Labradoodle/Housebreaking

Question
Hi:

I recently purchased a medium sized Labradoodle for my mother after our family's Yellow Lab passed on in Dec. 2007.  My mother has not done the requisite things necessary for housebreaking, e.g. crate training, discipline after accidents, routine trips outside, etc.

She coddles the dog, and basically doesn't have the heart to discipline the dog.  Thus she has a 9 month old Labradoodle that relieves herself anywhere she wants.

I live in Ohio, and have found a "doggy boot camp" that specializes in housebreaking, though it's pricey at about 1200 bucks.

My brothers and I are all in our mid 20's and live within 2 hours of my mother, but none of us could take the dog on for the 2 or 3 weeks necessary to make progress with her housebreaking.

Would a camp like this be effective? Can you think of any alternatives? Thanks.

Answer
If all you need is housebreaking, then one of you could take the dog to your home and a couple weeks later take it back to mom.

Bootcamp, or as we call it board & train, runs $640 including boarding, for 2 weeks and is mainly for obedience training for folks that can't schedule convenient times for weekly lessons, and is followed by two hours of owner training. [in actual practice most of the normal 8 weeks is in owner traiing and 5% is dog training]. The dog would learn potty training by watching the other dogs and frfom the daily routins of feeding and outside potty. [all our runs are private indoor and outdoor spaces for each dog].

You could also inquire about a trainer or club in your mothers area and perhaps one of the members or trainers would take on the job.

Other than that, your mom doesn't understand the role of dog and owner.

Regards,
Henry Ruhwiedel
Westwind Kennels LLC