FAQ

Puppies aged 0–6 months should join our Virtual Puppy School, dogs aged 6–24 months should join our Virtual Teenage School, and dogs aged 2 years and older should join our Virtual Dog School. If your pup is right on the cusp between the Puppy and Teenage age ranges, join the Virtual Puppy School first — covering those puppy basics will be valuable, and we can shift you into the teenage content when you’re ready.

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The Behaviour Clinic is run by Jazmin Vette Dal Bello, who has worked alongside Mark since childhood — growing up immersed in animal training on film sets, and even training Porter, the world's first driving dog. Jaz trained directly under Mark and has run the Behaviour Clinic for 15 years, working hands-on with dogs facing serious behavioural issues and helping their owners through often stressful, difficult situations. She's passionate about the work — her own rescue dog Charlie was originally scheduled to be euthanised for severe hyperactivity before she rehabilitated him into a much-loved family member.

The Dog Zen Behaviour Clinic is a three-week, in-person programme for dogs with serious behavioural issues that need hands-on, intensive support — including aggression, reactivity, separation anxiety, lead pulling, and severe hyperactivity. It's run by Jazmin Vette Dal Bello, Mark Vette’s daughter who has worked directly under Mark for 15 years, and is based in Auckland and Northland, covering Whangarei, North Auckland, the North Shore, Warkworth, Wellsford, Mangawhai and surrounding areas, with pick-up and drop-off available. Your dog will stay with Jazmin for the duration of the training.

Unlike the Virtual Training Schools, which most dogs and owners can work through independently at home, the Behaviour Clinic is designed for cases that benefit from direct, hands-on treatment. If you're not sure whether your dog needs this level of support, get in touch — we're happy to help you figure out the right path.

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Dog Zen's Virtual Training Schools cost $79NZD per month, with three months recommended for most puppies and dogs to work through the full course and start seeing results settle in. Each of the three schools — Puppy, Teenage, and Dog — covers basic commands alongside a full range of behavioural challenges, such as reactivity, lead pulling, separation distress and aggression, along with direct support from Mark Vette and his training team and access to the members-only Facebook group.

For most dogs, online training can be just as effective as in-person training (at a fraction of the cost) — because lasting behaviour change comes from the way you train and interact with your dog day-to-day at home, not from a single session with a trainer.

With an online course, you also get the benefit of being able to re-visit the techniques again and again, referencing back whenever you need a reminder.

Dog Zen's Virtual Training Schools guide you step-by-step through the process, so you feel confident training your dog. And you are never alone - you’ll get personalised support from Mark Vette and his team whenever you need it along the way. 

In some cases — such as serious aggression or predatory behaviour — dogs do need professional, in-person assessment and treatment. If you're not sure which applies to your dog, get in touch and we're happy to help you decide.

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When you join any of our Virtual Training Schools, you get access to the entire course so you can watch videos on demand at your own pace.

You’ll also be invited to join our members-only Facebook group, where you will get expert responses to your questions from Mark Vette and our training team, and can connect with others taking the same course as you.

You can cancel your membership at any time.

It depends on the age of your dog, and what challenges you’re working on. But with daily training, most people will start seeing positive results within a week and significant results within a month.

As a member of our Virtual Training Schools, you can ask our dog training team an unlimited number of questions. Just post them in our members-only Facebook group, and we’ll get back to you with personalised guidance (from a real dog trainer who knows your history, not a chatbot!).

At any time, you can send us a video of your puppy or dog’s behaviour or your training session for assessment or feedback.

Don’t use Facebook? Don’t worry - our trainers are on email too.

You can log in to any of our Virtual Schools here. If your log in isn’t working, please check you’re using the email address you originally signed up with and the password you chose at the time. If this doesn’t work, try resetting your password and if you still have no luck, email us on support@dogzen.com.

All of our course videos can be found through our learning platform, Thinkific. Log in here. 

To ask our trainers questions and connect with our training community, go to our members-only Facebook pages:
Virtual Puppy School    Virtual Teenage Puppy School     Virtual Dog School

When you join, you get access to the entire course so you can watch videos on demand at your own pace. For most people training puppies or managing mild-to-moderate behaviour issues with older dogs, we recommend staying in the Virtual Training School for three months. You can cancel your subscription any time.

No. All of our training videos are pre-recorded, so you can watch the entire course as soon as you join, and train your dog when it suits you.

Yes. For as long as you’re a member of our Virtual School, you can re-watch any video as many times as you like. Re-watching the videos is important to make sure you really learn the techniques and apply them effectively.

No. The course itself is entirely video-based and hosted on our website — Facebook isn't required to access any of the training content. We do also run a private Facebook group where you can connect with other members and ask our training team questions, but it's optional. If you're not on Facebook, our trainers are just as reachable by email.

Yes, our Virtual Puppy School can replace an in-person puppy school, but there are advantages to doing both.

With our Virtual Puppy School, you get a comprehensive video programme covering everything you need to know about raising and training your puppy. We cover much more than you would ever get in a physical puppy school or even a series of one-on-one sessions with a professional trainer.

With our Virtual School, you can re-watch videos to ensure you have mastered the training techniques, and you have information at your fingertips on how to manage behavioural issues if and when they arise.

The two main benefits of a physical puppy school are the socialisation opportunities and the ability to practise basic commands with distractions, but it's hard for your puppy to achieve much more than that in such a highly stimulating environment. Puppies need a quiet, distraction-free environment to truly learn. Physical puppy schools also must be run by skilled trainers in order to be beneficial for your puppy, otherwise they can have the opposite effect and create traumatic experiences.

If possible, we suggest enrolling in both. Our Virtual Puppy School gives you the skills you need to train a happy, healthy, well-behaved dog for life; a physical puppy school gives you a fantastic opportunity for socialisation and practising a few basics in a distracting environment. However, if you're happy to find your own puppy socialisation opportunities, a physical puppy school isn't essential.

We don’t have contracts. You can cancel your subscription to our Virtual School at any time.

Yes — alongside Mark Vette’s Virtual Training Schools, we offer additional support (including in-person training) for dogs who need it. This includes one-hour Virtual Consultations for troubleshooting or extra guidance on technique, and a full three-week Behaviour Clinic servicing Auckland and Northland, including Whangarei, North Auckland, the North Shore, Warkworth, Wellsford, Mangawhai and surrounding areas, for dogs with more serious behavioural issues to resolve. We also welcome clients from further afield, who are willing to travel for drop offs and handover training sessions. For most dogs, we recommend starting with a Virtual Training School — but if you're not sure what's right for your dog, get in touch and we'll help you figure out the best path.

Yes, we offer a risk-free 14-day trial! We KNOW our courses can help you and your dog create a wonderful life together - so if you have accessed one of our Virtual Schools and can’t see how it will improve your life with your dog within two weeks, we’ll give you a full refund - no questions asked. 

Simply request a refund within 14 days of purchase by emailing support@dogzen.com.

If you want more info, check out our T&Cs here.

If you put in the effort - absolutely! But in case you're worried that we're biased, why don't you check out our Google reviews and see what others have to say?

Check them out here.

Yes — for most dogs and owners, a well-structured online course works because it targets the actual cause of most training problems: a gap in how you and your dog communicate, not a one-off skills gap that a few in-person sessions can fix. Lasting behaviour change happens through your daily interactions at home, which is exactly where an online course teaches and supports you. With Dog Zen's Virtual Training Schools, most owners start seeing positive changes within a week of consistent daily training, with more significant results within a month. You can rewatch any lesson as many times as you need, and get direct support from behaviourist Mark Vette and his training team if you hit a snag along the way.

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Look for a course with qualified trainers, personalised support, an active community, curriculum matched to your dog's age and needs, and a money-back guarantee.

1. The trainer's credentials. Dog training is an unregulated industry in most places, so check for a trainer with a genuine qualification in Animal Behaviour rather than just experience. Dog Zen's Virtual Training Schools were created by Mark Vette, who holds a master's degree in Animal Behaviour and has 40 years of applied clinical animal behaviour consulting through his behaviour clinic.

2. Personalised troubleshooting. No online course can cover every variable in your dog's behaviour or your specific situation — sometimes you just need a professional to assess what's actually going on. Look for a course that offers real, direct support from qualified trainers, not AI chatbots. In Dog Zen's Virtual Training Schools, you get unlimited access to Mark Vette and his training team, including the ability to submit videos of your dog for feedback.

3. Group support. Training alongside a group of people going through the same process — people you can bounce ideas off and get support from — makes a real difference to how well you stick with it. Dog Zen's Virtual Training Schools include access to a members-only Facebook community where you can ask questions and learn from others a few months ahead of you.

4. A course that matches your dog's specific needs. Many courses only cover basic commands, without guidance on issues like biting, barking, separation distress, hyperactivity, aggression or reactivity — and some address only one specific challenge. Dog Zen runs three Virtual Schools by life stage (Puppy: 0–6 months, Teenage: 6–24 months, Dog: 2 years+), each covering basic commands alongside a wide range of behavioural challenges. 

5. A money-back guarantee. Many reputable courses offer some form of refund if you're not satisfied — it's a reasonable marker of a course that stands behind its results. Dog Zen offers a 14-day risk-free trial: if you can't see how the Virtual Schools are improving life with your dog within two weeks, you get a full refund, no questions asked.

Yes - online training can address most common behavioural issues, provided the course actually covers them in depth rather than just basic commands.

Dog Zen's Virtual Training Schools cover biting, barking, destructive behaviour, separation distress, reactivity, lead pulling, poor recall, resource guarding, anxieties and phobias, aggression and general hyperactivity — alongside basic obedience — across each of the three life-stage schools.

For most of these issues, the combination of structured video lessons and direct, personalised feedback from Mark Vette and his training team (including video review of your dog's specific behaviour) is enough to create significant change at home.

More serious cases — such as significant aggression or predatory behaviour — usually benefit from professional assessment, which is why Dog Zen also offers Virtual Consultations and a full Behaviour Clinic for dogs that need it. If you're not sure which applies to your dog, contact us and we can help you decide.

A dog trainer generally teaches obedience and specific skills — commands, tricks, loose-lead walking — often through repetition and conditioning techniques. A dog behaviourist typically holds formal qualifications in animal behaviour science and focuses on understanding and addressing the root cause of a problem, such as anxiety, aggression, or fear, rather than just teaching a new command. In practice, the two roles overlap a lot, and because dog training is an unregulated industry in most places, anyone can call themselves either term regardless of qualifications — so it's worth checking a person's actual credentials rather than their job title. Dog Zen's Virtual Training Schools are led by Mark Vette, a qualified animal behaviourist with a master's degree in Animal Behaviour, which means the courses are based on the science of dog behaviour and built to address underlying behavioural causes, not just teach commands.

Ideally, training starts before your puppy even comes home. Active training should start from around 8 weeks old, with preparation beginning about two weeks earlier. In the early weeks, environmental setup plays a major role in shaping your pup's behaviour and learning, so starting early makes a considerable difference. It's much easier to prevent behavioural challenges than to fix them once they're established: puppies learn at an incredible pace during this period, which means undesirable habits can form just as quickly as good ones if they're not addressed early.

Dog Zen’s Virtual Puppy School includes guidance on how to choose the right puppy for you, prepare for your pup, set up your home in advance and handle the first few days at home.  

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There's no single fixed timeline, since it depends on your puppy's age, temperament, and consistency of training — but as a general guide, most owners see clear behavioural progress within the first month of consistent daily training, with the foundational commands and habits well established by around three months. That three-month mark is why Dog Zen recommends staying in the Virtual Puppy School for at least that long: it gives enough time to work through the full course at a manageable pace, reinforce what you've learned, and proof those behaviours out into real-world situations — so your pup actually listens to you no matter where you are, not just in a quiet, distraction-free room. Training doesn't fully "finish" at three months either — ongoing reinforcement, especially through adolescence, is normal for most dogs.

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There's no single independently verified "best" — but a few things are worth weighing when comparing options in New Zealand: the trainer's actual qualifications and their level of hands-on experience, whether you get direct, personalised support rather than generic content, and whether the course addresses behavioural issues in depth rather than just basic commands.

Dog Zen's Virtual Training Schools are led by Mark Vette, a qualified animal behaviourist with a master's degree in Animal Behaviour and over 40 years of experience — including running his own behaviour clinic and regular media commentary on dog behaviour for outlets like Newstalk ZB, TVNZ and Radio New Zealand. The courses currently hold a 4.9-star rating on Google from over 120 reviews, and include direct personalised support from Mark and his training team.