Doggie Tips

Here's some advice and tips on looking after your cavoodle, and training, some of these are really good and obvious.

• Always Praise good behaviour - as with everything, if your dog does what you desire, always reward and praise the dog.
• Be attentive to your puppy -After eating, drinking, playing and after a nap, this will likely stimulate the dog to go to the toilet. When you find your dog sniffing and circling, walk the dog outside. Doing this will help you catch the dog, going to the toilet outside and you will be there to praise the dog afterwards.
• Element the odour - Your puppy will want to go again where he's previously been, so try to remove the scent/odour from the spot where the previous mistake was made.
• When the puppy makes a mistake - If the puppy does make a mistake, and you catch the pup in the act, then shout "No" and take the dog outside, if the pup continues the activity outside then praise the good behaviour. If you find a mistake after the event then don't attempt to scold the puppy or rub his noise in it, as he won't remember what he had done and this will only frighten the puppy.
• Dinnertime - Feed your puppy around 5-6 each day, as this will give the dog more time to go before bed.
• Control the time the dog is fed - if you control the times you feed the dog you are more likely to be able to control when the dog goes to the toilet.
• Leaving the dog -if you are away from the puppy for over 4 hours then leave the dog in a room that you feel more comfortable for the dog to toilet in, eg: kitchen, because the floors are usually easier to clean, and leave paper down. Training Mats are pretty good initially as the dog is attracted to the smell and the puppy is more likely to go were the mat is placed, rather than all over the room.
• Jumping - When you arrive home from work the puppy, while excited to see you will jump up. To discourage this, try not to give the dog too much attention as this will only encourage the behaviour you are trying to reduce. To reduce this gently turn away from, brush the dog off, this will cause the dog to return to the floor, having all feet placed on the floor. When all feet are place on the ground you can give your dog praise. Try not to overly excite the dog further because this may result in the jumping up again. Try to keep calm and talk to the dog in a low voice. Only when the initial excitement has subsided can you play with the puppy and give the dog the attention and love that it requires.
• Teaching your dog to sit - This requires a quite location. I tried this doing this with my nine year old son in the room, and it was hopeless because puppies are just attracted to kids and get distracted. When you have a quite location, then you will have the puppy’s attention. I started by getting the puppies attention even more by giving him a treat. Then I encouraged the dog to sit down, pressing the backside gently down while saying the command. Then I gave the dog praise and a treat. After a while, Archie eventually started sitting down without treats by himself. -cool

If you've got any further hints and tips to help me or others let me know I'd realy appreciate it.