About Wonder Puppy

A puppy parenting center in Northwest Portland

Wonder Puppy, at 1500 NW 18th Ave, is a full-service puppy parenting center whose team describes itself as "puppy specialists, clicker trainers, behavior nerds, teachers, coaches and problem solvers." Trainer and puppy expert Casey Newton started Wonder Puppy to make puppyhood easy and fun, and the school counts more than a decade and tens of thousands of graduates.

Classes

Training starts with a free quick start orientation. Classes run in three levels (good, great and wonder), each with Social, Calm + Focus and Skills courses; puppies under 6 months usually take Social 1 alongside one course at a time, starting with Calm + Focus 1. Private sessions are also available, and dogs over 6 months can meet a trainer at orientation to choose a path.

Approach

The Wonder Way combines reward-based clicker training, critical early socialization, boundary management and a fun, focused, holistic approach. A Wonder Puppy recall video won a 2011 Association of Professional Dog Trainers NewTrix Video Contest award.