Dog Community

My Schedule

Posted : 4/24/2006 1:21:26 PM

Hey i'm really trying to figure out a good schedule for my dog to be on, i kind of need some suggestions on my schedule. Ronin is 3 months old and i've had him for a month and a half now. Right now my schedule for him is as follows:

8:00 A.M. Wake up and take him outside to pee and/or poop
8:02 - 8:10 A.M go back inside and maybe clean up the mess in his cage if he left one.
8:20 Play with Ronin inside the house
9:00 Take Ronin out to walk if weather permits will pee if necessary
9:30 Prep food for the day
9:45-10:00 Feed time and then let him out to pee and/or poop
10:15-10:30 Crate for sleep?
2:00 P.M Wake up and let outside for pee and/or poop
2:02-2:10 Go inside and possibly clean up mess if necessary, not too often
2:20 Take Ronin to dog park to let him play with other dogs, weather permitting
3:45-4:00 Take him back home to feed and pee and/or poop
4:15-4:30 Crate for sleep?
8:00 P.M. Wake up and take him outside to pee and/or poop
8:02 - 8:10 P.M Go inside and possibly clean up mess if necessary, not too often
8:20 Play with Ronin inside the house
9:00 Take Ronin out to walk if weather permits will pee if necessary
9:45-10:00 Feed time and then let him out to pee and/or poop
10:15-10:30 Crate for the night

The main questions i have with my schedule is if i should be feeding him so close to him sleeping, i heard that you should let your dog rest after eating or he'll have digestion problems. And also if i should leave the light on and try to make him not sleep for the 2 breaks in the day, the problem if i leave the light on is that he'll most certainly pee all over the place, But if he rest's too much i think he'll poop in the cage before i get to him in the morning. During the 2 breaks in the day i need to do chores/look for jobs/help my parents/some personal time, just things where i need time away from Ronin and i can't have him wandering the house alone. So if there are any suggestions for this schedule it would be much appreciated, oh and also when i crate him should i leave his food/water bowl in there with him because if he does pee/poop he will sometimes pee/poop right into the bowl.

schleide

Posted : 4/24/2006 2:33:58 PM

Hi Killerdrgn!

Is Ronin is having accidents in the crate? Have you cleaned out the crate with a cleaner like Petastic? How big is the crate (if it is small enough, Ronin probably won't want to potty in there, since most dogs don't potty where they sleep)...

I don't know much about puppy feeding schedules, but I am sure those who do will be on to help soon... But, if Ronin is mostly having accidents during the night, it may be because you are going to long between potty breaks (often puppies can't go all the way through the night when they are so young, so you might need to start getting up in the middle of the night to take Ronin out to potty - just make sure you just go out, potty, back in the crate, no fuss, so that Ronin goes right back to sleep).

I don't think there is any problem at all with putting Ronin in the crate to nap twice a day for a few hours. As a puppy, one who is playing and exercising enough, he should be tired and sleeping a lot and it is a good safe place for a puppy to be when you can't keep an eye on him. Is Ronin old enough (in terms of vaccinations and park rules) to be going to the parks already? If so, and if he plays nicely, that probably really wears him out!

I hope you are enjoying your puppy!!

glenmar

Posted : 4/24/2006 2:45:27 PM

I'm hoping that 3 months is a generalization and you haven't had this pup since he was 6 weeks old.....

At this age he should still be eating at least 3X per day. Personally, I feed pups first thing in the morning, around 7, 7:30, then again around 12:30 or 1 and then again between 6:30 or 7. I think your pup is pretty young to be going to the dog park. He can't have had all his shots yet (should be given at 9. 12 and between 16-20 weeks), so is not protected from parvo yet.

He can only hold it for about 4 hours when awake, and not a whole lot longer when sleeping. I use a drip wter bottle for pups in the crate.

Jeff Cheung

Posted : 4/24/2006 3:22:33 PM

Oh yeah i forgot to mention that the crate is one of those big ones with a crate divider that your supposed to move back when the dog get bigger currently the amount of space i have for him is 12x29x29 LxWxH (measured in inches). Ronin at the last time i checked was 13 pounds he is probably 20 by now i think. Oh and he's a siberian husky, so hopefully you guys can imagine the size. I used to clean the crate out with the pet de-oderizer spray i got from the pet store, but i ran out last night so this morning i couldn't spray the crate. And I have had Ronin since he was 8 weeks old, the vet told me two weeks ago that i could take him outside and play, i think the only vaccines that haven't been given yet is coronavirus, rabies, and lyme. I also have a drip water bottle for him too but he keeps pressing on it with his body and it gets him all wet and the floor of the crate and pillows wet too. The 6:30-7:00 pm feeding for me isn't too conveinient(sp?) because sometimes helping my parents will take me into the 8:00 pm time. But my main question about the feeding was if i should feed him before i play with him or after and then make him sleep. Oh and sometimes Ronin has good runs during the nights where he won't poop or pee in his crate, his best consecutive record is about 4 days i think. Lately though he's been pooping in there every night.

schleide

Posted : 4/24/2006 3:37:15 PM

He is probably pooping in there at night because he is in there too long without a potty break - he should still be going every 4 hours or so... The general rule most people go by, although there are certainly some who do it differently, is that that puppy can go one hour for every month of life plus one (so in Ronin's case, at 3 months old, plus one, that is 4 hours). Also, in the crate, the dog should be able to get up, turn and lay down, not much more room than that...

With your schedule, you could probably feed less food, 3X a day (instead of bigger meals twice a day) some time between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. when you are spending time with him, at around 2:00ish when you are spending time with him and again at around 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. when you are spending time with him, just make sure to take him out shortly thereafter...

Glenda and others have much more puppy experience than I (the last puppy I had was when I was young and my mom did all the work), so I am not sure about the best order for playing, feeding an sleeping... I am sure someone will come back to tell you...

Jeff Cheung

Posted : 4/24/2006 4:55:34 PM

Yeah i feed him according to what the feeding amount on the bag says, but i give him half can food and half dry food. It says for the can food to give him one can a day and on the dry food to give him 2 cups a day, so i split those in half and mix up half a can and 1 cup of dry, over the course of the day. Yeah in my schedule i do have it written that i feed him 3 times a day, at 10am, 4pm and 8pm. If i tried to feed him any more than what i give him during the meals he gets some serious diareah(sp?).

glenmar

Posted : 4/24/2006 4:59:12 PM

At this age I believe it is far better to feed three times a day. I don't usually drop the third feeding until around 5-6 months when the pups start to loose interest in the mid day meal. I feel that it's better to allow three feedings per day to keep blood sugar levels more stable.

rredbird

Posted : 4/24/2006 5:39:51 PM

I cannot remember Bandit ever pooping in his crate except for the first nite after being dewormed. I don't know if this helps you or not but Bandit always had his meals at least two hours before being crated for longer periods of time (ie - ate at 7am and crated around 10:30 am until 12:15 when I would come home and walk/potty/feed for 15-20 minutes then back in his crate until 4:45, then play time/walk time until dinner around 7pm in the evening and then crated for nite at 10pm but without the water bottle (only restricted at nite not during the day). The first couple of weeks he would wake me to go out in the middle of the night but after 2 weeks the nite trips ended and he was sleeping thru the nite.
Good luck with Ronin and you must post pics [

]

Jeff Cheung

Posted : 4/24/2006 11:48:58 PM

Here is a pic of when i just got him, if it displays, i dunno if i did it right! and rredbird how old was Bandit when you got him?

Jeff Cheung

Posted : 4/24/2006 11:50:41 PM

Ok so this thing does work, so heres a pic thats more recent with some random dude at the park playing with him.

Julie Beveridge

Posted : 4/25/2006 12:54:34 AM

OK, not to be silly here, but tell me you are not giving him the full amount recommended on the can and the full amount recommended on the bag? If you are mixing them then the amounts should be reduced. Pooping in the crate could be caused by overfeeding.

I feed after we have our walk in the morning, so exercises/play first then food, then potty time then they sleep, wake up go outside play and then eat then sleep. Then we go for our nightly walk and then they get dinner and to bed, sometimes she gets up for potty sometimes not but she is almost 6 months old now.

It seems to me that the schedule is OK, but a little too rigid for me.

Hope this helps.
Julie

glenmar

Posted : 4/25/2006 6:22:17 AM

People, we all have to remember that the feeding recommendations are just that...recommendations. The best way to feed any dog is by using your eyes and your hands to SEE and feel the dog to be sure that we can still FEEL the ribs, and to eyeball the overall physical shape of the pup My foster pups NEVER are rolly polly. They have a bit more of a fat layer than the adults, but they are NEVER plump. It's not healthy for them to be plump. And for someone who isn't experienced, then the vet is going to be your best resource. We just had a gal recently who didn't want to reduce the amount she feeds her lab, despite the vet telling her to, because the pup always acts like she's starving. That's a lab for you......or a german shepherd, or any number of breeds. It all depends on the dogs attitude towards food.

I honestly think this young pup is pooping in the crate at nite because he's being asked to hold it too long.

spiritdogs

Posted : 4/25/2006 6:33:32 AM

Sorry to hijack, but the guy in the photo is lucky he isn't trying to play with a dog with a not-so-nice temperament as your puppy. That's perfect face bite position and a threatening posture to some dogs.
Okay, back OT...I agree that your pup needs a potty break after the four hours, even if you have to set your alarm. It's a pain, but they aren't little for very long (boohoo, mom of a 6 month old little grownup pup who is beginning to look like a dog).

agilebcs

Posted : 4/25/2006 6:44:52 AM

I would feed him his dinner meal much earlier, like 6-7pm. I move

ups to a 2 meals a day schedule pretty early because of my work schedule but 3X a day right now is idea. Looking at your schedule, I'd feed him at 8am, 1pm, and pm - or something like that. Do you not get up until 8am is that why he's in there then? I'd take him out as soon as I got up and get his breakfast into him then.

Feeding him in his crate is ok but I wouldn't leave food in there. I don't ever leave water in crates either because it just gets spilled and they drink the water and end up with full bladders which leads to accidents in the crate. Also, I pick up water from puppies at least 2-3 hours before they go in their crates for the night so that they go in with an empty bladder.

Since it sounds like you're home with your puppy most of the time I don't think you should be having problems with him pottying in the crate. I think the problem is that you are feeding him and then crating him for a long period of time. Feed him but don't plan on crating him for a long period of time for at least an hour or so. Remember, he's a puppy and when he's gotta go, he's gotta go. When you feed him and he starts to digest his food, whatever is already in his digestive system is going to need to come out - he can't hold it. Feeding him and then 15 mins later crating him for 4 hours is too much to ask of him yet. Actually, even with my adult dogs I make sure they eat at least an hour or more before being crated for the day or night.

Cute puppy!

rredbird

Posted : 4/25/2006 7:17:19 AM

Bandit came from an 'accidental' breeding in my friends neighborhood (i don't really consider it an accident to leave an intact female outside 24/7 but she now has a good home and is spayed). The owners of the mom were giving away the pups or they would go to the shelter so we got Bandit at 6 weeks (which was a good thing in hindsight since he had flea anemia and 2 of his litter mates died - thank God those people have moved!) Sorry post is so long to say "6 weeks" but I didn't want anyone to think I advocated getting them this young!

Ronin is beautiful! Being a sibe I would recommend getting him into obedience training young and start working on not letting him exit the doors out until he is given a command - it will cut down on chasing him thru the neighborhood later. They like to run and even when you think they are asleep they hear that door open and they can be thru it like a flash! (Can you tell I have had experience chasing them down - not fun but you do meet your neighbors that way!).