Hi friends, 

LT here from TheDoodleGuide.com. My wife and I started this website to help answer the questions before we got our Mini Goldendoodle – Kobe. 

He’s literally the best dog we could have asked for. 

But it wasn’t easy. 

And so below I want to share the core lessons, tricks, and best products we came across. Enjoy!

(P.S. I update this routinely as I come up with more pieces of advice to give you. So come bookmark this page to come back to. Also all this advice is free – so if you love it – share it with someone you think it might help!)

1. Focus On Training ASAP

Neither my wife nor I had a dog before. So even though doodles are smart and quick learners – we had no idea what we were in for in regards to training. 

My wife literally called crying 3 days into getting Kobe because he wouldn’t stop peeing on the carpet. 

It was frustrating. 

Plus the teething, pant pulling, and whining that comes with a new puppy. It was a challenge. 

But one thing we’re truly grateful that we did was hire training for Kobe. 

But not just the normal old – “take him away for 2 weeks and fix him.” (Believe me we tried :D)

Instead we hired a local training company to come to our home once every 2 weeks to really train us on how train him. 

(Ironically his last accident was the day before we started training). 

And our time with them was invaluable. Within a few days he responded to his name, looked at us, and had mastered “sit” and “down”.

Within 2-3 weeks he had mastered the oh-so-important “leave it” and could easily stare at a delicious treat and wait for my cue before chowing down.

Within a month I could ask Kobe to “stay” and walk around the house without him moving an inch. 

It was truly an amazing transformation. 

Now you don’t have to pay for expensive training as we did – just become educated on how to become a good teacher to your puppy/dog. 

Here’s a great resource my wife and I enjoyed. 

2. Avoid Lazy Parenting 

While Kobe is definitely one of the best-behaved dogs in the park – he still has issues. Mainly due to our laziness. 

He’s not a fan of the car (oh how we wish he was). He’s an inconsistent eater. And he still needs work on walks. 

But that’s because of us – not him. 

When he was young we picked up on his anxiety in the car and held him. This unfortunately made it difficult to leave him in the backseat or have him relax for a 3 hour car ride (he’s never fallen asleep in the car to this day). 

We didn’t stick to a schedule early on for his feedings and left his food out way throughout the day. Thus he would chow down all of it on some days and finish less than a third on others. Again our fault. 

While it may be easy to let things go – if they’ll matter to you in 2-3 years – make them matter now. 

Your dog will go based on your guidance. But they will also go based on your lack of guidance. 

Make sure you’re feeding them the right cues. 

3. Here Are Our Favorite Products For Our Goldendoodle 

There are many lists on the internet and here on TheDoodleGuide.com on the best products for doodles. 

Here’s our favorites for Kobe. 

• Best Toys
  
  • Nerf Squeaker Ball (he loves this thing) 
  • Nerf Dog Launcher 
  • Dog Burrow Cookies & Mik 
  • Dog Flirt Pole (if you want to tire your dog out without doing much yourself) 
• Kobe’s Food/Treats
  • Royal Canin Breed Health Nutrition Poodle Puppy
  • Wellness Puppy Bites Natural Grain Free Puppy Training

  • Himalayan Dog Chew (these last forever and keep them occupied for hours) 

As I mentioned this page is constantly being updated. Add your questions below to help guide our next tips and breakdown for you!