I've had the luxury of a lot of time to spend with Bonnie over the first 4 months of her life and we've had a ball with training and treats, walking and talking! Now, however, I have to get back to the serious business of earning some money (to keep up with those treat bills!!) I work from home, so Bonnie being left alone isn't a problem. However, I'm still finding she wants my undivided attention all day and I'm just curious what other people's puppies DO all day!! Here's our schedule: 8am breakfast and then a walk 9am she sleeps 10am she wants to play again.....! (this is when I need to start working) 12.30 off to the woods for a walk again 1pm - a little sleep if we're lucky 2.30pm - she's alert and wants attention again.... (again, I need to be working!) 5pm - dinner and a walk 6pm - we come home and have a little play 6.30pm onwards, she's pretty chilled out for the rest of the evening; we might play a bit and have a few garden breaks but that's it. So, basically, we have three x 1 hour walks per day and little bursts of play/training. I also try and give her games to play on her own - like trying to get some of her kibble from a milk carton or hiding treats round the house. She has tons of chew toys too. She can play on her own but does tend to whinge if I'm on the phone or the computer and she knows she's not the centre of my world (for that moment!)... I expect, to a certain extent, she's been spoilt with lots of attention, but I don't think I've overdone it. I have tried to encourage independent play and have obviously had other things to do during the day. Any thoughts on how we can settle into a routine that's more conducive to me working!? Thanks!
Re: What does your puppy do all day? I think it must be a typo that she gets 3 x 1hr walks a day? That's too much for a small pup. Charlie is a dog that constantly wants "his stuff". He wants his morning walk, his breakfast, his chew, his lunchtime walk, his garden training....always waiting for his next activity. So I'm strict with the cues that it's "not play time now". If my laptop is open, it's not dog time - and I don't confuse this by giving him bits of attention. He settles down when I open my laptop, and jumps up the second I take off my reading glasses! He'll come and stick his nose on my laptop if he thinks I'm really late, but on the whole now he is pretty good. Dogs are excellent at picking up on these context cues. So work out your routine, and just stick to it.
Re: What does your puppy do all day? Have you crate trained her? If not this might be an idea to look into. Once used to the crate you can shut her in there for an hour or two at a time whilst you do some work. You could have the crate in the same room as you but this may cause her to whine so it might be best to start off with it in a different room. Once she gets used to it she will start to realise that crate time is quiet time. If you don't want to use a crate then the same effect could possible be achieved by just using a bed. I know if I'm sat up to the computer and I put Penny's bed by my feet she will just curl up and go to sleep, but she is 2 now and it has taken a long time for us to get to this point.
Re: What does your puppy do all day? Chepi is 10 months now. Up at 6.30, breakfast, watch the news and she has a snooze for half an hour or so. 8.30 ish out for a walk, about 40-45 mins. Home, Chepi will have a little sleep while I potter around the house. 12 ish, she still has part of her day's food at lunch - perhaps a kong. 1.30 or 2pm, second walk, again about 40 mins Home for a snooze and spend the afternoon mucking about in and out of the garden about 100 times. 4pm or 5pm Tea time. We'll have lots of little plays during the day. Recall training out on walks. Only 2 walks. On days when I am at work she goes to day care. The dogs play and snooze and socialise but don't go out on walks. She doesn't get a walk on day care days as that would be too much.
Re: What does your puppy do all day? Juno was crate trained so when I need to focus on something other than her I would tell her to go to her bed and she happily crashed out in there with a toy for company. She then had lots of fuss for being a good girl when let out. Generally though she has always been happy to come and either lay on feet or curl up in her bed. Our routine is up at 8:00 and out into the garden for wee/poo followed by breakfast Play/training in the garden 11:30ish for around 20-30 minutes Dentastix around 13:30 15:00ish walk for around 45 minutes 18:30 to 19:00 Dinner followed by a walk around the garden 30 minutes play in the living room with a tugger/squeaky toy etc and then settle down for the evening.
Re: What does your puppy do all day? Gypsy Up at 7:30 8:00am Breakfast 9:00am Free Run with Tatze (Reservoir/woods/park/lake) 10:30am home 12:00 noon - work time. Train, bus, café. shopping centre, garden centre or friend's house. 1:30 home 4:00 training session (15 mins) 7:00 meal 8:00 front room with Mummy and snooze 10:m bed (in between times play with Tatze and/or snooze) Tatze Up at 7:30 8:00am Breakfast 9:00am Free Run with Gypsy (Reservoir/woods/park/lake) 10:30am home 12:00 noon walk round the block with Daddy 12:30 home 5:00 training session (15 mins) 7:00 meal 8:00 front room with Mummy and snooze 10:00pm bed (in between time play with Gypsy and/or snooze) ;D On Fridays Mummy goes to work so Daddy has it all to do!
Re: What does your puppy do all day? Mine are 7 months old today. I work from home and the pups are in the same room as me. Get up 7am - 7:30am. Let them out for wees and poos, and play with them while I have my morning cuppa. 8am - first dog gets walked/trained for around 30 minutes. 8:30am - second dog gets walked/trained for around 30 minutes. 9am - breakfast After breakfast, it's snooze time until about midday. They may wake up for a bit of a play with each other in this time, as well as popping in and out. If the weather is nice, I leave the door open for them so it doesn't disturb me, otherwise, I let them out when they ask. 12pm - if awake, I'll do some training with them for about ten minutes. 1pm - lunch time. I prefer to continue to feed three meals a day, because it breaks the day up for them. They'll then sleep, play and mooch until about 5 - 5:30, when I take them out together for a walk. This is normally around 45 minutes - occasionally a little longer, depending on weather, the route I choose and how many pine cones they find for me to throw They'll then sleep, play and mooch again until dinner time, which is normally around 8pm. I try to slot in a couple of other short training sessions in the day, depending on how active they're being. In general, though, they do sleep a lot!
Re: What does your puppy do all day? Pongo - 15 months (and a very laid-back labrador!). We both work from home, also with laptop and papers. (Pongo is very jealous of laptop!) His 'normal' day is like this. It works like this around 4 or 5 days a week. 7.30 Wakes up when OH goes into kitchen to make cup of tea, but doesn't move from sofa 8.00 Walk round garden with OH. Say 10 - 15 minutes. 8.15 BREAKFAST - vast excitement. Eaten in about 60 seconds. 8.16 Helps us make breakfast then snooze while we work. 9.30 Begins to nag us for his morning walk (we try to ignore him til at least 10am) 10.30 Morning walk - say one hour 11.30 More snoozing. 1pm Helps us make lunch and shares some. 1.30 More snoozing. 4.00 Maybe another short-ish walk -say half an hour - maybe play in the house.... something where he is the centre of attention! 5.00 Mooching around the house with us or more snoozing 6.30 DINNER - vast excitement 6.31 Helps us make our dinner then plays the 'who looks most generous tonight' game while we eat in front of telly. 7.00 Back to snoozing. 10.30 Forced awake (he likes to pretend to be fast asleep) and out for bedtime walk round garden - say 10-15 minutes. 10.45 Bedtime biscuit and sleep. On the other two or three days a week he'll get a longer walk, maybe two hours? The rest of the day is pretty similar. And then occasionally he goes to doggy daycare where they play together and (sometimes) go for a group walk. I do worry that this is a boring old routine for him. But to be honest he seems perfectly happy to snooze his day away (once he has obtained his rightful morning walk), he's not overweight and seems content - so I've decided that it's fine!
Re: What does your puppy do all day? Bella is just over 5 months .... 7am - 8am wake up time, wees and poos, play, breakfast, training ( ten mins) 8am- snooze on the sofa watching the news 8.45 - another wee and poo and a play outside 9am- mum goes to work, Bella left with 2-3 Kongs, plays, sleeps 11 am- puppy visit , half hour play time, wees, sleeps 1-1.30pm - puppy play time with 3 others - today creating a mud bath in mummy's house .... : 4.30-pm- mum home. Bella has slept in the afternoon and given more Kongs with her lunch allowance to play with. 5-5.30 pm walk, dinner, play 7.30 - sleeps 10pm - wees, poo, bedtime
Re: What does your puppy do all day? [quote author=CDM link=topic=10133.msg148390#msg148390 date=1425929841] Bella is just over 5 months .... 7am - 8am wake up time, wees and poos, play, breakfast, training ( ten mins) 8am- snooze on the sofa watching the news 8.45 - another wee and poo and a play outside 9am- mum goes to work, Bella left with 2-3 Kongs, plays, sleeps 11 am- puppy visit , half hour play time, wees, sleeps 1-1.30pm - puppy play time with 3 others - today creating a mud bath in mummy's house .... : 4.30-pm- mum home. Bella has slept in the afternoon and given more Kongs with her lunch allowance to play with. 5-5.30 pm walk, dinner, play 7.30 - sleeps 10pm - wees, poo, bedtime [/quote] This is almost identical to Rue's day! Lots of kongs and walks throughout the day while we're at work. Do you have someone that stops by to walk her that has other dogs? (Noticing the puppy play time slot.)
Re: What does your puppy do all day? Before we all feel so very guilty...just think... His Royal Hairiness' day vs my day....(working afternoons, it's not always the same...) 6am HRH : demand tummy rubs on his back in bed. Me: rush, rush, rush chores (OH does tummy rubs). 6.30am HRH: Snooze in armchair while waiting for dog walker. Me: cup of coffee, while I get the dryer unpacked. 7.00am HRH: Out for a walk with dog walker. Me: morning conference calls. 8.15am HRH: Dash in and jump on laptop demanding breakfast. Me: sigh.... 8.30am HRH: It's chew time! Then snooze.... Me: work, work, work 10.30am HRH: Walk and training time. Me: same. 11.45 am HRH: get rubbed with towel, big drink, eat kong. Me: shower to get rid of mud, dress for work, while falling over the dog. Noon HRH: 4 frozen kongs in bed, then snooze. Me: commute through London to work...hoping I might have time to get lunch 3pm HRH: Out for walk with dog walker. Me: work, work, work. 5pm HRH: OH home, out for a walk to the park with OH. Me: work, work, work 6pm - 8pm HRH: dinner, snooze, tummy rubs in front of the fire Me: commute through London... And so on....
Re: What does your puppy do all day? This is so interesting!! Thanks for the fantastic replies. So, ...I think we're on the right lines, I might introduce a frozen kong lunch into our day and then try and stay consistent with the routine... but I guess my little pooch is just going to have to get used to the fact a Laptop and a Labrador are important things in mum's life!!! 8)
Re: What does your puppy do all day? [quote author=Rue7514 link=topic=10133.msg148394#msg148394 date=1425931697] [quote author=CDM link=topic=10133.msg148390#msg148390 date=1425929841] Bella is just over 5 months .... 7am - 8am wake up time, wees and poos, play, breakfast, training ( ten mins) 8am- snooze on the sofa watching the news 8.45 - another wee and poo and a play outside 9am- mum goes to work, Bella left with 2-3 Kongs, plays, sleeps 11 am- puppy visit , half hour play time, wees, sleeps 1-1.30pm - puppy play time with 3 others - today creating a mud bath in mummy's house .... : 4.30-pm- mum home. Bella has slept in the afternoon and given more Kongs with her lunch allowance to play with. 5-5.30 pm walk, dinner, play 7.30 - sleeps 10pm - wees, poo, bedtime [/quote] This is almost identical to Rue's day! Lots of kongs and walks throughout the day while we're at work. Do you have someone that stops by to walk her that has other dogs? (Noticing the puppy play time slot.) [/quote] The puppy sitter has several other puppies booked on in the area so she gets them all together, although it's far too many to be in one persons house IMO it was a complete mess today mud everywhere and on the walls :-[ , it always seems to occur at my house as the others aren't keen for them all running around.... I've given notice anyway due to some other issues with the company but hoping her and one of her other puppy friends can still meet up as we are both switching!!
Re: What does your puppy do all day? Max is just over 8 months old. 6.30am - wakes up 7am - breakfast 9am - walk 10am-12.30pm - sleeps 1pm - small lunch, games, training 2pm-3pm - short sleep 3.30pm-4.15pm - second walk 4.15pm-5.30pm - sleep 6.30pm - dinner, games, training 7.30pm - snoozes until bedtime at 11pm. I find that Max isn't fantastic at amusing himself when awake but does sleep a lot during the day which allows me to work, do housework etc.
Re: What does your puppy do all day? [quote author=CDM link=topic=10133.msg148404#msg148404 date=1425934448] [quote author=Rue7514 link=topic=10133.msg148394#msg148394 date=1425931697] [quote author=CDM link=topic=10133.msg148390#msg148390 date=1425929841] Bella is just over 5 months .... 7am - 8am wake up time, wees and poos, play, breakfast, training ( ten mins) 8am- snooze on the sofa watching the news 8.45 - another wee and poo and a play outside 9am- mum goes to work, Bella left with 2-3 Kongs, plays, sleeps 11 am- puppy visit , half hour play time, wees, sleeps 1-1.30pm - puppy play time with 3 others - today creating a mud bath in mummy's house .... : 4.30-pm- mum home. Bella has slept in the afternoon and given more Kongs with her lunch allowance to play with. 5-5.30 pm walk, dinner, play 7.30 - sleeps 10pm - wees, poo, bedtime [/quote] This is almost identical to Rue's day! Lots of kongs and walks throughout the day while we're at work. Do you have someone that stops by to walk her that has other dogs? (Noticing the puppy play time slot.) [/quote] The puppy sitter has several other puppies booked on in the area so she gets them all together, although it's far too many to be in one persons house IMO it was a complete mess today mud everywhere and on the walls :-[ , it always seems to occur at my house as the others aren't keen for them all running around.... I've given notice anyway due to some other issues with the company but hoping her and one of her other puppy friends can still meet up as we are both switching!! [/quote] Oh no, I can't do excessive mud. Rue tracked in a ton of mud yesterday from the melting snow and I about lost my mind. I do not blame you one bit for being irritated by that.
Re: What does your puppy do all day? My Bella is 6 months...her week day routine: 6am - up with mommy - breakfast, farm chores 6:30 - mommy goes to shower, Bella goes back to bed 7:30 - daddy gets up and all move to the sofa for more snooze time 8-10 - daddy leaves and takes Bella to the winery 10-2 - some crate time, some box shredding time, a break for lunch, a quick walk for potty. 2-5:30 - generally more crate time, some box shredding time, and if Bella makes a fuss - a walk for quick potty. 5:30 - MOMMY!!!! shows up at the winery, quick walk around the block to go potty - then in the car for the drive home 6:30 - dinner, farm chores, make dinner for daddy...play with big sister Crystal... 7:30 - daddy comes home - play for a bit , snooze on the couch 9:30 - bed time! We don't have much structured training time other than sitting to wait for meals to be served, and loose lead walks with mommy - probably should, but it just doesn't happen regularly. If she seems a bit stir crazy, then I do try and do a few minutes with her to make her think. And we often do it while waiting for daddy to get home - mostly trick type things, as her basic sit, down, shake, stay are all pretty solid...well....stay needs some work : ...but still. On the weekends - we have much longer and exciting walks each day...and work on recall mostly - she does have more trouble settling for a snooze on the weekend, since she's not used to spending her days with me....so sometimes I tuck her into her crate for a bit of a snooze.
Re: What does your puppy do all day? Reading all these makes me feel bad because we dont have a routine at all. Well ok, 2 days a week we have routine when I am out all day working: 7am up outside for wee/poo bit of a play if i am awake enough! 7.30 breakfast 8am i go to work maisie goes into her crate and murphy goes on sofa, both with kongs 10ish my dog walker arrives and lets maisie out for a wee and a play, then back in crate around half 10 with kong whilst she takes murphy out for walk. 12ish dog walker brings murphy home, lets maisie out of crate for quick wee and then leaves both. 1ish dog walker comes back and spends good half hour at mine playing with dogs etc and she has her lunch. 3ish dog walker comes back for another wee break unless me or OH are on way home. 6ish tea time for everyone Evening of play, maybe bit of training maybe evening walk on lead 10ish bedtime At the mo the visits are frequent when we are out all day for maisie as she is only 15 weeks. The other 3 days a week vary hugely depending on my work. Today went like this: 7am up for toilet and then I put maisie back in her crate and murphy came up to bed with me until 8 ish 8ish breakfast - did some training with maisie with her breakfast 9.45 vets with murphy for anal gland emptying (bleurgh) 10.15 walk on lead with maisie- lots of sniffing, and loose lead training 10.40-12 some play And snoozing from both 12-1 off lead walk with murphy - mainly with flinger and tennis ball but did a few sit and waits etc maisie has lunch when i return 1.30 i go to work both have kongs 3pm oh returns Playing, snoozing and helping me do chores 6.30 dinner Now snoozing until bedtime! Days vary so much, sometimes murphy will have two off lead walks, sometimes an off lead and on lead, depends when im working and where!
Re: What does your puppy do all day? Amber's is 12 months now. Her routine varies as I work 3 different shift patterns. When I work days, Amber up at 5.45am toilet, breakfast, quick sofa cuddles, crate time when I leave. Then 7 or 7.30am fiancé gets up and Amber potters and tries to steal his breakie. When other half is out to work she's in he kitchen or in her crate. If he's going to be out longer than 4 or 5 hours his mum pops in for an hour or so and cleans a bit (my fairy godmother) and Amber potters and plays with her and has toilet breaks. 5.30pm I get home, playtime and a walk if other half hasn't fit one in around meetings earlier in the day. 6pm dog dinner, crate time while we eat ours and hen evening lounging on the sofa with us til about 10pm. When I work nights, up with other half around 7am, toilet, breakfast and brief sofa cuddles. Crate time until I get home at about 9.30am. Sofa morning with me watching tv and drinking tea. Crate or kitchen time when I go up for a nap around 11am. Long walk in the afternoon, crate time while we eat, dog dinner at 6pm after I've left for work. Evening with her dad on the sofa til 10pm. Sometimes if othe half is away with work then she comes and spends the night at work with me. Kennelled in a hospital bed while I treat patients and then normally naps on my work bed with me normally from 1am til 5am if no emergencies - her treat for being dragged to work. Then kennelled from 5am til 8.30am when my shift finishes and we head home. My third week is a week off. So normally up with her dad at 7am and then with me from 8.30am. Mostly pottering, relaxing and having more exciting walks. Some crate or kitchen time if I pop out and normally evening routine of crate while we eat and sofa time sat between us til 10pm. Our pup has had to be flexible but she seems happy. Never left longer than 5 hours. Has time with her nan when we are both out all day. Work trips she finds really exciting and on my week off we visit her doggy friends and explore new walks. She tends to walk for between 45 minutes and 2 hours depending on the day but when we know a walk will be short time wise we play a lot of fetch so she really runs about.
Re: What does your puppy do all day? JulieT - I detect far, far too much w*rk in your routine! Meanwhile Charlie has a great time! I was re-reading the Happy Puppy Handbook yesterday (well, the new pup comes in the summer, must get prepared ) and I recognised Charlie's photo! ;D
Re: What does your puppy do all day? I think I have the laziest dog ever! Harley is 19 months now: 7.30am - my alarm goes off - I get up at 7.45am. I go downstairs for a coffee and get bits ready for work 8.15/8.30am - Harley wanders downstairs, has wee/poo then breakfas, then lies on me for 15-30min nap 9am - I go to work, Harley sleeps on the sofa 11.30am Tues and Thurs - Harley goes out with dog walker until 1pm Other days I go home 12-1pm to let her out/play/training session. Harley then sleeps until I get home. 3/4pm - I get home. Go for walk if Mon, wed or Fri for 1.5 hours - if Tues/Thurs do short training sessions. 5/6pm hubby comes home - half hour play time for Harley Followed by snooze til tea 7.30pm tea time 8pm short training session/ play 9/10pm Harley settles on sofa 11pm all of us go to bed
