Up to 9 months at start · 4 weeks · 20 weekdays
Puppy Academy
You love your puppy, but constant supervision, household disruption, and uncertainty about where the behavior is heading can become overwhelming. Puppy Academy provides a structured, reassuring path forward.
The transfer problem
Teaching the Dog Is Only Half the Job.
A dog can learn with a professional and still struggle at home because behavior changes with the handler, routines, and environment.
The GCA solution
Transfer Is Built In.
Weekday training, Friday coaching, weekend practice, and following-week adjustments help the dog’s skills and the family’s habits develop together.
Weekday training → Friday coaching → Weekend practice → Following-week adjustment
What we work toward
Practical Skills, Adapted to the Dog in Front of Us
Priorities are individualized by age, development, safety, temperament, and family goals.
House-training and predictable routines
Crate comfort and age-appropriate independence
Biting, chewing, jumping, and greeting manners
Leash and recall foundations
Settling, handling, and everyday cooperation
Thoughtful social and environmental exposure
7 guided owner sessions
The Training Is Built to Transfer
One preparation visit, three Friday coaching sessions, one graduation transfer session, and two follow-ups.
Prepare together
A private preparation visit aligns routines, equipment, cue language, management, and expectations before the first training week.
Train on weekdays
Your dog trains with Erik and Selena Monday through Friday in carefully planned sessions and ordinary daily routines.
Practice every weekend
Friday coaching and a written plan help your family rehearse the same skills at home before the next training week.
Transfer and follow through
Graduation coaching and follow-up sessions help the new patterns become workable parts of family life.
A weekday rhythm
Four Weeks of Intensive Foundation Work
Your dog trains Monday through Friday and returns home every weekend. Teaching is woven into routines, rest, enrichment, movement, handling, and ordinary indoor and outdoor life.
GCA builds behavior through reinforcement, clear communication, thoughtful management, and repetition. The Academies do not use shock/e-collars, prong collars, choke chains, or equipment intended to cause fear or pain.
Care, safety, and staying connected
It Is Hard to Be Away from a Dog You Love.
Erik and Selena both work hands-on with every Academy dog. The preparation visit lets your family meet the trainers, review the plan, and ask questions before the program begins. Dogs return home every weekend, and participating families receive informal photos, short videos, and lighthearted glimpses through the private group. Sensitive or important information is communicated directly.
The renovated, insulated, climate-controlled Academy building includes individual crates for sleep and appropriate rest, a living-room-style training area, and indoor training space for poor weather. Dogs practice settling while people relax, and overnight potty routines are individualized.
Six-foot-fenced yard with double-gated entrySelected dog interactions based on temperament, safety, needs, and owner goalsTemperature, fire, and carbon-monoxide alerts sent to multiple phonesIndividual rest, care, enrichment, and readiness-based experiences
Included regional transportation
Monday Pickup. Friday Return.
Monday pickup and Friday return are included for eligible addresses within approximately two hours of ordinary one-way driving time from Bulls Gap, Tennessee.
Eligibility is confirmed during screening using the service address and ordinary driving conditions.
Health and veterinary requirements
Vaccination records are due seven calendar days before the first Academy day. Provide age-appropriate core vaccination records, rabies certification when legally required for your dog’s age and location, and current Bordetella vaccination with the veterinarian/manufacturer-recommended initial series completed. Keep required vaccination and preventive care current throughout enrollment.
Before admission, complete one intestinal-parasite option:
- Provide a negative fecal parasite examination dated within the previous 90 calendar days.
- Certify completion of a veterinarian-recommended intestinal deworming course appropriate for your dog during the 14 calendar days before the first Academy day. Provide the product and actual completion date.
- Certify that your dog is current on a veterinarian-recommended preventive with labeled intestinal-worm coverage. Provide the product, dosing schedule, and most recent actual dose date. An extra dose is not required simply for enrollment.
Provide available records or product/schedule information by the records deadline. When a scheduled course or dose finishes later, identify the planned date by that deadline and confirm actual completion before the first handoff. Use products only as labeled or directed by your veterinarian.
These are GCA admission options, not equivalent proof that a dog is parasite-free. Symptoms, exposure, previous infection, or other reasonable concerns may require fecal testing, treatment, or veterinary clearance even when a treatment/prevention option is used.
Disclose health conditions, medication, allergies, recent illness or contagious exposure, and reproductive/heat status. Do not bring a symptomatic dog without prior disclosure and GCA’s written approval. Disclose your flea/tick-control method and schedule; dogs must be free of live fleas and signs of active infestation at each handoff. A new routine wellness examination is not automatically required, but GCA may require clearance for a specific concern. Legally required travel documents still apply.
Families may make a fit inquiry before records are ready. Enrollment remains subject to GCA’s health, behavior, and program-fit review.
Read the Puppy Academy agreement — GCA-PA-2026-10-04Private, hidden Facebook group
Participating families receive access to a private, hidden Facebook group. Joining is optional. It offers informal photos, short videos, lighthearted glimpses into Academy life, and optional family introductions. Sensitive or time-sensitive matters are communicated directly.
Private-group participation is separate from optional permission to use identifiable photos, videos, names, or stories in public marketing.
“he got her to not jump up on us in less than an hour!”
Savanah Harrison · Google review
These reviews reflect prior Gladwater Canine training work with Erik and Selena.
A thoughtful fit decision
Good Candidates for Puppy Academy
Puppies who will be at least 12 weeks and no older than 9 months on the first program day, with families ready to participate in all seven private family lessons.
Screening also considers
- Health and developmental readiness
- Safety, behavior history, and care needs
- Household goals and family participation
- Transportation eligibility
- Whether the program setting is appropriate for the individual dog
Start with a conversation
Which Academy Fits Your Dog and Family?
Send your dog’s age, town, and goals. Erik or Selena will help you check fit, availability, and transportation. There is no payment or commitment to ask.