Things you need to know before bringing puppy home
IMPORTANT NOTE – Sun Valley Labradoodles will specify a home date for each litter well in advance so families have plenty of time to make arrangements for this specified home date- there can be no exceptions to this home date – we have a very busy schedule and it is difficult to make different arrangements for each family. We often try to schedule a few days off after a litter goes home to spend quality family time or preparing for an immediate arrival of a new litter. Thank you for understanding and making sure you are available to welcome your new family member on your scheduled home date!
To do list:
· Acquire a collar and leash (four foot leash, 8-14 size collar with snap closure works best- size small)
· Acquire a crate ( unless we are flying puppy home to you) and bed and decide where the puppy will sleep, best crates are the plastic ones size 26.5 x18x19 to start with- this gives them a nice den like secure feel opposed to the wire crates.
· Acquire food and water dishes (stainless steel is best)
· Acquire some basic grooming tools- brush, comb, nail clippers, slicker brush and steel comb
· Decide where your puppy will be potty trained outside
· Find a vet
· Find a good puppy training class or a trainer
· IMPORTANT LETTER, Please read: Letter to families when bringing puppy home
· Pet insurance, if desired. SVL recommends Trupanion Insurance.
What is the best way to toilet train my puppy?
- Crate training is a very successful way to train your puppy (more tips on crate training below). Puppies do not like to mess in their beds. First thing in the morning take your puppy out of the crate- put him/her on a leash and take directly to the spot you have chosen for your puppy to go potty. While they are very young continue to take your puppy outside to the same spot every hour or so while he/she is out of the crate. Soon you will increase these times to longer periods. After each meal wait about 15 minutes and take puppy out to the same spot. If they do not eliminate leave the potty spot to play etc and go back 10 minutes later to try again. It will not take long for puppy to go to that same spot each time she/he needs to go potty.
- A good way to also train your puppy to let you know when he/she needs to potty is to place a bell on your door and each time you take him/her to potty ring it – eventually they will catch on and begin to ring it when they need to go out.
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.
It is very important to find a good groomer that either has experience with grooming the Australian labradoodles or are willing to listen as to how to groom the Australian labradoodles.
– If allergies in the family do not over bath your dog – this creates a drying of skin with non shedding dogs and can create more dander.
– In addition to brushing weekly from skin out , keeping eyes clean and cleaning the ears weekly your dog may need to go to a groomer and be trimmed a couple or few times a year.
– Make sure to have the groomer only scissor cut the face area – it should evenly be trimmed through the face, ears length should be cut short and layered so they don’t have the long droopy poodle look, the surfer do at the top of head should be longer (pull it down to eye level and trim there so that when you let go it springs back up) they face should still appear shaggy looking and never be cut down short or you will lose the Australian look
– The snout and beard evenly trimmed with the rest of face – never ever allow them to shave the face, snout or around the eyes
– The body can be trimmed shorter or left longer- never shorter though then a five blade- even if the body is trimmed shorter the head should be left shaggy and blended with scissors into the back of the neck
– To help eliminate knots in the movement areas such as arm and leg pits or privates you can have them trim in those spots a bit shorter.
IF your dog is a guardian dog please do not cut short at all until I have good quality pictures for my site.
Helpful Suggestions Training Your Australian Labradoodle Puppy
Training is fun and very rewarding for both you and your puppy. Puppies have an amazing capacity to learn complex demands quickly.
- 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.
- Any unwanted behavior is the responiblilty of the puppy owner to not allow and correct. You must establish yourself as pack leader in a calm /firm way. If your puppy is nipping or pulling on your pant leg they are trying to get your attention. Firmly say STOP – freeze no motion and once you have your pups attention redirect with an appropriate toy he/she can play with. Its very important that new puppy owners educate themselves on how to train and work with their puppy.
- No treats for the first month of being home. Use little pieces of kibble as reward but do not over use as too many treats can make potty training more difficult, alternate between treat (piece of kibble ) and praise.
Educating yourself in proper training methods that are easy and work well will make a world of difference. If you understand why your puppy is doing certain things then you will know what to do to correct him/her. This will leave you less frustrated and with a happier household and puppy. Putting the time into training your puppy to have manners will give you a well trained dog for his/her life. A good book will help guide you with easy training idea’s that really work well: Cesar Millan is very good.
Feeding your puppy
By the time you take your puppy home he/she will be eating dry kibble three times a day. We feed our puppies NOW for puppies (small breed). The amount that you feed your puppy at each feeding can be determined by your puppies weight. Please read the instructions on the bag for daily amount based on your puppies weight. Divide that amount by three and that will be your puppies portion at each meal. As your puppy grows you can increase the amount based on weight and divide his/her portions into two feeding. Typically when your puppy comes home to you they will be on an 8am, 12pm and 5pm feeding schedule so that puppy has plenty of time to eliminate before bed. We choose to feed small breed kibble size until the puppy is about 12 weeks and then you can switch to regular breed size kibble.
Crate Training tips for success:
For night time sleep place your puppies crate in a quiet location on his/her own. Place a sheet partially over the crate to create a more den like feel. Last feeding will be at five pm and water away one hour before bed. The first few nights may be tough but persevere as consistancy is key. Potty before bed, put your puppy in the crate around midnight and if moving around by five ish then take out to potty and then directly back into the crate until you are ready to get up. After a couple nights extend puppies time in the crate and either put to bed an hour earlier or take out an hour later. After a couple more nights extend by another hour in either direction. Continue to do this and extend an hour every few days and within two weeks your puppy will be fully sleeping through the night with no need to potty.