Thanks guys for your responses so far. I didn't know what NILIF stood for originally either although I have practiced this and continue to practice it on dogs that I care for.
There isn't really an alternative at the moment to conducting our puppy classes in store. A lot of people here have the expectation that if they buy a dog from the shop (yes, I do still have problems with buying pets from stores, but I can only reassure you that a vet does check the puppies and the parents, she buys from ethical breeders and she does full health checks on both the pups and parents - it is her store and I don't think it would go down too well if I began complaining about it), that the shop will guarantee the health of the dog and be there to support the new owner throughout the different life stages. This includes socialisation and basic training.
From a shop/business POV it's about supporting the customer and instilling the confidence in them to train their dog, and hopefully they will come back with repeat business at a later time. If the training is good, they are likely to tell their friends and family about it and of course that creates a positive flow-on effect. If the training is bad, obviously the opposite happens. I want to ensure that the training is good
There is a dog school in Wellington that offers training to puppies over 3 months of age, I don't know how many people take it up, or if they do, how closely they follow the instructions when they are at home. Surprisingly, in all the time that I have worked with pets I have not heard good nor bad things about the dog training school here (and unfortunately, not owning a dog myself, I haven't had the opportunity to check them out personally either).
I'll see if I can get a hold of those books mentioned, no doubt they would be useful.
Thanks for your help so far - if you have any other pearls of wisdom, please keep them coming!
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