Puppy love! What a gorgeous girl - enjoy :)

Oh my! I want her!

ML

I know this is a long thread and I know there is nothing to be added, but I just wanted to say congratulations! She is the cutest and I know you will love being her mom. If I lived closer, I would be in line for Not-Penny. Give Penny a pat and a scritch from me. Oh, and keep the pictures coming!

I know the various schools of thought can be controversial. I think if I understand correctly that one does more treats in the beginning as a physical guide then phases them out as dog catches on (or award only for the next step). But I'll find out more in puppy class in 2 weeks!

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We called that "fading" the lure and it's fine to work with food treats. Dogs can be VERY motivated by food, and I swear, it makes training so much easier if you can find the dog's currency.

If it's food, great!

We use the PetSafe treat pouch and it's perfect for easy reaching and holding things like keys and phones on walks.

Congrats!!!! That is the cutest puppy! YES! Keep the pics coming.

Penny is way too young to determine her intelligence. Most puppies are nitwits anyway. lol. Plus, they're kind of immature for two years.

My late Gracie who was an English Pointer would totally ignore me (inside the house) when I called her at times. But she understood many phrases.

"Do you want to play ball?"

"Time for bed!" She slept with us and she'd get off the sofa and get in bed. Head on pillow. :)

"Scoot over!" When she hogged the bed she learned to scoot her bottom over. Now that was just precious I tell you.

Repetition is the key to learning.

As far as treats go, I'm thinking the tiny bite sized treats are used for rewards. But milkbones are given as a snack. The dogs who participate in dog show's constantly get rewarded with the little treats.

Get a whistle to keep with you when you start taking Penny out when she's off leash. You can practice in the yard. It's for "Recall," to make sure she comes to you when hearing the whistle, should she stray too far.

Weigh yourself today, then weigh again in a week. You'll probably lose a few pounds! I always lose weight when I get a new puppy, mostly due to taking them outside constantly.

She is less clingy today. Even voluntarily went in her xpen which yesterday seemed like a torture chamber. Currently pooped and enjoying a nap in her crate (she gets mostly non crate time). Loves napping in armpits. Mostly sleeps with her head up which is weird.

Oh, enjoy her - that's all just enjoy her <3

So many likes and chuckles and aaaawwwws on this thread. Love it.

Congratulations! Penny is precious. I'm happy for you all :)

So cute!!

What a little love she is! I love doodles! I may be a bit partial as we have a poodle/yorkie mix (yorki-poo) also from a breeder. Only because we specifically wanted that breed and could not find one around here. We didn't crate, although I have nothing against it, we just chose not to. We also took our pup to puppy obedience classes - I can't remember how old she was when we did that. She (and us too) learned alot! Congrats to all of you - she is adorable.

Those are some really wonderful pictures! She's so photogenic, I love the pic of you with her in the car, it's like she's doing a photo bomb!. LOL

You've gotten a lot of feedback already but after reading about the ear infections, I can't help but offer this little tid bit of info too. Dogs who have flappy ears are prone to ear infections especially if they love water, our lab sure was however, she was also having problems with itching and yeastie paws so a couple of years ago our vet recommended having her Allergy tested, which we did. She came back positive for mite allergies which was pretty much a given but it also said she was allergic to yeast! While a lot of people disclaim it, my vet said that in addition to some dog treats, a lot of the dog foods have Brewers Yeast in them and that too can cause the ear infections and itchy paws. Her food at the time did so I changed her food to something yeast free and she hasn't had an ear infection or yeastie itchy paws since. Just something to keep in mind.

Oh, robo, the pics keep getting cuter and cuter.

Sleeping through her first thunderstorm. When it was time to potty I took the freeze dried liver outside and we practiced "come here", "sit" and "up" in the pouring rain with thunder and lightning all around. Didn't bother her a bit. She will now settle well in her crate but frantically hates being locked in the xpen so my goal for the week is to get her quietly playing in her pen.

A tired puppy is a happy puppy :c)

I love how she just sprawls out!. Ha!

"Penny is way too young to determine her intelligence. Most puppies are nitwits anyway. lol. Plus, they're kind of immature for two years."

Oakley, our standard poodle had a litter, and among the personalities were two very smart puppies. We called them Bonnie and Clyde, and they (especially Bonnie) were the first to figure out how to get out of their box, then their bigger box, and cracked every code we could come up with to keep them in their room. They opened doors, flipped gates, you name it. A neighbor bought Bonnie, and reported that she was too smart for her britches. One afternoon they came home to find that Bonnie had scratched and chewed her way through a wood door to get to the air-conditioned room.

Robo, Penny is a little doll, and I love her name!

I am so happy for you, robo and mr. Robo. This is a wonderful time. you are excellent, well informed, caring, loving, hard working parents. I remember our beloved standard poodle who was so smart and sweet for over 13 years. Enjoy. I love all the pics esp the car where you robo are melting and birch point. Oh boy, i love these and miss our puppy. It's like a huge void.

I always try for the quieter sweet dog. When they realize the house, the yard and the new "owners" are all just for them, even the quietest dog gets lively....and look she has you getting up all night long- see what a great job she has done training you already!

When you take her outside to tell her that she needs to do her "duty", be sure and use the same words each time (a lot of people like to say "get busy") this helps when you're in different location that she's not the familiar with, when she hears the word she knows what she supposed to do even n the new location.

Hi pretty puppy!

Penny is beautiful! We just brought home a golden doodle puppy a few weeks ago. Hunter is just about 11 weeks and such a fun loving dood. And you'll happy to know that he is already doing stretches of 3-4 hours before whining to go potty at night so it does get better quickly! Hopefully you won't have too many nights getting up every hour and a half.

Congrats! And enjoy her.

Robo - our breeder gave us a suggestion to help our puppy acclimate to her crate. She told us to feed her in her crate to help her adjust. That might help Penny in her pen.

My dogs RUN to the crate/pen (lab/bichon) because they get yummy treats when they go inside. It was a bit tough to get our rescue lab to happily go into her crate, but now, she knows it's full of delicious treats and she can take a nice, quiet and cool nap next to her brother.

eta: Good Morning, Penny!

Penny only gets fed two ways– –rewards for training and handling, e.g. getting brushed, and in her crate in chewtoys or hidden around the crate. I also have a little Xpen set up to help with crate training that's attached to the crate.

now crate for sleeping is no problem, she seems to know when it's bedtime and settles pretty well probably also because we set the crate up beside our bed. Closed crate during the day or xpen usually leads to lots of screaming, although I only ever let her out when she stops screaming.

Meanwhile I was busy cleaning the kitchen while she was penned in the living room, which is where we spend most of our time with her, and she could not have cared less that I was gone and is fast asleep. What I realized this morning is that the living room is a fun place because we all spend lots of time there and she gets lots of enrichment there. The X pen is not a fun place because we put her in there as a puppy playpen when we need to go do something else. Despite the fact that it has lots of treats and toys, what it hasn't had is people, and what she really wants right now is to be around people.

so...gotta think on next steps.

Puppy training human. The tarp is temporary but she had two accidents on it her first day so I'm glad it's down!

Penny is adorable! Have fun.

You are smart to not give her treats other than training and handling. I made the mistake of giving my dog bits of what I was eating every now and then and boy am I paying for it! You should see him waiting for the crust of my pizza.....big mistake! I do think treats are great for training though, esp. when used when starting clicker training.

My dogs think I'm a Pez dispenser!

Just in case you wanted more puppy pics

checking out the lake

Post lake snuggles

Awww, robo it should be illegal to be that cute!

Just tooooo cute. I wish they would stay puppies forever.

After all the house training accidents and sleepless nights over the last few days...omg! Hope she grows up quickly! I knew it would be hard but it's quite hard! We take her out very often (every hour, after meals, and after naps) but seem to miss something weird about her schedule mid-afternoon. so thankful for the tarp right now, she seems to at least know to go on the tarp.

Robo , you might already be doing this, but one of the most useful tips told to me was to teach your puppy the words for peeing and pooping. They will be able to pee and poop on command which is very useful when you are traveling or only have a short amount of time to get the job done.

It IS exhausting to raise a puppy - especially when you are doing it right! That's why puppies and babies are so cute :) You will be rewarded for all your hard work. I've raised a lot of dogs and four children. The puppies in their early months were the hardest for me because I don't do well with a lack of sleep. At least babies wear diapers.

They sell puppy training pads at pet supply stores. They apparently have an attractant scent and are so easy to clean up. I've never had a puppy, but used them for my cat who started peeing outside the box and she did learn to use them, too.

Congrats! She is too cute :-)

I think you are giving her too much freedom with the pen and tarp, so she will continue to pee inside. Why hold it when you can just let it out right here and now! Either have her crated or have her out with you -- never leave her unattended while out of the crate at this age. If she looks like she is starting to squat, tell her "no" and take her outside immediately. She will not want to pee in her crate and will learn to hold it a bit longer.

Oh, my, she is so cute! Congratulations! Love all the pictures!

Chispa-I almost agree with you except if I had her out with me when not crated she would squat on the floor, and if I crated her at all times when not outdoors it would be excessive. I take her outside every hour but I don't have a handle on when she goes after eating and drinking. For example tonight had her out, she did her business. Came back in, she drank some water. Red alert, so I took her out ten minutes later but she didn't go, so I brought her in after 20 minutes thinking I'd go back to her schedule of once an hour. 5 minutes later, pee on the tarp (so 35 minutes after water, 40 minutes after last pee).

Then I was like, ok, she peed so we are home free for indoor playtime, so I let her out to do some zoomies, 15 minutes of zoomies later, she runs to the tarp and squats within 4 seconds (I only had time to say "oh no!" and it was done). She gives no warning, and pees only like a tablespoon at a time so I can't carry her out to finish the business.

What I really regret at this point is I really wanted to puppy pad/litter box train her for now while she is so young but husband objected thinking we could just take her out, now I realize how hard it is to keep up with her tiny bladder but apparently she is now giant tarp trained instead of teeny pee pad trained >:(

What I really regret at this point is I really wanted to puppy pad/litter box train her for now while she is so young but husband objected thinking we could just take her out, now I realize how hard it is to keep up with her tiny bladder but apparently she is now giant tarp trained instead of teeny pee pad trained >:(

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I think the concept is the same insofar as getting a puppy to transition from sanctioned inside place, to outdoors.

Hang in there and don't get worried or frustrated at this point. It takes time and Penny will begin to understand potty is for outside. Everything is new. Every single thing. She's learning so much in that little brain of hers and has so many accomplishments ahead!

This is just one part of your journey with her.

Also in writing that out I had a brain flash which is that I just asked my husband to pick up a different tarp (different texture) and I am going to cut up this stinky tarp and see if that can be her "pee pad." Hey if she's tarp trained at least that's not a texture she'll find lying around the house on a regular basis.

When I wake her from a nap and rush her outside, 100% success and she always gets treats and praise. So she definitely is already used to going on the grass. But she's not old enough yet/I'm not quick enough yet to alert me when she has to go when not nap time.

This morning Penny put two and two together that she gets a treat when she "comes here" and that a walk could be a long series of her being a statue and then "come here." I'm revising my opinion of her intelligence upwards. I'm also training her to sit before walking through the doorway and she's sitting her little butt down every chance she gets. The positive/lure training really works wonders with puppies.

Raven I like your thinking. She tries to eat the puppy pads but she might try to eat the tarp too.

i think she just doesn't have bladder awareness right now and the only place she definitely will hold it for is her crate. But she's holding it 2-3 hours a time at night.

She's so darn sweet! Did she venture into the lake herself, or was she guided in on her leash?

In my house, where I have had as many as 4 at a time, mine have a large area of the yard fenced off as their 'puppy pen'. They go down the stairs from the kitchen to the basement, out through two doggie doors, and into that part of the yard. When I get up, and before I go to bed, I say, 'Peeps and Poops!' and they head to the basement in a flash. During the day while I'm working, they just head out any time they want or need to.

The most recent rescue, Ginger, just followed the others, and trained herself in literally minutes to head out there. Penny will, too; she's just a baby and it may take a little bit, but she will learn.

Robo, you are a smart. kind, compassionate person and so you will figure it out.

Everyone always has an opinion on how you can teach your puppy whatever. Everyone is a dog expert. :-) Having just gone through this with a puppy myself, I can tell you that there is never a one size fits all answer. You are there, you are paying attention, you have a good heart, and you are working with her. Yes it is very hard work.....but you and she will figure it out.

They grow up really fast. It was just 4 months ago I brought my girl home, and it's amazing what she has learned in 4 months. You and she will figure it out. I promise. :)

My3dogs, I enticed her in up to her tummy with treats. She's not exactly scared of it but she doesn't love it either (got her in up to her paws today :)

patriceny, I'm sooooooo happy I took the week off work, you're right, it is hard work!!

here she is having already figured out she can game the system for more treats by being a statue (we are now working on that game).

here she is having already figured out she can game the system for more treats by being a statue (we are now working on that game).

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Do you have a long lead leash? If not, they are very instrumental in training the "recall".

On a leash, call Penny in a high-pitched, happy happy happy voice while running backwards away from her. This is like doggy catnip. She should come running to you with tail wagging. Treat when she reaches you. Repeat.

Throw a treat several feet away and as soon as she's reached and eaten it, give the happy call, 'Penny!!' and treat her when she returns. Repeat.

I'm sure you'll be going through these training exercises formally soon enough!

I was going to suggest you reduce the size of the tarp ... which you figured out yourself!

Some doodles love water and some don't. My neighbors doodle will go into their pool on his own, when he feels hot. Other friend has 2 doodles who have no interest in the pool or water. Good idea to introduce her to water when she is young.

Penny now has 100% reliable sit, 75% recall and a few other tricks up her sleeve (we've been working on down, paw, twirl, speak and leave it).

She definitely has the poodle mischievous personality in my opinion. She already knows that 3 pees = 3 treats for example.

i would like to quit my job and become a full time puppy mom please.

She is so darned cute!!

Congrats on your new puppy! Just gorgeous.

Great that you can expose her to kids at this age. Make the kids run around, scream, jump, etc. around Penny.

It is hard to get a dog that never grew up with the high energy of younger kids to fully relax around them. My rescue has to be watched around the 6 and under crowd ... their jerky movements cause her to want to chase and nip. Luckily she is a small dog so the danger to a child is very small, but it is tiring having to manage both kids and dog when we have younger kids visit.