Grade Level

Pre-School

Manners, socialization, proper play, and confidence-building for puppies and reactive adults.

Pre-School is the first step in our 8-level curriculum. Dogs learn manners, socialization, and proper play while building confidence and desensitizing to sights and sounds that can trigger reactivity. These crucial skills develop the fundamental aspects of a well-rounded dog and prepare them for everything to come.

Pre-School runs as two tracks — Puppy (5-12 months) and Adult (12+ months) — so your dog learns alongside peers at a similar life stage. Most dogs graduating from our board-and-train Camps enter at Kindergarten, but outwardly reactive dogs start in Pre-School (Adult) for focused support before moving up.

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Who This Level Is For

Is Pre-School the Right Fit for Your Dog?

Puppies 5-12 months building their foundation, or adult dogs new to structured training. Also the right starting point for adult dogs with moderate reactivity who need confidence work before joining higher levels.

Pre-School — What You'll Focus On

In Pre-School the dog will focus on Manners, socialization, proper play, and confidence-building for puppies and reactive adults.

Pre-School Syllabus

The Pre-School Curriculum

Every manner, behavior, trick, and tool introduced at this level — each tracked individually in PD360 with explicit success indicators.

Introduced New skills your dog meets for the first time at this level. Reinforced Carried over from the previous level and strengthened with reps. Proofed Tested against real-world distraction, distance, and duration. Maintained Kept sharp from earlier levels so the foundation never slips.

Introduced 5 New skills your dog meets for the first time at this level.

Confidence Introduced

Build a baseline of confidence so your dog can engage with the world calmly.

Mastery: Dog approaches novel sights and sounds without flight or freeze.
Etiquette Introduced

Learn the day-to-day etiquette that makes your dog a great neighbor.

Mastery: Dog greets calmly without jumping or mouthing.
Socialize Introduced

Structured exposure to other dogs and people in a controlled setting.

Mastery: Dog can be near other dogs without overreacting in either direction.
Cues Introduced

Build awareness that handler cues mean something is about to happen.

Mastery: Dog orients toward the handler when a cue is given.
Gentleness Introduced

Soft-mouth taking food and toys without snatching or nipping.

Mastery: Dog takes treats gently from hand.

Introduced 5 New skills your dog meets for the first time at this level.

Name Introduced

Your dog learns that hearing their name means look at you.

Mastery: Dog turns head and makes eye contact when name is said.
Sit Introduced

The foundational position command — rear on the ground.

Mastery: Dog sits within 2 seconds of verbal cue without lure.
Markers Introduced

Marker words (Yes / Good / No) that tell your dog exactly what worked.

Mastery: Dog clearly responds to marker words by holding or releasing behavior.
Crate Introduced

Calm, quiet acceptance of crate as a safe resting place.

Mastery: Dog enters crate on cue and settles within 5 minutes.
Down Introduced

Elbows on the ground — the second foundational position.

Mastery: Dog goes down within 3 seconds of verbal cue.

Visual Syllabus

View the Pre-School Syllabus

Trouble viewing? Open the Pre-School syllabus in a new tab →

Where This Level Sits

Your Progress at Pre-School

Each row represents a grade level. The bar shows the cumulative number of behaviors your dog will have learned by the end of that level. Pre-School is highlighted below.

Total cumulative behaviors learned

Graduation Criteria

When Do Dogs Move From Pre-School to Kindergarten?

Dogs graduate to Kindergarten once they reliably respond to their name, settle in a crate, and can sit and lie down on cue in a moderately distracting environment. Reactive dogs must also demonstrate reduced reactivity to baseline sights and sounds.

PD360 Pet Progress

Every Skill at Pre-School is Tracked in PD360

The curriculum is cumulative on purpose. A behavior taught at Elementary is reinforced in Middle School and proofed in High School, with each behavior moving through at least four stages of learning — introduced, reinforced, proofed, and maintained. You'll see exactly which behaviors your dog has been Introduced to, Reinforced on, and Proofed against. The same record follows them into DaySchool, Camps, private lessons, and grooming. One profile, one progress story, one team.

300+ Tracked variables per dog
8 Grade levels & curriculum tracks
120+ Behaviors across the journey
Years Of continuous progress data

Behavior-Level Detail

Every command, manner, and trick is tracked through Introduced → Reinforced → Proofed stages.
Programs Stay in Sync

Progress in Group Class flows into DaySchool, Camps, and private lessons. Trainers see the same record.
Honest Recommendations

Your dog moves up when the data says they're ready — not when a calendar says so.
Years of Continuity

Whether your dog is in Pre-School or Dogtorate, the full history travels with them.