Puppy enrichment program

 From the time your puppy was 3 days old until the time they go home, they have been going through an enrichment program. The goal of this program is to introduce new experiences to your puppy to hopefully teach them to approach the world with a calm confidence. You can check out the program we use here. We use treats and a clicker with their training. We will give you a clicker in your take home puppy pack. The clicker communicates that the puppy has done what you have asked them and the treat is the reward. Do not overly stress about the training part your puppy’s first week home. Get into a good schedule for potty training, play time and just get to know one another.

Manding

Manding is giving your puppy a voice. It’s their way of politely asking for something. If they want a treat instead of jumping on you to ask, they sit. If they want attention from you instead of jumping to ask for it, they sit. If they want to go outside or want you to throw a ball instead of jumping, they sit. By the time your puppy goes home they will have been taught this. It is your job to reinforce it. If you do not reinforce it in ALL situations you will undo this training. If you have small children at home you will need to teach them how to interact with the puppy to reinforce this. Children can unknowingly undo this training. How do you reinforce it? When your puppy walks up to you do NOT acknowledge them until they sit in front of you. Don’t say anything to them. Do not give them the command to sit. The command “sit” and manding are two different things. “Sit” is YOU asking for something and manding is your PUPPY asking for something. So when your puppy approaches you do not say anything, do not touch them, or try to push their bottom down…you simply stand there until they sit. Once they sit you shower them with praise. Teach your children the same thing. Tell them not to touch, play, or speak to the puppy until they sit. Say this to your children (and yourself) over and over. This has to become a mantra in your home. I do the same with my own children because it is almost instinctive to pick up a puppy that jumps up on you. If you or your kids do that you will be reinforcing the wrong behavior. Children aren’t the only ones that can undo manding. Guests in your home or strangers you meet in public. Simply ask them not to pet your dog until they have sat down.

The flip side of manding is that it is so polite it requires you to be paying attention. If a dog walks up to you and mands but you do not acknowledge them they can resort to jumping to get your attention. Even if you are in the middle of something a quick head pat is sufficient to acknowledge their manding.

Recall

We have been working on “come” since they began eating kibble. Every time we set the food down we say “come!” in a high pitched voice. They are doing well at this. You will need to reinforce this when they get home. Every time you put their food dish down say “come” even if they are right beside you. Then begin doing it while playing with them outside. Have a treat in your hand and yell “come”. Give them lots of praise and a treat. For the safety of your dog you need to have a strong recall. Keep working on this!

Resource Guarding

To help prevent any type of aggression when it comes to food we like to play with their ears, pet their heads, and put our fingers in their food bowl while they are eating. We don’t do this every time but try to a few times a week. (especially if you have small children) Something else to help with this is to let your puppy occasionally eat from your hand. This will also help them have “soft mouths” when receiving a treat from you or your children. If you have ever had a dog almost bite your hand while giving them a treat or food then you know how important “soft mouths” are. Another way to prevent food aggression is to occasionally do exchanges. When your puppy is playing with their favorite toy or bone, take it away but immediately give them a high value treat…an exchange. Again this does not need to be done all the time because then it could have an adverse effect.

Leash Training

We get them started with leash training. Our goal is for them to just get use to it. The puppies are still really young when we introduce the leash so not all of them welcome it. To continue this training at home put the leash on the puppy and begin walking forward. If they move forward you click then treat. If they sit and refuse to move do not drag them! Just wait patiently. The second they stand up to move forward you click, then treat. You can do this inside your home or in your backyard. I do not suggest going on a walk in your neighborhood until they have had all of their shots. You can also use the leash to help with potty training. See below. Puppies only need 5 minutes of walking per month of age twice a day. So a 3 month old puppy would need 15 minutes at a time twice a day. Do not run with them this young or allow them to jump off of the furniture, doing so can hurt their hips and joints.

Socialization

I can not stress enough how important socialization is during their 8-16 weeks of life. Please take 5 minutes to watch this video on socialization. The only thing I disagree with in this video is the vast amount of dogs they suggest you introduce to your dog. During this time your puppy will have not completed its round of shots needed to protect him/her from disease. So although this is very important it needs to be done in a way that is safe. I do not recommend taking your puppy anywhere where there are a lot of dogs before they have had their full set of shots. (dog park, pet store, rest stop) Once your dog has had all of his/her shots and your vet says its ok, you can introduce your puppy to more experiences until then think of things you can do safely. One of the things we like to do is car rides. You can go through the drive-thru and pick up some coffee, car wash, or take the puppy with you to pick up kids from school. Once they have had all of their shots you can take them to stores that are dog friendly like Home Depot, Home Goods…call to make sure your local stores allows dogs. That way your puppy will get to see all kinds of people, smell new smells and hear new sounds. Please consult your vet about socialization and how to do it safely.

Puppy Biting

Puppy biting is normal but should not be tolerated. There are several different ways to approach puppy biting. We prefer a more direct approach. When a puppy begins to play bite with our hands, heels, arms or any other part of our body, we will hold their snout firmly (but not to firm as to hurt them) and will firmly say NO BITE. We then try to give them a toy they can chew on instead. We will be consistently doing this until they go home. You will need to continue to correct this behavior once at home. If you have small children their play time with the puppy will need to be supervised due to puppy biting. Puppies can often times view children as their litter mates and try to play too rough with them. If you sit down to play with the puppy and they are not responding to the correction and continue to bite, your puppy may need to exert energy. Take your puppy on a walk in your backyard. Once they’ve exerted some energy try to sit down and play again.

Puppy Whining

Puppy whining is normal when puppies are first brought home especially since this will be their first time away from the only home they have ever known. To help calm them you can play classical music, use this snuggle puppy, or try calming spray. (never spray directly on the puppy but instead on their bed or a blanket) This should get better as they get a little older and get use to their new environment.

Puppy Chewing

Your puppy's teeth are growing and they are constantly needing to chew on something. Be sure to put away anything they should not be chewing on such as shoes and wires. If you find small teeth throughout your house in the next few months, this is normal. They will lose their puppy teeth.

House Training

Never leave your puppy unattended while house training them. If you can not give your puppy undivided attention then put them in their crate. Every time you take them out of the crate pick them up and carry them straight outside to the grass. It is not uncommon at this age for them to not know how to fully empty their bladder. Even if they urinate once, give them a few minutes to see if they go again. Then bring them back in to play with them. Also before you put them back into the crate take them outside. Take them to the same spot every time. Anytime they go potty give lots of praise! Keeping your puppy on a leash inside the house while potty training helps to keep your puppy close to you at all times. It's also wise to have some sort of schedule to help with house training. Hitting your puppy or yelling at them if they have an accident is counter-productive. At this age it is normal to have accidents because sometimes they don’t even know they need to go. Please be patient during this process. Once you take them out of the crate take them outside, after playing a few minutes take them outside, 15 minutes after eating take them outside, before putting them back in the crate take them outside. If you are playing with them and they suddenly stop…take them outside! They will eventually get it. You need to be consistent with them. Know that potty training can take some puppies months to fully get it. That is normal!

Crate Training

We begin crate training them while they are here. Not every puppy will love the crate by the time they go home. We love using a crate to help with potty training and to keep them safe when we can not give them our undivided attention. It is to be used as a safe place, their den so to speak. It is never to be used as punishment nor should they be kept in crates for extended amounts of time. The crate should be just small enough that the puppy can stand up and walk around. If it is too big they will potty at one end and sleep on the other end. If small enough they shouldn’t potty in the crate. If they do know that they really needed to go. It goes against every instinct they have to go potty in the place that they sleep. Be sure to empty their bladder before putting them into the crate and carry them straight outside when you get them out of the crate. To encourage the love for the crate we guide them in with a treat and we give them a treat once they get out. There is a great video on how to crate train on our resources page. Click here.

Grooming

Goldendoodles require a lot of grooming. Please get your puppy use to grooming by brushing them regularly. You should be able to run a comb through their fur. That is how you know you are doing good with your brushing. Be sure to watch the video on brushing doodles that is linked on our resource page in the paragraph before this one. You should also rub their paws, ears and face so they will get use to people handling them during grooming. Do not take them to the groomer until they have all 4 rounds of shots, then you can get them on a regular grooming schedule.

Expectations

Yes, we have put hours of time into these pups in the hopes of giving them the best opportunity of success in their new homes but please remember that they are still puppies.

They are babies.

They will potty in your home.

They may chew your favorite shoes.

They will forget their manners and jump on you with muddy paws.

They will bark.

They will whine.

They will puppy nip.

They require tons of patience. They require tons of time. They require tons of love and attention. They require training. They require positive exposure to new things. If you put in the time these babies they have the potential to be amazing companions.