Goldendoodle puppies are usually pretty easy to train. They love attention, they love to play and learn. Using the clicker makes it even easier and more fun. In this post you will find some highlighted words. I hope it will help you to see better the most important parts of the process. I myself always take extra notes, make a list for myself of the steps....
So, after you practiced a little without your puppy, it's time to let her be familiar with the clicker.
With a treat in one hand and the clicker in your other hand click once and immediately give your dog a treat. You need to repeat this a few times. Your puppy soon learns to associate the click with the treat. Now the click sound should start to get your puppy's attention.
In the early stages of training, each click must mean a guaranteed treat. Even if you clicked accidentally.
Now it's time to decide what you want to teach her. Let's say that you want to teach her to sit:
1. Keep your clicker in your hand and get ready. As soon as she sits, click and give a treat. You can gently encourage her to do it, and every time she does, click and give her a treat immediately.
2. You can start adding vocal commands, in our case "Sit". At the beginning you still can help her if needed, but very important to click and give treat right away, in the second she sits down. Try to click during the action and give the treat immediately afterwards. Don't click or reward if she sits down without the command.
That's it! ( of course she needs more practice:)
3.Once she is very good at this step, sits on command every time, you can start to replace the clicker and the treats. You can start using "only" words to praise her, like an enthusiastic 'Yes!"
One more very important thing!
Each training session should be short, not longer, than 10 minutes. It is more effective if you do a 5-10 minute practice 2-3 times a day. The other keyword is consistency.
Have fun and enjoy!
