Contact Us

Beth Harrison 661-678-3647 apawabove@ymail.com

I am ABC Certified Dog Trainer with over 13 years experience teaching private in home and group lessons in Santa Clarita using only positive methods. I have trained and worked with hundreds of dogs from all walks of life, including energetic puppies, obsessive compulsive juveniles, aggressive adults and rescue dogs suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. After becoming a certified dog trainer, I began to raise puppies for Guide Dogs of America and was the head trainer in Los Angeles for a multi-state pet dog training company. As an AKC Certified Evaluator, I can certify your dog as A.K.C. S.T.A.R. Puppies and Canine Good Citizen. My passion is early socialization. I teach off leash socialization class where your dog will learn from the best… other dogs! All class are in a safe, supervised environment. Give me a call and lets talk 661-678-DOGS

WHY IS PUPPY SOCIALIZATION SO IMPORTANT? “Puppies are most accepting of new experiences between 3 and 13 weeks old. After that age, they become much more cautious of anything they haven’t yet encountered. From about 12 to 18 weeks old the opportunity to easily socialize the puppy ends- and with each passing week it becomes harder to get the puppy to accept and enjoy something that he’s initially wary of. After 18 weeks old, its extremely difficult and sometimes impossible, to teach a dog to like something new, or help him become comfortable with something he finds frightening.” – The ASPCA. When dogs are uncomfortable or frightened in their daily environments it can lead to behavioral problems such as separation anxiety, aggression, obsessive or neurotic behaviors. Also, stress can cause heath-related issues. At A Paw Above, class focuses on letting puppies socialize in a supervised and safe environment. Through play-learning, pet parents and puppies learn the basics of diversion, understanding what constitutes appropriate play and interactions, distraction management. We teach the pups to focus, recall, sit, down, stay, leave it and go to bed, bite inhibition and introduction to the leash. Pet parents will also learn about house breaking and crate training. In this very relaxed course puppies are not required to master commands just yet but we give them the tools to work with when they are at home. They are encouraged to socialize in a safe a supervised manner in order to start building confidence while setting boundaries. Pet parents will have lots of opportunity to observe and ask questions. All puppies are required to have at least 2 sets of vaccinations prior to attending classes. They must keep up to date with their vaccinations during the course. We also make sure that they have no symptoms of illness. We want all pet parents to understand that exposing your not-yet-fully-vaccinated puppy to the outdoors and to other dogs is not without risk. The ASPCA says: “If we wait until a puppy has all of his shots before socializing him, we miss our chance to do it. He’ll simply be too old. The good news is that if you take some commonsense precautions while socializing your puppy, the risk of infection is quite small compared to the much larger risk of your puppy developing serious behavior problems with fear and aggression later in life. The risk for a puppy given up or later euthanized for behavior problems is so huge that young puppies MUST be socialized before they are done with their vaccinations. The recommendation is to socialize puppies as safely as possible by exposing the puppy to people, places and other animals while not taking unnecessary risks. Well run puppy classes-indoor classes where the puppies have been vaccinated at least once-are a smart way to socialize a puppy.” – ASPCA