Training Classes

Training

Training your puppy should be one of your main priorities, as this will help you build a special bond and give you the confidence that your puppy will be receptive to crucial commands. Poodle crosses are highly intelligent, making them ideal for training from an early age. Each puppy has a unique personality and some will be more receptive to visual commands, whereas others favour verbal commands; you will soon find out what works best for your puppy.

You may find that your puppy is less responsive to training or commands in public places, since they can find the environment over-stimulating. The key to successful training is plenty of patience, persistence and consistency. 

Socialisation 

Once you take your puppy home, give them a few days to settle into their new environment. It is important they get used to their new surroundings and feel safe and secure in their new home. Focus on toilet training and taking them outside every half an hour or so. Give them lots of praise when they do relieve themselves outside – positive reinforcement leads to desired results. Please do not get disheartened if your puppy doesn’t pick up on training straight away; this will take some time and patience but will be worth it in the end!

When your puppy has become accustomed to their surroundings, you can gradually start introducing them to new people / environments. Take them out in the car as often as you can and get them used to people coming into the house. If they are too young to go out for walks, familiarise them with a collar and lead in the garden and make a habit of carrying your puppy outdoors to give them maximum exposure to new sights, scents and sounds. Then when your puppy can go on its first walk, they will be confident walking by your side and won’t treat their lead as a new toy! 

Regularly handle your puppy so they get used to being touched, you can do this when they are sitting on you calmly or whilst they are sleeping. It is important to get them used to being touched in areas such as their paws, nails, ears and tail. Check their teeth by gently opening their jaw; this will all help prepare your puppy for trips to the vet for their routine check-ups.

Crate Training

We strongly advise that when you get a new puppy, you house train them through crate training. Dogs do not like to go to the toilet in their own bed and will therefore try to move as far away as possible to do so.

By using a crate, this teaches them to wait to go to the toilet until they are let outside of their crate. Once letting your puppy out of their crate, you should place them outside in your garden or an area in which you would like them to go to the toilet in. After a success, you should say a command which will then be repeated when necessary, so your puppy will recognise that this means go to the toilet. Make sure to provide them with ample positive reinforcement “good boy/girl!” and make a fuss of them to emphasise that you are extremely pleased with what they just did. This will encourage them to repeat the action of going to the toilet outside, as they will associate this experience with plenty of praise.

Only allow your puppy indoors once they have been to the toilet; you do not want to let them back in too soon, only for them to have an accident the moment they’re indoors! By sticking to this method, you can have your puppy house-trained in a matter of weeks, depending on how strict and persistent you are.

Keep the bare minimum in your puppy’s crate, such as a mattress and sturdy toys, you don’t want them to be able to break their toys and ingest materials. Do not line your crate with newspaper or puppy pads; this will just encourage them to go to the toilet in their crate, when you’re trying to deter them from this! 

Before you go to bed, you should ensure your puppy has been thoroughly exercised and is in a relaxed state of mind – a puppy will not settle with excess energy! Put your puppy out in the garden and wait for them to go to the toilet before bringing them back in. Put your puppy in their crate and leave them to settle down as you go off to bed. If they cry, you mustn’t pander to them, as this will teach them that crying will attract your attention and they will end up doing this all night. As conflicting as this may be, you must teach them that this behaviour will not achieve anything.

However, if they settle and then start crying after a long period of time, they may need to go to the toilet. You will need to put your puppy straight outside with no fuss whatsoever and then only praise them once they have been to the toilet. Bring them back indoors once they have relieved themselves and put them back in their crate with minimal interaction, so you can catch up on your sleep. 

You may however want to swap the crate for a bed once your puppy has reached maturity and can be trusted in their environment. Some dogs may prefer sleeping in their own crate as it has become their safe space, so this is something you will have to monitor as training progresses. 

All our dogs and puppies have radios on at night therefore background noise when your puppy first comes home might be preferable. We also recommend covering the crate with a blanket to make your puppy feel more secure.