Oxford Puppy School - Weekly In-person Classes in Oxford
Build calm, confident puppies for life. Led by a qualified behaviourist and Vet Nurse.
What is puppy school?Looking for expert puppy training in Oxford? I run Puppy School’s 6-week classes at Cutteslowe and South Oxford Community Centres. These friendly classes help puppies across Oxford and Oxfordshire with essentials like socialisation, recall, toilet training, and polite manners — all taught in a kind, reward-based environment.
Puppy School is a UK-wide network of professional behaviourists and trainers offering early-life training to help your puppy grow into a happy, well-mannered adult dog. Classes are designed for puppies aged 10–20 weeks.
What Your Puppy Will Learn
Over 6 weeks, you and your puppy will cover the foundations that make life together easier and more enjoyable:
Come when called (recall) — so you can relax on walks, knowing your puppy will return when you need them
Walk nicely on lead — enjoy calmer, more pleasant walks without the pulling
Sit, lie down, and stand — everyday skills that help at home and in public
Settle calmly — making café trips, visitors, and downtime much easier
Polite greetings — no more jumping up on friends, family, or strangers
Confidence building and socialisation — giving your puppy positive experiences now to help prevent behaviour problems later
By the end of the course, you’ll have more than just a well-trained puppy. You’ll have a stronger bond, the confidence to handle tricky moments, and the reassurance of knowing you’re setting your pup up for a happy, well-mannered future. And of course, you’ll celebrate with a graduation certificate and rosette to mark your achievement together.
What’s Included in the 6 week Puppy Course
Six weekly 1-hour training classes in person
A printed Puppy School Manual to guide your practice at home
A packet of Natures Menu treats delivered to your door
A certificate and rosette on graduation
Supportive guidance from a qualified behaviourist throughout
All family members — especially children — are welcome to attend.
How it Works
Step 1 – Book Your Place
Reserve your spot online — you’ll get instant confirmation and a welcome email with everything you need to know before your first class.
Step 2 – Come Along Each Week
Bring your puppy, your family, and some treats to class once a week for 6 weeks. Each session lasts around 1 hour, with plenty of time for questions at the end.
Step 3 – Learn & Practise Together
Each week covers a mix of puppy essentials — recall, loose lead walking, calm greetings, confidence-building — alongside guided socialisation. You’ll also get a Puppy School Manual to help you practise at home between sessions.
Step 4 – Celebrate Progress
At the end of the course, you and your pup will graduate with a certificate and rosette to mark your achievement!
Step 5 – Ongoing Support
Even after graduation, you’ll know how to get in touch if you need extra help, or want to continue learning with the next stage of classes.
Puppy Class Details
Course Duration:
6-week in-person puppy training course
Start Dates:
Cutteslowe Community Centre
(Thursdays at 7:00 PM)
South Oxford Community Centre
(Sundays at 9.15am)
Class Locations:
Cutteslowe Community Centre
31 Wren Road, Oxford, OX2 7SX
South Oxford Community Centre
Lake Street, Oxford, OX1 4RP
Puppy Course Price:
£120 for the full 6-week course
Please note: Puppies must be fully vaccinated (both first and second vaccinations completed) and aged between 10 and 20 weeks at the start of the course.
Spaces Are Limited — Book Early
These small-group classes are kept intentionally small to give you and your puppy plenty of individual support and space to learn.
Classes are in high demand, so early booking is strongly recommended.
What Puppy Owners Say About The Classes
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Clare was very clear with all the instructions. And was happy to repeat things when Bailey and I did not understand them the first time. Clare always greeted us on arrival, and offered assistance such as providing treats/distractions when Bailey wouldn't settle. The training was very helpful and gave me confidence that I was doing the correct thing. It was also helpful to discuss specific issues. Thank you Clare, Bailey and I really enjoyed the training. The most helpful tip was allowing 3 seconds for meeting other dogs, t.hat positively changed our experience when we were out walking.
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We did puppy school with claire in Oxford at Cutteslowe community centre. It’s a good location with a park opposite, which is great to take your puppy to decompress before classes start. We only had 4 puppies in our class which was great. You could potentially maybe fit one more in but that would be it. Four was brilliant. And everyone had their own little space and safe place.there was a mixture of sizes from very small westie to retriever and shepherd and In between. All the puppies got used to each other even though they weren’t introduced until much later in the course. Size wasn’t an issue. Claire was a very good teacher. Very clear instructions and used the puppies to demo the training requirement. The classes started with basic moves that built up to more detailed ways to take things to the next step. Every puppy worked at their own pace, so although they were all at different stages of their training, no one felt left out as far as I could see. The puppies were engaged and switched into the sessions. My puppy thoroughly enjoyed all the classes and really looked forward to the next one. We had done a fair bit of training with our puppy before we attended puppy school. It was still well worth going. for us verified we were doing the right thing and also there were a couple of real nuggets which we have found very helpful as well as the general socialisation for all the puppies there. Claire was very helpful as well for any difficulties you may be experiencing at home, eg our puppy doesn’t like the hoover so she gave us some useful guidance and further reading which we are working on. I would thoroughly recommend puppy school and Claire’s for anyone looking for puppy classes.
Pam
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"We had a great time over the 6 weeks of puppy school, Clare was fantastic and our puppy had a great time while learning and experiencing new things. We have also learned so much and would recommend 100%"
Olivia B.
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"We took our Labrador puppy to Clare's classes and really enjoyed them. Clare was totally in control of the puppies' behaviour at all times and was clearly very experienced and enthusiastic about puppy training. She was brilliant at calming the very excited puppies down at the start of the class and kept the activities moving so we covered everything that was promised (and she offered extra individual advice too). Puppy School provides a really detailed and helpful step-be-step booklet in advance, which we found very useful for remembering and reinforcing the work we did in the class. Thanks so much, Clare."
Paul & Sally
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We loved our time at Oxford Puppy School. Clare’s guidance was brilliant and really set us and Baxter up for success. Learning about cooperative care and how long to restrict greetings with other puppies made such a difference, and so many of the exercises have been invaluable as Baxter has grown up. I’d highly recommend the classes to any new puppy owner!
Gemma P.
Rebuilding your relationship and reconnecting with your pet is at the heart of what I do.
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