4-Week
Doodle
School™
Curriculum, tuition, and daily routine. An immersive, boutique imprinting experience available exclusively to Stokeshire puppies.
8-week puppy vs.
12-week Doodle School™ graduate.
Doodle School™ does not skip the puppy stage, it softens it. Here is a direct look at what four weeks of intentional, immersive formation tends to change.
| Category | Typical 8-Week Puppy | 12-Week Doodle School™ Graduate |
|---|---|---|
| Crate Comfort | Cries at night, resists crate | Familiar with crate, often seeks it out for rest |
| Potty Rhythm | Frequent accidents, no pattern | Structured potty schedule introduced and practiced |
| Sleep | Fragmented, inconsistent | More predictable nap and nighttime rhythm |
| Socialization | Minimal exposure | Daily calibrated exposures underway |
| Handling & Grooming | Resists nail touch, brushing, bath | Early desensitization to grooming and vet-style handling |
| Leash Experience | None | Gentle introduction to harness, collar, and leash cues |
| Emotional Regulation | Easily overwhelmed | Practicing settling, redirection, and calm recovery |
| Human Bond | Just beginning | Intentionally shaped through relationship-based routine |
Four weeks.
Built with intention.
Your puppy's four-week curriculum is designed to build confidence, rhythm, and emotional stability, not perfection. Skills are introduced in gentle, age-appropriate layers during the developmental window when habits tend to form most durably.
This is your puppy's Kindergarten. The first step in a lifetime of learning, not the last.
Orientation & Bonding
The first week is about trust, not technique. Your puppy is adjusting to a new environment with new sounds, rhythms, smells, and routines. The trainer focuses on building a calm, secure attachment and establishing the predictable daily structure that everything else will be built upon.
Crate introduction begins here, not as confinement but as a den. Early potty rhythm is anchored through consistent, timed outings.
Rhythm & Repetition
With the foundation of trust established, week two focuses on making routines durable. Crate comfort deepens. Potty patterns become more predictable. The puppy begins to anticipate the rhythm of their day, and that predictability is what supports emotional regulation.
Socialization work begins in earnest, introducing novel surfaces, sounds, and environments in carefully calibrated doses.
Skills & Confidence Building
Week three is where the work becomes visible. Short, focused training sessions introduce foundational hand signals: Sit, Come, Down, Kennel, and Wait. The puppy begins to understand that engagement and attention have value, and that calm behavior leads to connection and reward.
Grooming desensitization for ears, paws, coat, and teeth becomes part of the daily routine. The vet-style handling protocol begins.
Transition Prep & Home-Life Rehearsal
The final week is about durability and handoff. Skills are reinforced in new contexts. Your puppy's final go-home document is completed, covering their routine, the cues introduced, and what is still developing. The trainer prepares you for the first 72 hours, the first week, and beyond.
Pickup day includes a walkthrough of the routine and the cues your puppy has been practicing, so the handoff is a continuation rather than a reset.
Crate & Potty Conditioning
Rhythm · Sleep · SecurityThe crate is introduced as a den, a place of rest and safety. Structured potty outings are timed to build a predictable rhythm from the first day. Nighttime settling and quiet crate comfort are established before your puppy ever comes home.
House Manners & Early Obedience
Kindergarten-level foundationsSit, Down, Come, Kennel, Wait, and a positive interrupter are introduced using classical conditioning and positive reinforcement. Consistency varies by individual. We introduce, we do not force. The goal is durable association, not performance.
Leash & Handling Skills
Calm movement · Gentle careHarness, collar, and leash are introduced gently. Puppies are walked in low-stimulation environments, learning to move beside a person without fear or reactivity. Early leash work is foundation, not finished.
Confidence & Socialization
Real-world readinessOne socialization exposure per day drawn from our socialization framework: surfaces, sounds, environments, people, vehicles, animals. Each exposure is calibrated for the puppy's current threshold, never forced, always positive.
Grooming & Hygiene Routines
Care · Comfort · CooperationDaily handling of ears, paws, coat, teeth, and nails tends to build a puppy who accepts grooming calmly. Vet-style handling, including examination posture, ear cleaning, and paw holding, is practiced throughout the program.
Emotional Regulation
Settling · Recovery · ResilienceThe most important outcome is not a command, it is a nervous system. We cultivate the puppy's ability to settle, to recover from novelty, and to return to calm. This is the work that makes everything else possible throughout the life of the dog.
The daily rhythm
of a Doodle School™ puppy.
Gentle wake-up and immediate potty break. This anchors a predictable rhythm and reinforces where to go right from the start.
After breakfast, engagement remains calm and intentional rather than overstimulating. This helps puppies regulate their energy and focus for the day ahead.
Two to three focused sessions introduce age-appropriate skills using positive reinforcement and gentle repetition. Sessions are brief. Puppies learn in minutes, not hours.
Regular crate naps support brain development and emotional regulation while building a positive association with the crate as a safe den. Puppies sleep a great deal at this age, and should.
Play is intentional and supervised, using toys, puzzles, and simple games to build confidence, curiosity, and healthy outlets for normal puppy energy.
One age-appropriate exposure per day, such as new surfaces, car rides, or meeting safe people. Calibrated to the puppy's current threshold, never forced.
An evening potty break and calm crate time reinforce bedtime routines and reduce nighttime disruptions.
Puppies need significant sleep. An early, consistent bedtime supports healthy development and keeps your puppy on a family-friendly schedule before they come home.
Logistics, format,
and what to expect.
Doodle School™ is available exclusively to families who have placed a puppy with us. Enrollment is confirmed at Match Day, following your puppy's aptitude evaluation, and training begins the following week at eight weeks of age.
Placements are limited to a small number of puppies per quarter so every puppy receives individualized care and a developmentally rich environment. We do not run volume cohorts, and placement is not guaranteed by deposit or interest alone.
The developmental window when imprinting, bonding, and healthy routines tend to take hold most durably.
Your puppy lives with a Stokeshire-vetted trainer in a home, alongside the ordinary rhythms of a household.
Doodle School™ is delivered by several Stokeshire trainers. Approved trainers follow our written biosecurity, sanitation, vaccination, separation, and handling protocols and carry commercial liability and animal care coverage. You confirm your placement preference at checkout.
Progress, photos, and developmental notes throughout the program, and a final go-home document at graduation.
Monitored daily, with the deworming and vaccination schedule maintained. Second parvo and core vaccines are due at 12 weeks, and your veterinarian will administer these.
Added to your placement balance. Full terms are set out in the training agreement at checkout.
What happens
on graduation day.
Your trainer will:
- Walk you through your puppy's daily schedule
- Demonstrate crate, leash, and early obedience work
- Explain the cues, routines, and patterns established
- Prepare you for the first 48 to 72 hours at home
You will receive:
- The final go-home document
- Your puppy's health records
- A summary of what was practiced and what is still developing
- Continued access to the Stokeshire Companion App™
From the families
who have been through it.
Wonderful experience from start to finish. We did have our mini Bernedoodle go through Bootcamp and 4 weeks of Doodle School with Karlee, which was very helpful. She did a fantastic job. We are so in love with our newest family member, Zara.
Elizabeth Z. · Zara's Family · Stokeshire Doodle School™We brought Winston home at 12 weeks, 6 lbs of fluff who is now 24 lbs of love. His early training made a huge difference. He sleeps through the night, goes to his crate without a bribe, and has adjusted so well to our home. He's confident, smart, and full of puppy energy.
Michelle Bailey · Winston's Mom · Mini Bernedoodle · StokeshireQuestions about
trained doodle puppies.
Common questions from families researching trained puppies, pre-trained doodles, and what early imprinting actually produces. Answered with clarity, not hype.
Stokeshire Designer Doodles offers pre-trained doodle puppies through our 4-Week Doodle School™ program, available exclusively to families who have placed a puppy with us. Unlike programs that train generic puppies for resale, every Doodle School™ puppy is matched to a specific family before training begins, and the program is shaped around that family's goals and lifestyle.
Our trained doodle puppies graduate at approximately 12 weeks of age with a meaningful foundation in crate comfort, potty rhythm, early obedience, grooming desensitization, leash exposure, and emotional regulation, the skills that tend to make the transition home smoother.
Doodle School™ is delivered by several Stokeshire trainers, and we continue to add to the team. Depending on capacity and your puppy's needs, your puppy may stay with Katie Stokes at our Medford property or with another Stokeshire-approved trainer at an approved home in Wisconsin. In every case, puppies are raised in a home environment with their trainer.
Approved trainers follow Stokeshire's written protocols for biosecurity, sanitation, vaccination, separation, and handling, which are designed for puppies whose vaccine series is not yet complete. They carry commercial liability and animal care coverage. Their homes may include other dogs and, in some cases, cats, livestock, or poultry. For some puppies that exposure is an advantage, and we match accordingly.
Your enrollment, updates, documentation, and communication run through Stokeshire throughout, whoever your puppy stays with. You confirm your placement preference at checkout, and you may decline off-site placement. Meet our training team.
Most Doodle School™ graduates will have been introduced to Sit, Down, Come, Kennel, Wait, and a positive interrupter using positive reinforcement and hand signals. These are introductions, not finished behaviors. Consistency and continued practice at home are what create reliable, durable commands.
The more significant outcomes are not commands, they are emotional. A graduate tends to arrive knowing how to settle, how to accept handling, how to recover from novelty, and how to exist calmly in a home environment. That nervous system foundation is what makes everything else trainable.
The value of Doodle School™ is not primarily in the commands. It is in the first weeks at home. Families who bring home a graduate often report that the transition was calmer and less overwhelming than they anticipated. The puppy already knows the crate. The potty rhythm is already started. The handling is already familiar.
For families with young children, demanding schedules, or first-time puppy owners, the program tends to be most valuable in those earliest weeks. For families committed to continuing professional training, Doodle School™ provides the foundation their future trainer would otherwise have to build from scratch.
No. And any program that promises a fully trained puppy at 12 weeks should be approached with skepticism. Puppies are individuals with developing minds and natural learning curves. What Doodle School™ produces is a meaningful foundation, not a finished product.
Think of it as Kindergarten. Key skills are introduced, routines are established, and the puppy arrives prepared. Long-term mastery requires continued practice, consistency, and ideally ongoing work with a professional trainer in your home. We strongly recommend all Stokeshire families continue with a professional trainer after their puppy comes home.
Many board-and-train programs run sessions in a training facility during the day and house dogs in a kennel run overnight. Doodle School™ works differently: your puppy lives in a trainer's home, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for the full four-week program.
That means meals, naps, play, outings, and evenings all become part of the shaping. The trainer's home becomes your puppy's first world outside of Stokeshire, and the move to your home is a continuation of a home life already in progress.
Our program is also exclusively for Stokeshire puppies and begins during the eight to twelve week window, a period when many board-and-train facilities do not accept dogs at all, since this age requires constant supervision and specialized developmental knowledge.
Doodle School™ is available for all puppies raised through our program, including Australian Mountain Doodles, Golden Mountain Doodles, Bernedoodles in standard and mini, and other Stokeshire-bred companions. Because training begins at eight weeks and is calibrated to the individual puppy's temperament and development, the program adapts to each dog's natural pace and personality, regardless of breed cross.
Yes, and we communicate this clearly with every family. Doodle School™ is the beginning of a training journey, not the end. We encourage all families to work with a professional positive-reinforcement trainer in their home after go-home, and many of our families go on to pursue AKC Canine Good Citizen certification and beyond.
The foundation we build tends to make every subsequent training experience more effective. A puppy who already knows how to settle, engage, and accept handling is a puppy most professional trainers enjoy working with.
Most likely yes, and that is developmentally normal. The goal of our potty protocol is a predictable rhythm and an established awareness, not perfection. Your puppy will understand the concept of going outside and will have a practiced schedule. The frequency of accidents at home depends on how consistently you maintain the routine established in training.
The first few weeks at home benefit from the same timed-outing rhythm your trainer used. Families who follow the established schedule consistently tend to report a smoother experience than families starting from scratch with an eight-week-old.
Visits are arranged through Stokeshire rather than directly with your trainer, and are scheduled when appropriate and consistent with your puppy's routine, biosecurity protocols, and the privacy of the other dogs in care. Early in the program, visits can disrupt the bonding and settling process, so we will advise on the right window.
Regardless of proximity, families receive weekly updates, photos, and progress documentation through the Stokeshire Companion App™ throughout the program.
The industry is shifting
toward what we have believed
from the beginning.
Over the past several years, breeders across the country have adopted elements of the Doodle School™ model, including extended stays, in-home imprinting, and early training before go-home. We are glad to see it.
Behavior problems and a lack of early socialization are among the reasons dogs are rehomed or surrendered. By investing in early training, structure, and support, we are not only helping your family, we are contributing to what responsible breeding can look like. Fewer untrained dogs. Fewer overwhelmed families. Fewer dogs surrendered.
That depth of development before a puppy ever leaves our care is part of what distinguishes the Stokeshire program.
The Stokeshire
standard.
Doodle School™ tuition is added to your puppy's placement price and is confirmed and paid at Match Day, once your puppy is matched. Trainer schedules are reserved in advance and placements are limited, so enrollment is not guaranteed by deposit or interest alone.
The $5,600 covers 28 days of professional in-home care, all training sessions, socialization outings, grooming desensitization, weekly updates in the Stokeshire Companion App™, and the final go-home document at graduation.
It is the cost of your puppy's first month of intentional formation, during the window when this work tends to have the greatest effect.
Full payment, cancellation, and program terms are set out in the training agreement you review at checkout.
Four weeks.
A lifetime of difference.
Doodle School™ placements are confirmed at Match Day. Begin your journey with Stokeshire to secure your puppy and your training placement.
