Interesting comment about doodles by a dog trainer

[Jodi and Stella]

Stella recently started an advanced obedience class with a trainer that is new to us. (I really like him a lot) Scott, our trainer, has had several years experience in the field. He was telling me that he has never seen a breed of dog that has such an extreme range of behaviors than doodles. Meaning that the doodles he has seen without training have been so unruly and out of control and the ones that have had training are some of the best dogs he has encountered. He said doodles will respond to training quicker than many other dogs. I would like to think Stella is in the "good doodle" category!

 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I would say this is true of any breed of dog, but particularly the sporting breeds.

[Becka]

I agree--especially the more intelligent breeds in the sporting and working/herding groups. Dogs that are bred to do a job and then not trained (and mentally challenged/stimulated) can easily become unruly.

[Bonnie and Kona]

I think you got a true evaluation. I "know" a trainer through another organization. When I told her I had a goldendoodle puppy she was rudely saying that they are the most difficult dogs to train. I was offended but had heard on DK of worse situations. It turned out that Owen is a handful but in obedience class he was the star! He passed his CGC at 10 months. He is very trainable but also has no contrition when caught doing something wrong. Out other goldendoodle barely needed training because he just seems to speak English and we could never raise our voice or seem disappointed in his behavior or he would be crushed. They come with all different abilities.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I like that your trainer refers to them as a "breed"! :)

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I agree with this Andrea. Tara was a wild and crazy girl when she was young and couldn't even make it through puppy class!! She is almost 3 years old now and I had someone ask me the other day if I would obedience train their puppy after they saw how well Tara behaves now.  Maybe a combination of aging and training?

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

This makes total sense to me.  Left to their own "devices" many of our Doodles will try to take over, but once trained I think they're pretty amazing.  I also agree that this is also the case with "smart dogs" in general, regardless of breed.

[Bonnie and Kona]

What methods did your trainer use for teaching Baily that you are the alpha.

[Diana Erhart]

My Charlie was a very wild puppy.  Our training class was taught by an older woman who had the best trained poodle I have ever seen in my life.  She was always very nice but serious.  She just loved Charlie and would just break down laughing at his antics. He was the only puppy that could make her laugh.  I on the other hand was horrified when he would just be walking along in line nicely in class then all of a sudden starting spinning in circles and jump up and do a helicopter spin in the air and fall down.  I must say though that he was very intelligent when he wanted to pay attention and the trainer just loved him. He graduated second in his class...got bored in something (can't remember what) and did something silly.   And I must admit that by learning the proper way to walk, turn, sit, stay, down and wait that he was able to transfer these behaviors into other areas too.  He is now five and is one of the best behaved dogs around.  He still has trouble greeting people properly at the door, but that is my fault for not following through on his training.  So, I am positive that you will see many improvements in Hattie's behavior from any training that you do with her.  These doodles are so smart!  But they do get bored easily and then translate that intelligence into doing silly things.  Now that Charlie is older he just does things that make us laugh.  I think he likes that!

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Myla was a star student in puppy class she didn't take her eyes off me and listened to everything-now...not so much!

I miss my good little puppy! Nice trainer!

[Brandi]

My trainer said a similar thing bout doodles...She said that if there is a doodle in her class, she already knows who is gonna graduate top of the list.  She said that they are the brightest dogs she has ever taught, and their attention span is longer than a lot of other dogs.  When I got my first doodle Magnet, my vet said to me "Whoever came up with the idea of breeding those two dogs together was an absolute genius."  lol  He is VERY fond of doodles, and was excited to watch her grow up.  Thankfully, I haven't ran into any "doodle haters" yet.... and Im sure it's bound to happen eventually.  But I do know this,  I will snap if anyone cuts down my babies :)

[Carol Brand]

When you are talking about a purebred dog, you can make certain assumptions about their working style and how they train.  Poodles train differently from Goldens who work differently from Beagles who train differently from Huskies.

 

Doodles are not a breed and so there is a huge variations in type and temperament within the mix.  A Goldendoodle that is a cross between a Standard and a Golden is going to be totally different from an ALD that is mostly Cocker Spaniel and Poodle or a Mini Labradoodle that is a mix of Labrador and Mini Poodle.    Does a Doodle train like a Poodle?  A Spaniel?  A Golden?  A Lab?  Or, does it train like something totally different?  

 

I think this accounts for a lot of the variation.  

 

 

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Yes, Sandy, I agree that they are stockier....calmer?  The jury is still out on that for Bella, but she is still a puppy.