Thanks to its ease of learning and its great ability to adapt to different environments, the poodle, also called "poodle" by its name in English, is considered a of the most intelligent canine breeds For this reason it is easy to find poodles or crosses of these (such as the labradoodle or the goldendoodle) exercising different types of work, such as therapists in animal-assisted interventions or the of guide dogs for people with visual disabilities.
In addition, its cheerful and sociable temperament, its pretty appearance and its fidelity have made the poodle one of the most popular dogs for family life. If you share your life with a dog of this breed, mongrel or are thinking of adopting one, in this article on our site we tell you all the keys on how to educate a toy poodle, dwarf, medium and great
What to consider before starting with the education of the poodle?
Knowing the history of the breed of the dog that we want to adopt is an important step before incorporating the new member into the family. This is so because, depending on the objective with which each race was originally created, their physical and/or cognitive needs may vary in certain aspects and education that we provide must be adapted to them.
The poodle is a dog of French origin. In its beginnings, this breed was used to recover game that hunters shot down and fell into the water, such as ducks or geese. For this reason, breeders selected and encouraged characteristics such as versatility to navigate different terrains, physical resistance and the predisposition to jump into the water and swim.
From the 16th century, poodles stopped being used as hunting dogs to become the favorite breed of nobles and aristocrats. High society highly valued the elegant appearance of the poodle and, little by little, the practice of cutting their hair for aesthetic purposes became fashionable.
Nowadays we are used to seeing poodles at dog beauty shows and exhibitions and their distinguished appearance can make us think that this breed is fragile and delicate, but nothing could be further from the truth! Poodles retain the energetic temperament, the courage and strength of the time when they accompanied hunters and we must take this into account when educating them.
How to train a poodle puppy?
The education of the poodle does not require guidelines that are too different from those of other breeds. The poodle's intelligence and attachment to his guardians make him a very suitable dog for anyone who is willing to dedicate enough time and affection to him, even if he does not have much experience in dog training a priori.
Below, we mention some of the most important aspects to take into account when training a poodle puppy:
Early Socialization
Once the puppy comes home, one of our priorities should be Provide good socialization Poodles tend to be very social dogs by nature, but it is essential that, from a young age, we expose them little by little to the different stimuli that they will encounter throughout their lives to guarantee a good habituation to them and prevent the appearance of fears or phobias that, in turn, they can trigger behavior problems.
Socializing not only involves bringing the puppy together with other dogs, we must also familiarize him with people with different characteristics, with sounds and objects, and all this always respecting his rhythm, avoiding forcing interactions if we see that the puppy is insecure or scared and ensuring that they always have positive experiences. Of course, we must also provide a pleasant space to rest and be able to assimilate all this information.
Bite inhibition
Another of the basic exercises that should be done with the puppy is that related to bite inhibition and proper play. The natural way for puppies to play is to "hunt" and nibble on anything within reach, including our hands and feet, and this is no different for poodles. It is recommended to teach the puppy to control the force with which he bitesand get him used to always playing with us using toys such as ropes or teethers. In this way, we prevent him from being too abrupt as an adult and harming us or other people.
In our article "My dog plays too rough - why and what to do?" we tell you more about bite inhibition and how to practice it with your puppy.
Learning hygiene guidelines
All of us who have lived with puppies at home know that, during the first months, we have to go with the mop from here to there. And it is that puppies, until they are six or seven months old, are not able to endure without relieving themselves for more than a few consecutive hours, so we must be patient.
To start teaching our poodle to relieve himself in the street, we must wait until he has all his puppy vaccinations and, from then on, start to take him out for a walk and happily reinforce this behavior every time it occurs, while we stop rewarding the puppy when he relieves himself in a soaker inside the house.
Another useful tip to achieve this learning is to match the walks with the moments in which the puppy will most want to relieve himself: when he wakes up, a few minutes after eating and after finishing a meal. game session.
For more details, don't miss this other article on How to Teach a Puppy to Potty on the Street
Habituation to manipulation
In the specific case of the poodle, it is also important to get the puppy used to handling, both by the guardians and by other people. This is because, due to the characteristics of its coat, this breed must be brushed frequently to prevent knots from forming in its coat, which can cause pain and even circulatory problems in the most serious cases. In addition, poodles have a certain tendency to suffer from otitis and dermatological pathologies associated with allergies, problems whose solution also requires a certain level of manipulation.
To learn more about the he alth of this breed, we recommend you read this other article: "Most common diseases in poodle dogs"
How to train an adult poodle?
Once the puppy reaches sexual and social maturity, he is considered an adult dog. At this stage of life, the poodle has a series of needs, both physical and cognitive, that must be known and met to guarantee its well-being.
Physical stimulation in the poodle
It is important to give our poodle a sufficient amount of exercise, adapted to her age, preferences and state of he alth. To encourage physical activity, a good idea is to dedicate some time each day to play with the dog, which will also improve our relationship and bond with him. In addition, the poodle is an active and adventurous dog, so it also enjoys taking long walks and hiking with its guardians. Of course, if we take him to go on excursions in the mountains or in the countryside, it is essential to train the call exercisewell, since it is easy for the dog to get lost and move away, for example, following a trail. To do this, we can go for a walk using a long leash (3-5 meters) and call him by his name at random times while we reinforce the approach behavior through food, caresses or play. In this way, the dog will associate his name with positive experiences and he will be more likely to come to us when we ask him to
Little by little, we will be able to introduce new basic commands that facilitate coexistence and communication with our dog, such as "sit", especially useful during walks. Throughout this process of education and training of the adult or puppy poodle, it is essential to make use of positive reinforcement, since, through pleasant stimuli for the animal, it will be much easier for him to learn and internalize anything.
Mental stimulation in the poodle
On the other hand, and as we have already mentioned, poodles stand out for their intelligence, which means that they are easily bored and stressedif they do not find enough stimulation in their environment. To prevent the dog from developing behavioral problems associated with a lack of mental stimulation, it is advisable to carry out small training sessions on a frequent basis, teach him new tricks and skills through positive reinforcement and offer him fillable toys, interactive toys or puzzles that make him think, always trying not to make them too difficult, so that you don't get frustrated.
Furthermore, if you adopt an adult poodle, it is equally important to ensure that it is properly socialized If not, never It's too late to start this process. We recommend you visit our article "Socialize an adult dog" to learn the steps to follow.
Does the size of the poodle influence its education?
Currently there are four varieties of poodle recognized by the FCI (International Cinological Federation) and they are, ordered from smallest to largest, the toy poodle, the dwarf, the medium and the large. In this other article we explain the main characteristics of each one: Types of poodle - toy, dwarf, medium and large.
Despite this great diversity, size is practically the only difference between the four types of poodle, since there is almost no distinction between them at a behavioral level. This means that everyone has the same requirements regarding their education and we should not consider a toy or dwarf poodle as a more fragile or less capable individual, since the overprotection that is usually given to small dogs is precisely the cause of many behavioral problems.
Thus, the choice of one or another variety will respond solely to the personal tastes of the future tutor, his lifestyle and the economic investment he can or wants to make in terms of care and food.
