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?

[Abigail *George & Juno*]

You are getting great advice about puppy class, which I also recommend...but I want to explain that with a puppy that young. Unless something changes in the training/playing department. It will get worse before it gets better (think teenagers!) our 10 month old is so much more likely to blow us off than our 4 month old doodle. The older doodle knows what we want, but she also realizes she has a choice. She's a VERY obedient dog, takes her CGC test in just a few weeks! She's just a teenager! Our younger is very hyper and has a short attention span, but she's very happy to show off what she knows and to learn more! Start with puppy class, we were doing very well, our puppy knew sit, lay down, and was potty trained but puppy class REALLY helped. We weren't clicking at the precise time needed, or giving near enough treats for the reinforcement we were looking for. They taught US how to teach her.