Your Dog's Typical Day

[CollieMan]

I thought it might be interesting to see how our dog's typical days compare. Mine (19 week old Border Collie) is as follows:

08:00 Get up and go out into the garden for toilet.
09:00 Walk to local park. 15 Minutes spent training, 15 minutes spent playing.
09:30 Feed Time
09:45 Sleep / Play by self with toys
12:00 Trick training and close training work.
12:15 Playing by self
13:00 Walk to local park with focus on loose-leash training. Mostly play.
13:30 Feed Time
13:45 In crate
16:00 Play by self with toys.
17:00 Walk to local park. 10 Minutes spent training, 20 minutes spent playing.
17:30 Feed time
18:00 Play by self with toys
19:00 Sleep
21:00 Trick training and close training work.
21:15 Play by self with toys
23:00 Bed - Sleeps on floor in bedroom.

 

[Jean Cote]

That’s a very interesting schedule you have there Collieman!

Your training routine is perfect – short sessions repeated a few times a day!

As for me, I’ve been working so much lately and have been neglecting training my dogs as much as I should!

I always bring them to the school right by my house to train them after supper. This usually lasts 15 minutes per dog. I begin each session with the new material, then review the neat stuff and finish with playing / tugging / retrieving.

And I usually always have a big tugging contest with them later on at night!

 

[addictinganimal]

Cool topic!

During the weekdays Tank [Shih Tzu/Chihuahua] comes to my Vet Tech trade school with me. He gets exhausted from either the Agility course or just saying "Hihihihihi!" to everyone. :doglaugh: There are other dogs brought in by the teacher and students, so he always has at least one canine companion. Once we get home, I'll wait till about 5pm and take him for his walk. This can be anywhere between a half hour to an hour and a half, depending on the energy of both of us. :msngiggle: There's various amounts of play time and training in between. After all, my best friend deserves the best. :dogsmile:

Tanks looooooooooooooves the weekends. He doesn't know how lucky he is to have so much time with me during the week--after all, how many dogs get to go to school with their parents? Anyhoo, there aren't any dog parks around our area, so I take him down to the couple of ponds we have. Sure, we live in Florida and there's always a chance of gators, but where else will we find entertainment? He knows a boat load of tricks and I'm always teaching more... We lately have been doing Canine Freestyle jumps and twirls and such. Fun stuff! :msngrin:

Love the site, Jean. LOVE IT! :yipi:

 

[Jean Cote]

"There is always the chance of gators" --- :msngiggle: that sounds insane! What do you do if you come face to face with one? Wouldn't he go after you too? Glad I live up here in Canada where the only thing I have to fear is a skunk. :dogbiggrin:

 

[fletcher]

Hi Collieman

Our day goes a bit like this (it is actually quite similar):

08:00 Get up and go out into the garden for toilet. (play by self with toys)
09:00 5 minutes training before breakfast
09:30 Walk around the streats on a lead.
10:00 Sleep
12:00 Playing by self/ the next door neighbours dog. Short 5 minute walk
12:30 10 minutes training / play
13:00 Lunch
13:30 toilet and sleep
16:00 To the off leash dog park. 5 - 10 minutes training in the park
17:30 Play by self (often has a sleep)
19:00 5 - 10 minutes training / Feed time
19:30 Play by self with toys / Play with us / intemittent trick training
21:00 Sleep / Play
22:00 Toilet
23:00 Bed - Sleeps in his crate - just been moved from the bedroom to the hall just outside the bedroom (very restless sleeper - lots of midnight puppy barks in his sleep!!)

His concentration is not that good at the moment. It was very good but has lessened recently and as a result I have shortened the training otherwise he just gets tired and walks off!! is this normal - I try to make them as fun as possible!!
:dogwacko:

 

[addictinganimal]

His concentration is not that good at the moment. It was very good but has lessened recently and as a result I have shortened the training otherwise he just gets tired and walks off!! is this normal - I try to make them as fun as possible!!
:dogwacko:

How old is he? Could be a loss of concentration due to age or other factors.

Jean--We live in Florida, we're used to it. :msngiggle: Neither I nor Tankeh like to swim, so we don't go in the water. Generally they won't bug you if you don't bug them, so it's all good.

 

[Jean Cote]

Hey fletcher,

I think your dog might be loosing interest/focus in the training for a few reasons. The food he eats might not be the greatest - try doing some research on the food you are currently using and see if you (and your wallet) and upgrade it to a better one. Some of those kibble based foods are junk, especially the ones with animal by-products.

If your dog does not receive enough exercise, he will also experience periods of fatigue.

But one last thing, it could also be you! Do you talk to your dog when you train him? In my videos I tend to be very quiet since I want to let the viewers hear the clicker and that i'm not clicking constantly, etc. But I do give them a lot of praise, and if I see that they're bored with one exercise, I train another one that excites them. I call it "Playing on your dog's emotions", you have to feel what they are feeling, and eventually you can know exactly when your dog's attention starts to wean away.

 

[CollieMan]

I have shortened the training otherwise he just gets tired and walks off!! is this normal

My pup is similar. They do have very limited attention spans. If I remember correctly, yours is still a puppy too? Anyway, pup or not, what I tend to do now is do a couple of minutes training, then a couple of minutes of play with a Frisbee or tugger, then training again, then play. Just mix it up a little to keep reminding her how much she loves to play. Works for me.

 

[drivingtenacity]

Zena starts her day by jumping up in bed with us and cuddling, at 6:30 on weekdays, a little later on weekends.
I take her out to pee while the coffee's brewing, and she sits on the couch window watching while I drink my coffee and have a cig.
After I wake up a bit, I take her for a walk, and we have some play.
I leave her to her own devices for an hour or so, and then we run through some commands.
I do some housework, then take her for her midday walk. Sometimes I'll brush her, or put her on her dog run to keep me company while I do yardwork.
She gets a long walk every night after dinner.
I don't really schedule a lot of play or training time; we do those things whenever the mood is right. Some days she's all about the play, and we'll spend hours destroying her toys, and other days she seems more focused on learning and exploring.
She free-feeds. She's a grazer, and will not eat a whole meal at a sitting, usually.

 

[szecsuani]

We don't really have a strict schedule...
Weekdays:
6:30 Walk before I go to school
Between 14:30-15:30 I arrive home, she is happy, then goes back to sleep
16:30-18:00 long walk in the park, training, no playing, becouse she doesn't like it
When we arrive home we have a longer training
19:30 Dinner
22:00 A really short walk

Well basicly thats it.

Weekends:
10:00 "Wake up!!! I want to go!"- she would say... :msngiggle:
We have short trainings every hour :yipi:
16:30-18:00 long walk in the park, same as weekdays
19:00 Dinner
22:00 short walk

 

[cturner37]

Gosh, you guys are putting me to shame! I thought I spent alot of time with mine but nothing quite so dog focussed as you guys.

We have a normal family home routine so up breakfasted, toileted, (thats just my hubby) but the dog gets the same. Dog has to wait patiently whilst housework tasks done, then out by 10.30 for first session of the day. We go on an extensive walk, usually about 1 hour, incorporating 15 minute play/blast to blow off some of that energy, then off lead work, heel, wait, stay, etc. More play, ball fetch and retreive, then loose lead work home. When the weather is warmer, we do water retrieves in our local lake.

Our 2nd session in the afternoon is shorter and usually includes a more intensive concentrating type of off lead excercise, like 'leave it' using temptations like squirrels, other dogs etc. However, we do walk on average between 3 and 5 miles a day.
I keep the dog calm at all times in the afternoon as he then seems to be far more settled in the evenings. We dont 'play' in the house as he has to be a quiet member of our household 'pack', and I wont tolerate bad manners. A rescue dog, he did have terrible behavioural problems when he arrived with us and the challenge initially was to calm him down, address the destructive chewing and overly boisterous nipping behaviour, and this routine seems to suit him really well. His vocabulary is now excellent, and along with the basics, he gains a lot of comfort from the words 'play' and 'finish'. Its now like a switch in his head when I say those words and he switches on and off with no effort or stress.

Anyway, I suppose Ive posted just to say, 2 sessions a day and consistant routine, has genuinely addressed some really outrageous 'bad hair day' behaviours! Caro xx