Puppy Play & Learn

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Welcome to the cutest school in Portland.

Training, play, and socialization in small groups for safe, effective, and enriching care.

Now enrolling new cohorts for
September 2024 with 

$50 off your first service!

for puppies under one year of age
(and select older puppy graduates!)

Welcome to the cutest school in Portland.

Training, play, and socialization in small groups for safe, effective, and enriching care. New cohorts welcome in September of 2024.

for puppies under 9 months of age
(and select older puppy graduates!)

Welcome to the cutest school in Portland.

Training, play, and socialization in small groups for safe, effective, and enriching care. New cohorts welcome in September of 2024.

for puppies under 9 months of age
(and select older puppy graduates!)

Dog Boarding Portland

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"I have a full-time job, so it’s incredible to outsource puppy rearing to Kerry during work hours. My puppy learns all of the essentials, which is much better than sending him to daycare or having him bored at home. Kerry shares real-time reports with me throughout the day. She also shares a wealth of information on all sorts of puppy topics, so I’m learning right along with my pup."

Jamie and Prince

Portland's Top Trainer at the Helm

Play & Learn puppies are in the care of Dog Adventures Northwest's owner and head trainer, Kerry Ryan, Certified Professional Dog Trainer and Family Dog Mediator, who has been voted Spot Magazine's Best Portland Trainer on multiple occasions. With over 20 years of professional training under her belt, Kerry is highly skilled in puppy socialization, building trust-based relationships, navigating canine developmental stages, rewards-based learning, and all things Puppy. She welcomes puppy guardians to hang out at PP&L pick-up to observe play, ask puppy questions, and get support.

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That's Sunny the Bernedoodle, curious how Kerry's DANW beanie would look on her


Safe Playgroups in a Home-Based Environment

Kerry hosts Puppy Play & Learn in her Woodstock home, keeping her impressionable charges out of crowded, loud, stressful, and/or unsupervised daycares. She designs all groups to be fun, enriching, and educational for every pup, taking into account a dog's age, size, breed, and play style. Groups are kept small (between four to six puppies) to provide many learning opportunities without the stress of large, unstructured groups. Vaccination requirements and extra cleaning precautions are taken to provide for the safety of all.

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Here, Juney learns she is smaller than the resident garden gnome


Puppy Learning Through Play

Puppies develop vital communication skills through play with other puppies, adolescent, and adult dogs. With a professional trainer as a guide and moderator, Play & Learn puppies learn such essentials as bite inhibition, taking turns, taking breaks, impulse control, reading body language, constructive communication, emotional regulation, and the social rewards of working as a team. Puppies are  matched with other dogs depending on their learning needs, and all puppy play is opt-in only.

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Prince and Georgie playing the ever-popular Bitey-Face game as June looks on


Puppy Learning Through Training

Play & Learn puppies practice valuable skills like sit, down, come, retrieve, and drop-it through force-free/fear-free science-based methods, using treats and life rewards to reinforce desirable behaviors. Even more importantly, PP&L pups engage with the sights, sounds, scents, surfaces, and situations of an urban environment through gentle, positive, and human-led socialization experiences. 

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Here's Mando practicing her mad "down" skillz


Enrichment for Everypup!

In exchange for asking dogs to live in a human world, it's vital to give them the things they need to thrive as an entirely different species! Play & Learn includes physical enrichment through play and cardiovascular exercise, social enrichment through carefully curated playgroups, sensory enrichment through a myriad of new and interesting experiences, and mental enrichment through training, food puzzles, and chews.

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...because, really, who doesn't like to gnaw a lunch of frozen meat paste?!

Give your puppy the gift of professional, gentle, fun, puppy-led socialization by following these easy steps.

1

Reach out to say hi! 

Let's get this puppy party started! Click the button below to let us know you and your pup's basic info. (If you don't have your pup yet, that's OK too! Gold Star to you for pregaming!)

2

Safety Check 

Your pup will need a few things to attend Play & Learn sessions:

  • For Mondays and Tuesdays, puppies must have 2+ rounds of their core vaccinations and agree to not visit areas of high canine traffic unless they carry their puppy.
  • For Wednesdays and Thursdays, puppies must puppies must have 3+ rounds of their core vaccinations
  • All puppies must be alert, healthy and completely diarrhea-free on days of Play & Learn attendance.
  • All puppies must arrive in a harness and a flat collar with ID.
  • Pet insurance, while not required, is highly recommended. Our favorite companies for relatively no-nonsense coverage are Trupanion and Healthy Paws.

3

Schedule a Play & Learn Evaluation 

Once we have your basic info, we will reach out to schedule a free, no-obligation evaluation for your puppy during a Puppy Play & Learn session. You can check out the spaces, hear more about the program, meet some of the current Play & Learn puppies, and ask any and all questions. Puppies come first around here, so we will be honest if we think that Play & Learn is not a good option for your puppy, for any reason.

4

Schedule Play & Learn Sessions

Puppy Play & Learns are held Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, with an 8:30am-9am drop-off window and a 12pm pick-up time. Puppy guardians are welcome to hang out 11:30am-12pm to observe play, ask training questions, and meet other puppy parents.

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Welcome to the family!

Hooray! We are so glad you are here! We look forward to providing you and your pup with the very best services, from the time they come home through their golden years.

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"Our new Staffy puppy has benefitted immensely from Puppy Play & Learns! When Lucy first started working with Kerry, she was easily over-stimulated, lacked manners with other pups, and had a hard time settling down. She now has much stronger social skills, is able to set and respect boundaries, and can even put herself down for a nap! I'm so grateful to have found a true partner in helping us let Lucy be her best self. We get real-time updates, pictures, and so many resources to help us continue to reinforce the skills Lucy learns. And, of course, Lucy has SO MUCH FUN."

Erin and Lucy

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