Training

 Is training a dog difficult?

The professionals want you to believe it is! That is how they make their money.

Everyone who has a little kindness and patience can train a dog to the highest level they choose.

Training a puppy is just the same as teaching a young child, the best fastest results are through daily interaction, the only difference with puppies is daily repetition, You need to be consistent with what is allowed and what is not, If you allow your small puppy to jump up for a pat he will want to jump up when he is a big dog. So before your puppy arrives home have a family discussion about what is ok and what is not so that all the family are reinforcing the same good habit patterns from day 1..  Below is a list of basic goals you should plan to achieve with your puppy over the first couple of months.

• All fours on the floor for a pat/cuddle
• Sit especially before giving a treat or meal
• Lay down quietly on his bed
• Allow toys and food to be taken, given and taken away again,
• Stay seated when car stops
• Stay in car when door is open until you give the OK come.
• Sit, lay down and stand on a table to be groomed.
• Allow you to hold his beard and turn his head from side to side or stay still.
• walk on a loose leash on your left side
• Stand quietly in the bath and on the table while you blow him dry, [With a hair dryer silly!!!!]

That is it if you are achieving this within the first 6 weeks of your puppy arriving you have a well- mannered family member any training beyond this is for pure pleasure for both you and your dog.

Above is a photo of the grooming tools best suited for your dog, You do not need all of them but you do need

1. Nail Clippers
2. Scissors
3. Le Pooch Slicker brush, incredibly expensive but WOW the BEST I have ever used and they last years and years so well worth the investment, the different colours are for different coat types, the best one is the Purple with Blue an alternative.  Any firm Slicker brush is also ok, Let me know if you want me to supply a Le Pooch brush.
4. Comb wide tooth and medium tooth, 
5. A double sided thinning scissors [helps blend the cuts if you are learning to trim your own dog]
6. Cowboy Magic hair conditioner/polish – usually found in the horse section!]
7. A simple cleansing shampoo
8. A simple moisturising conditioner 
9. Towels
10. When buying a bed think about how you will keep it clean! I prefer canvas covered pillow beds they are water resistant hard wearing and easily cleaned.
11. Throw rugs, I use cool cottons for summer and cuddly bunny rugs for winter, 1 for each day to throw over dog bed.
12. Adjustable collar, being adjustable it will grow with your puppy
13. Fine Tie up chain leash
14. Walking leash
15. Car safety harness
16. Chew toy
17. Chew treat ball
18. other play toys, whatever takes your fancy.
19. Water dish I like the heavy pottery type. 
20. Treat Jar
21. Dry liver treats [yummy and healthy]
22. Feed dish
23. Puppy pen/enclosure to keep puppy safely out of mischief when you are busy and cannot watch their every move.
24. Bag of wood chip from the garden centre.

WHY would you want a bag of wood chip???

Well unlike many breeders I do not push my babies out the door at 8 weeks, I like to spend a little more time developing their self confidence and independence from his/her brothers and sisters while doing this I train them to go potty on wood chip, When in the house I have a Tray with wood chip and outdoors I have a couple of places in a suitable spot in the lawn, for a short time one close to the back door for those ‘QUICK out ‘moments and during the wee hours of the night.
The wood chip is a great training tool and you can mow right over it when you are done or rake it up and put the leftovers on the garden. “It’s Eco Friendly”!

WHY the chain leash?
Well I rarely cage my dogs or puppies, but once they are past playpen stage they still need to learn a lot about house behaviour and I have always believed prevention is better than cure, I like “Bed Tethers” I can put the dog bed anywhere it is convenient and close to something solid I can attach the leash, I will then teach the puppy the command “On your Bed”I will give him a long lasting chew treat and tie him up. He learns to chill out and relax while still feeling he is WITH you, In time he will not need the leash you will just ask him to get on your bed and he will be happy to do so.
It is a great training tool for all sorts of needs.

The Cobber dog is a working dog they have a brilliant mind and a huge capacity to learn and they thrive on learning so do not restrict yourself due to lack of self confidence teach your dog new things even if it is a simple trick you will have fun and your dog will be a happy propose filled joy to behold.

  GROOMING

Once again the professionals would like to make you believe it is difficult, but in most cases the average person can learn to groom their own dog, and remember there is only a couple of weeks between a good and bad hair cut!!

The single most important thing to remember is to brush your dog all over to loosen the curls.

I like to sit on the floor with the dog partly on my lap for easy reach.

The important thing to remember is to LAYER the fleece as you groom it.

This means you start from the bottom of the area you are brushing and with 1 hand you hold up the fleece and steady the dog, with the other hand you start to brush a thin layer at a time, just like the hairdresser trims your hair a thin layer at a time.

You do this all over the dog until you think you have finished and the dog is fluffy and knot  free, then you do the exact same thing but this time with the comb making sure you can feel the dogs body if you have missed a knot the comb will find it.

When you are all done stand the dog up and comb again to flatten the coat then heavily spritz with water and comb the water through the fleece it will go curly again as it dries.

The curls [spirals] actually help stop knots from developing so it is very important to finish off with water.

Comb the fleece forward on the head/face and trim in a fringe, trim between the eyes and slightly under the eyes to keep the face clean, Trim the cheeks and beard, trim under the tail for hygiene and around and in between the feet and toes. Trim/clip all the tummy, under the elbows and between the hind legs, Trim/clip under the ears [side of head] and under the throat.

The trimming can be done with pet clippers or scissors, I do the face with scissors and the rest with clippers and a number 15 or 10 blade.

It really is easy to do once you have had a few tries.

For puppies the grooming is only a few minutes to practice good behaviour for later on.

When the puppy reaches around 10-13 months of age their puppy coat is replaced with their adult coat, during this time it will knot very quickly and easily so it is wise to comb the dog every other day for about a month, you will know when to stop as the knots will suddenly vanish. from then on The Australian labradoodle dog fleece needs a full grooming [about an 1  hour] once every 4-6 weeks as adults. most will need even less.