Puppies aged eight weeks of age (and up to 16 weeks of age) can attend puppy preschool. Check with your veterinarian regarding vaccinations, class times and schedules, but most importantly, do not miss out on this opportunity.

Puppy preschool is not about intensive training but more about learning positive reinforcement and how to apply it. It offers a good introduction to socialising young dogs so that they learn to interact well with other dogs, children and adults, and pet owners learn how to teach basic obedience. It provides the new owner with an opportunity ask questions and interact with other dog owners and veterinary staff while learning the basic commands of dog obedience.

The course facilitator will also discuss important health issues and dietary and nutrition requirements for your pet.

Classes usually run for four weeks, one evening per week for approximately one hour. During this time, topics such as socialisation, toilet training, diet, behaviour problems are discussed. Owners are encouraged to mix with each other's pets and supervised children can be involved in these classes.

Also taught are the basic commands including sit, drop, stay, heel and come. At this stage your puppy is simply being introduced to these commands so ongoing obedience training will be required.

There are added benefits of attending a puppy preschool run by your local vet clinic. Your puppy will associate the premises with fun, happy memories and the vet or vet nurse will show you how to do some simple health checks in order to identify the onset of problems such as tooth and gum disease, skin conditions and eye infections.