Your puppy's schedule has been, roughly:

7am Good Morning!  Morning nursing with Mama Winnie, Whole Food Casserole breakfast, outside playtime for 5-15 min (weather dependent.) Then playtime inside for 30-45 minutes, followed by nap time.

This repeats with snooze, eating, playtime, more potty breaks -and snuggles- throughout the day.

10pm Last Potty Break before bedtime.

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Potty Training

What's the first thing you do when you wake up?  (Not grab your phone, even though that may be the answer.)

You need to pee.  So does your puppy!  You can eliminate a lot of headaches and indoor puddles by being aware of when your puppy is waking from sleep and helping them outside to eliminate before they find that perfect spot on your floor.  Have your puppy area set up so you can easily take them out to where you want them to eliminate.

As they say in the Army, failure to plan is planning to fail.  You got this.

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We used these washable pee pads and the pups are very used to them.  I recommend buying a pack or two as your puppy potty trains. 

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POOP  They generally need to poop either upon waking or several minutes after eating -just like we do.  Be ready for it and you won't have little brown landmines for them to pounce in and you to step on.

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Accidents Happen. If you've had kids (and we have 6) you know that learning is a process and messy pants and puddles occur, despite your (and their) best efforts.  But did they grow up and still piddle their pants?  Generally, no.  With consistency and patience, your puppy will also learn the appropriate location for going to the bathroom. Dogs have very short memories, I've been told, and there is no use scolding them for making a mess because their sweet little brains just don't have the concept of "past." 

In the moment you can pick up your puppy, make a sound of correction, place them in the approved location and praise them, "Good potty!/Good poop!/Good outside!" Whatever term you pick.  And please do pick a term and remember consistency is key.  As a family, agree on what commands/words you will use so you don't confuse the puppy.

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Feeding

How Often, How Much and What?

Your puppies have grown up on mama's milk, transitioned to a mush of warm foods such as oatmeal, white rice blended with chicken drippings, bone broth and shredded chicken. By six weeks onward they were eating more solids, including sweet potato and scrambled eggs.  

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As they come home to you, your puppy will have been eating about 1/2 c food 4 times a day. Here's the recipe for our famous Doggone Good Casserole so you can make it yourself!

As they get older you can begin to space out meal time to 3 times and feed them increasing amounts as you observe they eat it.  There are lots of opinions as to how much and what your dog should eat.  I think it's fabulous to boost your dog's diet with meats and vegetables (they love cooked sweet potatoes) bone broth and even raw eggs.  Real food is the best preventative medicine.  

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I've read in multiple places that Golden Retrievers need regular, small meals so they don't overeat and make themselves sick.  In our experience, though, our dogs only eat when compelled to (if it's dry kibble) and will snack on their food at desired without gorging.  Each dog is different and you'll get to observe what works best for your new friend.

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Training

As said before, it's important for the whole family to know the terms and methods you'll be using to teach your puppy the language of proper dog etiquette.  My husband will laugh when he reads this because we were all so enthusiastic and certain of our determination to train our dogs masterfully -best behaved dogs in the neighborhood just waiting to be awarded- but, as owners, we missed the mark.  Still, we learned some tricks and know what we ought to do -which I'll happily share (as I chuckle at myself.)

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Find A Trainer

Whether you follow someone like Zak George on YouTube or sign up for a behavior class, it helps to find someone with a unified training philosophy that you can copy and integrate.  Keep it simple, keep it consistent, both in words and actions.  Is it okay for the dog to be on the couch "sometimes"?  That just means your dog now owns your couch.  Is it okay if your dog jumps up on you but not other people?  Your dog is going to jump on everybody.  

Your golden retriever is SO DARN SMART, but we humans are wonderful at confusing them through inconsistency.  Help a poor furry soul out and stick to your training plan.

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If you're local to Ottumwa, check out Pawsibilities Pet Training with Melissa Childs.