With our first dog we did the cheapo dog training class at petsmart because we didn’t know any better. With his successor we did a more expensive class with a real professional and the difference is night and day. Spring for the good class. Money well spent.

Whatever routine you set now will be the routine throughout the dog's life. It is very difficult to change once the dog is used to it. For example, we always walked our puppy first thing in the morning and then fed breakfast as soon as we got home. Now dog wakes us up every morning because he wants his walk just so he can get food. Any future dog will get walks at random times that are not associated with meal times.

Reading this thread made me go get mine and hug her close because she was easy from day 1.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Puppies are babies and you have to get up to let them potty at night.

We got ours at 12 weeks and she slept all night. We cut off water one hour before bedtime and took her out a few times before bed.

I did the same. When I took her out the first few nights, she didn't go. She also didn't go in her crate. So I just let her sleep and made sure to get her out first thing in the morning.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s going to be chaotic and that phase will end in time. Promise.

True, but it is extremely important during the early months to socialize, train, bite inhibition, and expose puppy to so many things like trimming nails, cleaning eyes and ears, brushing, big hats, umbrellas, bikes, loud construction noise, etc. etc. If you just wait for them to grow up, there will be more behavior issues, especially in a doodle.

Sure.

Didn’t imply it would magically happen. Thanks for over explaining.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The puppy phase is 10x worse than having a newborn baby. It’s exhausting. I realized I don’t love being a pet owner. We have a very sweet dog who gets treated very well…and yet…I always wish we didn’t have to deal with various things like dog dander and fur and slobber and the sounds they make.

You must have had an easy baby because I 100 percent believe the opposite.

Omg same. I personally had preemie twins so the newborn phase was particularly challenging, but the puppy was a breeze by comparison.

Anonymous wrote:It’s going to be chaotic and that phase will end in time. Promise.

True, but it is extremely important during the early months to socialize, train, bite inhibition, and expose puppy to so many things like trimming nails, cleaning eyes and ears, brushing, big hats, umbrellas, bikes, loud construction noise, etc. etc. If you just wait for them to grow up, there will be more behavior issues, especially in a doodle.

We got a goldendoodle puppy this spring, it had been over 10 years since our last puppy. Our other dogs are older and we are seasoned pet owners. I forgot how expensive puppies are, how much time they require, how nippy they could get and the grooming! I have had high maintenance dogs before but this doodle needs to brushed every day or every other day or else she gets matted.
Once you get house training under way- things get better. Get pet insurance!!

Anonymous wrote:The puppy phase is 10x worse than having a newborn baby. It’s exhausting. I realized I don’t love being a pet owner. We have a very sweet dog who gets treated very well…and yet…I always wish we didn’t have to deal with various things like dog dander and fur and slobber and the sounds they make.

You must have had an easy baby because I 100 percent believe the opposite.

It’s going to be chaotic and that phase will end in time. Promise.

The dirt. The scratched floors. Ruined carpets. It's hard to have a nice grown up house when you have a big energetic dog.

Too much work!

It's like another kid at first.

I really wish I had known how important the early window of socialization is. I got my pup in early covid and was also overly scared of parvo. I took him out and stuff but he was definitely not exposed to as many places and people as he would otherwise. He’s definitely scared of a lot of stuff and has no trauma history. It may just be his temperament but it’s not ideal. Also, comb/brush the puppy from day 1. Lots of doodle owners don’t at first, and end up with a matted pup who gets a close crop.

- Get Ian Dunbar's book now "Before and After getting Your Puppy" or download his free pdfs of his books:

https://www.amazon.com/Before-After-Getting-Your-Puppy/dp/1577314557/ref=sr_1_1?crid=NKVU72X9EAIO&keywords=ian+dunbar+before+and+after+getting+your+puppy&qid=1694984868&sprefix=ian+dunbar%2Caps%2C177&sr=8-1

https://www.dunbaracademy.com/pages/2-free-puppy-training-books-download-links

- Find a dog trainer with The CCPDT credentials. Start training right away, we always started before 3 months old. Our trainer welcomed the whole family including young children so everyone understands, really you're also training yourselves. Class training is a great way to start socializing puppies with other dogs and people. Ian Dunbar says puppies should meet 100 different people and pets in the first months.

- Puppy time is the best time to introduce all sorts of unusual noises and situations so they don't develop anxiety about new things.

- Make frozen kongs with kibble and nofat plain yogurt, peanut butter etc. to keep puppy busy, not getting into things.

- Crate train at night and for potty training. Big dog breeds can hold their bladder overnight pretty quickly. Use an xpen or baby gates to keep track of puppy.