WWD Academy

In Week 1, we focus on easing your puppy’s transition from life in the Puppy Room with their mom and littermates to their new home with you. This initial phase is crucial for building a strong foundation for your puppy’s future. Our primary goal is to establish a consistent routine that incorporates eating, drinking, sleeping, playtime, training, and potty breaks. We begin by following a schedule tailored to your puppy’s needs, and as the training progresses, we can align their routine with what works best for your family.

Crate training plays a key role in helping your puppy adjust to this new routine. We proactively manage potty breaks to prevent accidents, ensuring a smooth transition. By the end of the first week, most puppies will be eating 2-3 times daily and able to hold their potty for 4-6 hours overnight and 2-4 hours during the day, with minimal barking in the crate.

This week, your puppy will also be introduced to a collar and leash, learning to respond to lures and feedback words, including their name. We prioritize socialization by exposing them to new experiences such as car rides, various household environments, and different floor surfaces. They will encounter common household sounds, like the TV, children playing, and household appliances, in a controlled and positive manner. Our expert trainers provide constant encouragement to ensure your puppy feels comfortable and happy with these new stimuli, minimizing stress throughout the process.

We promote good manners by placing your puppy in situations where they can easily succeed. When they make the right choices, we reward them; if they make a mistake, we simply redirect their attention without punishment. This week is filled with positive reinforcement for trying new things, exploring their environment, and making good decisions.

Throughout the week, we closely monitor each puppy for any potential behavioral or health flags that may need special attention. If any concerns arise, we discuss them with you immediately and collaboratively create a plan to address them. This open communication ensures that your puppy’s unique needs are met effectively. Additionally, if your puppy turns 9 weeks old during this week of training, they will receive their 9-week vaccination.

In Week 2, we build on the foundation from the first week by formally introducing essential obedience commands such as Name, Sit, Down, Leave It, Come, and Touch. Special emphasis is placed on “helper” commands like Sit, Name, and Leave It to set the stage for more advanced training in the future. During this week, your puppy will spend most of their time outside the crate on a leash (typically 10-30 feet long). This practice minimizes the chances of making poor choices and encourages positive behavior through rewards for good decisions.

We also continue to expand your puppy’s socialization by introducing new sights, sounds, smells, and textures both in the home and out in the neighborhood. This exposure helps your puppy become comfortable in different environments.

Crate training advances this week, with the goal of your puppy being able to hold their potty needs for 6-8 hours overnight. Barking should now be minimal, and we remain proactive by staying ahead of your puppy’s potty needs to limit accidents both in the crate and around the home. Positive reinforcement remains key, with heavy rewards for successful potty behavior in the correct areas.

Manners training continues by putting your puppy in situations where it’s easy to make the right choices, and heavily rewarding those choices to reinforce good behavior.

In Week 3, we build on the obedience skills established so far. By this point, your puppy should have a solid understanding of the feedback words, along with a strong grasp of essential commands like Name, Sit, and Leave It. While we continue to reward good manners and correct choices, we now introduce the use of feedback words when your puppy makes the wrong choices, allowing us to guide them back to the right behaviors using these helpful commands.

Potty training remains a priority, but we begin to introduce a more advanced routine. This week, we add a pause at the door before potty breaks and have your puppy touch a bell as a signal to go outside. Overnight crate training progresses, with your puppy now able to hold their potty for up to 8 hours, and barking becoming a rare occurrence. We also start adjusting the puppy’s schedule to better align with the lifestyle and needs of their future owners.

Our socialization efforts this week will focus on mastering any experiences your puppy may have found challenging so far, ensuring they are fully comfortable and confident in a home environment..

In Week 4, your puppy’s obedience becomes more reliable, allowing us to introduce the 3 D’s: Distance, Duration, and Distraction. With a solid foundation of correct behaviors rewarded in previous weeks, we now offer the puppy more supervised freedom, including some off-leash time around the house. This gives the puppy opportunities to make choices—whether right or wrong—and receive immediate feedback. Correct choices continue to be rewarded, while wrong ones are gently corrected.

House training advances further as your puppy starts going to the door independently. However, prompting may still be needed to remind them to ring the bell. While accidents can still happen if the puppy is unsupervised or unnoticed at the door, overall progress is noticeable. Crate training is well established by now, with the puppy’s daily routine closely mirroring your family’s schedule while still meeting developmental goals.

Manners are continuously reinforced using feedback words and rewards, encouraging more consistent good behavior. This week, we also introduce our Socialization Scavenger Hunt, exposing your puppy to new sights, sounds, and experiences in the home environment.

If your puppy turns 12 weeks old during this time, they will receive their 12-week vaccination as part of their health care routine.

Week 5 serves as a crucial transition period for puppies staying with us beyond four weeks. During this time, we focus on helping the puppy adapt to changes, ensuring they don’t become overly attached to the training family. This practice transition allows us to observe and address any potential issues your puppy might experience when moving to their new home, providing valuable insights to help you prepare for a smooth transition.

The goal of this week is to make the shift as seamless as possible. We’ll identify any possible transitional challenges and work through them, equipping you with strategies and guidance to handle these adjustments when your puppy comes home.

After completing the transition, we return to obedience training, sharpening the Sit, Stay, and Leave It commands. In preparation for next week’s big adventure, we might reintroduce the leash to reinforce good manners and fine-tune other important behaviors.

This week also brings a lot of socialization as the puppy adjusts to a new household and neighborhood, furthering their ability to confidently navigate new environments.

Week 6 marks an exciting milestone in your puppy’s training journey! As they enter adolescence, we expect to see some testing of limits and boundaries, which is a natural part of their development. This phase often brings a growth spurt and a noticeable boost in energy, allowing us to increase the length of training sessions and achieve more substantial results.

This week, your puppy will embark on their first major “out and about” adventure, where we focus on reinforcing obedience in real-world environments. We’ll also continue our socialization scavenger hunt, introducing new people and experiences to help your puppy practice good manners in unfamiliar settings.

Leash walking becomes a key focus, with an emphasis on helping your puppy stay calm and controlled while walking alongside you. Potty training is progressing well by this point, with the puppy actively trying to go in the correct spots and showing improved control when in the wrong places.

After the excitement and challenges of Week 6, Week 7 is dedicated to reinforcing everything your puppy has learned so far. This week is all about ensuring consistency and reliability in their training. We focus on fine-tuning obedience and manners, making sure your puppy responds predictably to commands in various situations. By reinforcing the progress made during the previous weeks, we strengthen the foundation that will carry forward as your puppy continues to grow and learn.environments.

In Week 8, puppies are typically ready for their spay or neuter procedure. If this is scheduled for your puppy, we will handle both the transportation to and from the vet, ensuring your puppy is well cared for during this process. While your puppy will continue following their daily schedule, distractions will be minimized to support a calm and quiet 7-10 day recovery period.

If your puppy is not spayed or neutered, we will use this week to continue reinforcing previous training and introduce new skills. Our focus remains on building consistency and reliability in your puppy’s obedience and behavior.

Additionally, if your puppy turns 16 weeks old this week, they will receive their 16-week Puppy Vaccination and Rabies Shot, ensuring they are on track with their health requirements.

By Week 9, your puppy’s obedience and socialization should be progressing well, but this week is all about refining and strengthening those behaviors. We increase expectations, requiring the puppy to offer better and more consistent behavior for the same rewards. New distractions will be introduced in training sessions to challenge your puppy’s focus and reliability.

Socialization is expanded with exposure to new environments, sounds, and objects both inside and outside the home. We also continue reinforcing good manners, such as not jumping up and respecting boundaries. Potty training should be quite reliable, though we still monitor closely for any accidents.

At this stage, adolescence is in full swing, and puppies may test limits. We ensure to provide clear feedback, using positive reinforcement for good behaviors and gentle corrections when needed.

In Week 10, we focus heavily on house manners. The puppy will practice behaviors like settling down in the home, staying out of certain rooms, and waiting politely before entering or exiting doors. We also work on minimizing behaviors like chewing, as teething is often peaking during this period.

Leash training is a big part of this week’s focus as well. We aim for more structured walks where the puppy learns to walk calmly by your side without pulling or reacting to distractions. Obedience commands (Sit, Stay, Leave It) will be practiced more outdoors, ensuring the puppy responds even in higher stimulation environments.

During this time, your puppy’s socialization includes meeting new people and experiencing different surfaces (grass, concrete, stairs), reinforcing confidence and adaptability.

Week 11 is all about testing boundaries and continuing to strengthen your puppy’s obedience in more challenging scenarios. By now, your puppy should have a solid foundation, and this week we raise the bar by practicing commands with increased distractions, duration, and distance (the 3 D’s).

Off-leash time may be gradually introduced in secure areas, encouraging the puppy to practice self-control without constant guidance. This week, your puppy is likely pushing boundaries, so we use this to reinforce what behaviors are expected, focusing on reliability in the face of distractions.

Potty training should be nearly perfected at this point, but we continue reinforcing this, with the puppy now expected to go to the door without much prompting and ring the bell for outside time.

Week 12 is a significant milestone as your puppy approaches a full transition into their forever home. This week is spent fine-tuning everything your puppy has learned, making sure they are ready to adjust smoothly into family life.

We continue practicing all previous training—manners, obedience, leash walking—but now we mirror the schedule and lifestyle of the puppy’s new family as closely as possible. This includes feeding, potty breaks, and playtime, ensuring the puppy is accustomed to the family’s routine.

This week, the puppy will go through a final practice transition to a different trainer’s home to simulate the move to your home, making sure they adapt easily and without stress. This is a great opportunity to address any final concerns or training areas that need reinforcement.

If your puppy is 16 weeks old and hasn’t yet received their final vaccinations, this is also the time for their 16-week Puppy Vaccination and Rabies Shot, keeping them healthy and ready for the next chapter in life.

By Week 13, your puppy should be well-socialized and comfortable in various environments, but we now add the finishing touches to ensure they are completely at ease. This includes revisiting any socialization experiences that may have been challenging, such as loud noises, unfamiliar people, or new locations. We want to make sure your puppy confidently handles all these situations.

Potty training at this stage should be consistent, with your puppy reliably asking to go outside. We will continue reinforcing this behavior, aiming for zero accidents in the home. We will also fine-tune their daily schedule to closely match your preferred routine, ensuring a smooth transition when they come home.

In Week 14, we focus on making obedience solid and reliable in various settings, both indoors and outdoors. The puppy should respond to commands even with distractions, and we practice in multiple environments to guarantee your puppy is obedient no matter where they are.

At this stage, manners are excellent. Your puppy knows to respect boundaries, wait patiently for meals, and settle down calmly in the home. Leash training should also be flawless, with the puppy walking calmly by your side without pulling.

This week, we continue refining the puppy’s daily schedule, aligning it with your routine. This is also a good time for any final adjustments to ensure your puppy’s training fits perfectly with your lifestyle.

In Week 15, we focus on perfecting everything your puppy has learned up to this point. This week is all about consistency and reliability. The puppy’s obedience should now be dependable in any setting, even with distractions. We’ll challenge the puppy by practicing in more varied environments, ensuring they follow commands no matter where they are.

The puppy’s manners are also refined, with an emphasis on being polite around family members, guests, and other pets. Potty training is reinforced with a focus on self-initiation, where your puppy should now consistently ask to go outside.

At this point, we also help transition your puppy’s schedule so that it mirrors your routine, making the move home smoother.

In Week 16, we ensure that your puppy is ready to transition into your home with confidence. This is the final week of preparation, where we fine-tune obedience, potty training, and manners to their highest level.

This week often includes practice transitions, where your puppy spends time with different trainers to simulate the transition home. This helps reduce any anxiety the puppy might have when leaving their training environment and makes their adjustment to your home easier.

As your puppy prepares to leave, we provide you with personalized guidance on how to maintain all the training and ensure that their transition into your home is as seamless as possible. The puppy will now be able to follow your schedule with minimal adjustments and will have strong foundational skills that make them an ideal family companion.