We are very careful about outdoor exposure, to prevent our puppies from picking up parasites like Giardia and coccidia that are common in the environment. Older dogs with strong immune systems are generally unaffected, but a puppy still developing has a more difficult time. Since we prefer not to have to treat a sensitive system with harsh medications early on, we keep our puppies indoors for as long as they are with us so that they don’t have access to our big dogs’ outdoor area. Sometimes Mama or a puppy caregiver can inadvertently bring something in on their feet, but we also know the signs of gastrointestinal infection in puppies, so we test and treat accordingly when we have to. Our puppies’ long-term health is a top priority!
Our puppies spend daily time in our protected, outdoor puppy playground. It is completely separate from the outdoor area our big dogs use and is covered with rounded stone that is regularly bleached to keep it as sanitary as possible. Whether indoors or outdoors, our puppies are trained to an astro-turf potty system, which closely approximates grass and translates well to going outdoors after their adoption. Most of our puppy customers say our puppies are “90-95% potty trained” when they go home. It just takes consistency, taking them outside regularly and watching for cues to make sure they go out when they need to.
Golden Mountain Doodles and Aussie Mountain Doodles are both intelligent and highly trainable cross-breeds. They may quickly learn to let you know that they need to go outside by whining, barking, or scratching the door. Some decide to “bell train” with good success, as well.