puppy survival school
Raise a happy, well-behaved puppy without losing your mind in the process
Go from "what was I thinking?!" to "we've got this!"
Puppy Survival School is included with your Academy membership
$24 per month (or ($147 annually)
Puppy-raising can really turn you into a giant ball of anxiety, huh?
Stop me if any of these sound familiar:
- Your puppy never stops biting, and everything you've been told to do (making a yelping noise, walking away, punishment, etc) just makes it worse.
- You can’t leave them alone for two seconds without them screaming their head off.
- You feel like you spend 90% of your time saying “no, don't do that!” (And you don't know why you bother, because the fluffy little hell-spawn never listens to you anyway)
- This is the first puppy you've raised on your own and you're feeling the pressure to not screw up.
- You haven't even brought your new puppy home yet, and you're already overwhelmed by all of the things involved.
- You've researched the hell out of puppy-raising - but the more you learn, the less certain you become about what to DO.
- Your brain is full of puppy advice, rules, socialization checklists, training plans, and Things You Must Do Before It's Too Late™, and you're exhausted just thinking about it.
- You've got big dreams for this pup, and you want to give them the best start possible.
If any of that sounds like you, you’re in the right place
It doesn't have to be this hard
Puppy Survival School can help you:
- Get the biting, whining, accidents, and general puppy madness under control so you can breathe again.
- Stop saying "no" all day and get your puppy to actually want to listen to you.
- Sort through all the conflicting advice out there and figure out what makes sense for your situation.
- Know what to focus on right now - and what you can stop worrying about.
- Stop feeling like you're perpetually one wrong move away from screwing up your puppy, and start feeling confident that you can handle this.
- Turn the endless Puppy Raising To-Do List into a few manageable priorities that fit into your actual life.
- Give your dog a great start without needing to constantly train them.
- Build the skills, relationship, and confidence you'll need for all the things you're dreaming of doing together.
- Make enough room in your brain to actually enjoy your puppy.
In my frantic Google searches I found your WTFWIT video on YouTube and knew that your method was for me.
I’ve been studying diligently, and we're still in the honeymoon phase, but 3 days into getting Emma and she responds to her name, sits on command, sits to say please, has made tremendous potty and crate progress, follows the leader, and is a tug champion.
From watching your videos and reading your material, I feel empowered and knowledgeable and no longer terrified. I know what I’m doing (kinda), I can spot bad advice from well meaning friends and family, and I’m confident that I will have a well behaved, well adjusted puppy.
Thank you to infinity and beyond for helping to make our family a happy one.
Get practical help with the stuff that's making your life miserable
Finally feel like you know what you're doing
Get your questions answered by professional dog trainers
Join a friendly, judgment-free community that has your back
Get ready for a lifetime of adventures with your dog
THE FIVE THINGS WE FOCUS ON
We'll help you...
1. UNDERSTAND YOUR PUPPY
Because the more you understand WHY they do what they do, the less perplexing and intimidating this whole thing becomes
Instead of throwing random training tips at every problem and hoping something works (or running yourself ragged trying to check every box on the Well-Raised Puppy™ checklist) you can relax a little and focus on what your unique puppy needs.
Less guessing, less self-doubt, less exhaustion.
You'll learn how to:
- Read your puppy's body language and understand what they're saying
- Figure out what's driving their frustrating behaviors
- Stop those behaviors from happening so much in the first place
- Tell the difference between a serious problem and normal behavior they'll outgrow
- Discover what your puppy needs, what motivates them, and what helps them thrive
- Prioritize what to do based on their developmental stage
2. MAKE LIFE EASIER TODAY
Because sometimes you just need little Sparky to stop biting your ankles right now
We teach practical strategies for the problems currently occupying an alarming percentage of your brain.
Handle problems like:
3. BUILD TOWARD THE LIFE YOU WANT
Because just "surviving" puppyhood was never the dream
Before the stress consumed your life, you had goals for this dog, right? Maybe you wanted to:
- Explore the world together with hiking, camping, or road trips
- Try dog sports like agility or gun dog work
- Hang out at dog-friendly cafes
- Or build a chill life of neighborhood walks, visiting family, and having a dog who can relax beside you on the couch after work
Whatever the dream, let’s not lose sight of it. It’s not too late.
We'll help you:
- Teach useful skills for real life (not just obedience for obedience's sake)
- Build a strong relationship based on trust and communication
- Develop focus and engagement that you can build on as your puppy grows
- Discover what your dog loves doing and find ways to enjoy it together
- Raise a dog who would follow you to the ends of the earth
- Reconnect with why you wanted a dog in the first place, if the puppy blues have got you down
STOP FEELING ALONE
Because puppyhood is a lot easier when you're surrounded by people who get it
In our small but supportive community, you'll have a place to:
- Vent about the tough moments without fear of judgment
- Compare notes with other puppy parents who are going through the same challenges you are
- Learn from people further ahead in the process, who are genuinely rooting for you
- Share your wins (even the tiny ones)
- Be around dog people who are just as invested in building a great life with their dogs as you are
I also really appreciated the community I found with other academy members who were going through similar experiences – it was heartening to know I was not alone in my puppyhood trials. : )
5. GET ACCESS TO DOG TRAINERS
Because let's be honest: our curriculum won't always work for you
As you work through our convenient bite-sized lessons, inevitably you’ll hit one that makes you think “wait – how the hell am I supposed to apply this to MY situation?”
Or you’ll try one of our training exercises, and your puppy won’t react at all like the dog in the demo video.
Such is life.
That’s why your membership includes a direct line to Erin and Jake.
You don’t have to navigate this alone, guessing what to do next or feeling lost when setbacks happen. We’re here to guide you and help adjust things as needed
With:
Live Q&As on Zoom
Join our live sessions where you can get real-time advice for your specific challenges.
Community forums
Can't attend the live sessions? No worries! Chat with us on the forums instead.
When I look back to how things were a year ago, fizzy with anxiety at the slightest hint of a growl from old girl Chloe… oh it was horrible!
But with your advice and support, we got through it and successfully built a very strong bond between the dogs…
All in all, we’re a happy household and I feel we have a great relationship with our beloved dogs.
Thank you so so much for everything, it’s been a great experience being part of the 3lostdogs academy. You guys are amazing and your knowledge, humour and compassion have made such a positive contribution to our life with our dogs.
A less stressful way to raise your puppy
The dog training world has spent years teaching puppy parents to obsess over one thing:
Whatever you do, DON’T reward the bad behavior.
Don’t reward the barking, the biting, the jumping. Puppies are always learning! Don’t let them learn bad things.
This has taken all the joy out of puppy life and replaced it with a mantra that plays over and over in your head:
Don’t screw up. Don’t screw up. DON’T SCREW UP.
It doesn’t need to be like this.
Instead of spending all day micromanaging what happens after your puppy does something, we focus more on what made them do it in the first place.
When you understand and address the motivations driving behavior, a lot of problems become less of a problem. And you don’t have to work so hard managing every little thing your puppy does.
That means less pressure on you, fewer battles with your puppy, and more room to breathe.
HOW IT WORKS
Start with the main curriculum: the Foundation for a Happy, Well-Behaved Puppy course
Already have a puppy who’s driving you crazy? This course will help you make changes right away to get the chaos under control.
Haven’t brought your puppy home yet? You’ll get ahead of common problems and establish good habits from day one.
We know you’re busy and don’t have time to sit through hours of content before you can actually use any of it
That’s why the main curriculum consists of quick lessons designed to be implented a little bit at at time. You can work through it at whatever pace your life (and your puppy) allows.
Then jump to the resources you need, when you need them
You’ll also have access to a collection of mini-course, workshops, and quick tutorials covering specific puppy topics.
Like:
- Biting
- Getting your pup to stop freaking out when left alone
- Introducing puppy to your other pets
- Socialization
- Working from home while raising a puppy
- Basic obedience and leash skills
- House training
- Fear and anxiety
- Overcoming the WTFWIT phase
Whenever you get stuck, we're here
Via our forums or twice-monthly group Zoom sessions, you can bring us your questions and get friendly, practical advice.
Upcoming Members-Only Events
Live Q&A/Group Coaching Session
Exact time and date TBD. Members, we’ll email you once it’s been scheduled.
And get access to the whole Academy while you're at it
In addition to the puppy courses, your membership includes access to our full course and webinar library.
We cover topics like:
- Focus in the presence of distractions
- Reliable recalls
- Pulling on leash
- Building reliably-trained behaviors without relying on food or punishment
- Introducing dogs to each other safely
$24 per month (or $147 per year)
Easily cancel any time by clicking a button in your account settings.
Support and advice that is...
Judgment-free
Sure, you may have made mistakes. So have we! It's all good.
Nuanced and in-depth
Because real life is never black and white.
Force-free and puppy-friendly
You don't have to yell, scold, or dominate your puppy to get them to listen.
We're here to take stuff off your plate, not put more on it
You’ve already consumed a TON of information about puppies. Books, videos, articles, social media posts… maybe you even signed up for five online courses already.
So you’re looking at this sales page for yet another online program thinking:
“I don’t need MORE information. I need to stop thinking about puppy training for five minutes and actually try to enjoy my puppy!”
Yep. We completely agree.
We aren’t here to add another giant pile of Things You Should Be Doing to the one already taking up space in your brain.
We’re here to help you sort through that pile and figure out what small handful of things will make the biggest difference in your life.
To figure out what actually matters for your puppy right now, what can wait, and what you can stop worrying about altogether.
Our goal is to free up enough space that you can actually enjoy the dog in front of you, before puppyhood passes you by.
more feedback from our members
we built the puppy school we wish we'd had
Hi, I'm Jake. I lost my mind so that you don't have to
Before I brought home my first puppy, Friday, I did a ton of research.
I thought I was prepared.
I wasn’t.
Friday turned my life upside down. She bit me. Bit my sisters. Bit my friends. Whined all night. Peed on my bed. Ignored my attempts to train her, and just didn’t seem to like me much.
The feeling was mutual.
I followed all the advice: be consistent, be the leader, don’t let bad behavior get rewarded. And somehow it just made everything worse.
Eventually, through a lot of trial and error (emphasis on “error”), we figured things out. But it shouldn’t have been that hard.
Puppy Survival School is the program I wish I'd had back then:
A human-friendly, puppy-friendly approach to overcoming all the usual puppy problems and building a bond where your dog trusts you, loves you, and wants to listen to you.
Let our pain be your gain
Today, my wife Erin and I are professional dog trainers with years of experience helping people get through the tough parts of dog life and actually enjoy life with their dogs.
But we haven’t forgotten what it’s like to be standing in the kitchen with a fuzzy little demon hanging off your pant leg thinking oh my GOD, why did I do this?
You can grit your teeth and white-knuckle your way through the next few months of puppy blues chaos, losing your mind like I did…
Or you can come hang out with us and start feeling better by next week.
If you’re dreaming of that bond -that ride-or-die relationship, the loyal adventure dog- we’ll show you how to build it.
ready to get started?
Join Puppy Survival School by signing up for an Academy membership
To recap, here's what you get:
A comprehensive curriculum to guide you through pretty much every part of puppy-raising, plus direct support from real humans to show you how to make it all work for you.
- The main course, Foundation for a Happy, Well-Behaved Puppy
- All nine mini courses that each tackle a different puppy subject
- All workshops, special events, and bonus content
- Help from trainers Erin and Jake in our private forums
- Twice-monthly live Q&A sessions with the trainers on Zoom
- The ability to send us clips of your dog's behavior to get our insight and advice
- All of our other courses and workshops - on topics like getting your dog to focus despite distractions, reliable recalls, loose leash walking, and more
Choose your membership option below, and take the first step toward a happier life with your pup
We offer full refunds on monthly and annual memberships. If you decide the Academy isn’t for you, send us an email within two months of purchase and we’ll refund 100% of your payment.
frequently asked questions
How old should my puppy be for this?
There’s no strict age limit. Most of our Puppy Survival School students join when their puppies are between two and five months old, but we also have folks sign up with their 6-10 month old pups, and they still get a lot out of the program.
Basically, if you’ve been nodding your head as you read this page, going “wow that sounds just like my situation,” you’re in the right place.
I’m planning to take my puppy to in-person classes. Is Puppy Survival School meant to replace those? Will having multiple training "voices" confuse my puppy?
This can replace in-person classes, or be used in combination with them. A lot of our members do both. See, many people who attend puppy classes (or get a few private sessions with an in-person trainer) find that it’s not enough to really answer all their questions or solve their day-to-day problems.
Puppy Survival School fills in those gaps. For instance, when a member has a confusing experience in class, they come to us and we talk it through.
And it shouldn’t confuse your dog. The tools, strategies, and support you get inside this program are designed to work alongside other things you do. It’s not something that competes with those – it helps you navigate them better.
I have an adult dog who needs training. Will this help?
We get this question a lot! So we added a feature to help you adapt the puppy program to your adult rescue dog. More on that below.
But the short answer is: Possibly. While the Puppy Survival School courses are designed for puppies, it can also help an older dog with things like house training, crate training, basic obedience and manners, and getting settled into their new home.
Raising a puppy and a rescue dog are similar, but different experiences. What you really need are bits and pieces of ALL the Academy courses, not just the puppy program.
Good news – when you sign up for this membership, you get access to ALL of our courses, plus:
The Rescue Dog Roadmap. This will show you exactly which lessons to take from each course, so you can get your new dog settled in.
Puppy Survival School is not designed to help adult dogs with problems related to: fear, aggression, reactivity, resource guarding, poor socialization history, or predatory behavior toward other pets. If you’re still unsure, email me at contact@3lostdogs.com, and I’ll let you know if the program is appropriate for your dog.
What kind of training methods do you use?
Thanks for asking!
Broadly speaking, our methods fall into the force-free category. We’ve found this to be the most effective way to build a strong bond with your dog and get them to WANT to listen to you, while minimizing the chances they’ll develop aggression-related behavior problems.
Just like toddlers have meltdowns when they’re cranky and overtired, most of the really annoying (or infuriating!) things puppies do is a result of them feeling frustrated, confused, overstimulated, or having a need that isn’t being met.
So the first step in achieving harmony with your little gremlin is to think teamwork:
“I know this is hard, Sparky, but we’re gonna figure it out together!”
Then start teaching them how to ask for what they need, break down training into baby-friendly steps, and structure their routine so they get all their needs met.
We teach you how to properly use positive reinforcement (like food, play, and real-life rewards), to teach your puppy exactly what you want them to do – while avoiding common mistakes that cause positive reinforcement to fail.
We also teach you how and when to use enrichment, exercise, redirection, and management to further improve your puppy’s behavior and create good habits.
Where appropriate, we use desensitization, habituation, and counter-conditioning to help puppies build confidence and overcome fear or aggression issues. We go at the dog’s pace and do not force them into situations they aren’t ready for. (In technical terms, we don’t use “flooding”)
All together, this approach will drastically improve your puppy’s behavior. They’ll bite less and listen to you more.
If any of that sounds daunting or made your eyes glaze over, don’t worry – we have a bunch of frameworks, exercises, and games in Puppy Survival School to show you exactly how to do all this. Our methods aren’t just puppy-friendly, they’re human-friendly, too.
We do not use:
Aversives like spray bottles, scary noises, collar corrections or physical punishment.
Because while those methods sometimes work to stop unwanted behavior in the short term, they often create worse behavior or even aggression in the long term, and make it harder to build a strong bond.
But if you’re already using aversive methods? No worries! When you join our program, we meet you where you’re at and we can help you gradually remove the need for those corrections.
Will this work for my dog's breed/personality?
So your pup’s breed is known for being stubborn, or sensitive, or clingy, or notoriously hard to train.
Don’t worry. We got you.
We’ve had the whole range of breeds come through our training programs:
Headstrong types like malamutes and huskies. Big tough German shepherds, malinois, Dobermans, and mastiffs.
Little Pomeranians, Chihuahuas, shih tzu, toy poodles. Enormous Newfoundlands and Bernese mountain dogs.
Herding breeds like border collies, Aussies, and cattle dogs.
All types of hunting dogs, from scenthounds to sighthounds. Pointers, setters, spaniels, beagles, terriers, Irish wolfhounds, etc.
A million pit bulls and pit mixes. Every variety of doodle you can think of. Even unusual types like Greek village dogs and one bonafide, rare Chinook.
Not to mention the whole range of personalities and temperaments:
“Stubborn” types and eager-to-please types. High energy and low energy. Fearless social butterflies and shy, anxious pups.
Dogs who are obsessed with toys, and dogs who have zero interest in toys. Super food-motivated, and extremely picky eaters.
Dogs who love training, and dogs who get easily frustrated with training.
We have an overarching philosophy that works no matter the breed or personality. And we recognize that different dogs require different approaches:
A Siberian husky probably won’t be motivated by the same things as border collie. A delicate little toy poodle has different needs than a Great Pyrenees. If you have a shy puppy who’s afraid of strangers, you’ll need to prioritize different things than if you have a confident pup who loves everyone they meet.
We’ve seen it all, and we’ve developed a methodology that can be adapted to fit the needs of any dog.
I live in [insert country here]. Can I join?
You sure can. So far we’ve had members from the UK, Spain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, the US, Canada, and Australia.
How long does the program take?
That’s up to you! This isn’t like a puppy class with a set schedule or end date. Work through the courses at your own pace.
There’s enough training material to guide you through at least the next three months of your puppy’s life. And then if you want, you can work on the other included courses to build on their training skills throughout their adolescence and adulthood.
How exactly does this all work?
Puppy Survival School consists of multiple self-study courses, each on a different puppy subject. When you register, you’ll get immediate access to all of these courses (plus all of the other Academy courses and workshops) and you can proceed at your own pace.
The course lessons are a combination of videos and written instructions. You can go back and rewatch previous lessons at any time.
You’ll also have access to our forums, where you can post questions for us and your fellow students to answer. And you’re invited to our twice-monthly live Q&A/group coaching sessions on Zoom, where you can get tailored advice and commiserate with your fellow puppy parents.
(Don’t worry, my fellow introverts: there’s no pressure to participate on the Zoom calls! You can just sit back and listen in)
To access the courses and forums, you’ll sign in to 3LostDogsAcademy.com with the username and password that you create upon checkout. The site is accessible from any internet-enabled device, like your phone or computer.
When you join, there will be an orientation video to show you the ropes.
When are the Zoom sessions held?
We try to accommodate as many members’ schedules and time zones as possible, so we change up the time on a regular basis.
Is it still worth joining if I can't attend the Zoom sessions? I'm really busy/socially anxious/live in Australia
You can still get your questions answered at the Q&A. Just post your question in the “Q&A Questions” forum, we’ll answer it live, and you can watch the recording later.
And of course, you can skip the Zooms entirely – the forums are also a good way to chat with us.
Don’t want direct help at all? That’s cool too. A lot of our members never use the direct help feature, and still get a ton of value out of the many hours of self-study content on the site.
Australians:
G’day mate! Half of the team (Erin) is Australian, so we feel your pain. We know you’re used to Northern Hemispherians scheduling things while you’re sleeping. Rude.
We do our best to hold one Q&A per month at an Aus/NZ-friendly time. Somewhere between 11am-1pm your time.
How do I cancel? Do I have to jump through any annoying hoops?
No hoops here.
To cancel, just go to “view/edit membership” in the top navigation menu, and hit the cancel button.
You’ll have access to the Academy for the remainder of your membership period, and then it won’t renew.
I'm not sure if this is right for me. Can I ask you some questions?
Sure! Send an email to contact@3lostdogs.com or DM us on Instagram @threelostdogs, and I will personally get back to you. – Jake
sign me up!
Join Puppy Survival School by signing up for an Academy membership:
Choose your membership option below and take the first step toward a calmer, happier life with your pup
We offer full refunds on monthly and annual memberships. If you decide the Academy isn’t for you, send us an email within two months of purchase and we’ll refund 100% of your payment, no questions asked.
Email: contact@3lostdogs.com
