08/06/2026
🐾 Nothing New... Just Something I've Believed In For A Very Long Time 🐾
As I've been looking through old Puppy Preschool photos, it has reminded me just how long these sessions have been part of Laura Wyllie Dog Training.
Before setting up LWDT, I had already spent many years teaching for other training clubs. In fact, by the time I launched my own business, I had been training dogs for well over a decade.
Those years gave me plenty of opportunities to watch what worked, what didn't, and what I felt was missing.
One thing I became increasingly aware of was that young puppies needed something different.
I didn't want puppies simply learning a few exercises before being let loose in a room full of other puppies of different ages, sizes and confidence levels. Whilst that might sound like socialisation, it can sometimes result in little puppies learning to defend themselves and bigger, bolder puppies learning that barging about is great fun! I wanted another option.
A place where puppies could explore unusual surfaces, investigate novel objects, hear new sounds, develop confidence, improve balance and body awareness, and learn that trying new things could be fun - all whilst they build a bond with their humans.
I wanted owners to have somewhere they could ask all those questions that arrive with a new puppy:
"Why is my puppy biting me?"
"Will the zoomies ever stop?"
"How do I survive toilet training?"
"Should my puppy really be saying hello to every dog we meet?"
Because good puppy raising is about helping both ends of the lead understand each other.
So back in 2012, I started running Puppy Preschool.
Not because I'd invented something revolutionary, but because I had gathered ideas from trainers, books, courses and discussions with colleagues around the country and built a class around what I felt puppies and their owners genuinely needed.
Fast forward to today and there are many more puppy-focused classes available, which is fantastic to see. The importance of the early puppy experience is now much more widely recognised than it was when I first introduced Puppy Preschool 14 years ago.
Some of the ideas that are now considered modern puppy training have actually been part of our Puppy Preschool for well over a decade.
The puppies may have changed, but the goal hasn't.
To help owners understand their dogs, build confidence, develop life skills, and create companions who are a pleasure to live with.
Fourteen years after that first Puppy Preschool, we're still helping puppies and their owners navigate those early months together. The methods may continue to evolve, but the importance of giving puppies a positive start in life never changes.
Looking back through these photos, I'm reminded of just how many puppies and owners have started their journey with us since that first Puppy Preschool in 2012. It has been a privilege to watch so many grow from tiny, mischievous bundles of fluff into much-loved family companions. ❤️🐾
