What would you do differently?

[Sally Huff]

As we wait to bring home a sister for Gracie, I was thinking back on our training with her.  She has reliable recall now but it took some time to get there, like 2 1/2 years.  I know I will concentrate on that with the puppy.  If you had a second chance what would you do differently?  She is such a wonderful girl, all the training does play off.  Thanks.

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

I don't know that I would do much different from when it was just Meg, but having her made a lot of things easier when we brought Polly home.  We put a coupler on when going for leash training, Polly and Meg hooked together and Polly followed Meg's lead and to this day on separate leashes Polly actually is a tad better with less corrections than Meg...Bonus.  "Go To" commands were easier as well as come commands because she would mimic Meg, so her response was actually there before she actually knew the command on her own.  Double bonus, training Polly reinforced absolutely everything that Meg already knew and makes her response even sharper.  Once you get the potty training, sharp teeth and puppy crazies out of the way you will love having two of them.  Oh, almost forgot my favorite bonus, Polly HATED the crate and cried like she was being murdered.  We used Meg's old crate (too big for a pup) and when I could not take the crying I opened the door and signaled Meg in...not one more whimper.  By the time Polly was getting too big to both be in there I left Meg out but she slept close by and Polly continued to do fine.  That really was my favorite!! 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

What I would do differently with that second puppy is to take the present dog out by itself sometimes and leave the puppy home so that it learns to stay by itself.  We have always made sure that we took a new puppy/dog out by itself to socialize it but we didn't think to leave it at home.  We have dogs who do NOT like being left home alone.

I would make sure to walk the dogs separately and train the puppy by itself. We did do this and I think it is important.

[Bonnie and Kona]

Nancy, You are absolutely right! Owen has a complete fit if he is left without Kona... even when my daughter is right in the room with him. I am so glad you brought this up. It is the biggest thing I would change!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We are getting wiser and wiser, aren't we?  :-}  I didn't get wiser all of my current dogs was 'ruined.'  Clancy was adopted as an adult and had obviously been an only dog. What did we do?  Never left him home alone, that's what we did!  If he was left home it was with Gordie or Ned.  Now that Gordie is gone, if we have to take Ned somewhere, he gets upset.  Of course, we have the same with Ned, but I pretend we used to be stupid, but I guess we continued to be so. . . .

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Perhaps the most challenging issue with my first dog, Simon, was that he ran through open exterior doors without permission. When we got Wally and then later Charlotte, we taught door rules from the get-go. Thankfully, neither of them go through an open door without me letting them know that it's okay to do so. 

[Wendy and Myla]

I posted something similar when we got Myla .  I only have Myla, but about 10 years ago we got our first goldendoodle, Zak.  We hadn't had a dog for quite a few years but I had recently retired and we decided to take the plunge!  She was adorable and easy to train and everything a doodle is :)  Unfortunately, she died at the age of five and because she was the bestest dog ever, we got another goldendoodle, our Myla (MY Little Angel).  We trained her exactly as we had Zak, except we knew from experience what we wanted to do differently.  Zak loved to go to our neighbours field and eat horse poop (which because she had EPI, she was definitely not allowed to eat) so we immediately worked on training Myla to stay on our property.  Zak also had huge snowballs on her fur when outside, so we trained Myla from the beginning to stay on a rug by the door until we told her she could come further (I love this).  Luckily, I had found this website while waiting for my Myla to be born and then the eight weeks until we could get her, so I learned a lot.  On this site, I learned that you should immediately start combing puppies gently so that they get used to it.  I totally ignored this advice, as our Zak absolutely loved being combed.  Myla, absolutely hates it and I really wish that I had combed her from the beginning - I am very lucky that she does not mat, but she does get burs etc. on her and I have a heck of a time combing her out!!!!!  I know that you already have a doodle, but the best advice that I could give any new puppy owner, is to figure out exactly what you want in a dog and what you do, and train accordingly!  We do a lot of travelling and camping, so we trained to make sure that she was comfortable in many different situations.  We live in the country, so horses and cows and chickens are everywhere, so we socialized her to those as soon as we got her.  We do a lot of hiking trails, so we trained her to stay close while walking, we train her to stay on the same side of the road (off leash) that we are so we don't have to worry about her in the middle of the road.  Myla loves the water, but we don't know what the water conditions will be like (roaring rivers etc.) so we have trained her that she cannot go into the water until we tell her.  Our Zak would drink any water source, but because she had EPI, it was not allowed so we were unsure of how to train Myla not to drink from streams, but she is definitely a Diva, and does not drink from them.  Honestly, and I know that it sounds crazy, but Myla has been so easy to train on the important issues for us, that I honestly believe our Zak is talking to her constantly. The most favourite thing that we have trained all of our dogs is that they are not allowed in our living room.  Our house is a very open concept and the only place that Myla is not allowed is our living room.  The only time that DH and I are in there is if we have company and it's the only room in the house that is carpeted.  This way, if we have company we don't have to worry about a tail wagging and knocking over drinks :) or if someone is afraid of an over friendly dog.  The best reason is that while she was a puppy, our grandkids had a safe zone to get away from her puppy teeth and rambunctiousness - and we could change diapers or not worry about her grabbing toys and chewing on them.  She can still lay (and she does) right on the border of the carpet and see exactly what is going on!  So  many things, but after Zak, we realized that the earlier you train your puppy on what you expect for your lifestyle, the less work it is later on.  Right now (and Myla is  3 1/2 years old) we are working on her protecting our campsite.  She feels it's her safe zone and will really bark if someone (like the park operator) comes onto "her" territory.  I am pretty passionate about training a puppy from the beginning on what you expect from that puppy when she turns into an adult - not just the sitting, staying etc. but only you know what lifestyle you will have and you absolutely have to train accordingly!!! 

[Sally Huff]

Thanks everyone for your advise.  I also joined DK before we brought Gracie home and learned so much.  Thankfully, Gracie is a wonderful girl in and out of the house.  I'm hoping to due that again with the new puppy.  We can't wait to be a double doodle home!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I think it's great that you waited to get the puppy until Gracie was trained.  When we got Murphy, I was pretty much through with Guinness's training, and Murph was such a challenge I can't imagine what it would have been like if they were both untrained.  Really think the puppy will learn from Gracie, which is also a big help.  I guess the only thing I might have done differently is give Guinness more of a chance for "alone time" away from the puppy.  I did take him out separately on occasion, but not as often as I probably should have.

[Moe]

I did so much training with my first dog. She went through the AKC Good Citizen training, knows a ton of tricks and is great when people come over. The second dog is a tiny dachshund mix. She was so hard to train I kind of just gave up. She is house trained, knows sit and paw. That is it. 

I found it much harder because when I would try to train her my first dog wanted to join in on the training. I just couldn't manage the two of them. The first dog never had a crate so I had no where to put her while training the little one. And the little one gets terribly car sick so I gave up on training classes. I'm making excuses, I just dropped the ball. I wish I had stuck with it.

My advice is to make time to train the new pup on its own. 

[Oliver & Elizabeth]

I would have taken training greetings more seriously. I love seeing Oliver when I get home from work, and have never done a good job in tempering his excitement. I also wish he didn't bark at our neighbors when they walk past our house, but it sometimes it feels like a dog thing...

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

I only have one doodle, so no experience to offer but congratulations on your new puppy!  I'll bet Gracie will be a big help in training.  

[Sally Huff]

Thanks Cheryl.  I just know Gracie will be a good big sister.  I'm so grateful to have found DK, it has helped me so many times.  There is always great advise and support.