Puppy Training
Potty Training
Tip: Keep your puppy on a leash with you and have water and chew toys near. That way you know when he wakes up, starts sniffing the ground, and giving signs that he needs to go potty. Then you can pick him up and take him potty outside. Once your puppy has gone potty, you want to praise them and make sure they know that they did a good thing. I start with 15 minute intervals and increase as they can go longer before needing to go potty. Therefore take your puppy outside every interval that you determine (you can set your timer on your phone) plus if he gives you an indication that he needs to go potty. If you can’t keep him with you, place him in his crate for a short time. Be sure there is only room for him to comfortably sleep. You don’t want him to have enough space to make a potty area. This method is time intensive but works. I trained a Labradoodle in 2 weeks! The added benefit is that they learn what they can and can’t chew.
Disadvantage: They will shadow you even more than normal… which I actually don’t mind. (Hopefully your breeder started outside potty training before you picked up your puppy. That way they already know that they’re supposed to go potty outside and you don’t have to wait for up to 45 minutes for them to potty and then you have a praise party.)
Separation Anxiety
Separation anxiety is fairly common for Bernedoodles. I think it comes from the Berner (Bernese Mountain Dog) genes. You can have a normal, well adjusted Bernedoodle hate being separated from their person. Bernedoodles are super sweet, loving, and get very attached. These are just some of the qualities that make them one of our favorite Doodle hybrid. If they are separated from you, they can exhibit many behaviors such as whining, barking, etc all the way to making themselves so sick that they have diarrhea and throw up. Take heart though because you can help them grow accustomed to you leaving. I tell all my puppy parents to teach their puppies that they can leave and that they always come back. Place your puppy in a crate and leave the house for 15 minutes. Then quietly come back inside the house and calmly open the crate and take them outside to potty. Do this REGULARLY and increase the time you’re away from the house. Eventually you want to leave them with a friend at their house for an hour and then come back increasing to overnight stays (with their crate). I speak from experience. I worked from home and never left except for church and shopping Hazel’s (F1 Standard Bernedoodle) first year. She’s an amazingly perfect dog but when we left her with our teenage sons and oldest daughter and her family at our house for a week vacation, she became violently ill. The moment I got back, she was fine. I then worked with her and she is fine now. Pic of Hazel (everybody’s favorite Bernedoodle).