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Tips for Puppy
Care
To do list:
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Acquire a collar
and leash
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Acquire a crate
( unless we are flying puppy home to you) and bed and decide
where the puppy will sleep.
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Acquire food and
water dishes (stainless steel is best)
-
Acquire some
basic grooming tools- brush, comb and nail clippers
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Decide where
your puppy will be potty trained outside
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Find a vet
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Find a good
puppy training class or a trainer
What is the best
way to toilet train my puppy?
Grooming
Bathing: Australian
Labradoodles do not require frequent bathing. If they get muddy they
should be allowed to dry and then brushed to remove debris in their
coats.
Brushing: The amount
of brushing is dependant upon life style. If your labradoodle is
mostly indoors you may only need to brush every couple of weeks. If
your labradoodle spends a lot of time outdoors you may need to brush
out weekly.
Brush to the skin,
working from under the coat. Work from the feet up to the body and
the tail to the head. Brush in the direction of the hair, but add
small amounts of coat to each stroke. At approximately eight months
old a puppy coat needs very regular brushing to strip out the puppy
coat so it doesn’t tangle and get matted in the adult coat.
Eyes: Bath the eyes
with clear water when needed to clean and clip away bothersome hair.
Ears: Clean ears
regularly with an ear cleaner. Fill ear and gently massage to bring
dirt to the surface. Use a cotton ball to wipe out cleaner and dirt.
Clip hair from base of the ear.
Nails: Trim every
six weeks
Sanitary areas: The
hair under the tail and the belly should be shaved to prevent mattes
and keep clean.
A helpful guide for
grooming:
Groomer Instructions (IDOG.biz)
Helpful
Suggestions Training Your Puppy
Training is fun and
very rewarding for both you and your puppy. Puppies have an amazing
capacity to learn complex demands quickly.
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Start Training
as soon as you obtain your puppy. Puppies learn rapidly but
their attention span may be short, so spend 10-15 minutes twice
daily.
-
Training should
be conducted when the puppy is not excited and when the home
environment is quiet. Once the puppy has learned a response in
one environment, move the training location to progressively
more complex and more stimulating environments. That is, the
puppy will have to be trained in each environment that you wish
it to respond in.
-
Learning occurs
more rapidly if one person trains the puppy first and then the
other family members get involved. Train the puppy using
one-word commands like "come", "sit", "down" and heel". Try not
to use the puppy's name in association with the command, as too
much verbiage is confusing and slows the learning process.
-
Reward
appropriate behaviour as soon as possible after giving the
command (best within 1/2 second). Give valued rewards such as
food touch and praise every time the puppy responds to a
command. You will quickly learn which reward is more valued by
your puppy. Once the response is learned, give the rewards
intermittently. This will result in rapid learning and make the
response more permanent.
-
If the puppy
fails at any level of training, stop, don't reward and the
training again at a simpler level. How consistently a puppy
responds to a command is a function of the degree of training.
If a puppy responds only when it feels like it or when the
environment is quiet, start again and train more intensely.
-
Be patient,
never punish. The opposite to a reward is no reward, not
punishment. A punishment which causes pain or excitement does
not work and generally causes problems. Punishment may also
interfere with the owner/animal bond. If the puppy is doing
something that is inappropriate, distract it or use the a reward
for responding to a command which is incompatible with the
unwanted behaviour.
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