Pets and animals

 by: Edie MacKenzie

You’re responsible for making the commitment to train your Labradoodle to behave properly at home, when guests are visiting, and away from home. Unless taught, a puppy doesn’t know right from wrong. This can only be accomplished with dedication and repetition, repetition, and more repetition! Dogs don’t fail . . . owners fail their dogs.

First, treat your Labradoodle puppy from the day you bring him home as if he’s already full-grown. What do I mean by this? Your cute little 15-20 pound Labradoodle puppy is going to grow up (fast!) into a large dog. Don’t allow or sanction any behavior in your puppy you would not allow a full-grown dog to do. For example, it’s so cute when your new puppy jumps up on you to get attention! It’s obnoxious, not to mention dangerous, when six months later your now large eight-month-old Labradoodle puppy has just knocked someone to the floor!

Labradoodle and Goldendoodle breeder Michael Waggenbach of Sunshine Acres says it best, “Training is vital because, if Labradoodles aren’t challenged, that boredom makes them trouble. So, I usually tell people if you’re going to have a great dog, you have to keep them challenged. I tell people, a well trained dog makes for a happy family.”

He adds, “When you take a Labradoodle puppy home, many times people have this glorious idea they will take this puppy home and it’s going to be perfectly trained. It’s not! They need to do training! And there are people who give up after three days of not sleeping. They think they have the worst dog in the world! So, I think it would be good to set these expectations straight. When you take a Labradoodle puppy home, it’s not going to be everything you want it to be.”

So, housetraining with a crate should be one of your first priorities of training. A crate is useful, but stock up on carpet cleaner, deodorizer, and some puppy training pads as accidents are inevitable.

You will also train on basic good manners. There are many puppy-training classes available in a variety of levels. Check the yellow pages or ask someone at your local pet store, because it’s best to get a referral or recommendation.

There will be times in your Labradoodles life when it’s critical to their safety they obey your commands. Make sure they’re trained that obeying you is not optional!