How to Train a Goldendoodle

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Knowing what kind of incentives your Goldendoodle responds to is essential to training your dog. Here, I share some of my best tips.

Goldendoodles are very loving dogs who respond well to training that’s based on positive reinforcement. The more connected these dogs feel to their owners, the more they’ll trust them and see them as authority figures. This is the key to getting your dog to follow your commands.

In this article, I’ll discuss when you should start training your Goldendoodle, how easy these dogs are to train, and what kind of training they need. We’ll also take a look at some tips and tricks of training Goldendoodles.

When to Start Training Your Goldendoodle?

If possible, every dog should begin training while it’s still a puppy. It’s easier to teach your dog and adjust its behaviors while it’s young.

However, not everyone gets their dog as a puppy. If you adopt an adult dog, training may be a little harder, especially if they have never had any training before. Yes, harder but not impossible. With a lot of love and patience, you can definitely teach an old dog new tricks.

In fact, training can be a great way to help your older dog’s mind stay stimulated. The truth is that regardless of your dog’s age, patience will be a big part of training it, so make sure you keep this in mind!

Are Goldendoodles Easy to Train?

As we know, Goldendoodles are a mix of two very intelligent breeds: the Golden Retriever and the Poodle. This means that Goldendoodles are also highly-intelligent dogs, as expected.

Now, this can be a good or bad thing, believe it or not. It’s good because it means these dogs are quick learners and can easily pick up on commands. On the other hand, Goldendoodles can also be a little too smart and good at finding ways to get out of training.

Another characteristic of these dogs is their high energy level. As cute as it may be to have a social and energetic puppy that loves to run around and play, this can also make training that puppy a little more difficult.

Because of their high energy, Goldendoodles sometimes have a hard time focusing on the task in front of them. But not to worry!

You can help your Goldendoodle puppy focus on the training by having a little playing session with it before you begin a training session. This will help your puppy release some of that energy and make it easier for it to focus on you.

If you do this, you will not only help drain your pup’s energy but will also deepen the bond between you two. Here’s a trick to training Goldendoodles: the deeper their bond with their owners, the more they’ll trust them and see them as an authority figure.

Another good tip is for you to remain calm throughout the training. This is very helpful to the process because Goldendoodles are known to pick up on their owners’ energy. This means that if you’re excited, your dog will get excited, and if you’re calm, there are higher chances that your puppy will be calm.

Types of Training That Goldendoodles Need

The type of training to give your dog is always a mix between that specific breed’s traits and common behaviors, and your own needs.

Goldendoodles are pre-dispositioned to some behaviors that you would want to correct from the start. For example, these dogs love food and are known to occasionally steal treats from the counter. This is why you need to train these dogs specifically not to steal food.

Other types of training are common to every puppy and are not breed-specific training needs. This would be the case of basic obedience training and potty training, for example.

The rest of the training you choose to do depends on your needs. For example, if you want your dog to stay in a crate during special occasions or dinner parties at your house, you need to crate train it when it’s young.

The most common training needs of a Goldendoodle:

  1. Basic obedience training
  2. Potty training
  3. Training not to steal food

Basic Obedience Training

This refers to those basic but important commands like sit, lay down, stay, among others.

Basic obedience training is the most important type of training because it will help teach your dog good manners.

Because Goldendoodles respond better to positive reinforcement, training should be done using treats and snacks, along with plenty of vocal praise. These serve to reward your puppy when it does something right.

Just keep in mind that young puppies can get very overwhelmed with all this new information, so try to focus on one command at a time. Stick to this command until your puppy has mastered it and only then, should you move on to the next one.

Potty Training

Potty training is a tricky business. It takes a while for your dog to learn where to go to the bathroom.

In the meantime, you’ll find your dog doing its business all over your house.
This is natural.

As much as you put in the effort to teach your puppy where to go, accidents will happen.

The first thing to do is assign a place in your house for your dog to go potty. You can use pee pads and place them in that designated potty spot.

If you have a yard, you can make the yard the designated potty-spot.

Now, since puppies have to go to the bathroom so frequently, the trick is to take your dog to its potty spot several times a day. You should do this mainly after specific activities like sleeping, eating, or playing. By doing this, you’re allowing your puppy to go in the right place.

Also, pay attention to your dog’s behaviors. If your pup really has to go, you’ll notice the sudden hints like sniffing or circling the same spot over and over. This is the ideal time to pick it up and take it to the right place.

Training Not to Steal Food

Nothing will look and smell more appetizing to your Goldendoodle than your freshly-made meals.

These dogs, typically, go crazy over food and, because of their size, they have no issues with jumping up next to your kitchen counter and stealing your dinner right from under your nose.

This is a behavior that needs to be corrected every time it happens. If you let your dog get away with bad behavior once, you can expect that behavior to be repeated.

If you see your dog stealing food, correct the behavior with a calm but firm no. It also helps if there is nothing for your puppy to steal, so make sure you always keep your counters and tables clean and the food put away when your Goldendoodle is around.

This type of training is essential for two reasons: to keep you from getting your food stolen and to prevent your puppy from eating something that’s not good for it. Your dog can suffer serious consequences if this happens.

My best tips on training Goldendoodles:

  • Stay calm throughout the training: Your Goldendoodle will naturally respond to the energy you put out, so stay calm if you want your puppy to do that as well.
  • Use positive reinforcement: Goldendoodles respond better to this type of training. Praise your puppy and give it treats when it does a good job.
  • Help your dog release energy: This is a good way to get your excited puppy to focus on the training.
  • Don’t overwhelm your Goldendoodle with too many commands: Teach your puppy one command at a time.
  • Never let bad behavior go uncorrected: If you don’t correct it, that’s a good way to get that behavior to repeat itself.

Final Thoughts

Goldendoodles, in general, are fairly easy to train. They are very smart dogs that can easily learn and obey new commands.

You just need to watch out for the trickier parts of their personality like their undying love for food and their high energy levels. But even the behaviors that come as a consequence of these traits are easy to correct.

Just remember to get your puppy to trust you because this is how it will learn to respect you.