Help! Need experience/advice!! Obedience training

[Mary Minier]

We have a question about Goldendoodles' temperament and trainability, as well as the HOW of teaching her, guiding her to be more responsive to us and obedient.  Our Sunny is just 15 weeks old, so we understand she is a puppy with puppy energy and a short attention span.  However, she seems to "ignore" us, and has little interest in obeying when we just try to get her attention, come when called, or try to get her to stop doing something inappropriate.  Do doodle puppies (puppies in general...) "grow out of this", and reach a stage where they become eager to please, and eager to do things we command, listen better, etc? I wonder about maybe getting some professional help in training her, but want to try this on my own first. Any obedience training books you guys recommend?  My husband is also just interested in other people's experiences - is there an age that they become more able to guide/train in being obedient?

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

You cant teach a 3 month old human baby to walk.  It just cant happen. So goes for a 15 week old puppy.  A baby really.

Right now, I would use a squeaky toy to get attention.   A toy because this is really a tiny baby.  While you are squeaking the toy say, " Come"   Do the same with a treat.  Hold a treat and say, Come. 

It is great that you want to train already!  Start early, expect exactly would you should expect from an infant.  Nothing. 

You know how human mothers read to their unborn children or infant babies?  This is similar.  Just because the mother is reading to these tiny babies, doesn't mean they will read at three months.  But, this doesn't mean the mothers should not read to their child.  

So, start early, and expect not so much from your little guy   :)   He is learning and the correct responses will come with maturity and age 

I recommend a real trainer. Sure, watch Positive reinforcement videos too  (Ask  DK member, Jane,Guinness, and Murphy, for the link to the videos she recommends as I cant remember the link right now)  but a real trainer can  really fine tune what you are teaching and doing. 

For this age, I recommend puppy classes.  

[Stella]

Find a good puppy class - sooner rather than later. This will give you the opportunity to learn from a good trainer, have weekly homework to perform so you stay on track, a place (as well as here!) where you can ask questions and see what 'normal' puppy behaviour is, and also a place for her to socialize - very important at her age.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

If you would like some fairly inexpensive on line training, try theonlinedogtrainer.com    more commonly known as Doggie Dan.  He did a preview here on DK for us and many of us subscribed to his website.  You can actually do a 3 day preview of the site for i believe $1.  He talks about the 5 rules to becoming the pack leader which is the most important thing that you can do for yourself.  He has has a complete training program on there with videos for puppies, from start to finish.  All the problems that you are having are addressed by him in instructional videos.  The thing I like about his videos is that he tells you what he is going to do and then he puts it in action and you can watch how he does it.  If you join which is only like $37 a month or something (and you can cancel at anytime) you can read and watch all you want and then when you are confident you can get the results you want you don't have to remain.   I would highly recommend this program to you as you learn how to help your new doodle.   I also recommend puppy playgroups in a controlled safe environment.  My rule of thumb for people who ask the question you have asked about do they eventually calm down and "get it" or grow out of it or "are Doodles well behaved dogs" is that you are going to get out of it what you put into it.  Sort of like children, hands on, tuned in parents normally equals well behaved polite children.  If you haven't already join the puppy madness group here as well.  Lots of people there with your same issues.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I agree.....I think this is a great program for the money and will get you off to a great start with your puppy.  Right now he's a bit young for formal obedience training, but he can begin to learn some basics. 

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

I highly recomend a puppy class for both YOU and your puppy. Local dog clubs, Petco and Petsmart all offer beginners puppy classes, that are fairly inexpensive , but well worth your time and money. This will give you both a basis for continual training. Books are great, but there's nothing like a hands on expierence for a novice.

[Bonnie and Kona]

You are getting great advice about training from the responses here. I just want to add that your issue is not that you have a Goldendoodle puppy. We have two Goldendoodles that are half brothers and they could not be more different in temperament! Kona is the most easy-going, eager to please dog we have ever owned. His little half brother, Owen was similar to your Sunny. He didn't want to pay attention to us or please us in any way. He tended to get hyper-focused on anything but us! BJ and Gavin posted training ideas in the training group about tethering the dog to you. This was helpful. We also got private training sessions that helped us figure out how to have a more structured approach for Owen. He does very well now with paying attention and seeking to please us. He turned four this September. It takes a lot of work but it is so worth the consistency and effort. 

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

Very Good Advice already posted!  Get thee to a puppy class!  Good luck, keep reading and asking questions, join the Puppy Madness group and Have Fun! 

[Wendy and Myla]

Lots of good advice here!  We live out in the country, quite a drive from classes, trainers etc so we wanted to do all of the training ourselves.  We have had four different dogs and knew exactly what we wanted from Myla which is important I believe.  We worked on very few commands early on - come, sit and stay.  We had high value treats and just worked those commands.  The rest we figured would come later.  It was fun - DH would have Myla and I would run away and then yell "come!" .  He would let her go and she would run full board to me and I would give her a treat with lots of hugs. Her "sit" command was for everything - she still has to "sit" for her meals, for treats and for hugs.  That was easy.  The "stay" command was tougher but we just did spurts daily.  We had "training sessions" daily as soon as we got her (9 weeks) but as she got older, the training sessions got longer.  Myla is trained for our lifestyle - she doesn't have all of the basics but she doesn't chase squirrels, she drops whatever is in her mouth if we say "drop it", she walks off leash often but never crosses the road, she always stays on the same side we are on etc etc.  I think you should figure out what is very important for your lifestyle and train accordingly (if you don't have the time or resources to have a professional trainer).  Train with high value treats at first and after a while, hugs and affection will replace the treats.  If Myla drops whatever is in her mouth, I just give her a huge hug and rubdown now.  The treats are for new training habits that we try.  Right now, we are working on "not barking at other campers in the campground" so that is where the treats are coming in :) and she is 2 1/2 years old right now.  We are continuously training her and she is such a willing participant :)   Good luck!!!

 

[Jennifer Tramell]

I have noticed a huge difference in my dogs and I believe it has to do with how they were socialized as young puppies.  My dogs who had lots of human interaction have a natural interest and attention toward people.  The ones who were not especially socialized have less interest in what people are doing.

First, I'd find what Sunny REALLY likes - does she love to play, does she love food, does she love being pet, does she love being praised (sounds like praise isn't her thing).  Next, I would start with something really small like her name.  Call her name and reward her for looking at you.  At first, it might just be one eye looking at you - reward!  Throw the toy, give the treat, scratch the ears, whatever she loves.  Work up to her turning her head, then looking at you across the room, etc.  She needs to learn to listen for your voice.  Now, be careful that while you are training her to look at you when you speak her name you don't use her name in scolding.  Think of the confusion: one minute I get a reward, the next minute a scolding! 

The name exercise is just a way to get her to "tune in" to you.  It also helps get her attention for the next steps in training.  Now, I have one dog (Webster) who I could not figure out what his "high value" reward was - it was trial and error.  Sometimes I felt like all my attempts at training was in vain, but then things "clicked".  Another dog, Charlotte, is a goody-two-shoes and tries to out-do all the other dogs.  Our third, Tessa, wasn't socialized as well so we focused more on building a relationship and getting her to pay attention and trained a little along the way.

If you "do life" with Sunny, and build a relationship with her, I think you'll find she grows out of it.  Of course, in order for something to grow, a lot of work has to be done: tilling, planting, weeding, watering, fertilizing........it's the same with doodles ;-)

[Sabrina Rogers]

We are having a similar situation. We just got a mini goldendoodle three weeks ago. In the beginning, we thought she's shy because she's new to the environment, so she didn't response to us. However, until now, she only response to us when she wants to. We try treats, kissing noise, call her name, rope toys, squeeky toys. She doesn't even like to play with us. She only wants (when she wants to) to play with our giant labradoodle (basically bite our labradoodle). I am taking her to puppy class. Maybe it's too early to tell how she will be later.

I am desperately hoping someone who had this experience before will tell us training did work and will turn her around to be a friendly dog that loves people.

We have a labradoole and she is such a love. Gentle with kids and loves people. That is why we choose to get another doole, but this time doesn't turn out to be as easy as last time.

Any comments is greatly appreciated.

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

you might want to post this separately with it's own title to get more feedback.  you also might want to post it in the training group.  I have no advice, but can comment that I have read about puppies bonding more with other dogs.  I am sure someone on here will have useful comments on how to approach this in your dog.  

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

Lots of good advice.  Yes training is a definite must, along with socializing your puppy.  Mine was such a handful for the first 3 months...we inherited her from our grown kids...they had her for 21 days...if that tells you anything!  Having a puppy was a new experience for me at the ripe old age of  61.  Yes, I often scratched my head and ask "what the heck was I thinking"...but, tons of training, classes, socializing, reading books, reading blogs, joining DK, talking to people...4 1/2 years later I have the sweetest,  most loving, smartest , cutest dog I have ever had the honor of becoming a mumma to.  Did it take me 4 1/2 years to get to this point, HA! no...but the first year seemed to take "furever"...but I was tenacious ... you see, I had fallen in love with her and couldn't give up.  All the best and happy puppy training!