I'm an inexperienced owner of a 5 month yellow lab bitch. I work part time, usually 3 hours or much less per day. How much play time, and how much walk time, should my dog be having? What should an ideal day's timetable look like?
Hi and welcome . They all differ of course, but looking back , mine used to be full of beans on waking, out into the garden to toilet , breakfast around 7 , then some play/training ( all fun ) . Walk of around 20 minutes , then in summer the door would be left open for access to the garden to play or just mooch around , but I didn't leave him unsupervised , plants, flowers and ponds are magnets ! Then a nap for around an hour before lunch , play/training session again , plus a walk in the afternoon of around 15 minutes followed by another nap . All the walks were on soft ground and mainly off lead, but I did lots of lead training in the garden . Sam would usually crash out after tea , and rarely played again in the evenings unless we were out in the garden with him . I did give him walks just on lead sometimes , teaching him to walk nicely , to stop at the kerb and ( eventually ) ignore distractions !
To add , as long as you don't overdo the exercise, and incorporate lots of training in a fun way , your pup will be fine . Short bursts of training is best , if they are pressed too hard, they will lose interest and start to mess around . Can I suggest you buy Pippas book , The Happy Puppy Handbook , via Amazon , it will be worth its weight in gold !
Hi and welcome from me and 4 year old girl, Harley. I too worked part-time when my girl was younger. Our typical day when she was 5 months old was: Wake up, breakfast and wee/poo around 7.30am Play for about 10 mins in the garden or house Leave for work at 9am - (she was crated until she was 6 months old) Back home by 12pm Out for a wee/poo then play for 10 mins Chill out for a bit Walk to local park around 2pm (5-10 mins on lead each way) with off lead play / training for 20 mins. I used this opportunity for lots of recall games. Back home and relax for a bit A few short training sessions over the next few hours Tea at 7pm then chill out for the rest of the evening Hope this helps a bit.
Thanks guys. I'll show Jess these replies as she thinks I should be at her disposal 24/7, and I occasionally want to watch Holby City undisturbed.
I take Keir (six months old) for either a 30 minutes lead walk or a 45 minute off lead walk each day. He gets 10 minutes grooming and teeth cleaning and four sets of ten minute training sessions through the day. Some pups settle very easily, some don’t. With Mollie, at 9pm, I put her on the lead to settle while I watched TV for an hour. This soon became a habit and then she didn’t need the lead. Filled, frozen Kongs are great to buy you calm time. Use food from their allowance so they don’t get overfed, soak and then freeze. Keir still gets four of these a day.
Frozen kongs , carotts and an antler are my lifelines. Mine is 19 weeks and I just made a phone call with him attached to my back! Learned to jump. From a sleeping position, onto my back. Fastened to me, I walked thru house to grab a kong , did a flip manoeuvre onto sofa, to then see my postie stood howling with laughter at the sight he had just seen thru window! The leaping and nipping that left us at 11 weeks is obviously returning! Oh joy! Tho rather me than his misshap on a walk yesterday with a neighbouring 7ft inflatable snowman which left me sooooo embarrassed and a wilting snowman!
I'd keep away from antlers. They're quite hard and can break teeth. The Kong Quest toys are good fun. They have lots of compartments where you can freeze food or jam in some large biscuits. We use them to keep Holly amused so we can enjoy a coffee in peace.
I was dubious about antler. Until my vet recommended them and Buffalo horns. Gave it a try and horn looks exactly the same after a month, and only 1 bitey croc tooth has gone so I figure they win over the corner of a chest of drawers he is drawn too chewing corner off lol
The problem is how hard they are. They can shatter teeth - our very own @Boogie's Tatze had to have surgery for a shattered tooth just a few weeks ago from biting down on something too hard. The fact it looks exactly the same after a month is BAD - it shows just how hard it is! Something like an Anco root would be far better. At least these roots soften slightly when they're chewed, but they're still very durable. For me, I'd choose a slightly chewed chest of drawers over potential pain and surgery for my puppy
Yes. Guide Dog pups are allowed smoked bones. Tatze was chewing one and shattered one of her big, three rooted teeth right down to the bottom of the root. She had to have an operation (£700) had a long three week recovery on soft food, she was quite poorly for three days and now has a big gap No more bones, antlers or anything hard for my dogs or pups. Frozen carrots are great for teething . .
Oh dear. Done it again. Ever time I make a comment on here I seem to end up left feeling like a spanked 6 yr old. I know we all have varied experience, and lots of choices out there, but jeez. Do people not realise how hurtful it can be when someone has taken advice from a qualified vet, made a joke about mutt chewing furniture, which i dont care about tbh, yet still end up feeling inadequate? Have just called my vet to question antler. Told if kept an eye on they are fine. Another good idea from them was to leave this site, which I did try to do a while ago when I asked a reasonable question only to be left in tears. No, I don't want a pup in pain and a huge vet bill, which is why I clearly checked it out! For the good tips etc, I thank all, but for the rest....no thanks
I`m sorry you feel this way @Tracey carr , I think we were all just trying to help by offering our own experiences, good and the bad too . No one on here would try to make you feel bad or inadequate , that's not what this forum is about at all, its about giving advice when its asked for .
I bought a small antler for my little chihuahua as she loves chewing, and then I happened to read about them being too hard so threw it. We have Daisy May now , a 12 week chocolate beautiful lab puppy, and I have been giving her carrots, Lilys kitchen beef gnaws and their fish skins, although she can demolish a fish skin in ten minutes where my chihuahua takes about an hour ! stuffed Kongs too.
I didn’t intend to upset you at all @Tracey carr. As I said, even Guide Dog pups are allowed the smoked bones. But I did give my own experience, which was a horrible one of a broken tooth and big, expensive, difficult op for my Tatze. I learned from it the hard way and thought it best to let others know that hard bones/antlers can be a real problem. No intention to make you feel inadequate whatsoever. ,
There are imitation antlers from Nylabone and others, that have some ground antler in them. They are cheaper and safer than the real thing.
each person draws of his/her experience on a forum like this if id had to suffer the pain and expense from a op on my dog then id never let em have a bone/ antler again then again if you have never gone through that you would keep using them how many are out there at the moment being chewed on with no problem its you and only you that can make the call that's the wonderful world we live in we don't have to agree with every one do wot you feel is right
True enough. But I very much wish I’d heeded warnings from people who have had this happen to their dog. Tatze can only properly chew on one side now and I feel sorry because it was my decision .
I hear you Boogie and my dogs don't get bone/antler/rawhide they do get softer treats the odd pig ear and denta stix my pup has lots of soft toys and a chicken flavour Nyla bone but that's just me its like at the moment there has bin a few cases of Alabama rot in Staffordshire and a lot of dog owners are now saying they will not take dogs up on the chase ect do you stop the walks up there over 2 cases
I’d almost definitely stop walking in a place there had been confirmed cases of Alabama Rot because, to me, it wouldn’t be worth the risk. Everything else aside, the thought of the guilt of knowing I could have avoided it if my dog did develop the condition would be enough to stop me. But if this was only place I could walk my dogs, I would have to take the risk but mitigate it as best I could. The difference is that no-one really knows how AR is transmitted at this stage, whereas we do know that hard objects break teeth. For me then, knowing that, it doesn’t make sense to risk it. Same as why I don’t throw sticks for my dogs - having heard several horror stories of dogs dying from carrying sticks, why would I let my dogs do it when it’s not necessary and there are other safer options to give enrichment? It’s not something I had ever thought of before joining up here, but now I know, it’s a no-brainer. Of course these may be considered unusual occurrences, but they’re also entirely avoidable with no negative consequences from doing so.
