As I stand here at my grooming table today trimming up my sweet goldendoodle girl, I’m torn about that goldendoodle beard of hers!
While my sweet goldendoodle girl here LOVES a good brushing out, she has a thing or two to say about the beard trim and seems especially attached to her hairy identity. Now if she was content to drink nicely from her water bowl, I wouldn’t think of touching the beard, however, she is not content to just take a simple drink of water, she has to stick her entire face in and swish around that lovely beard in her large water bowl. While part of her doodle charm, that goldendoodle beard gets knotted and matted when wet AND leaves water everywhere when she is done drinking. What to do???
Now on to the next step of my morning doodle trim and grooming — the spiky top knot. Do I dare touch that? Is she just as attached that part of her goldendoodle identity? Besides, I think it’s kind of charming. I think I will stop there and leave my sweet doodle girl showing a little bit of sweet and sassy goldendoodle personality.
Get a Goldendoodle Puppy of Your Own
Then You Get to Decide What To Do With That Goldendoodle Beard
Contact us today to find out more about our Goldendoodle Puppies for Sale in Houston and bring home a goldendoodle puppy of your own this summer. We have some beautiful cream and white puppies who will be ready to go in early August, so get on our waitlist today! Reach out by email at laurie@rainfieldgoldendoodle.com or by phone or text at 832-971-4649.
If you would like to see more pictures of our older goldendoodles and keep up on the latest happenings here at Rainfield Goldendoodles, follow us on our Facebook page or on our X page.
While not yet able to master complex or fancy tricks, between 6-8 weeks of age smart little goldendoodle puppies catch on very quickly to some of the earliest, but most basic, training techniques and pre-training exercises. We start by teaching our young Rainfield goldendoodle pups to sit and pay attention or to “Watch me!” which is one of the very first things every dog has to learn in training . Pups that have mastered this basic skill go on to be much easier to train once they mature and are able to retain more information.
If you’ve ever visited with a litter of puppies, you know that it’s no small feat to get three pups to sit nicely on a dog cot, watching you and waiting at attention. Enter our early Rainfield Puppy Training tips.
We actually teach the whole litter to Mand or “Watch ME” at the same time. We start by using high value soft treats initially. At first the puppies are in their own little puppy world, romping around, tumbling and playing. We stand at the edge of the pen and use a hand motion, waiting for one of the pups to notice. The most attentive pup in the litter will be the first to notice and curiously sit down to see what we’re up. We quickly treat the pup with our high value treat. That pup is now sold on this new trick and goes on to repeat it over and over again as they get more treats. Pretty soon, a second notices that something is up and one of their siblings is getting something special. One by the one, the pups stop playing as they realize what’s going on and join in on the activity. Pretty soon we need 10 hands to quickly treat all the little cuties as they sit and wait *not so patiently* for their treat. Later we add a verbal cue. I use ‘watch me’ and ‘sit’.
Adult goldendoodles sitting at attention.
If you are looking for a goldendoodle puppy to add to your family, click here to find out more about our summer litter of goldendoodle puppies for Sale now.
Brothers from another mother (Photo credit: Helen)
A few of the puppies from our 2022 summer litters are going to homes with an older dog or doodle this summer. We are getting back some adorable pictures and videos that we wanted to share here with our Rainfield family in case any of you are wondering how your older dogs might handle getting a second goldendoodle puppy. Thank you, Sally, Helen, Stacy and Kathleen for the pictures and video clips.
Molly Meet Hazel…
Sally has an 8 month old doodle, Molly, who needed someone a little more playful than Sally’s older dog. While her older dog tolerated Molly, Molly needed a playmate. Enter two month old Hazel. Molly and Hazel have been together for one week and these girls are just getting started.
Molly (8 months) and Hazel (2 months), both F1b small standards, (photo credit: Sally)Sisters forever (Photo credit: Sally)Hazel has her puppy ways to get big sister, Molly, off the couch and into play mode
Lola Gets a Little Brother
Kathleen’s Lola is almost 3 years old. Kathleen and her husband recently decided to add a second goldendoodle to their family. We’ll let the pictures do all the talking, but from the looks of it, Lola thinks it’s great having a little brother.
Two Doodles are better than one, says Lola (photo credit: Kathleen)Someone adores their big sister (photo credit: Kathleen)
What is a Good Age to Add a Second Goldendoodle to Your Home and Family?
The official recommendation from the AKC is to wait until you’re older dog is about one or two years old. This allows time for you to fully bond with and complete the training with your first dog, however, we do have families who shorten or lengthen that time recommendation. No matter the age, it’s important to make sure you give each dog individual attention and continue their training both together and one-on-one..
Sally’s family had 2 dogs, but the older one was rarely in the mood for Molly’s puppy antics. Now that Molly has a more-energetic little sister, she gives older brother his space (photo credit: Sally)
Can you Pair a Standard Goldendoodle with a Mini Goldendoodle?
Since we started breeding mini-goldendoodles and small standard goldendoodles, we’ve had families getting a smaller doodle the second time around. The good news is that sizing doesn’t seem to make much difference. The doodle siblings get along great and we’ve gotten good reports from everyone. No matter what the size difference or age difference is though, supervision is key when introducing your new puppy into your home and to your older doodle. That way if your older or larger doodle starts playing too rough with the little one, you can intervene and put the puppy in their crate or playpen for a break.
Queen Neely (f1b mini-doodle – 1 year old) with brother Marcus (f1 standard goldendoodle – 3 years old) (Photo credit: Michelle)
Tips for Adding a Second Doodle to Your Home.
When introducing your second goldendoodle puppy into your home, we do have a few tips to get you off to a good start.
1. Go Slow, Supervise and Be Patient
First, go slow and be patient. Some doodles take to their new sibling right away, others may need a little more time to get used to the new baby. It’s very important that you supervise all interactions, especially at the early stage of socializing your dogs to each other. That way if either dog get a little too excited and exhuberant, you can step in and give everyone a break.
One of the benefits of having doodles of different ages is that an older dog can pass on their good habits to the new one and help you teach the new dog. Don’t be too alarmed if that training sometimes comes in the form of a growl or snap when the puppy is misbehaving. Keep an eye on it, but give you older dog a little leeway to teach your puppy some manners and how to best be a part of their new “paxck.” Again, supervision is vital at this stage, to make sure they don’t overboard in their “teaching,” or get too bossy with the newcomer.
Doodles are such social creatures… they love family (photo credit: Michelle)
2. Do Use Crates, Play Pens and Pet Gates
Second, crating, play pens and pet gates are another must when introducing a second doodle into your home. Keep the playtimes shorter at the beginning and make sure your little one gets the extra rest and naps they need. Having a crate, play pen or pet gates also allows you to easily and quickly give both dogs a break when needed. Using some form of separation also makes it easier for you to continue to have individual bonding time with each dog.
Playtime is done, little Rufus’ playpen is perfect when he needs a nap and a break from his new siblings (photo credit: Stacy)
3. Use Positive Reinforcement
Make the introductions fun and positive. When your older dog does well with the new pup, shares toys or plays well with the little pup, give rewards or treats and praise them. You want the older doodle to see the new addition as the positive event that it is and to form strong bonds with their new sibling too.
4. Get Help With Training Issues
While the initial introductions are fairly straightforward, if specific issues arise, likes either one being overly protective of their food and toys, or one of them gets too bossy with the other one, consult with your dog trainer. Trainers face these issues all the time and can often help you with tips and techniques that get you all off to a good start.
Looking to Get a Second Doodle For Your Family?
Summer Puppies – 2022
Contact us today at laurie@rainfieldgoldendoodles.com to find out more about our goldendoodles available now and our upcoming litters. You can also visit our Rainfield Goldendoodle Facebook page to see examples of our older doodles and their families living their best life.
When And How To Start Grooming a Goldendoodle Puppy
New doodle families often ask when they should start grooming their goldendoodle puppy. While we’re not grooming experts, we can share what we do with our goldendoodle pups, along with feedback we’ve gotten from our doodle families. If you have any tips that we could share with our Rainfield Goldendoodle family, please contacct us through Rainfield Facebook page or at my email at laurie@rainfieldgoldendoodles.com.
Goldendoodle Puppies at 8-10 weeks old. Their coats are fluffy and getting thicker. The pup in the middle will be the first to need the hair around his eyes trimmed.
*Note: We are including some links and recommendations for products we use. We are not being paid or compensated to advertise these. These are just items we have research and added to our grooming set up.
What Type of Goldendoodle Do You Have and What Is Their Coat Type?
Here at Rainfield, we have puppies whose coats range from quite curly (our F1bb or some F1b puppies) to shaggy wavy coats (our F1s and some F1bs). Goldendoodles take a couple years to get their full and final coats, so their coats will change and transition during those first two years. They usually start off pretty fluffy with baby fuzz underneath. Gradually the curlier doodles get more of a curly, poodle-like coat, although usually with looser curls that a poodle. The shaggy wavy coated doodles, get a longer, fuller, straighter coat, often with a little curl in it. In our experience, curlier goldendoodles need their first actual grooming experience a little earlier (3-4 monhs old) than the shaggy wavy doodles (5-6 months).
Two different coat types. Marcus (the Great) is an F1 doodle and has a shaggy, wavy coat. Princess Neely is an F1b Mini Goldendoodle puppy. She has a beautiful curly coat.
Get Your Puppy Started with Weekly Grooming Maintenance
Regardless of the coat type, before you start full-on grooming a goldendoodle puppy,they need to get used to regular brushings and the sounds of the grooming table (blowers, clippers, etc.). Go ahead and blow dry them a little bit after each bath. If you have clippers or beard trimmers, turn on the clippers and let your goldendoodle get used to the sound. Bring the clippers close to their fur in different places, their head, legs, feet. Don’t overdo it and if they’re nervous, slow down. Give your doodles dog treats while the blower or clippers are going so your doodle develops a positive association with those sounds.
Brushing your goldendoodle puppy at least once a week is very important. Those fuzzy, soft doodle puppy coats tend to get little mats that aren’t always visible, but left alone will grow and get worse and eventually lead to a groomer having to “poodle your doodle” by giving them a short buzz cut or shave. By brushing out those early mats, you can hopefully keep your doodles coat a little longer — if that’s that look you love. We use a steel comb and/or mat raker as needed.
Starting With an Eye, Ear and Sanitary Trim
Goldendoodle puppies are so adorable and funny. Their long hair becomes part of their doodle personality and you don’t want to lose that by grooming them too early. The earliest grooming a goldendoodle puppy needs is often an eye, ear and sanitary trim. When their hair starts getting in their eyes, or fuzzing out their ears, and when poop residue starts clinging to their fur near their butt, your doodle is ready for their first light grooming.
Amber is a 5 month old F1 Goldendoodle Puppy. She’s got a beautiful coat, but it has started to look messy, especially around the face.
With our puppies that often happens at about 12-16 weeks of age. You can either take them to the groomer to get this done, or, if you are more of a DIYer like we are, you can do this at home. A little trim around the eyes, a light buzz on the inside of the ears with a small trimmer like this one and some scissor clipping around their potty areas might be enough to tide you over until their coat is thick enough for their first official grooming . Just be careful because doodles can be bouncy. You don’t want to injure their eyes. We use safety tip grooming scissors that have rounded ends for the areas around their face.
Time to Schedule Your Doodle’s First Major Grooming
At 5 months old, Amber’s thick coat is growing in beautifully. A scissor clip will even her coat out a bit. With that nice coat, we want her to be used to regular grooming and the grooming table as well.
And finally, when your doodle starts looking too messy, it’s time for your doodle’s first grooming experience at the groomers or at your home grooming station. Our doodles seem to need their first grooming at about 5 months old, but puppies with an especially thick, full coat, may need it sooner. Puppies with thinner coats, may be able to go longer than that. It’s your call.
We do most of our own grooming, when possible. We prefer the longer, shaggier look on our goldendoodles, so we prefer to start with scissor clipping when grooming a goldendoodle puppy. If the puppy’s coat has too many mats that can’t be raked out using a mat raker, you may need to be give them a closer cut or shave. If your puppy is very matted, it’s best to get professional help as you can cut or injure your dog if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Scissor clipping is all Amber needs for now. A grooming table makes all the difference. We use the large Flying Pig Brand. Grooming a goldendoodle puppy takes skill, but Violet (16) has learned her grooming techniques by watching Youtube videos. Amber feels good and looks so much cleaner and neater after getting all that puppy fuzz off.
Caring for Your Goldendoodle Puppy’s Ears
Goldendoodles have long, beautiful, floppy ears. Dogs with long ears can have more ear trouble as the hair grows and gets trapped in their ears. Once this happens, moisture is retained and yeast and other bacteria can become a problem. Excessive yeast in a dog’s ear can lead to ear infections if clean ears are not maintained.
Part of your weekly grooming maintenance should be checking their ears and using an ear wash. We use Zymox Otic and use that for 3 or 4 days. However, if your dogs seems in pain or it doesn’t clear up within a few daus, schedule an appointment with your vet as they may have an ear infection and need some antibiotics.
Brownie has those long, floppy doodle ears that need regular cleanings to keep yeast growth at bay.
So the big day is right around the corner. Any day now you’ll be bringing your new goldendoodle puppy home for the first time. Are you ready? We often get questions from new families on how to prepare for the big day and what our recommendations are to make those first days, weeks or months just a little bit easier. Here are our Top 10 Tips To Prep for a New Goldendoodle Puppy.
Bringing a new puppy home is exciting, but a little preparation can mean a lot less stress and easier transition for you, puppy and everyone involved. During the 8 to 10 weeks of your doodle pup’s life we get them started on basic manners and early traninig. Puppies learn and pick things up very quickly, so a little bit of training can go a long way to getting them off to a good start. By the time they go to your home they have started crate training, potty training, have been expected to sit to be petted or picked up and more. In this post we’ll go over our recommended set up. This is based on what we use in our home for the puppies, but also for new puppies that join our families.
Tip #1 – Crating Your New Goldendoodle Puppy
Crating your new puppy is very important both to potty training, but also for your new puppy’s safety. When you get an 8 week old puppy, it’s like getting a toddler in your home. They need to be watched or kept in a safe place unless they are being overseen. An unsupervisored puppy can chew or eat things that are dangerous or expenisve. Potty training is much harder if they are not contained while they are learning.
We crate our puppies at night, but also for brief periods of an hour or two throughout the day. If they are in the playyard, day time crating is not as essential, but you do want them to look at their crate as their bed and THEIR safe place. You need to close the crate door at night, but during the day if the crate is in a playyard, you can leave it open for them to come and go.
If you are not using a play yard, you can crate your puppy for a few hours at a time. They will need to be taken out to do their business and to run around. This set up works well if you work from home or are home pretty much full time.
Tip #2 – Using a Puppy Play Yard
Our recommended set up for the first couple months with your new goldendoodle puppy.
If you need to leave your puppy at home for stretches longer than a couple hours, or your work outside the home and plan to come home at lunch to let the puppy out, a play yard will give you more flexibility to leave your pup alone for a little longer while still contained. You can put a smaller crate inside the playyard, or just put a good bed in one corner. Their food and water can be out, and you can have some sort of pee pad in the corner or a litter box. We start training our puppies to use a litter box at about 3 weeks old, so they are generally pretty good by the time they go to their new homes. A pet gate where you puppy is contained in a safe area of your home can work too, but be sure there is nothing your puppy can chew on or damage if they get bored while you’re gone.
You also want to be aware of how your goldendoodle puppy is growing and changing as some learn to jump out of the crate at an earlier age than others which means you either need to try to train them not to jump out, or move on to new methods.
Tip #3 – Chew Toys and More
Your puppy will sleep a lot, so they don’t need to be constantly entertained while in their crate or play yard, but having some good chew toys or meaty bones can give them something to do to keep them busy. We do not recommend cow raw hides as they are not digestible and can cause intestinal blockages, but pig raw hides are fine. Filled cow hooves are a favorite — anything that will take a little time to work through. Just be sure to mix it up every so often..
Tip #4 – Should You Use Puppy Pee Pads, a Litter Box or Astro Turf?
If you plan to contain your puppy using either a pet gate or a puppy play yard, having a potty area can help keep things clean in between outdoor potty times. Puppy pads are great –as long as the puppies don’t chew them. The plastic isn’t good for their tummies. We use a litter pan or box with pine pellet type litter or pelletized horse bedding. There are different types of litter boxes, but your want something with a little depth and that is durable and not too expensive as puppies sometimes will chew it up a little if they’re bored. For older puppies, we like the smaller/medium mortar mixing tubs from Home Depot. Of course this should not take the place of taking your dog outside regularly so they get to doing their business in their outside potty area, but if you have to leave them for 3-5 hours or if it’s a rainy, cold day when it’s hard to take them out, having a potty area will keep their area cleaner.
Astro Turf or artificial grass is another option. We’ve had some families use astro turf on their patio, especially those who live in apartments. You probably don’t want to use this for a large, full grown dog, but with a puppy, you often need to get them out quick in the mornings, so having a potty area close by is helpful. Just be sure to either get the cheaper variety from Home Depot that that you can cut into smaller pieces and throw out when it’s soiled, or have a way to keep it clean so it doesn’t breed bacteria or get too smelly.
Tip #5 — Introducing your Puppy to Young Children or Older Pets
Using a chew toy to teach puppies not to bite our mouth us
The playyard option, a gated area or just plain old crating is really important if you are bringing your new goldendoodle puppy into a home with smaller children or older pets. Puppies are very playful, but they have sharp little teeth and need to learn to respect your child or older pet’s space. So do go slow and do introduce them, but don’t give your new puppy run of the house too soon. Take it slow and keep an eye on how interactions are going and be aware if a break is needed either for the puppy or the child or older pet.
Tip #6 — Constant supervision
Puppies, even those that don’t LOOK like puppies anymore, which to us means a puppy that is under one year of age, can’t be trusted on their own. They are teething, exploring and curious about the world around them. We recommend you keep your goldendoodle puppy contantly supervised until they are a year old. With our dogs, we keep them crated at night or when we are not at home until they are a year old and then we see how they do and ease up gradually.
Tip #7 – Start an Online Training Course
We like to start our puppies on early training exercises and get them used to simple commands like, “Watch me” or “Look”, “Leave it” etc., but, as you will soon discover, puppies learn in stages and it’s a process. One day they’ll be doing so good on the training your giving them. and the next they go through a new stage and seem to have forgotten everything they learn. Be patient. Your efforts to train your puppy will pay off if you stay consistent and keep at it. We recommend starting your new goldendoodle puppy on their training right away. If they have not had all three of their puppy shots yet, they are not ready to attend classes with other dogs, but you can still start their training by using an online training course such as the one month Pupford Course by Zak George, or The Baxter and Bella Training Course. The Pupford Course is free, Baxter and Bella offer a lifetime membership for a reasonable price. You can use our Rainfield Coupon of RAINFIELD25 to get 25% off the Baxter and Bella dog training course. What we like about the Baxter and Bella option is that if you run into a particular problem, say, your puppy is excitement peeing, or resource guarding, etc, you can do a Zoom call with the B&B team and they can see what your puppy is doing, how you are handling it and give you specific instruction on how to deal with that issue.
One your puppy is old enough, you also have the option of taking them out to an outside training course with other dogs, but just make sure you have the go-ahead from your vet.
Tip # 8 Use a Dog Crate Cover
Wire dog crates are our personal favorite. They are light weight, yet sturdy and look pretty good alongside other furniture. If you notice that your puppy is doing a lot of barking though when they see you or other pets or children going about your daily activities and you’re not in a position to let them out right then, go ahead an cover up the crate and it should help them to calm and quiet down.
The same goes for night time. We recommend having your goldendoodle puppy’s crate somewhere quiet and dark, maybe the laundry room or your bedroom, but if they have trouble settling down for the night, go ahead an cover up their crate and make sure it’s dark. We like to put on some night sounds or white noise on our Alexa or Google Home at night.
Tip #9 – Using a Dog Cot
Dog cots are a lightweight, mesh type raised platform that keeps your goldendoodle puppy off the ground. Our dogs love theirs and we go through several of them a year once they wear out. Dog cots are low cost, but pretty durable for the amount of use they get. We love our dog cot for teaching our goldendoodle puppies the “place” and “stay” commands.
Tip #10 Hands Free Leashes for Tethering
One way we have found to intergrate our older puppies into our home life while still keeping them supervised is to use a hands free dog leash or a tethering leash. A hands free tethering dog leash fastens around your waist and limits how far the puppy can go allowing you to keep a close eye on them, but frees up your hands so you can cook, do laundry, etc. If they are tethered to you, you are more likely to notice when they do something they shouldn’t, such as chew on the furniture, and can correct and train them on the spot.
Want to know if we have a goldendoodle puppy available?
If you’d like to know if we have a Rainfield goldendoodle puppy available, contacts us at laurie@rainfieldgoldendoodles.com or by phone or text at 281-235-3272. You can also click here to find out How to Get a Goldendoodle Puppy, including current pricing, .
Dog photography can be a challenge. I’ve always wondered how people get those awesome portraits and shots of their harder to photograph or more active dogs. One of our doodles is the perfect poser and every photo she’s in is picture perfect, but the others, not so much. Of course having a great camera with a fast shutter speeds would help a lot, but most of the cutest moments are spontaneous and happen quickly. Often I only have time to grab my cell phone and hope it’s not set to video.
Try this…
Two are better than one
It turns out getting your dogs to pose is easier than you think. My daughter is babysitting two of my dogs this week. I got these beautiful images back from her today and couldn’t figure out how she did it until she sent me the pull back shot. She just got out her dog throwers and, voila, picture perfect poses. Good job, Maya! I’ve had such a hard time getting pictures of these two. I’ll have to get myself a few of these.
