Our Policies
Our policies help ensure safety for all!
Shunka & Paws, canine mentors from past years.
Check out our special rates for adult dogs adopted through shelters and official rescue organizations on the "Classes and Prices" page! The Puppy School encourages everyone to adopt from shelters and in this way reduce the number of wonderful dogs patiently waiting for homes who are killed every year due to lack of room in shelters and not enough people adopting from shelters. Please give a shelter dog the chance they deserve!
No dog or person may come to class if they have any symptoms of illness including coughing, sneezing, runny nose, gunky eyes, fever, or diarrhea (this applies to both private and group classes).
All household members who wish to attend are welcome to do so with private classes. If children will be joining, please ensure there is one adult household member for every child participating in the class.
All puppies enrolling in group Puppy Kindergarten classes must have had at least 2 of their 3 Distemper/Parvo shots as well as the Bordetella vaccination and be up-to-date on de-worming, and must have been in their current home and healthy for at least 12 days prior to starting any group class. This is for the safety and wellbeing of all participants.
All pups enrolling in any group classes other than Puppy Kindergarten must be fully vaccinated -- this means they must have had at least 3 Distemper/Parvo vaccinations as well as the Rabies vaccination.
Puppies can start private classes as young as 9 weeks of age. This is indeed what we recommend to ensure you and your pup use the correct techniques from the beginning, even before you are eligible to join group classes. Private classes for younger pups (those that have not yet had at least 2 distemper/parvo vaccinations and who have not been in their current home for at least 2 weeks) are normally done at your home/your yard. There may be an additonal surcharge for travel if you live outside of Fort Collins.
All dogs must be up-to-date on all vaccinations and deworming to enroll in any class.
All dogs 16 weeks and older must have received their Rabies vaccination to participate in any class.
Vaccination records must be shared with The Puppy School via email before your first class. Please email records to ThePuppySchool1@gmail.com
To enroll in any group class other than Puppy Kindergarten 1, you must have taken at least one private class through The Puppy School and you must have permission from The Puppy School. This is to ensure placement in the correct level class.
To participate in Puppy Hikes or Puppy Playdates you must be currently enrolled at The Puppy School and meet the vaccination and health requirements and have permission to participate from The Puppy School.
If you wish to qualify for the reduced Rescue Rate for recently-rescued adult dogs, you must email us your dog's adoption papers or other proof of adoption from an official shelter or non-breed-specific 501c3 rescue organization.
Discounted rates for dogs adopted through official rescue organizations do not apply to purebred dogs adopted through breed-specific "rescues". Our philosophy is to encourage adopting dogs that have not been purposefully bred. This will continue to be our policy as long as there are so many wonderful dogs killed in shelters every year due to over-population.
We do not offer classes for adult dogs with people or dog aggression issues but do work with puppies with such issues on a case by case basis. Aggression issues must be fully disclosed to The Puppy School before scheduling a class. Any dog demonstrating aggression towards people or other dogs in a group class may be asked to leave.
Class fees are paid in full at the time of your class. Advance payment may be required for some group classes.
If you are unable to attend a class you are enrolled in because of an emergency or illness, and you inform us about this before your class start time, you may join the next available class in that same level as soon as space becomes available. No refunds are given.