How to care for your puppy:

Food & Treats
* Until your poodle puppy is 2 years, it is important to use PUPPY FOOD made for large breeds of dogs. Our vet said any reputable brand of puppy food for large breeds is fine.
* We have been using Kirkland puppy food from Costco that has probiotics and a couple flavors to choose from. 
* We will send a little bit of food with you at pick up. If you want to change brands, we suggest mixing it half and half with your choice of puppy food for 3-4 days for a smooth transition.






Poodles are naturally slim dogs and tend not to overeat, even with free food. If anything, we have had to pay attention to make sure our Lilly eats enough. As an adult, we offer her free food. She typically eats ~2 cups of food a day, 1 cup in the morning and 1 cup in the evening. 
* For house training your puppy, it is recommended to offer food several times a day (~3 times), then take all food and water up a couple hours before kenneling them for the night. For each feeding, leave the bowl down for about 20 min. or so and let them eat as much as they want, then pick up the bowl until the next feeding. Stop offering food or water after the same time in the evening ~6pm (for crate training purposes, see house training below).




* Small treats are great for training and positive reinforcement: milk bones (broken in to smaller pieces for training), goldfish crackers work great because they are small and you can give lots of them when training, or we often make our own homemade treats that are cheap and our dog loves out of hotdogs! Buy a pack of hot dogs, cut them into 1/2 inch pieces, put them on a plate and microwave them for ~8 minutes, turning them every minute or two until they are crunchy. We store them in a zip lock bag in the fridge and they work great. 
* Avoid feeding your puppy/dog human food from the table or in the kitchen when you are cooking or eating. 
1) It is not healthy for them and can lead to unwanted diarrhea, and
2) It forms bad habits.
When we are in the kitchen eating or cooking, we have a specific place we ask our dog to lay down at. We say "place" and give her a treat when she is laying down in that place. We start by giving her a treat every half a minute or so, and saying "good place" as long as they stay in that play. If they leaven early, put them back in the "place" and give praise them and give them a treat. As they learn and get longer attention span, you can lengthen the time in between treats. They should eventually stay the entire meal time in their "place" while we are eating until we release her with the command "ok." Now, when I am in the kitchen making food or eating, Lilly will look at me and go lie down in her "place" without me even saying a word. If I notice, I try to praise her and give her a small treat.





House Training
Crate training is a great way to teach your puppy when and where to go  potty. You will want to buy a crate that is big enough for your poodle to stand up in and lie on their side when full grown with their legs fully extended. Our crate is 27" x 40" x 48" and has a divider that we used to block off part of the area for when our dog was smaller. The main idea is that dogs do not like or want to pee or poo where they sleep. They naturally have that instinct. We have tried to reinforce this instinct in the way we set up our kennel area. They have a covered box where they sleep and an outside gated play area where they eat and play. From the first day we moved our puppies outside, they have naturally climbed out of the box that they sleep in to use the bathroom somewhere else.  A rule of thumb is that puppies tend to be able to hold it for as many hours and they are months old. So for example, you could expect a 6 month old puppy to be able to hold it for up to 6 hours, but a two month old puppy can only reasonably be expected to hold it for up to 2 hours. 
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*With crate training, the key is to not have too much room in the crate. They should have just enough room to lay down with their legs stretched out straight and not more. Every time you take your puppy out of the crate, first take them to the same area where you would like them to use the bathroom, keep them on a leash at the beginning so they don't roam far, and give them a command such as "go pee." Wait with them until they go to the bathroom. Don't play or talk to them until they go. Just stand there kind of uninterested, letting them walk around within leash distance to find a spot. Then, when they do go, immediately tell them "good pee" and pet and praise them! Act excited that they went to the bathroom where you wanted them to. Then, you can take your puppy inside and play and enjoy them. 
 
Remember, lots of little bathroom breaks, like every hour at the beginning. Whenever you are not actively holding or playing or watching your puppy, they should go back to their crate. Lots of little time periods of potty, play, sleep and rest in the crate, then potty right out of the crate will yield more successes and faster training. DON'T just let your puppy roam the house at the beginning without supervision. Set boundaries of where they can and can't be in the house (like the kitchen area) especially while potty training. If you can't watch them or interact with them at that moment, they can be in their crate.


 

What do you do if they have an accident? Well, at the beginning, you should be supervising them so they are not our of your sight, which means you are more likely to catch them having an accident or even notice the signs of them about to go or just starting to go. They typically start sniffing around just before they go. Immediately tell them "no" with a firm voice and quickly pick them up and run them
to the spot where they should be going potty. Set them down and wait there for a little bit.  If they do go some more, really praise and encourage them. Scolding them after the fact if you did not catch them in the act really does no good. They won't know why you are scolding them because there is nothing to help them connect going to the bathroom at an earlier time with the scolding now. Rubbing
their nose in it doesn't do much good either. Lot's of praise for success and being vigilant at setting them up for success by taking them out to their "potty spot" often seems to be best. For those messes they do have, we recommend a cleaner that helps remove the scent so they don't associate that spot with going to the bathroom.  Something like Nature's Miracle pet stain and odor remover worked well for us, but I'm sure there are others out there that would work fine. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Grooming
Unlike other dogs that have fur, poodles have hair. They don't shed and they don't have the same dander or oils that most dogs have. That is one thing we love about our poodle, because we can have her inside, on our bed, in our car, and there is no shedding, not even a little bit and she doesn't smell like a dog. They are considered hypoallergenic. 
But, their hair is likes ours, it just keeps growing and growing. Thus, poodles can be groomed with all kinds of creative and sometimes ridiculous styles, but they also require a little more effort to keep them groomed. Everyone likes something different. We tend to like the "puppy cut" which is a medium short cut all over their body with face and feet really short and a little puff on the head and the ears a little longer. Many people choose to find a groomer they like and it works great for them. They will take care of nails, bathing, trimming, and hair in the ears. 






We have chosen to learn to groom our dog ourselves. If you are going to do the same, we have learned it is worth investing in some good dog clippers (Andis Proclip AGC2) and a nice blow dryer (Shelandy 3.2HP) for dogs. We also use the same dog shampoo (Griminator) that our breeder recommended to us years ago. It comes in a concentrate. We have the same bottle we've had for two years! We just mix about 1/3 cup shampoo with water in a gallon milk jug and use that for several baths. Again, there are lots of options and choices out there, we are just sharing what has worked for us. You can also clip their nails, just be careful not to cut them too short past the quick, or they will bleed. 

We worked with our puppy from the start to get her used to standing while clipping her face and paws. Start by using little touches with the backside of the clippers in the area you want to shave, with the clippers on, and remove quickly when your dog is holding still. Praise them while the clippers are touching them. Hold it on them if they move, don't take them off every time they move or they learn to move away from them, then remove the clippers as soon as they hold still. Slowly work up to where you can shave for longer and longer periods without them moving.   





Other helpful ideas
Chewing - puppies have little sharp teeth and will be losing them and getting their adult teeth in around 4 months old. So, they like to chew and it is good for them to chew. If you don't want them to chew your stuff, provide good chew toys in a basket somewhere where your puppy can find them and get them out when they want to. Any time you see your dog starting to nibble or chew something that is not their toy, tell them "no" with a firm voice, remove the item or remove them from the area, and put them near their basket of chew toys or give them one of their toys. Then praise them when they pick up one of their chew toys or play with them and their toy and give them attention. They will quickly learn that those toys in the basket are theirs and they will get them out when they want to. 

*Things to avoid even though dogs love them: Rope and Rawhide toys, especially rawhide. Rawhide can block their digestive system and require surgery to remove. 





Most importantly, remember that poodles love people. Their desire is to be with you and please you! Puppy training classes are a good idea if you have never trained a puppy before.