s u n d a n c e l a b r a d o o d l e s
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d o o d l e d o ' s a n d d o n ' t s
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Socialize that puppy!! Watch the most important thing to teach a dog!!!
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One of the most important things you will do to have a well behaved dog!!! All puppies need to be exposed to all kinds of different people, places and situations. This takes time and effort and IT WILL pay off. You will want to read all about socializing your puppy and how to do it! The younger you start socializing your pup the more confident and less afraid they will be. This is the groundwork for a well mannered dog and takes consistency, dedication and time.
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Crate Train!!!!!! This is such a great way to train a dog, I cannot stress it enough. A crate should be a positive place. Like a bedroom for a dog. When puppy first arrives throw a small, tiny treat in crate whenever they go in, reinforcing that this is a positive place. Never use as a place of punishment. If you feel you must ignore your dog because of bad behavior choose alternative place (small bathroom, etc.) Or simply put them in exercise pen and ignore. Please research how to crate train and see if it is for you. Our dogs love their crates. If you simply cannot do it, have a small room or area where you can place your dog if you are running to the market or if you are having company or if you just need a break. The first year you will use this area frequently until your pet is properly trained and can be trusted in the house. Even with our older dogs we always put them in their room (bathroom with crate they can go in and out of) if we are leaving the house and they sleep in their crates every night. Read more about the benefits of crate training here.
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Start grooming touches the day they come home. Touch and pick up their feet, rub and pluck their ears. Brush a little bit a few times a week even if they don't need it. We clip their little nails with finger nail clippers. Just start with one nail a night if they don't like it at first. You will definitely be glad you did this down the road. We like to do it at night in front of the TV when they are all tuckered out!
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Using treats to train is an absolute must. However we want to use high quality treats broken into tiny pieces so you can give lots of treats to reinforce the good behavior. Make sure its something healthy that they also love love love! (Cheerios broken into tiny pieces, real chicken, high quality cat or different puppy kibble are some ideas) Also giving lots of treats often for good behavior helps them connect the command with the behavior. Break bigger treats into the tiniest of pieces! Have them with you when you are with your dog at home and take them with you when you go out with you pup! Treat often for good behavior and for obeying commands. They should work for their treats only recieving for good behavior or following commands. Try not to give treats for just being cute! One thousand little crumb treats very often will do a lot more to train fast than three big bite treats and they love the little crumbs just as much - I promise!
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Do start reading as much material as you can get your hands on as soon as you become interested in adopting a puppy. Dogs and Humans think extremely differently. You can eliminate a lot of problems or bad behaviors from ever starting if you will educate yourself before you get your puppy. We also find that once you get your puppy it helps to reread everything once again. You will find that this information makes more sense now that you are actually dealing with certain scenarios. You will get new ideas and know where your puppy is coming from and know what to do about it. Do diligence owners have the best dogs because they have educated themselves about dog behavior and the best ways to handle. You can do it . Go here for a book list. Order cheaper or used off of amazon or check out what is at the library.
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Feed premium dog food only. This is key to having a healthy dog. Less risk of developing allergies and becoming unhealthy and possibly obese. Please do your research and figure out the best plan for you and your pooch.
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Exercising with your dog the first year should be kept to a minimum and by that we mean not Jogging along with humans on their daily run (18 mos), keeping stair climbing to a very minimum and no jumping off of couches, beds, etc.
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Puppies need puppy exercise. Chasing a ball or running in the back yard or at the park is fine if it is not over done. Puppy play is more or less enough when they are very young. Once they are 12 - 18 months and done growing it is fine to take them on long walks or hikes. They can run with you at 18 months. You will want to wait until they are developed and done growing for more strenuous activities.
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Exercise is very important for dogs! Remember to take you dog daily on (age appropriate lengths) walks or to the park to burn off that energy. This is key for mental and physical health. This is a basic need of all canines. If you are physically unable to walk your dog or play fetch at the park so that they can run, please find someone who will do this with your dog on a daily basis.
Remember the puppy will not be able to go on jogs or long
hikes the first year (until bones are fully developed) If you want
to take your puppy along with you, invest in a puppy stroller.
You can find good deals on Amazon. We love the dutch stroller
for puppies and take our puppies that are not fully immunized with
us using the stroller! We will take them on runs in it and also around town or to lunch. They absolutely love it!
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Training. Start training the day the puppy comes home! You will be amazed how smart they are. Watch you tube training techniques and see what works for you and your puppy. We love Victoria Stilwell's Positive training techniques. Training should always be positive and done for very short periods of time when a pup is young. One or two minutes several times a day is great! A dog does not understand punishment so positive training is the way to go. Enroll in puppy school as soon as you possibly can.
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Treats are huge when teaching correct behaviors , it is great to always have some with you for rewarding good behavior and obeying commands. Remember to break into the tiniest pieces so you can reward a lot for these good behaviors. Whenever I reward I use the same word "yes" in a happy tone so that when I don't have a treat in the future I can always say yes and they know they did the right thing.
Examples, "get in the car" 'yes and treat at same time', "sit" 'yes and treat at same time, "come" 'yes and treat at same time.
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Any kind of attention from a human is attention, even if you are mad at a behavior they are still getting your attention. One method used in positive training is 'game over' no attention or interaction for a couple of minutes. This does not work with every bad behavior but it works great for some. Here are examples:
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Jumping up and nipping - High pitched 'ouch', turn around and fold your arms no contact or interaction for a minute or two (they will most likely keep jumping at your legs), ignore and as soon as they stop go back to play or treat and say 'yes'
growling - 'no' firmly, game over walk away or turn around and ignore. If they are not getting it you can quickly grab muzzle and give slight squeeze for one second and a 'no', this should startle them, not hurt them and you should never allow your kids to do this but you should teach kids how to ignore for a couple of minutes as soon as she does a growl and not play with her or even look at her. Again, never allow the children to hold muzzle and after you do it a few times it should no longer be necessary and you can just skip to the 'No' and ignore.
Educating yourself on how live with dogs is the first key. So the more you read, the more you will know about dogs and behavior problems won't start because you have the know how. For example, never feed a dog until they sit calmly and wait politely and then you can give release word like 'ok' and then they get to eat. They absolutely need to be taught manners and they come as wild little beasts so this takes time, commitment and consistency, but is totally doable! And you can do it!!!!!! To read more about puppy behavior click here.
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Do not make the mistake of missing puppy classes. We cannot stress how important it is to take training classes with your puppy! Include your family. Most trainers welcome kids and want them to get instruction as well! Training is also an excellent way to socialize your puppy to other dogs and will be of tremendous benefit to you, your family and your dog! It is a mistake to skip obedience classes.
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Do not overlook grooming. Doodles ears have to be kept clear of hair so as not to hold moisture that causes ear infections. From the time they are young, if you make a habit of plucking the inside hairs of their ear canal you will most likely never have to deal with infections. We use our fingers and it is so simple we do it daily and our doodles are totally use to it and don't mind one bit. You will also want to get an ear cleaning solution you can clean their ears with every few weeks. Just squirt a little in, rub their ears for a few seconds and let them shake! It's as easy as that.
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Do not expect perfect. In other words, have realistic expectations. I always tell people that puppies are almost as much care as a new human baby. They require a lot in that first year. They also go through a lot of crazy stages the first year. The thing they require most is patience and consistency from their humans. If you are willing to do what it takes the first year of owning this new member of your family you will have a great dog by the time it is one year old. Remember, positive reinforcement gets the best results. To better understand your puppy and all of the behaviors you will see the first year please research puppy stages.
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Do not allow nipping. All puppies will try to nip, they are trying to connect and play with you. Never allow this. When they start this try to interrupt the bad behavior with a sharp 'uh uh' and then walk away, game over, no attention at all (good or bad). Completely ignore them for a little bit. If they keep up the nipping you can grab the scruff of neck very quickly and briefly as their mother would do to correct a behavior. What works for me is to grab their muzzle firmly and briefly and say a stern 'no'.
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Do not allow children to play tug of war with a dog. Children should be taught what is ok and not ok when it comes to having a dog in your home. Please read 'Raising children and puppies together' for some great information. Even if you have had dogs before I guarantee you will learn beneficial information for your family.
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Do not buy food dishes or treats that are made in China. Pet bowls do not have to pass testing. If they do not say' lead free' do not buy them. We use metal bowls, glass, such as pyrex or white ceramic human grade bowls. Fresh water and clean pet bowls everyday. Staying away from plastic as they begin to grow bacteria.
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At 7-9 months of age puppy will begin to get adult coat. At this time you may notice more matting. This transition phase can last a year to a year and a half. What we suggest is to trim your dog down during this time to 1/2 - 3/4 in all over body, keeping head and tail longer. We scissor trim our dogs and love it. But to some it may be an overwhelming task and is best to find a groomer that you like. If you do do it yourself don't worry too much about making mistakes as their coats are very forgiving. We don't have a regular bathing schedule. We just do it when we feel it is necessary using a natural ph balanced for dog shampoo. Sometimes we just rinse their little paws in a hose or bucket . You can go pretty long in between shampoos! More important than shampooing is to detangle any matts when you feel them. We love the Chris Christensen T brush and we also use slicker brushes for combing out mats. I also like the safari dematter and you can find this tool on Amazonl! Remember when taking your dog to the groomer to take a picture of the doodle cut that you like or show them this video produced by the ALAA!
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Never allow children to wake a sleeping dog!!!!!! Never allow child around dog when eating. Never allow a child to take a bone or bully stick or something of high value or great importance to the dog. There are so many things to be aware of that we don't think of when we bring a dog into a family with small children. Please educate yourself about this and then you will be able to teach your children what they should and should not do with pup or dog! Most unfortunates are caused by children that are not supervised but it is the dog that will pay. We would never want anything awful to happen to a child or dog. It is best if parents educate themselves and have some ground rules for themselves and also for the children.
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Certain games encourage biting and should be avoided when working on "No Bite": tug-of-war (my dogs are not allowed to play this with humans until they are well aware of the "pack hierarchy" and will release the toy when told to.); chase and tackle games; and other games where you actively encourage the puppy to bite a person. Dangling treats and encouraging a puppy to jump for then can encourage snapping for food as well as injure growing joints. If you play tug-of-war make certain YOU start the game and YOU stop it. If puppy brings you a toy and encourages you to play, reverse the rules.
If the puppy brings a toy and asks you to play, turn tables and do a bit of training then play. Puppy learns that if he listens and obeys and does something, there will be a reward. This also helps establish humans as higher in the pack order.
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Do not put up with undesirable behaviors as they can get worse. If you are having behavior problems ask yourselves two questions: Have I established a pack order in our family? Am I socializing the puppy as much as I possibly can? Pack order is crucial for a well behaved canine. They absolutely need to know that they are at the bottom and we need to keep that in check over the first couple of years. Be constantly aware and training ourselves mostly, to establish this on an ongoing basis. Also crucial to good behavior is having the dog experience as much as possible. Socialize, socialize ,socialize!!!!!! Expose your dog to many types of people, places, things, and situations as possible. If you can take your dog - take him! If you cannot, find time when you can. This is so crucial in the first few months and really throughout the first year. Go overboard with it and don't forget to not baby the dog if it is upset or shy at a new situation. Be casual and calm, use treats at these times to associate good with different situations. If you can tell that your dog is over threshold or that the experience they are having is causing anxiety immediately take them elsewhere were they are comfortable and happy. Perhaps coming back but this time with baby steps. Please read information on socialization and establishing pack order and how to do it . It will pay off huge!!!!
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Do not let undesirable behaviors continue. Please do some investigating to find an exceptional in home trainer if you are dealing with an undesirable behavior. An in home trainer should come into your home and train you on how to train the dog.
Did you Know?
Did you know that 80% of dogs have periodontal disease by the time they are 3 years old? It pays to take care of your dogs teeth. Remember that human toothepaste is toxic to dogs.
An absolute must read for families with children under the age of nine! Easy Read! Well worth IT!!! You will be glad you did! PREREQUISITE!
An absolute must read for families with children under the age of nine! Easy Read! Well worth IT!!! You will be glad you did! PREREQUISITE!!!
