When should puppies start training?

Dear TAW, My puppy needs you! I have a 10 week old poodle mix that we got from a local rescue group. He is a doll, but we have issues with lots of puppy biting and potty training! He does not have all of his vaccines yet... do we wait on classes? Our vet says he can't be around other dogs yet...what to do? HELP!
Sue and Barkley in Bellingham

Dear Sue,
Thanks for the great question. We get this one a lot. Puppies can start learning basic cues as early as 4 weeks of age. But for group classes, with other puppies, we can start as early as 9 weeks of age. Your pups needs to of started their vaccine series of DHPP and Bordetella in order to start class. He won't be done with his vaccines yet, and that's OK. He will get a series of vaccines every 3 to 4 weeks until your pup is 14 to 16 weeks of age. Your veterinarian is absolutely right that your puppy cannot be exposed to dogs in which you don't know their health history. So you can't go on walks in the neighborhood, you can't go to the park and even when going to the vet hospital- be sure to carry him in and don't put him on the floor.(remember...sick dogs go to the vet!) The only real exception to this is Puppy Kindergarten Class where all the other pups are healthy and as up to date on vaccines as they can be. Your puppy is going through a developmental stage right now and there are things that he can learn now that he is not capable of learning later, so the longer you wait to start puppy classes the more you risk he is falling behind in his development. Our classes are for pups between the ages of 9 weeks to 18 weeks- older puppies cannot attend. Its crucial that puppy learns how to play properly and have good bite inhibition by 18 weeks of age, or you will be playing catch up forever. Some vets want to wait to do certain vaccines until the pup is older. This is something you need to discuss with your veterinarian. We feel that the risk of a dog not developing proper behaviors out ways the risk of disease since kindergarten is a controlled setting- but you need to have that conversation with your veterinarian.
Its also crucial that your pup be in a class with only other puppies (sorry dogs, we have other classes for you) and that there is off leash play time in each class. This is a controlled play time, not a free for all! Pups need to learn how to play with different sizes of puppies and follow other puppy cues.
For more information on this, go to our web site and download BEFORE YOU GET YOUR PUPPY book, for free.
Hope to see you soon at Kindergarten!