Our Puppy Starter Program is designed to give you and your new furry family member the best possible beginning together. During those crucial early months, we focus on four essential foundations that will set your puppy up for lifelong success: crate training to create a safe, comfortable space your puppy loves; potty training with proven techniques that establish reliable bathroom habits; managing play biting through positive redirection methods that teach appropriate mouth manners; and comprehensive socialization to help your puppy develop confidence around new people, animals, and environments. Whether you're a first-time dog owner or welcoming a new puppy into your experienced household, our structured approach provides the guidance, support, and practical tools you need to navigate these formative weeks with confidence, creating a strong bond built on trust, consistency, and positive learning experiences.
Program Snapshot
- Sessions: 3 training sessions for one hour each - more sessions can be added if necessary
- What we cover: Potty training, play biting, crate training, socialization. Behaviors such as loose leash walking are covered in other puppy programs
- Location: Training normally happens in your home. If you live outside of our travel radius, you can come to our training facility
- Travel radius: Our trainers go to peoples' home all throughout Chicago - see the "Travel Radius" section below
- Price: $435 if we come to your home
Why Tucker Pup's is Your Puppy Solution
- Our trainers are highly professional and friendly, and have many years of experience in helping thousands of puppy owners
- Positive reinforcement only - this approach is much faster and more effective than other methods
- The most comprehensive set of puppy training options in Chicago, including classes, socials, and specialized programs
- We can come to your home or our training facility
- We can add other behaviors, such as loose leash walking and polite greetings
- TrainTrack portal, where you can rewatch videos of exercises, log progress, and even upload videos to your trainer
- 1,034 Google Reviews with a 4.9 overall rating
- In business since 2006
Topics We Cover
A Happy Puppy Starter Customer
Dog Trainer
Our experience with the Puppy Starter Program was amazing, Allison was great, and Max looked forward to every session. She worked with Max on multiple exercises and also showed me the exercises to work on with Max. We will be going to our first puppy social on 10/4 and hopefully enrolling in dropoff training soon!
Jennifer Kounnavong
Program Details
- $405 total, for three sessions
- $30 additional if we come to your home for the three sessions, plus any parking fees that we incur.
- The program includes one free puppy social
- You can add our Puppy Manners Program, where we work on foundational skills that puppies need to know, such as leash walking, recall, and much more.
Puppy socials are an hour of games, training exercises, and rest time, all with puppies of a similar size and temperament.
We have three types of socials:
- Whippersnappers, for puppies who are playful and rambunctious
- Tiny Tots, for smaller, younger puppies
- Confidence Builder, for shy puppies
You can learn more about puppy socials by going back to the main Training page, and choosing Puppy Socials.
FAQs
Can I choose other topics to discuss besides any of those listed above?
We can help you with practically any topic. The ones mentioned above are the most common, but feel free to ask. If you are looking for skills such as leash walking, those would taught in Puppy Manners classes, private lessons, or dropoff training. We can certainly start with the topics mentioned above, then add lessons or other types of training afterwards or in conjunction with these lessons.
What if I don't want my puppy to be crate trained?
It's totally up to you whether you want this to be a topic we cover. Having said that, we believe that crate training your puppy is very important, because he will undoubtedly be in a crate at times in the future, at the vet, daycare, grooming, or boarding. Otherwise, it is very possible that he develops crate anxiety, and these businesses may not be able to provide care for him, or he might just stay very stressed. When implemented properly, dogs see their crate as a positive, safe space that is their home. We can help your puppy achieve this belief.
Can we work at my home, in addition to the facility?
Not a problem. We can work 1-2 lessons at your home, and remaining lesson(s) at Tucker Pup's. It's very customizable. There is a $10 housecall fee for any lessons at your home.
Can I enroll in this program even if I don't have my puppy yet?
Absolutely! This could be the smartest choice of all, since you could be implementing smart strategies right from day one. We can also discuss breed characteristics with you and what behaviors to likely expect, plus help prepare your home in advance of the first day with your new puppy.
Can we work together for more than three lessons?
We can help you with as many lessons as you need. We suggest with three lessons because this is a typical number for the topics we would be discussing with you, but certainly we can add as many sessions as you like.
I feel nervous about participating in a puppy social
Puppy socials are a really great way to socialize your puppy in a safe, clean environment. All of the other puppies are of a similar size and temperament, including our Tiny Tots socials for small breeds and very young puppies. The socialization skills will be very beneficial as your puppy gets older, even if you don't intend on going to dog parks.
My puppy keeping peeing in my home and I'm getting really frustrated.
Totally understandable. But keep in mind that puppies don't know the rules yet and just need to be taught, in a way that makes sense to them. They also have tiny bladders and may not be able to hold it for long. It's a lot like having a baby, including getting up in the middle of the night. We can evaluate your home environment and routine, and help you create a process that helps your puppy learn, all through positive methods.
Is there an age limit for enrolling in the Puppy Starter program?
There is not an age limit. We do recommend starting as young as possible, but some puppies are still showing unwanted behaviors when they are older than five months, such as play biting or peeing indoors, and we are called in to help. We're here for you either way.
Our Travel Radius
One of our trainers can home to your home if you live within our travel radius. We routinely go all throughout Chicago each day, including to Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Bucktown, Wrigleyville, Gold Coast, River North, downtown, East Loop, West Loop, South Loop, and all neighborhoods in between.
These boundaries go north to Irving Park Road, east to the lake, south to Roosevelt, and west to Western Avenue.
If you live a few streets beyond these boundaries we can likely still come to your home.
Otherwise, you would need to come to our training facility.
Our Trainers Travel All Over Chicago
Why Hiring Us Beats Going it Alone
It’s not as simple as it looks. Many people try, then either give up — or unintentionally make their dog’s behavior worse before reaching out to us.
Why our training programs beat DIY:
- Avoid wasting many hours sifting through conflicting, incomplete advice that is often detrimental — follow a structured, proven plan instead
- Get immediate expert feedback on your technique and what your dog is actually experiencing
- Avoid common mistakes that can severely limit your dog's progress
- We'll show what adjustments to make when your dog isn't responding
- Use TrainTrack to track progress and get ongoing guidance
- Stay consistent with guidance and accountability throughout the process
- Eliminate the frustration of trying different methods that don’t consistently work
Positive Reinforcement Methods
Tucker Pup's only uses positive reinforcement, which combines the use of rewards, an encouraging tone of voice, and relaxed body language. We do not use aversive methods include prong collars, choke chains, shock collars, poking, yelling, or leash popping. If you are using any of these with your dog, we can help you successfully stop, and still get the results you want.
Positive reinforcement gives you the best chance of success, and can be the fastest way to get results. Aversive methods cause distrust, fear, and potentially pain or discomfort, all of which can be detrimental to getting the results and relationship that you want.
Common questions:
- Do I need to carry treats for the rest of my dog's life? Treats are for teaching behaviors - once your dog can reliably perform, treats can be phased out at your discretion.
- Do I need to carry treats at all times? No. If there are times where you are not carrying treats, our methods can still work.
- Can I use a different type of reward than treats? It may be possible to use something else your dog values, such as a favorite toy.
- Is positive reinforcement too soft for my dog? Not a bit. The best way to build reliable skills is through trust and motivation. Being tough with your dog can cause him to shut down, have anxiety, ignore you, and not truly learn.
- I have tried treats, but they don't work for my dog. You were likely using low-value treats, including from a store. We will recommend high-value treats that are irresistable for most dogs, including in high-distraction environments.
- Will it take longer to achieve results? This is a common myth. Positive reinforcement can create faster results than aversive methods, because your dog is motivated to listen to you, and truly wants to learn.
- Is it bribery? No! All animals learn behaviors from being rewarded, including humans. You wouldn't go to work for free, would you? Motivation + repetition = new behaviors.
If you are hesitant, please trust us on this one and feel free to ask us questions.
Reviews from Puppy Training Customers
Yelp has listed Tucker Pup's as one of the top 100 local businesses in the country in 2025. We are the only pet business who made the list from Chicago, and the only pet resort / training business who made the list nationally.
See the List
TrainTrack Platform
Re-Watch Training Exercises on Your Device
The trainer will show you the exercises in person, then you can access TrainTrack to see the homework and other helpful information. Many exercises include videos, and all of them include instructions. It also includes handouts and a documentation of what you covered. This is incredibly helpful because there is a lot of information to take in, and it can be hard to remember everything that was demonstrated and discussed.
In addition, you can log your progress on TrainTrack as you are working on your home exercises. This can be invaluable for ensuring that you spend enough time, in various settings, for your dog to learn the methods thoroughly.
For private lessons, you can even upload videos to your trainer, and they can watch them in between sessions to help provide advice.
TrainTrack works on any Internet-connected device, so you can use it on your mobile phone, even when you're on a walk or working outdoors.
TrainTrack is used for all of our training services, including private lessons and classes.
To access TrainTrack, you must log in to our website. On your Customer Center, you will see the link to TrainTrack towards the top of the page.
Neighborhoods We Serve
Tucker Pup's is located in the West Loop / Fulton Market District neighborhood. People come to us from all over Chicago, especially from Bucktown, Gold Coast, Lake View, Lincoln Park, Old Town, River North, River West, South Loop, Streeterville, Ukrainian Village, University Village, West Town and Wicker Park.
