I highly recommend that you and your Dood attend a dog training class together. You won’t achieve the same level of training if you pay someone to do it for you, actually you should delay bring a dog into your family if you don’t have the time to spend training him.
Puppies don’t finish their series of vaccinations until they’re approximately 4 months old, but there are lots of “good manner” lessons that can and should be taught before that time. My goal is to help you get started with your Dood from his first day at home.
The first step is to have a family discussion prior to your puppy’s arrival about the behaviors that you want your adult dog to have. For instance, do you want an adult dog to put his front feet on you and/or visitors to your home? Do you want an adult dog on your furniture? For some, the answer will be “yes” to these questions, but there’s bound to be some behavior that you won’t want. What ever that behavior is, don’t allow the puppy to do it, beginning with day one.
Let me give you an example of how I believe a puppy should be taught good manners. Some trainers are going to tell you to simply ignore the puppy when he jumps up on you, turn your back to him, and only give attention when his feet are on the ground. I believe in bending down with one hand on his shoulders (very gently preventing him from jumping) while at the same time petting him with my other hand and praising him. In my opinion, it’s just like teaching my sons to keep their elbows off the table at dinner. I didn’t ignore them until they figured out what I wanted, I told them to take their elbows off the table. I believe in “teaching” good behavior.
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