12 Week Old Labradoodle Puppy

A 12 weeks old Labradoodle puppy is growing in confidence, and probably pushing the boundaries a little. We take a look at how to get a brilliant start with training, and how to encourage good behavior. Sharing a schedule for feeding and potty training, along with some tips for raising your twelve week old puppy to be a relaxed member of the family.

12 week old Labradoodle schedule
Puppy potty training at twelve weeks
How to stop my 12 week old Labradoodle biting
Chewing and destructive behavior
Puppy socialization
Training and exercise
Feeding your 12 week old Labradoodle

12 Week Old Labradoodle Puppy Schedule

This routine is roughly what we follow for our puppies when they are 12 weeks old. Every dog is different, and your day will be different, but it gives you a good guide to what it is reasonable to expect at this stage.

6am meal time
6.10am potty break
8am potty break
9.30am potty break
11am meal time
11.10am potty break
1pm potty break
3pm meal time
3.10pm potty break
5pm potty break
6pm meal time
6.10pm potty break
8pm potty break
10pm potty break

Puppy Potty Training at Twelve Weeks

At 12 weeks old your Labradoodle puppy is starting to gain some control of their bladder, and hopefully building the right associations for where to go potty. Most 12 week old Labradoodle puppies can wait two hours between pees. If your puppy is having accidents before this time, go back to an easier schedule for a while for them.

Although you might feel your puppy knows where to potty now and is therefore being naughty if they pee or poop inside, this isn’t the case. Puppies have accidents either because they don’t have access to the outdoors quickly enough once their bladder is full.

12 Week Old Puppy Biting

If you are finding your puppy biting more at 12 weeks old, you’re not alone. This stage is one of the most full on for puppies. Their confidence has grown and they are easily excited. Play can be very rough, if you aren’t careful with your interactions.

Try not to play physically with your puppy, rough housing and wrestling are not likely to end well. Instead use toys and training to build up your bond.

If your puppy bites your hands, stand up and walk away. Put them into their crate if you can do so, or just leave the room so that there is a barrier between you. Over time their bite inhibition will improve if you stay calm and never allow them to be rewarded for their mouthing.

Chewing and Destructive Behavior

Chewing and destructive behavior are very common with puppies, and the best way to tackle this is with prevention. If there is a type of material your puppy is focussing on, like your wooden furniture, make sure that they have a toy of the same material that you can direct their attention onto.

Labradoodle Puppy Socialization

Puppies need to be exposed to lots of new experiences before they are four months old. This helps them to happily accept new people, places, sounds and smells as they grow older and become more cautious.

At twelve weeks old you should aim to have four different sets of guests over to your home and backyard during the week. And try to visit four totally varied new places with your puppy. Good locations to take them include bus stations, pet stores, and the school gates.

12 Week Old Puppy Training and Exercise

At this early stage puppies do not need formal exercise sessions like you might imagine an older dog needing. They spend a lot of their day running around and playing, burning off lots of energy and building up those little muscles. Your main focus should be on getting off on the right foot with training.

Think about the way you want your puppy to behave around your home and when you take them out as an older dog. Most owners want their dogs to be able to have fun in the dog park or backyard, but to relax indoors and around their human family.

Reward the Relax

You can encourage calm behavior by rewarding your pup for relaxing. Catch them in the act whenever they are laying down resting or sitting relaxing, by popping a few bits of kibble calmly by their feet.

Sit!

Early stages of sit can be taught from this stage by capturing the position using a clicker. Click and treat when they sit down, and start to build up those positive associations before adding your sit cue.

Come Here!

Help your dog to start developing a good recall early by blowing their recall whistle when you give them their dinner. When outdoors blow the whistle whenever they are running full pelt towards you, and give them lots of treats when they arrive. If they are reluctant make sure you are unpredictable in your movements to keep them interested, and try falling to the floor to encourage them to pounce up to you!

Heelwork

We prefer to teach a dog to walk nicely next to you without the leash to begin with. This is a great age to reward your dog for getting into heel, using a clicker to mark the position.

Feeding your 12 week old Labradoodle

At twelve weeks old your Labradoodle should be eating a high protein, high fat food with minimum fillers, designed for medium to large breed puppies.

It’s best to keep dividing their daily food into four meals, to help support their growing bodies.

Your 12 Week Old Labradoodle Puppy

Twelve week old Labradoodle puppies are bold, friendly and bundles of fun. You will need to be careful not to get them too excited, and have a good schedule for mealtimes and potty training.

Socialization is nearing its end for your puppy now, so make sure that you use these last few weeks wisely and help them to have lots of varied experiences. This will help them to grow into a confident, happy member of your family.