The goal of training is to produce a dog that you can live with. There are a wide variety of training levels among people and their poodles. Some what a high flying agility dog, a steady retriever, a show dog, or a search and rescue dog, the options are endless with a versatile poodle.

The minimum goal for everyone is a dog that can be a friend, interact with guest, and understand the family rules.

Housebreaking

Puppies naturally want to be clean. If the breeder gave them a good start they were given an area to sleep and play in and a separate area to eliminate in. They would have been taken outside once they were old enough and the housebreaking process begun. Puppies that were not given adequate space and were kept in dirty conditions may have lost their natural desire to stay clean. With consistent training any poodle can be housebroken.

When you are not watching your puppy it should be in a crate or puppy pen. As it becomes more successful at housebreaking you can give it more space. Many people use the kitchen as it is the center of the household, has easy to clean floors, is usually near a back door, and can be gated off from the rest of the house.

As a general rule puppies can wait to eliminate for 1 hour for every month old they are. They usually need to eliminate within 5 minutes of eating or waking.

Find a word that you would like to use to teach your pup to eliminate on command. Something like "go potty" or  "hurry up"

Praise, Praise, Praise your puppy every time so they learn what is acceptable. This is the first step in teaching your puppy to listen and respond to you. Always be positive with your puppy.

It is important to establish a daily routine. Suggestions for 6am to 10 pm for a 2 month old puppy.

1. 6am : Wake up and take the puppy out.
2. 6:30: Feed puppy, allow 20 minutes to eat, remove food and take puppy out again.
3. Puppy plays and then falls asleep.
4. 8:30 Take puppy out.
5. 10:30 Puppy out
6. 12:30 feed and take puppy out.

7. Repeat.  If you are feeding your puppy three times a day you will need to repeat this cycle every time.

If the puppy is 2 months old it will need to go out at least 8 times in a 16 hour period.
If the puppy is 3 months old it will need to go out at least 5 times in a 16 hour period.

After you get to know your puppy you will learn its signs, sniffing around the floor searching for a spot etc, take it out at the first possible sign.

A puppy can not go all night without relieving itself. If you don't want to get up in the middle of the night expect accidents until it has matured physically.

If your puppy has an accident roll up a newspaper and hit yourself over the head saying "bad owner take the puppy out". Never hit a puppy, fear should never be a part of training. You want a dog that trust you and is willing to do what ever you ask. You can easily turn a confident puppy into a nervous pup, poodles are a very intelligent breed and naturally want to please you.

Submissive urination - is not a housebreaking issue. Some puppies urinate to show they are submissive. This behavior goes back to the days of wild dogs where status within a pack was important and the more submissive dogs urinated to show their position to the dominate dogs. Ignore this behavior. Your puppy will soon outgrow this as they mature and become more confident. If your puppy urinates whenever it greets new people take it outside to meet them, it keeps your house clean.

Basic Manners

Housebreaking is time consuming and now you want me to train the puppy to sit, stay, come when called, walk on a leash, etc?

Yes, a puppy can learn many things at once.  Get some good healthy treats. You can use chicken, dog kibble or a manufactured treats with good quality ingredients. You only need small treats. Be careful not to overfeed your puppy.

Common Sense Training takes only a few minutes at a time. Prior to feeding your puppy tell it to Sit. Gently put in a sitting position and praise your puppy. Give it a few pieces of kibble. Repeat a few times, your puppy should catch on quickly, after all its a poodle!
Now feed your puppy. You have taught your puppy several things: Not to jump on you when you have food in your hands, and to sit before eating. By doing this several times a day you will soon have a puppy that sits when it's time to eat.

Leave it is one of the most useful and necessary words for your puppy to learn. It keeps the puppy safe when it picks up an object it shouldn't have. If your pup picks up your best dress shoes it's thinking "Wow new toy", your thinking "not my shoes!"  Say leave it then gently take the object from the puppy and replace it with another toy or treat. Eventually your puppy will drop what it has and start looking for a treat whenever it hears leave it. Best to practice with one of puppies toys not your best shoe. I taught leave it to one of my poodles that loved to retrieve tennis balls. She would bring me a tennis ball I said leave it, she would drop it and then I immediately threw it again. Imagine her delight when she realized that leave it meant I would throw her ball again. A reward does not have to be food, it can be a favorite toy or game.

Coming when called: Open the crate in the morning and call your puppy staying within a few feet of the door....success your puppy runs right to you. Anytime you think your puppy is motivated to come to you call it and praise it when it comes. This will teach your puppy that the best place to be is next to you. Never call a puppy to you and scold it, or take it for a bath or other activity that won't be high on his fun thing to do list. Always go get your puppy for this type of activity. Remember you are the positive one the puppy wants to be with.

As your puppy gets older put it on it's leash and call it, you need to be more exciting than its surroundings to get a good response. Call the puppy and gently lure it with treats to you, Praise it for coming! As you become successful use a longer leash until your puppy reliably comes.

Sometimes you just need your dog to stay put. One of the best times to teach stay is when it is quiet in your home and there are few distractions. If you are watching t.v. in the evening sit on the ground with some treats. Ask the puppy to sit, treat the puppy. Now ask it to stay (while sitting). Praise your puppy when it does not get up. Treat for staying. If your puppy gets up gently place in sitting position and tell it to stay. When your puppy stays give it a treat. As it becomes more successful ask it to stay for longer periods of time before treating. If the puppy gets up too soon you may have to back up to a shorter time. Use a release word like "okay" so it know when it is time to move. You can teach stay before feeding, when you open the door (so the puppy does not rush out to greet people) or at any time. Stay should also be practiced in the down position.

To teach lie or down. Pick a command you are comfortable with. Practice when you are sitting or crouching on the floor with the puppy. Standing over a puppy is not the best way to teach it to lie down and can be frighting. Never push a puppy to the ground. Use food to lure the puppy to lie down. Remember to praise your puppy.

Off can be taught any time a puppy jumps up on you, anyone else, or the furniture. It teaches a puppy to keep all four feet on the floor. Training should be a positive experience, keeping treats in your pocket or on a handy counter for easy access. Say off, put the puppy on the floor and treat. Or you can say off, wait for the puppy to get all four feet on the floor and immediately treat. Timing is very important, treat as soon as the puppy is on the floor so they understand exactly what is expected of them.

Walking on a leash First the puppy should get used to the collar, let the puppy where it around the house. Remove the collar when puppy is crated or penned. Some puppies immediately accept a collar, others take a day or two before they get used to one.Once the puppy is used to the collar, stops biting or scratching at it you can attach a leash to it. Allow it to drag the leash around to get used to it. This is done only under close supervision so the puppy does not get tangled on a chair leg or other furniture and injures itself. Now go get the mail, or take the trash out and take the puppy with you. Take treats to lure the puppy to follow. Praise the puppy, be upbeat and have fun. Pretty soon the puppy will think the leash means new adventure. When the puppy is old enough and has the recommend vaccinations for your area (check with your vet) start walking in your neighborhood.  Great exercise for you and the puppy to.

Your puppy needs somewhere safe to stay when you can't supervise it closely. Go Crate is the command I teach my dogs to go into their crate. Toss some food in the crate so the puppy will go in without you lifting or pushing it in. Do this several times and do not close the door. Once the puppy is used to the command close the door. I feed my dogs in their crate,  it is one of their favorite times of the day. If you have multiple dogs this keeps them from fighting, one eating more than the other, and you can tell how well a dog is eating.

No, an important word. It should not be the most common word a puppy hears. My dogs rarely hear it, usually only when they are in danger. Like a puppy about to bite an electrical cord. (Please puppy proof your home) A puppy should not hear its name before no such as "Maggie no". No should be a stand alone command. Leave it is a far more useful command and is usually better used.  It is easier to teach a puppy the right thing to do than to be constantly chasing it around telling it no.

Hints

Keep a collar and leash on the puppy when you can closely supervise it indoors. This allows you to catch it and quickly take it outside if needed or stop unwanted behavior by calling the puppy to you and redirecting it. Chewing on the cabinets? Calmly tell the puppy no, take the leash and lead the puppy away from the cabinets. Give the puppy something appropriate to chew on.

Never leave a puppy in a crate with a collar on. Collars and leashes can easily get tangled or hung on a crate or pen, accidents happen when you least expect them to.

An exercised puppy is a good puppy make sure your puppy gets plenty of exercise. A puppy shouldn't be left in a crate 16 hours a day. Imagine being in a confined area and suddenly released, you would be so excited you wouldn't no what to do first. That is what a dog feels like when it is let out of a confined space, it races through the house, jumps on the furniture, zooms through the kitchen, and jumps and bites at your hands and clothes. A poodle needs physical and mental stimulation.

A rested puppy is a good puppy make sure your puppy has enough quiet time to sleep. Exhausted puppies can't focus and get cranky just like people. Constantly playing with children is amusing for children but not for a puppy.

Do not repeat a command over and over until the puppy responds. Make sure you have the puppies attention, give a command once, and gently move the puppy into the position you want it. Repeating a command teaches the dog it does not have to respond until you say something 3, 4 or more times. Don't forget to treat and praise! If you don't train your puppy it will train you.

Training is best when done a few minutes at a time over the course of the day. This is a natural way to teach your puppy to focus on you.

Leaving your puppy. Don't make a big fuss when you leave and return from home. Place the puppy in the crate a few minutes before you leave. Calmly finish what you need to do and leave. There is no need to reassure the puppy you will be back soon....this just teaches them that there is something wrong when you leave and you may make your dog anxious. Likewise when you return, hang up your coat , take care of what you need to and them calmly let the puppy out of its crate to take outside. Do not make a big fuss greeting them the moment you walk in the door. They may tug at your heartstrings with those big pleading brown eyes but if they learn that coming and going is a normal part of any day they will quickly accept your coming and going without any fuss. 

Fun Make it fun for both of you. Practice in new places, make games up to go with the commands and enjoy being with your puppy. Your puppy will learn more quickly......a poodles brain is very active. Ever looked at your poodle and you can just see the wheels turning?  

Don't expect perfection a puppies brain goes through several phases of development. Some times they learn very easily. Then they hit those adolescent months where they can't seem to focus and forget everything they learned. Be patient, keep reinforcing your training and your puppy will mature into a well behaved member of the family.

Praise, Praise, Praise every time your puppy does something right!