Hi all, I just watched a Youtube video of a dogs daily routine, the dog in question was a golden retriever, and it got me thinking how different routines can be for dogs. My labrador,Lucius, for instance ALWAYS asks permission to get on the bed and when he's in bed he snuggles right into bed with me and sleeps on my legs all night, (its a single bed btw and my labrador weighs 77 lbs - 34-35kg) He also loves giving good night kisses and good morning kisses. However once he's awake (around 9-10 am , sometimes 11 if i'm lucky) he's full of energy and will wiggle until I cuddle him. Once he's had breakfast and goes on a 20-30 minuite walk (or run round the field) he's alseep then until his next walk which is usually 15 minuites then he's back asleep for a few hours until his dinner time at 5pm then he sleeps until I go to bed (between 10 or 11pm) and sleeps on my bed all night. This differs if I'm at college as on the days I go to college (once a week) he doesnt get walked as my family members are either elderly/disabled or too busy. On these days he sleeps ALL day and barks occasionally at nothing in particular. When I get home from college (around 5pm) he goes mental and will bounce up and down, stamp his paws and do a "helicopter tail" where his tail wags in circles and wont leave me alone until I sit down and he can lay on my feet and resume sleeping. He's been the same way since he was a puppy - VERY lazy (atleast compared to my almost 2 year old beagle who has endless amounts of energy and rarely sleeps unless its after 5pm.) I was wondering if all labradors are this laid back - I would love to get another at some stage (not now as I already have 2 dogs and cannot take a third) but I've seen other labs that are very highly strung and bouncy.
Our routine is a bit different. I'm a housewife so home everyday. We go to bed early , 8pm. Lincoln who is 5 months old sleeps in a crate. He has since 9 weeks old. Always slept all through the night without a peep. We're up early , by 4:30am. The dogs go potty then breakfast. After Lincoln naps a couple hours. We do a couple walks a day and several training session. All three dogs play and nap throughout the day. I give them dinner at 4:30pm. They get a few more potty breaks before bedtime.
My weekday schedule for the Budster (19 weeks old) 6:00am - wake up and go to the bathroom 6:05am - Feed him and give him a Greenie after he pees 6:05am - 7:20am - Take him out to poop after breakfast. My girlfriend and I will hang around with him and play with him a little before we both head off to work. I typically take him for a ten to fifteen minute walk in the morning and get some training in. 7:20am - 5pm - We put him in a enclosed dog gate in the living room to sleep for a while and then my girlfriends father (he lives with us) will feed him at 1pm, play with him, and let him out to go to the bathroom through out the day until we get home from work. 5pm - 9pm Dinner time around 5pm and then another training session of long lead or LAT training at a park by our house after he takes care of business. After that we will practice all of his tricks...or Sit outside on the porch and let him watch the cars go by. Sprinkle in some play sessions and some "find the kibble" exercises here and there. Just stuff to keep him interested in things so he doesn't resort to counter surfing and trolling. lol Basically just hang out with the little guy before we go to bed, which is typically around 9-10 ever since we got him. I used to go to midnight around midnight every night. For weekends, since we're home, he pretty much gets our attention the whole day, unless we have plans he cannot be involved in. Then we will have our grandparents or a close friend watch him.
Aww yeah i'm home most days at the moment and he stays by my side all day, he doesnt have his cage up anymore as he has never chewed furniture (well,except for one incident when he was 8 months when he chewed the table leg). If I'm not home my parents take care of him but he's not any trouble, just sleeps all day (which is odd because I always thought of labradors as energetic dogs and since hes still young I thought he'd be bouncy still but even when he was tiny he was lazy.)
Seems like you got your puppy in a great routine! Is the long lead for recall training? If so great! My Lucius was on a long lead for a while as we were worried about losing him, but once I let him off lead he was brilliant! Just this morning we were in the park playing fetch , his recall is brilliant and he doesnt get distracted by other dogs which was my worry to begin with as he loves to play with other dogs.
Yes, I use it for recall and just so he learns to walk by me at all times. I use the long lead at a park with a large grass area by our house. There is a track that surrounds the grass area with people and dogs that typically walk there. So basically my dog will usually heel on the long lead and just follow me around everywhere on the grass area. Then I practice sit, stay, down exercises and practice recall training as well. The long lead is just so great for training.
