#2Doods A to Z: TRAINING

TRAINING

Training should be done with any dog, but Goldendoodles, due to their intelligence, definitely need it. Okay, maybe also due to their goofiness, too...LOL! We started early with Cooper, starting with the basics like SIT and STAY/WAIT. (Yes, you should stick to a single word and we broke that rule with the Stay/Wait, but for us, it still works.)

We also used bells for housebreaking. When we brought Cooper home, we didn't have a fenced yard so we took him out on the leash. But every time we went out, we ran the bell and within two weeks, he was using it to tell us he wanted out.

CAUTION: Doodles are smart, they realize they get your attention with the bell and it's up to you to figure out what they are trying to tell you. Ours will ring the bell when their water bowl is empty. But once there were two of them, one would ring it to get the other to the door, then they would circle around and get the toy that was no longer in play.

We took Cooper to formal puppy training for six weeks. We learned a lot of tips but only made a little progress with Cooper. Why? He wanted to socialize with the other dogs. LOL! School failure... But we took what we learned and used it with Murphy as well.

They sit and wait for their release word before starting to eat. They stay at the open door, waiting for the OK command (the trainer recommended FREE but we were already used to using OK so stuck with that). They wait in their kennel, door open, until released. We use the command LOOK to get them to look at our faces. We also use some simple hand commands in addition to the vocal. Cooper is good at DOWN, they are both good with LEAVE IT and NOT YOURS. Cooper does a HIGH FIVE and Murphy does SHAKE.

We have been remiss in leash training and as soon as good weather sticks around for more than a couple of hours, we will resume. Because the have bonded so closely, we need to do this separately. We also have Petsafe gentle leaders for both which stops their tendency to pull. Neither is a huge fan right now, but we know with constant use (when walking only), they will get used to it. This is a must for campground time.

Doodle on!

           

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