What is your daily routine?

[Josie]

From doing some puppy visits and dog walks recently I have noticed how different everyone’s daily routines are with their dog/s.

Would be great to learn abit about everyone’s routines on here

Dennis’s routine has changed slightly with me now working from home. Some days he will get a short morning walk and short afternoon walk or just a big afternoon walk or if I’m feeling active then two big walks a day!
The one thing that always stays the same is feeding time!!

He gets fed twice a day. Once when my alarm goes at 7am. I daren’t go to the toilet earlier than this because he’s usually on high alert!!!
His second feed used to be at 5pm then 4:30 and now 4 and sometimes he even tries to push it to 3:30!! Sometimes I give in because I just can’t stand having him staring at me constantly or getting up every time I move.

He also gets kongs when I leave him at home alone and always my lunchtime yoghurt pot!

 

[Cash_Dolly]

We get up between 5-6.30 depending on what my work is like for the day and have a long walk (we were doing 5 miles in the summer months but about 3ish just now) then Dolly has her breakfast and I have a cup of tea. We then have a little play with the toys then she goes back to sleep while I get ready for work. Before I leave I put her fleece on if its particularly cold and she gets a small biscuit/treat and into her bed and I leave for work. The dog walker comes in she Dolly goes with her and her usual friends on the group walk then afterwards she goes into her bed with one of her chews - a chicken oot, duck neck etc or her kong depending on what I have left out for her. Then when I get in from work we either go a run or or a short walk depending on what else we need to do that evening (sometimes she comes delivering flowers with me, or if I need to go to my shop she comes with me and we go to the beach) by this point she is quite lazy so then she has her dinner and we chill out. I have to drag her out for her last pee and then we go to bed. On week nights she usually sleeps in/on the bed with me and at weekends she sleeps in her own bed. Reason being because I am working during the week I like us to sleep together - whenever I am not at work we are almost always together, whereas at weekends we usually have full days together doing various things so she sleeps separate or if my boyfriend is staying she goes into her own bed but usually jumps in with us for a cuddle in the Morning once we wake up. She isn't fussed either way tbh some nights she goes off to her own bed and I am left sleeping alone Everything is slightly slower paced and more chilled now as Cash was so active and now that he isn't here she is really starting to adopt the chilled life.........

 

[JoanneF]

If I am working, I leave the house around 7.10 and Mr F is in charge until I get home at 18.30.

But on the days I am not working (most of them, I am self employed and very selective about the work I accept) we have this routine.

8.00 one of us gets up and makes coffee to bring back to bed. Timber is invited to go out, he declines.

8.30 I get up, shower, tidy upstairs etc. I come downstairs about 9.00, Timber is invited to go out. He declines.

10.00 I drag (not literally) Timber out of bed and we go for a walk for 60 to 90 minutes. He does enjoy it when we are out, he gets to choose normally which way we go. Turn left at the gate for the beach, right for the fields.

Home, then house stuff, admin, lunch preparation and lunch itself. Timber doesn't get a free lunch, we do training or tricks unless I am really busy or feeling soft; these times I use a snuffle mat.

Afternoons vary but involve a second walk of about 45 to 60 minutes.

Dinner preparation for humans, then we all eat around 6.00 pm. Timber eats from his bowl, then gets a piece of dried tripe and half a dried doggy sausage. Not the healthiest I suspect but his other stuff is good so that's my concession to canine junk food. Mr F likes these rice pudding pots (yuk) so Timber gets to lick out the pot at the end. Sometimes we have a play with a tuggy toy but he isn't toy driven. He has a toilet visit to the garden then comes in and settles.

We read or watch tv, or play Candy Crush (I know ) and about 7.30 when T is chilled and relaxed we have teeth cleaning and grooming.

9.45 last garden visit and bedtime for Timber.

 

[Josie]

Some very varied routines! Great, thank you for sharing!

 

[Josie]

We get up between 5-6.30 depending on what my work is like for the day and have a long walk (we were doing 5 miles in the summer months but about 3ish just now) then Dolly has her breakfast and I have a cup of tea. We then have a little play with the toys then she goes back to sleep while I get ready for work. Before I leave I put her fleece on if its particularly cold and she gets a small biscuit/treat and into her bed and I leave for work. The dog walker comes in she Dolly goes with her and her usual friends on the group walk then afterwards she goes into her bed with one of her chews - a chicken oot, duck neck etc or her kong depending on what I have left out for her. Then when I get in from work we either go a run or or a short walk depending on what else we need to do that evening (sometimes she comes delivering flowers with me, or if I need to go to my shop she comes with me and we go to the beach) by this point she is quite lazy so then she has her dinner and we chill out. I have to drag her out for her last pee and then we go to bed. On week nights she usually sleeps in/on the bed with me and at weekends she sleeps in her own bed. Reason being because I am working during the week I like us to sleep together - whenever I am not at work we are almost always together, whereas at weekends we usually have full days together doing various things so she sleeps separate or if my boyfriend is staying she goes into her own bed but usually jumps in with us for a cuddle in the Morning once we wake up. She isn't fussed either way tbh some nights she goes off to her own bed and I am left sleeping alone Everything is slightly slower paced and more chilled now as Cash was so active and now that he isn't here she is really starting to adopt the chilled life.........

some nights she goes off to her own bed and I am left sleeping alone <<<< I totally get this! Den has been taking himself off to one of his spots on the landing at night. He's taken offence to all of my coughing! :-(

 

[arealhuman]

• 05.00 - 05.45 - Jimmy will come into our bedroom from his bed, shake and look at me waiting to be invited up onto our bed. Sometimes this is scary, as I wake up with a feeling I'm being watched, and the first thing I see is a dog's face about 6 inches from mine
• 05.45 - up for a brisk walk of 1.28 miles (yes, exactly 1.28 miles!), usually out of the house by 05.55 and back about 30 minutes later. This happens all days of the week, at weekends I'll go back to bed and Jimmy will join us which I love. On weekdays, he'll go back on to the bed with my wife, I'll give him a bit of a cuddle before I get ready to go to work if I have he time. He will then start dancing around at anytime between 07.00 and 08.00 meaning GET MY BREAKFAST, so my wife will get his breakfast and go back to bed for a bit. Jimmy will usually join her again on the bed, or sometimes just mooch off elsewhere as the mood takes him. My wife prefers it if he joins her on the bed, and gets upset if he goes eleswhere!
• 11.00 (bit later at weekends) - off for a walk, not as brisk as the first walk of the day. Usually lasts around 30 - 40 minutes or so. Lunch when he gets back.
• 16.30 / 17.30 / 18.15 - depending on when I get home from work, early evening walk of around 45 minutes at a reasonable pace. He's usually had something to eat around 16.00, and that'll be it for the day unless he gets a few treats in the evening (he'll several throughout the day for good behaviour when out and about), or some vegetables and meat from our evening meal.
• 21.00 - 5 minute walk in the garden and/or surrounding streets for a pre-bed wee. He'll then go to bed whenever we do, and has pretty much always just gotten in his bed when we get into out.

Rinse and repeat

 

[Josie]

• 05.00 - 05.45 - Jimmy will come into our bedroom from his bed, shake and look at me waiting to be invited up onto our bed. Sometimes this is scary, as I wake up with a feeling I'm being watched, and the first thing I see is a dog's face about 6 inches from mine
• 05.45 - up for a brisk walk of 1.28 miles (yes, exactly 1.28 miles!), usually out of the house by 05.55 and back about 30 minutes later. This happens all days of the week, at weekends I'll go back to bed and Jimmy will join us which I love. On weekdays, he'll go back on to the bed with my wife, I'll give him a bit of a cuddle before I get ready to go to work if I have he time. He will then start dancing around at anytime between 07.00 and 08.00 meaning GET MY BREAKFAST, so my wife will get his breakfast and go back to bed for a bit. Jimmy will usually join her again on the bed, or sometimes just mooch off elsewhere as the mood takes him. My wife prefers it if he joins her on the bed, and gets upset if he goes eleswhere!
• 11.00 (bit later at weekends) - off for a walk, not as brisk as the first walk of the day. Usually lasts around 30 - 40 minutes or so. Lunch when he gets back.
• 16.30 / 17.30 / 18.15 - depending on when I get home from work, early evening walk of around 45 minutes at a reasonable pace. He's usually had something to eat around 16.00, and that'll be it for the day unless he gets a few treats in the evening (he'll several throughout the day for good behaviour when out and about), or some vegetables and meat from our evening meal.
• 21.00 - 5 minute walk in the garden and/or surrounding streets for a pre-bed wee. He'll then go to bed whenever we do, and has pretty much always just gotten in his bed when we get into out.

Rinse and repeat

I have the exact same feeling with Den watching me!! It’s so creepy. I’l open my eyes slowly and as I peer at his bed he will just be staring at me!

 

[Violet Turner]

I get up at about 5am then feed olive...
take her out for a 2 hour walk then wipe her down...
she will usually eat at 12:30pm this will consist of dry food good quality...
then at about 6pm she will get a bit of meat then I will take her out again for another 2 hours
then bed time for her... BUT THIS HAS CHANGED DUE TO HER HAVING PUPS

 

[JudyN]

There's some very early risers here!

The alarm goes off at 7am, but Jasper often whines a few minutes before. Or a lot of minutes some days He has his breakfast, and then first walk round about 8.20am. He usually gets to go where he chooses, and it's fascinating to see him decide. There have been days when he's just gone a hundred feet, had a poo and asked to go home again, but we've not had one of those for a long time. Shame, as it gives me such a head start on the day.

When we're home he usually insists on a game in the garden to burn off any extra energy or excitement from the walk. Then he'll go & choose which bed or bit of floor to sleep on, and I'll settle down to work (from home) or pop up the shops, or (rarely) get a bit of housework done.

Second walk is 2pm. Sometimes he chooses, sometimes I do, and sometimes I'll drive. He has his evening meal at 5pm on the dot, and he gets to preclean our plates & saucepans after our tea. Then it's back on his bed for the evening. Last wee is 9.30-10 pm, then he goes up to settle down for the night. If I stay up later, he'll decide when he goes out & up.

When I come up, he may be on his bed, or my bed, or on the spare bed. If my bed or the spare bed, he'll then go to his bed because he gets his bedtime chew there.

Sometimes I feel guilty that we don't play more games, but he is a lurcher and they're designed to sleep in between walks!

On weekends, OH takes him for his morning walks. But Jasper doesn't like leaving me at home so they have to go in the car or he'll refuse. I also have to bribe him with a trail of treats to get him in the car. I've a feeling now that he's quite happy with doggy-Daddy walks, but wants his trail of treats so won't shift off his bed till I put the first one on the doormat

 

[Josie]

They know how to play us!

Dennis was crying the other day because I shut him in the kitchen/conservatory whilst I was doing an exercise video on the lounge.... il add that Oliver was in the conservatory with him also!! We’ve nicknamed him ‘needy nigel’

 

[JudyN]

I've just been attempting to do some yoga in the study and despite being in there with me, Jasper still wouldn't stop whining! 'Muuuuum, what's happening, you're meant to be slopping on the sofa!'

 

[Caro Perry]

My partner gives Harri breakfast at around 7am and he (the pup!) then goes back into his crate in the kitchen to sleep until I get up around 8.30 (I'm really NOT a morning person!). Once enough coffee hits the bloodstream he gets a 90 minute walk which currently gets followed by a shower....

Lunch is at 12 - I'm starting to phase that out now he's 6 months old

If I'm lucky a nap then play/training session and a short walk if the weather's nice and I'm not too busy. When the evenings get lighter my partner will take him when he gets back from work

Tea around 6pm

His batteries wear down about 7-8pm and he'll crash until breakfast time.

 

[arealhuman]

It's interesting, isn't it, reading all of these different routines? I do wonder if we give our little dog enough exercise (or too much!), but I can say hand on heart he will get his three walks a day, every day, whatever the weather, although he's always on the lead due to his lack of recall. Then I contrast this to some of the programmes on TV (e.g. The Dog Rescuers) where you see dogs that don't get out at all, or their owner says "I try and take him out...", and you know that means the dog gets out less frequently than he should, if at all. Jimmy isn't overweight or fat, and he does love his walks. I really wish we could let him run free as it's fantastic to see, but if we did that in a public place, we'd never see him again. We do take him to an enclosed paddock now and again to run around, but since the weather's been wet a lot lately, we haven't done this in a while (plus it's an hours drive each way). I'd love to let him potter in the garden, but that's a no-no too as he's very protective of it and will bark at anything he sees as a threat which includes birds, cats, trains (train track not too far away), aircraft, next door's dog and so on. I fear we'd have complaints if we let that go on too long! Anyway, he seems happy, we're happy, and will carry on as we are until something prompts a change.

 

[Caro Perry]

I really wish we could let him run free as it's fantastic to see, but if we did that in a public place, we'd never see him again. We do take him to an enclosed paddock now and again to run around, but since the weather's been wet a lot lately, we haven't done this in a while (plus it's an hours drive each way). I'd love to let him potter in the garden, but that's a no-no too as he's very protective of it and will bark at anything he sees as a threat which includes birds, cats, trains (train track not too far away), aircraft, next door's dog and so on. I fear we'd have complaints if we let that go on too long! Anyway, he seems happy, we're happy, and will carry on as we are until something prompts a change.

Have you tried him on a long line ( not a retractable lead)?

 

[JoanneF]

he seems happy, we're happy,

Thats the most important thing. An acquaintance of mine has a rescue dog that gets so stressed he is off the scale. She has done a lot - I really mean a lot - of work and spent an eye watering amount working with behaviouists all of which has helped but not totally resolved the dog's issues. She would walk him at 3.00 am to avoid encountering stressors, etc.

Afte a stressful event (like an unexpected piece of litter in a place it hadn't been before) she would just not walk the dog for a couple of days, to allow the cortisol (stress hormone) to dissipate from his body. She did brain games and training to keep him busy, tire him out and occupy him instead. Then she realised he actually would be a lot happier if he didn't have to go into these stressful situations at all. Which makes sense, if you were afraid of flying you wouldn't apply for a job with an airline as cabin crew and put yourself through that level of anxiety every day! So she stopped walking him. She hires fields for exercise, he is highly trained for brain work and he is a lot happier. So much so that he asks for a walk with her other dog occasionally. So he goes when he chooses and is a lot more relaxed.

So what I am saying is that if it works for you, don't knock it. This person's approach won't work for everyone and I would never, ever suggest it should be done in normal circumstances ("my dog doesn't like the rain much so I just won't bother to walk him" sort of thing) but so-called normal walks aren't right for every dog so if you find something that suits you and Jimmy, don't fix it if it's not broken.

 

[Josie]

I agree that every household is different and as we can see every routine is different!

I see this a lot to @arealhuman on tv. You watch something like 'it's me or the dog' and they say 'Oh we try and take him out twice a week' I honestly don't know how they can do that!

 

[arealhuman]

@Caro Perry - yes, we have a 6m line which gives him a bit of wondering space. Not used it a lot recently as where we go out of the way of streets/traffic is mostly a muddy sludge at the moment!

@JoanneF - thanks for that . It reminds me of a friend of mine who some years back had a massive Great Dane. It was huge, almost horse like, and I was always wary of it due to its size, but apparently it was as gentle as they come. Anyway, one day he told me it wouldn't go into the garden as the was a feather on their lawn! I too have also spent a lot of money with trainers, too.

@Josie - yes it's shocking when you hear things like that.

 

[Caro Perry]

I'm about to try Harri on a 10m line on the advice of the behaviourist. He used to be so good at recall but now if there is another dog around it's more like zero. I hope it'll come back as he matures a bit but for now I don't think I have much choice.

I'm with you on the muddy sludge. We ended up in cow slurry 8" deep the other day - there is a reason for the shower in the current daily routine. Roll on some dry weather!

 

[doggie1]

Up at 6am or a 7 am depending on OH's work schedule. As my dog is prone to not holding his bowels he is let out when the first person gets up, after two bad mornings he's been good again, but he is at the lounge door scratching to get to the back door. (Can little dogs not hold their bowels?) At about 7.30, I take him for a reasonable walk, on our return he we have breakfast. Sleep, him not me. Training sessions, and a play off lead in the garden. Nagging until about 3.30 when he goes for another reasonable walk. After dinner 7pm,made it later to see if he can hold his morning poo longer, he nags the OH for treat toys, then he conks out. He is happy to go out between 9.30 and 10 for a toilet, but he won't do one unless I go out with him and walk off the path, when he reluctantly wees. I then go back off the path until he joins me then he does a poo. He's lazy and hates the cold, he will walk around the yard and go straight back in without doing anything if I let him, but I know that could result in a little present in the morning. Then he goes to bed when we do and we don't hear a peep out of him until morning. If he has to be left in the day, I do worry a bit as he started vomiting and peeing when he was left.after about 6 weeks in.

 

[Ruth_F]

Our dogs get breakfast about 9am, after I have gone to work and OH has the house to himself. They get a big walk early afternoon and then dinner is about 6pm, we dont have the beagle anymore who nagged us if mealtime was 3 minutes late. They sometimes get treat-time at 8pm. Its fusses when they want, fetch or other brain games for the poodle in the morning after breakfast. We have a dog flap so they have free access to the garden.
We cant let the mut off the lead in parks etc as much as I would like as he is pretty big and barks a lot. We know he is just a very vocal dog (he is half hound), but it can be intimidating to the other open space users.