Top tips for new shoodle

[Tomlettegregg]

We're picking up our puppy this weekend. We've done lots of research but would love existing owners to give any top tips on toilet training and correcting barking.

We're crate training initially for sleep and have been told to let them cry which seems mean but I want to set him up for success as he isn't allowed upstairs.

What on earth is a “shoodle”?

Breeders are usually very good for training tips. Reputable breeders.

Wtf is a shoodle? I honestly despair at the state of breeding in this country.
First thing I would do is get it checked at vet!

Is a shoodle a shit-poo?

(I'll get my coat)

More seriously get the book "Easy Peasy Puppy Squeezy" - dreadful title, good book.

If pup is crying downstairs, and you don't want him upstairs, then the solution is for someone to sleep downstairs near the puppy

Congratulations.

We used a crate to help toilet train our pup and we had it right beside our bed so we could reassure her when she was understandably very afraid for the first few nights. We popped her in asleep then opened it up when she woke. Worked fantastically, we all got amazing sleep and she was going through in a week or so.

You don’t have to have then with you upstairs but wherever they sleep it needs to be with you initially. That worked best for us as our house is quite open plan.

We’ve never left ours to cry ever for anything and we’ve now got a very happy and confident little dog who grew in confidence naturally 🙂

'We're crate training initially for sleep and have been told to let them cry which seems mean but I want to set him up for success as he isn't allowed upstairs.'

That's not a set up I would choose to raise a puppy as part of my family.

I've had dogs for nigh on forty years as an adult and would never leave any creature to cry.

We're crate training initially for sleep and have been told to let them cry which seems mean but I want to set him up for success as he isn't allowed upstairs.

This is old advice and is likely to lead to a stressed dog with separation anxiety. Initially the pup needs to be with you, so that may well mean someone is sleeping on the sofa with the pup for the next few weeks.

For toilet training there's some good tips here:
https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/dog-advice/training/basics/house-or-toilet-training

And some more advice for barking here. You don't need to "correct" it so much as understand why the dog is barking and fix that bit instead. It's very often because the dog is worried or scared. My dog barks as she's reactive, she's a private rehome and I was already aware. She's doing really well outside but still very reactive to noises in the home, it'll be a long road that one.

https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/dog-advice/training/unwanted-behaviours/stop-your-dog-barking

What the fuck is a shoodle?

Please don't leave your puppy to cry that is awful advice. Is it from a reputable breeder, I'm guessing not.

Google says a "Shoodle" is a Shih Tzu cross Poodle. These are very commonly puppy farmed so I hope there has been lots of research done into the breeder and both parents were fully health tested.

It's breed contrived by profit breeders who have zero concern for the creatures they produce and charge extortionate prices for a mongrel dig.

They are usually destined for health problems which equals hefty vet bills, behavioural problems of combining the worst traits in two breed and end up being given up for adoption.

What the heck is a shoodle?

please ignore the idiot who suggests you let your dog, which is a BABY being taken away from its mum and placed in a totally alien environment with complete strangers, is left alone in a crate at night to cry. That’s bullshit. It’s going to need lots of trips out to the garden to toilet, and also needs to feel it is safe and secure. I slept downstairs for a good while as our puppy was particularly slow to be able to go through the night without needing to pee or poo, or needing a little cuddle. If you don’t want to do that, then start with the crate in your room until they go through the night, then start moving it out of the bedroom, before moving it downstairs.

Someone has mentioned easy peasy puppy squeezy, and I second that as a good read before you get your dog home. If it’s your breeder suggesting you let the poor little thing cry then I’d think really hard about whether they are the people you really want to buy from.

Toilet training needs lots of trips to the garden. When they wake up, before and after food or a drink, after play, any time in between when it’s been a little while since the last time. You get to spot when they look like they need to go quite quickly, so watch them like a hawk.

@bunnygeek I would highly doubt that any of this has been done otherwise OP would realise you can buy a pedigree pure bred dog, with correctly health tested parents, for probably half the cost of a mongrel!

Agree. One can always hope though 😥

Crate training absolutely should not be leaving them to cry.

https://www.pdsa.org.uk/pet-help-and-advice/looking-after-your-pet/puppies-dogs/crate-training

If you want to crate overnight immediately before they’re crate trained then the crate needs to be somewhere next to where you can sleep - either next to your bed and move it when they’re older or you sleep downstairs for a while. That way you’re there, you can reassure them, but they’re still contained and will wake you up when they wake up so you can take them out.

Please don't leave him to cry. He's only a baby.

Thanks all. Yes it's a shih tzu cross poodle. Yes I know you can get a non cross pedigree dog but this is the dog we chose after a close friend had one and seeing it grow into a confident affectionate very happy dog. They don't have the same health problems as non cross breeds and we're happy with the breed choice and breeder.

Appreciate the links and will read them all. Crate questions - they suggest putting food and a puppy pad in overnight but slightly concerned they just fall in their food or spill and does seem mean to make them be in with their wee overnight. Of course we'll take them out as regularly as possible and also plan to have a pad inside by the back door initially for accidents but don't want to confuse them and train them to use the pad instead of outdoors. Otherwise sounds very like toilet training a toddler. Watch them like a hawk and take them out whenever they look likely or at regular intervals and heavily praise / give greats when they go where you want them to.

Barking link was helpful but surely a little unrealistic, if they have separation anxiety and you never leave them alone then that's only going to exacerbate it no?

*treats

No. Leaving a dog to be upset will only make them more anxious and so reinforce the fear.
No puppy pads. You get up in the night to let the dog out.
I doubt this is any kind of decent breeder or that parents have proper health tests done. A crossbreed might have fewer health issues but it can also inherit issues from both parents. It’s luck of the draw. And just as you know one lovely example of this sort of dog it means nothing. They aren’t a breed and so have no breed traits.
Find a decent trainer and get very good insurance.

A crossbreed can be expected to have fewer issues when it's a Heinz 57 sort of dog.

But a first generation cross could have the breed related health issues from either parent. You need to be a few generations of out-crossing before there is worthwhile protective effect (claims otherwise a marketing, not biology)

So I hope both parents are health checked for all breed related heritable conditions.

How do you groom one? That would be my question. Poodle x need a lot of grooming, more so than a poodle which is every 6 weeks plus daily brushing.

The “they don’t have the health problems of pedigree dogs” is largely BS as they’re more likely to come from a puppy farm.

Why is everyone so negative and awful on here? The OP has already stated she feels comfortable with the breeder. It's no one else's business and not related to the question at all.

You don’t want a puppy pad, if you’re next to the crate overnight you’ll wake up when they do, a puppy moving about in a crate is noisy.

By the time you’re up to leaving them alone for longer than a few minutes they should have better bladder control anyway.

“They don't have the same health problems as non cross breeds”

That’s not true btw

and grooming is a good point - you’ll need to start that straight away, poodle crosses can have absolute nightmare coats, harder to keep mat free