from 5 to 12 months, with a separate Adult track for dogs past their first year.
Six dogs or fewer per session, taught by a master trainer, which is what makes the one-on-one Interval block possible every week.
No. The first class is an orientation, not an evaluation. Trainers expect puppies to sniff, lose focus, and need redirection, and the 45-minute format is built around short blocks precisely because puppy attention spans are short.
Nothing is lost. Open enrollment means there is no fixed session start and no forfeited spot. Behaviors repeat within a grade level, so a missed week gets picked back up the following week instead of starting the level over.
Classes run weekly at both the Scottsdale and Cave Creek campuses. Drop-in sessions and monthly packages are both available for a regular weekly slot, and current rates are on the pricing page.
Join a session
Open enrollment means there is no wait list and no lost week if life gets in the way. Not sure which grade level fits yet, take the quiz first.