Food
We feed our puppies 3 times a day until they reach approximately 19 weeks old. Then we switch to 2 meals per day, one in the morning and one in the evening.
We will send you home with a sample package of the dog food that they were on while in our home. If you plan on switching, please do so gradually as to not upset their stomachs.
Click Here for a great site that rates the different dog foods. I love this site; it’s filled with great information.
Whole Dog Journal is an informative monthly newsletter packed with wonderful stuff. They also do a dog food review that is invaluable. To check it out Click Here.
Clean, fresh water should always be freely available.
Apple Cider Vinegar is said to have a large number of benefits for them. For more information: Click Here
Sleeping
Your new Australian Labradoodle puppy will be missing its mother and litter mates and the comfort of cuddling with them to sleep. It may help to rumple up the bedding and roll up some towels for puppy to snuggle up to. Each pup will go home with a cloth that has been rubbed against their mom and will retain her smell. Put this with your puppy so the familiar smell will help puppy settle in for the night. Some soft music or a ticking clock can also be helpful.
It may help to put puppy’s crate next to your bed for the first few nights until puppy get comfortable sleeping alone. Your presence will be reassuring.
Your puppy will need to go out in the middle of the night, so wear your warm PJs.
House Training
Your Australian Labradoodle puppy will come to you already familiar with the crate. It’s been introduced as a safe sleeping den environment.
House training is more about your vigilance than it is about the puppy. Restrict the area your puppy can be while indoors. Watch your puppy like a hawk. If they show signs like circling or sniffing, carry them outside. It’s best if you can take them to a specific spot, they’ll learn that to be the “potty spot” and it’ll make picking up after them a lot easier in the long run. When puppy goes in the right place, have a little party and then go back inside. Don’t stay out and play or the puppy won’t make the connection between “If I go outside then I’m allowed inside.” Start with allowing puppy 30 minutes of time free inside with you, and then put puppy back in its crate so puppy will be able to practice the “hold-it” portion of the learning process. Puppy should be able to hold it for an hour, then let puppy out and go directly outside to the potty spot. Once puppy goes, have a party and then take puppy back inside for some free time with you.
As puppy succeeds with the free time, you can lengthen the time. Soon puppy will be spending a few hours with you, an hour in the crate and then pottying outside. This routine will take time and lots of commitment. Once puppy understands that outside is the place to go, you can give puppy more free space in the house.
Remember, puppies need to go to the toilet at some predictable times such as after waking up from a sleep, after eating or drinking, after anything exciting….and then some!
Exercise
Australian Labradoodle puppies under 1 year old should have restricted time on the leash. Jogging for miles or going on very long walks on the leash forces the puppy to perform the same mechanical movement at the same pace for long periods of time. This is not natural for puppies. Puppies are used to changing pace frequently, galloping one minute and then trotting the next. If puppies are forced to maintain a pace for a long time, it can damage ligaments and immature joints. Playing outside and short periods on leash will provide puppy a safe amount of exercise.
Leash Times:
10 wks-4 months: Puppies could safely do a 15 minute walk on leash.
4-8 months: Puppies could do up to 30 minutes daily as long as the walk is interspersed with free play.
8-12 months: Puppies can do a 45 minute walk once daily and maybe a short walk later the same day.
Running up and down stairs, jumping off high places, slipping and sliding on polished floors, and standing on just their back legs can cause damage to puppy’s joints. Puppies should not be allowed to do any of the above. Failure to observe these things can induce hip dysplasia and other joint problems even in a healthy puppy.
Raising Australian Labradoodle Puppies for Your Family
yukonergina@gmail.com
Whitehorse, Yukon ~ Canada
(867) 689 – 7426
