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Welcome to
Naughty Dog School
Your Puppy at
Naughty Dog School
What to Expect & What You'll Learn
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Your puppy's journey with us
Bringing a puppy home is one of life's great joys — and, if we're honest, one of its great shocks. The nipping. The zoomies at 9pm. The sock that's suddenly worth defending to the death. The big eyes that make you forget every rule you set.
Here's what we want you to know first: none of it means you have a naughty puppy. Every one of those behaviours is a perfectly normal puppy doing perfectly normal puppy things — and every one has a reason behind it. Understand the reason, and everything gets easier.
That's what our puppy courses are built on. Not "making your puppy behave," but helping you understand your puppy, and helping your puppy grow into a confident, happy dog who makes good choices — and still gets to be entirely themselves.
We do this in two halves, because a puppy needs two kinds of teacher.
Part one:
what YOU will learn
The Puppy Course ·
with Elsie & Mia
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Most of puppyhood happens at home, with you. So the first half of the journey is about giving you the understanding and the skills to raise your puppy well — kindly, calmly, and without the battles.
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The five things every dog needs to be happy Everything starts here. Before a single game, we'll help you see your puppy's world through five simple essentials:
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Sleep — a puppy should be asleep more than they're awake. An overtired puppy is a bitey, frantic, "naughty" puppy. So much of what worries new owners melts away with better sleep.
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The right food — what and how your puppy eats shapes energy, focus and mood more than most people realise.
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Enough exercise — and, just as importantly, not too much. Growing bodies need the right amount, not the most.
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Mental stimulation — a puppy's brain needs a job. A busy mind is a calm one, and a bored puppy will find their own entertainment (usually your skirting boards).
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Rules — kind, clear and consistent. Not harsh; simply reliable. Puppies feel safe when they know how the world works.
Get these five right and most "problems" never become problems at all.
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Manners — the everyday good behaviour that makes life easier: polite greetings instead of jumping up, four paws on the floor, waiting rather than barging, and learning that good things come to calm puppies.
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Recall — coming back when called, built through games so your puppy wants to return to you. Freedom matters to dogs as much as it does to us, and a reliable recall is what makes that freedom safe.
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Settling — teaching your puppy to relax and switch off. This is the skill families are most grateful for: a puppy who can lie quietly while life goes on around them — at home, at the pub, at a friend's house.
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Understanding puppy behaviour — the bits that catch every new owner out, explained:
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Nipping and mouthing — why puppies do it, and how to guide them through it without drama
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Zoomies — what those wild evening laps are really telling you
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Resource guarding — why a puppy "protects" a sock or a food bowl, and how to build trust instead of conflict
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Toilet training and chewing — the practical basics, done patiently
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The "teenage" months ahead — what to expect as your puppy grows, so nothing takes you by surprise
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How to train, not just what — how dogs actually learn, why we reward rather than punish, and how to keep your own body language and mood calm so your puppy stays calm too. You'll leave knowing why every game works, not just how to play it — because understanding is what makes it stick.
Part two: what YOUR PUPPY will learn
Puppy Socialisation · with our teaching dogs, Simba TJ & Diego
There's a whole set of lessons no human can teach a puppy: how to be a dog among dogs. How to say hello politely. How to read another dog's signals. How to play without going over the top — and how to stop when the other dog has had enough.
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Between roughly 12 and 20 weeks, puppies are wide open to learning these things. Miss that window and it gets harder; fill it well and you set your puppy up for a lifetime of easy, confident encounters.
That's where our teaching dogs come in.
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Supervised play with calm, experienced adult dogs Simba TJ and Diego are experienced, gentle adult dogs who have helped countless dogs at our school. In their company, puppies learn the things only a dog can teach:
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Polite greetings — how to approach and say hello without overwhelming
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Reading other dogs — noticing when a dog wants to play, and when they'd rather not
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Good play — taking turns, keeping all four paws on the floor, checking in with a playmate, and ending a game calmly
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Resilience and confidence — meeting something new and choosing curiosity over worry
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​Manners — the quiet, steady presence of an experienced dog gently reminds young ones to keep themselves in check
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Our team watches every moment, and every puppy goes at their own pace. A shy puppy is never pushed; a bold one learns where the line is. That's how confidence grows.
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Life skills through games Alongside the play, your puppy builds the skills every dog needs out in the world — all through fun, pressure-free games:
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Field Recall — running to you as the best thing in the field
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Change of direction — staying with you when you turn
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Stop — the calm pause that keeps a dog safe
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Follow — choosing to stay with their person, off their own bat
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And because you're there playing alongside your puppy, you'll learn these games too — ready to keep them going at home.
Want to book a place?
Just call​
07961502641