Hi everyone. Everyone here talks about how important it is for routine with your puppy. I'm curious to know what other people's daily routines are. I'm trying to encourage my puppy into a routine, but struggling to get more than an hour at a time of nap time or down time, which leaves me not getting much work done (I work from home). I'd love to hear what works for the rest of you. Nicky (and Luna).
My two are a bit older and have a flexible routine. I don't want to think they would get anxious if things weren't going exactly to the clock, so I try to mix things up a bit. However, generally, we have this: Up at 7:00 on a work day. If I'm working for the ski school or, otherwise, two days a week, we are out the door by 7:15 for a walk for an hour to ninety minutes. The other days, we sit and cuddle for a while, have a cuppa and then head out at about 8:15 for about 40 minutes. Breakfast is when we get back - that way they are always excited to come home at the end of their walk. Work in the morning while the dogs snooze. If I'm home, they get nothing, otherwise, I'll give them a kong or two to keep them occupied while I'm out. Back for their lunch at around 1:30pm, out for a quick toilet break. In the afternoon, I try to fit in a bit of nail trimming a few times a week, or otherwise some basic training around work. The time of my evening walk depends on the time of year and the light. At the moment, we go out around 5pm for an hour if I'm walking them together, or, if I take them separately, it's about 45 minutes each. In the height of summer, this can be any time up until about 9pm. Dinner is normally around 8pm, but can be as early as 7pm or as late as 9pm. If I have plans to go out (not very often!), then they get given a kong to tide them over. After dinner, Shadow will cuddle up with me on one sofa while Willow stretches out on the other. DH sits wherever there's a little bit of space When they were young puppies, there was less of a routine, with me fitting in lots of short training sessions as and when they needed to be entertained, but teaching them that pestering wouldn't get them anywhere, so they learned to settle themselves. I was teaching them to be alone, too, so would spend time working in another room so they learnt to be a bit independent from me. Obviously building up the time away from them.
Thanks SnowBunny. Luna is still only 15 weeks, but I'm struggling to keep her settled for much more than an hour. I think I need to get a bit more training in perhaps as I'm still just focusing on the basics (sit, down, leave and recall). Any other routines would be greatly appreciated
Play fun games with her, as well as just training the basics. You can incorporate training into the games. So, hand targeting, targeting a stick or box. Impulse control - no mugging when you have a treat in your hand is a good start. It can't hurt to start on handling - treating her for being calm while you run your hands over her legs, paws, ears etc. Keep it all light-hearted and fun. Playing tug, if she likes that, but teaching a start and stop for impulse control. So, hold the toy and wait for her to sit - as soon as she does, the toy comes alive and she's allowed to grab it. As soon as you want to stop the game, stop moving the toy, so it goes dead and becomes boring. You can also use this game to encourage a good hold if you want - my trainer had me doing it with Shadow, who tends to hold things in his front teeth rather than the back of his mouth. So, to start the game, I hold the toy in such a way that he can get a really good grip, but if he changes his grip to hold it with his front teeth, the toy goes dead. In a hallway, you can start playing with a ball for a really basic retrieve - sit on the floor and roll the ball away from you, when she brings it back, she gets lots of treats and fuss. Start teaching her the names of different toys. When she brings you the right one, have a game of tug or lots of treats. Look at the Kikopup videos on YouTube for loads of ideas of things to do with your pup. There's also a good book called Learning Games for Dogs by Kay Laurence, which has loads of ideas for dogs of any age. It's worth having a good grasp of how clicker training works before getting this book, though, as it doesn't really cover the basics.
Establishing a routine can be quite difficult , they all differ so much in their needs, but good advice from @snowbunny . I had another resident dog when I had Sam , so much playing and copying her helped an awful lot , and now at coming up to five years of age , I have the original couch potato ( apart from when we are out and " doing stuff " ! )
When Juno was young I used to have a play with her, frequently retrieving games as she loved them, trip to the garden and then I used to leave her to amuse herself with her toys or rest by disengaging. I used to make a cup of tea and sit on the kitchen stool and read my book and simply ignore her. She normally chose to come and curl up by my feet, in the cat bed or in her crate. There were of course training sessions in the garden and walks also thrown unto the mix but our days have always been free flowing as I don't work to our time has always been flexible.
Hello, Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin... I also work from home and establishing the routine is pretty tough- especially when you have work demands and meetings at different times of the day. I still have days where tatti (now 6 months) will just not settle and as a result I don't get all that much work done, but the way I have found to combat that is to work with her preferences. Let me explain. We are usually up at 06:30 during the week, we take her out for a 20 min walk then it's back for breakfast and a little play/ wander around watching the husband and I get ready for work. She usually settles between 7:30 and 8 when the husband leaves so I start work as soon as I can. I find her morning naps are much longer than her afternoon naps so that's when I try to get my important work or meetings done. She used to wake every hour or so wanting to pee or play or let's be honest- eat! But it's probably got to about 1.5 hours now. Between 9 and 10 she'll be up for about 20 mins where we go out for a pee, do 5 mins of play or training and then she will amuse herself until she gives up and goes back to sleep. She's then out til about 11:30 when we do the same and then she'll sleep til 12:30 which is lunchtime. She doesn't like resting after food so I leave her in the garden for a bit and let her just have the run of the house (well- the bits she won't eat) until about 1:30 when if she hasnt settled I'll sit on the sofa with her or put her in her pen (if I'm busy). After a minute of whining she usually gives up and sleeps til about 2:30 ish when we go out for another short walk. Then back for another nap until about 4:30- she doesn't sleep then until after dinner at 7 when she'll sleep for most of the evening and night. It started like you are experiencing- difficult in settling, not staying asleep for long. But it has gradually improved over time. I have to say, me taking 10 minutes out to play with her does make all the difference when it comes to settling her down again afterwards. And when I say play, it might be training or fetch or tug games- I've also started playing 'find the treat' which she obviously loves. I have still not cracked it and completely and understand your frustration but just try to be fairly consistent and eventually you will start to see an improvement. Good luck xx
I've always spent some parts of my week at home, and I still do so now. I also had a young dog on restricted exercise for months, which added a lot of extra challenges.... I just worked out how much of my time my dog could have in a day - how many walks, training, playing and so on. If I was really busy, he'd get less time, and if I wasn't so busy, more of my time. When I had (and have) to work, I check my dog doesn't need anything - so if his physical needs are taken care of, and I've spent the time I can spare with him in activity then that's that. Him refusing to settle doesn't get him anymore of my time. I'm afraid it gets him put in his pen or crate while I do my work. So the question really is how much time is it reasonable for a 15 week old puppy to have? I'd say some kind of interaction and attention every couple of hours is sufficient. My own adult dog gets an hour and a bit of my time before work including training/walk, 15 mins mid morning, a 40 min training/walk at lunchtime, 15 mins mid afternoon, and another 30mins training/walk after work. Then he gets as much of my attention as he wants in the evenings, but he is mainly fast asleep by 8pm or so.....
I am a nightmare for routine ...it really helped me manage in the early days of Dexter as he is our first dog, as Fiona mentioned it can be a bit of a poisoned chalice though .... Dexter totally knows his day and I worry about him stressing if things change.....I'm very lucky though as I have a regular ,reliable dog sitter who knows his day inside out and steps in perfectly if I'm not there. I think you will find too that as your puppy gets older a routine will fall into place around meals,excercise and toilet breaks.... Good luck ,I love your Avatar pic,she is so cute x
6.30, play outside and then breakfast. She plays with the kids in the morning then is crated for the school run 8.30- 9.30 (sometimes a bit longer if I have shopping to do) 10ish we have a walk and then she usually has a little sleep She's crated for a little while whilst I pick my son up from nursery and then we all normally play/ do some training in the garden 12.30 -3.00 she usually sleeps and then goes into her crate with a kong during school pick up 3.00 ish we play in garden or have a little walk, then she'll normally have a doze. 4.30 tea time 5.30 -7.00 I haven't really cracked yet! I'm usually trying to cook dinner & put kids to bed and she wants to eat everything in sight and play! 7.00 -8.00 she'll normally have a snooze 8.00 my husband gets in and they play 9ish she pretty much settled for the night 11.30 she's forced outside for a last wee etc when my husband comes to bed I give her some of her food allowance in 2 frozen kongs that I give whilst I'm out on the school run. She will happily wear herself out working on those and then doze off, which normal gives me a couple of hours peace before she needs to go out. You could try this when you have to get stuff done? I also find that she settles much better in the crate if she can't see us! If I'm out or upstairs she dozes off. If I'm pottering around downstairs she's on watch! Good luck! I don't work snd it is hard enough!! X
A typical day as Holly would present it: 0630 Wake up, crawl up between my two sleeping owners and let them know its the start of an exciting new day. Have tummy tickled. 0700 Poop, breakfast. 0730 Dad goes to work. Feel glum. 0830 Go for walk. Mummy walks end about 1030. Daddy walks end at 1230. 1300 Have bonio then help people with their lunches. 1330 Snooze. Mum goes shopping. 1600 Play time. 1730 Tea. Watch front door for dad coming home. 1800 Dad comes home from work. Fetch his slippers, play chasing games and tuggy. Loiter in kitchen while mum prepares their tea. 1930 Short walk around the estate. Poop. Watch my people watching TV. Snooze across dad's feet until bed time. 2400 People are fast asleep. Slip unnoticed onto the bottom of their bed.
5 months end of Feb: 0545 Up, pee, and nice long drink of water 0600 Out to retrieve daily paper down driveway. It's dark, cold, and snow on ground. 0615 meal 1 - poop 0630 everyone else up for breakfast and he's snoozing 0900 15 min frisbee retrieve in back lot -- easier than throwing tennis ball I found 0100 kong - grd turkey or similar (no peanut butter) 1130 meal 2 snoozing and happy dog time 1500 20-30 min walk, training session 1600 alone while I do stuff errands and business issues. maybe a 2nd kong. 1800 meal 3 grooming and just lounging with family till bedtime 2200, sometimes earlier if he had "stressful" day. Right, it's a dog's life. Raw diet now so far less water drinking so less time needing to pee. poops maybe 2x a day. His brain may be the size of lemon but he seems smart and is eager to please.
