Imprint Program


There is nothing cuter than an 8-week-old puppy. But cute may not be much comfort at 3 a.m. when your newest family member is howling in his crate, and you have to be at work in a few hours. Young puppies need frequent potty breaks throughout the day. They need plenty of playtime and  training on basic commands. These are non-negotiable if you want to end up with a happy, well-adjusted, obedient dog.

The four-week SwissRidge Imprinting Program can catapult you over the toughest part of the adjustment to life with puppy. Developed in response to repeated requests for us to keep pups “a little longer,” this has now become a very popular program. The fee includes board and training, as well as the second round of vaccines along with a training leash and collar.

At 8 weeks of age, puppies enrolled in the Imprinting Program are placed with one of our experienced—and incredibly patient—puppy trainers. During that month, your pup will:

  • begin crate training
  • learn basic leash manners
  • gain an understanding of commands, such as “sit,” “down,” “come,” and walking on a leash.

The majority of puppies in this program go home knowing basic commands and are typically accident-free in the crate. Although every puppy is different and some may not be mature enough at this age to fully master commands, early imprinting will lay the foundation for later obedience training and help the puppy learn very quickly once it is in your care.

There are usually other puppies and adult dogs on site, so your pup will continue to learn bite inhibition and manners from good teachers: other dogs.

If you are worried about missing the critical bonding period with your pup, don’t be. Puppies are primed to learn and bond for the first 16 weeks of their lives, and even beyond. Your pup will quickly adapt to its new life when it joins you, and you’ll be ready to pick up the training baton, with the foundation already in place.

Some people leave their pups with us even longer. We are flexible!


Here’s what owners have to say about the imprinting program:


We just picked up our Gus, Mini Bernedoodle, and he stayed for the imprint training. Didn’t affect his bonding to us at all… I appreciated someone else doing the nightly vigils and crate training. And Gus walks very nicely on leash, no pulling at all, plus he knows sit, down, etc. I also noticed he’s not doing much nipping/biting, I think that’s because he learned bite inhibition being with the other pups in training. For us, it was well worth the money. ~ Vicki Scheeler

Highly recommend. Our Tiny Bernedoodle came to us in the end of August after the 4 week training. Getting her home at the age of 12 weeks was perfect for us. She had basic rules down….sit, down, familiar with crate schedule, and over all just very pleasant. Would do it again in a heartbeat. ~ Megan Harris

Willie stayed for the extra 4 weeks of training and I am happy he did. It had no effect on our bonding and it gave him a good start on all his basic training that included leash training, sit, stay, and potty training. You should not expect to get a fully trained dog at 12 weeks, but it gave him a valuable head start while at the same time enabled us both a little more sleep when he finally arrived. I say worth it!! ~ Melanie Spivak

Highly recommend. Finley has slept through the night since the day we got her, which has made it #1 in my book. She had great manners, too, but definitely didn’t miss out in the puppy stage if that is something you are worried about. ~ Jodi McCann

I got Oakley my English Mini Goldendoodle at 16 weeks after he had gone through 2 months of training with SwissRidge Kennels and I could not have been happier with the results. These are the most amazing, beautiful, and loving dogs but then getting a puppy that is crate trained, goes potty outside, sleeps through the night, loves his crate, knows how to walk on a leash, sit, lie down, give kisses, carry around a toy in his mouth, fetch, and give paw was such an added bonus. The transition was so easy for Oakley as he was comfortable and adaptable because he went through the training having this foundation to build upon. He had his routine down and never missed a beat settling right in so easily like he had been living with me for weeks already bonding with the family right away. I was sent his crate schedule, along with all these training notes and videos to continue on with everything he had learned and what to continue to work on. Sherry and her team have such genuine patience, love and care for these precious doodles and I highly recommend the training being worth the wait and every penny. I would do it again in a heartbeat! Thank you to Sherry and to the whole SwissRidge Kennels Team. ~ Joni and Oakley

Dakota came to us crate trained and potty trained. Her temperament is beyond amazing. I’m pretty sure she thinks she’s a human. I’m beginning to think she is too! She has a wonderful personality, and she is so smart! We only had Dakota five days when I had to go to an event, and I made Gracie in charge of her for the evening. Gracie texted me to tell me that Dakota went to her potty door and before she could get off the couch to let her out, Dakota took the bells off the door and dropped them in her lap. I mean how smart is smart??? ~ Michelle and Tim – Click here to read more about Dakota.