Get Your Children Involved In Training Your Cockapoo

Training a Cockapoo with children may be challenging, as we all know. Choosing the right time for your kids to get engaged, teaching them specific lessons, and keeping them on track are just a few of the hurdles. The purpose of this article is to help you and your children better understand these challenges.

As a parent, getting your children involved in training your Cockapoo is, I believe,  essential. 

It helps in the development of stronger ties between dog and child. As a bonus, it can help eliminate your dog’s undesirable habits when it comes to children. 

All of your efforts to train your Cockapoo will be a waste of time if you and your family are not on the same page with training. 

In addition, teaching children to train their dogs may be a satisfying and enjoyable experience in and of itself.

Why Is Dog Training Crucial For Kids?

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According to the BMJ, they estimate, 2.5 per 100,000 of the UK population required hospital admission, and 740 per 100,000 were bitten by dogs. In 2019 8.859 people in England needed hospital treatment from dog bites. Thirty-seven were babies, 603 between one and four, and 538 were five to nine-year-olds.

You can help counter these numbers by teaching children about dog training, active supervision, proper puppy socialization, and instruction in dog body language.

Remember that the whole family should be involved in the process of training your Cockapoo because it will deliver far better results in the long term. 

The great thing about this is that kids are natural dog trainers and will do a fantastic job with proper guidance and patience.

Begin Your Child’s Cockapoo Training

With the proper guidance, your child can begin training your Cockapoo when your child or children are very young. As long as they can talk and walk, you should commence the training; it would help if you started with simple tasks. Consistency is the crucial element when it comes to your child and Cockapoo.

If your child is physically capable of replicating the training steps, the behavior is appropriate for their age. For example, walking on a lead should be postponed if your child doesn’t have the strength to restrain the dog. Begin teaching your Cockapoo to sit, and show your child how to hold a treat in front of the dog’s head before giving the command.

Your Training Checklist

First and foremost, let’s set the stage. Prepare your children and your Cockapoo for success. Everyone concerned will gain a massive amount from the quality training environment you create.

  • Choose a quiet location without distractions for dog and child.
  • Keep soft, bite-sized treats on hand.
  • You keep control of your Cockapoo at all times by keeping them on a lead.
  • Encourage your child with a small reward.

Teaching Basic Commands First

The two easiest commands to teach your Cockapoo are sit and come; start with these.

Ask your child to call your Cockapoo and have the treat ready when the dog comes. The same goes with Sit. Because you’ve previously trained your Cockapoo to these commands, they should quickly respond to your child.

It might seem redundant to teach these commands because your dog already knows them. However, the idea is to get your child and dog working together positively. Because your child has treats for your Cockapoo, it conditions your dog to pay attention to your child’s commands. 

Stop Your Cockapoo’s Jumping Behaviour

Jumping up is a typical dog behaviour towards children. From a dog’s point of view, kids are exciting, loud, and always running around, which is exciting for a dog. However, this behaviour establishes inappropriate play. Try the following to stop your Cockapoo from jumping on your child.

  • Please keep your dog on the lead but allow them to play.
  • Should your Cockapoo jump up, ask your child to fold their arms and turn away from the dog.
  • Simultaneously, pull on the lead, so the dog is away from your child.
  • Ask your child to return to your dog to play again once all four paws are back on the ground.
  • If your dog keeps jumping, have your give the sit command and reward your Cockapoo with a treat when they obey. 

Train Mouthy Cockapoo Puppies

Training to prevent mouthing is much the same as for jumping. Mouthing is a natural way puppies investigate their surroundings, and excitable children can exacerbate the issue. You can train a Cockapoo puppy to stop mouthing the same way you did for jumping. 

Immediately a puppy starts to mouth; your child should fold their arms and turn away.  If your Cockapoo continues mouthing when your child turns away, leave the room with the puppy; remember the puppy is on the lead and will have to follow you. 

Final Thoughts 

You will be responsible for ensuring that your child maintains a consistent training schedule. Setting up a fun training environment with plenty of treats and praise for your child and dog is the quickest method to accomplish this. 

You might make it a game or create reward milestones for the amount of time your child devotes to your training sessions. In addition, the first few times, you’ll want to demonstrate for them so they can repeat what you’re doing.