What's your dog's daily routine?

[KeepSmiling83]

Hi,

I feel like I am posting lots of questions at the moment but I am trying to get a good idea of what owning a dog is like before we make the decision to get one.

So what is your daily routine with your dog? How much time do you spend walking them, playing with them, how much do they sleep, are left alone etc? What does a typical day look like? (e.g get up at 7am, play for 15 mins then breakfast etc)

I realise it may vary depending on the breed so would be really helpful if you could say what breed your dog is too.

Thank you!

[missbattenburg]

Typical day if I am working from home (3-4 days a week)...

7 am - get up and go straight out for a walk.
8 am - back home for breakfast
8.30am - I start work and Battendog lazes about outside the office, potters about the house etc. Every hour (ish) comes up for some fuss while I am on the phone. Gets a quick ball throw in the garden when I go down mid morning for coffee
12pm - I stop work and we go out for a walk
1pm - back to work (for me). Battendog often sleeps most of the afternoon away. Sometimes mid afternoon we have 10 mins brushing session
4pm - dog starts to pace about and try to distract me from work
5.30pm - I finish work, dog gets fed
6pm - post dinner play and/or training session. If it's training it's often silly tricks like paw, high five etc. This lasts about 30 mins or so.
Evening: snoozing and asking to go in the garden every ten minutes because he likes the fresh air :)

Young springer spaniel.

If I am in the office for the day, it is very similar but the day starts much earlier (5.30am) and a walker takes him out for his second walk. Plus, there is someone home all day so he's not alone.

[missbattenburg]

Just as an extra note - the level of snoozing increased to the above levels only after his teenage months were done. Prior to that he would be constantly on the prowl looking for trouble. So all the times I was working, I was also trying to wrestle a springer without letting on over the phone to my colleagues...

Funny but irritating things like:

• bringing me a cushion from the living room and trying to get me to chase him for it
• going quiet and being discovered with a half chewed shoe in his mouth
• pawing at my legs for attention
• jumping up at the front door, trying to get it open
• opening all the doors in the house to see if there was something interesting in that room

[stucknoue]

Get up 8am, dump in garden. Let him in 8.30, he goes straight back to bed, I go to work, other family members maybe in but he sleeps whatever. Lunchtime I come home, hour long walk. Afternoon nap, followed by a quick cuddle then another nap until his beloved father appears home, garden play, evening nap (he loves sleeping) evening walk bed at 10pm. Laziest dog in Britain

[TeaForDad]

Our lab is 10 and this has been his routine since we got him at a few months

Weekdays:
Up at 6:00
25 minute walk
Breakfast at 6:30
We leave for work at 6:40
~Snooze and bark at postman~
Back from work at 4:15
Dinner
Evening walk of between 20 minute wander, run or long walk
Cuddles during telly time

Weekend very irregular but always 2 walks

[happyhillock]

6.30am get up let benji out the back garden
Have a cup of tea
7am take him for a 20min walk
7.30am his feeding time
8.15 me and DP leave for work
11am dog walker takes him to the park for an hour or so
2pm i'm home play with him in the back
garden
2.30 he sleeps for a couple of hour's
5pm DP home we have dinner, benji is fed
6.30 DP takes him to beach or park to walk/play for roughly an hour or so then sits on my knee or DP knee
10pm last 15min walk before bed

West Highland Terrier, wouldn't be without him

[JPK1510]

2 year old cocker spaniel.
6.30/7 (he wakes us up when he’s ready) out for a wee and a walk.
7.30 ish breakfast
When he’s finished he goes straight back to our bed and will sleep til about ten
Then he gets up and wants a cuddle and to play with his ball
12 ish nice walk and a poo
Afternoon sleep for a few hours lots of cuddles still wants attention all the time.
5.30 out for a quick walk round the block
5.45/6 dinner time
His dad comes home and he’s in love all over again 😂 then it’s playtime with dad and cuddles on the sofa. We get in bed about 8 (im heavily pregnant) to watch tv and get comfy. He loves our bedroom it’s his absolute safe favourite place he loves it! Cuddles and attention with us both.
Then out for a walk about ten for his last wee. I don’t know if your considering having children but he’s been amazing with me while I’ve been pregnant. He literally knows something is going on he’s very protective over me and he knows 10000% to stay away from my stomach and not jump around me. He’s perfect! Very very playful though but to be expected!

[CMOTDibbler]

Get up at 7 or whenever humans move
Go out and wee/poo in garden
Breakfast
Sleep
Go for a run with me at lunchtime
Sleep
Wait for ds to come home
Go out to chase squeaky ball/ shout at squirrels
Sleep
Dinner at 7
pre bed time nap
Out before bed - ddog1 goes with ds at 8.30, ddog2 normally with us later

[sundaybluecoffee]

Typical day for our pup, partner works from home & I'm currently unemployed so around the home a lot too...

Wake up between 8 & 9am (sometimes pup sleeps in until 9 happily!)

Quick walk outside 10mins

Breakfast

Pup plays/sleeps until about 1pm

1pm afternoon walk (usually a longer off lead one in local woods/fields) for about an hour.

Pup plays/sleeps again

Dinner 6pm

Evening walk (another longer one, not always off lead though)

Snuggles on sofa in the evening

Bed around 10pm

[BiteyShark]

I was going to post a routine but realised that actually we don't have one. Mine is a cocker spaniel and we have daycare days, lazy days, me working from home days and then more active days.

The amount of snoozing, playing, walking varies across all of them even for the 'same type of days'. Just thinking about that poor BiteyDog must have a really hard time wondering what type of day he might be getting.

[allfurcoatnoknickers]

7:15 - turf unwilling dogs out of bed and make them go for a 30 minute walk. Ignore grumbling and about animal cruelty.

7:45 - breakfast

1:30 - 45 minute afternoon walk.

6:00 - dinner and an hour long walk, usually with a trip to the park

10:00 ish - one last trip outside for a wee before bed. Ignore GirlDog's insistence that she doesn't need a wee, and can hold it all night. Make them stay outside until GirlDog grudgingly does a wee.

[wheelwarrior]

I have a 4 year lab.
School day
6am quick wee walk round block
6.10 breakfast
6.10-7.30 ish he tend lie around watch what's going on
7.30-9.30/10 am off lead walk
10-1 potters round house /garden bit of playing
Pee walk at 1pm
3-4 .20 pm off lead walk
4-6 he potters and plays with kids
Then often by 6 he is snoring
8pm do 30 min on lead walk then he is settled all night

Do have garden but he won't pee or poo in it
Sometimes go for long 90 min walk of evening
Weekends vary sometimes I go out at 5am for 2/3 hrs with him .I am a early riser
My kids are older so can leave at home .I also enjoy being out the house as suffer Cabin fever hence the longer walks

He is normally not matter day asleep by 6pm

[BrightOink]

5/6/7am (whoever is up first) lets him out for a wee

Breakfast / interacts with kids / gets fuss and plays about

9am 10 min walk

Home to sleep & Potter

3.30pm wakes up a bit- wanders around garden etc

6/7/8pm dinner & walk

10/11pm last wee before bed.

He's 16 and this has been his routine for about 4 years now. Active collie breed. If he goes for a long weekend walk, he's out for the count the whole of the next day. If he goes to the kennels, he sleeps for a week in return. Luffs him so much.

[wheelwarrior]

Should add am in power chair and use off road one so often doing 6 miles or more per hour.So morning wall I easily do 12 miles he does more
He is very fit but did not launch into long dinstances built it up. Bit on odd days do less he is still pretty chilled at home

[FriarTuck]

12 y.o. DDog.
45+mins walk (off and on lead) first thing in morning, out into garden for potter around (& loo if she needs it) & eating more bird food than the birds whenever she fancies, the odd game with me and a football in the garden when it's nice, cuddles in the evening, snoozing the rest of the time. Sometimes we have a second walk if I'm not too busy working but she's at the age now when she prefers to potter in the garden than chase around. And she sleeps a lot more.

[Still18atheart]

Oooohhh interesting thread I’m sure mine sleeps far to much for a 2year old.
Timings and activities vary depending on what else is happening. But this is a typical day
7am breakfast and toilet
7:15 snooze
10:30 Walkies
12pm snooze
2pm gathers the energy to do something
4:15 snooze
6pm tea time
6:15 snooze and maybe a bit of a play
10pm toilet time
10:30 cuddles with mummy
11:30 bed time

[MrsGrannyWeatherwax]

Granny Dog’s (2yo JR) routine when I’m at work;

0700 - lazily go into garden for 10 mins followed by breakfast
0730 - walk for 30 mins to the office
0810 - fuss and play with colleagues
0900 - doggy date (depends on what’s going on but usually includes ball throwing, occasionally a 3 mile run)
Morning then spent bringing toys to everyone or sitting on Laps or napping
1200 - leisurely walk by colleague for 40 mins, then nap
1430 - walk for 20 mins then nap until home time
1700 - 30 min walk home occasionally extended into a longer walk (or if husband finishes early they can go on a 2 hour walk)
1800 - dinner time
2000 - another walk (10-15 mins) then usually bed time

If it’s a weekend it’s usually a later get up with a longer walk (2 hours) and sometimes a nice dog friendly pub

[GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman]

Any time after 5.30 if we've failed to draw curtains the night before: greets the dawn.
6.10: greets us.
6.20: starts 40 mins walk. Home for breakfast.
8.00: left to own devices, with access to yard.
12.10: thrilled I'm home for lunch
12.50: ignore my return to work
3.00: thrilled I'm home again.
3.30/3.45: walkies! Plus training time for younger dog
4.30: home for supper. Followed by hanging round hopefully while I cook.
7.30: either asleep in own beds or on sofa.
Weekends are much the same, though I'm more inclined to draw the curtains to delay the dawn chorus.

[nevernotworried]

Varies a bit but in general:

Up about 7 and potters about while children get ready and gets breakfast.

After children leave for school, bit of a ball throwing session in garden for approx 15 mins, depending on weather.

Snoozes in home office for a while but will have a walk at some stage by lunchtime.

More ball throwing in garden.

If reasonably dry, potters in and out of garden keeping an eye on things.

After school, has a play in garden with children, weather permitting.

After dinner, another walk usually then has a snooze in front of tv.

If we are out, usually goes to daycare. Rarely left alone.

[BestIsWest]

5:30 am, Go out in garden, have breakfast, wander about for a bit, back to bed.

6:15 am supervise sandwich making in kitchen to ensure ham is fairly shared out.

7:30am sleep/play/cat watch duty.

2:30 pm owner one home, play in garden. Go in and out every 10 minutes.

4:30 pm owner two home, longer walk.

5:45 pm Staring at owner 2.

6pm Dinner.

6:30 Wrestling. Supervise making of dinner and washing up in hope of leftovers.

7pm Dog 1 Ball play. Dog 2 watching ball play ( lazy git).

7:30 Sleep. Dog 1 under table, Dog 2 on top of owner 2 if possible.

11pm Biscuit treat and bed.

This is 4 days a week. Other days walks are longer and they go visiting relatives (they love that).

[BestIsWest]

Still18 my ddog2 likes to sleep too. I work from home often and he doesn’t move for most of the day apart from to lift his head from the sofa to check there are no cats in the garden now and again.

[Still18atheart]

bestiswest that’s the thing I still live at home and work full time but dps are both retired. And she’s quite happy to sleep whilst my parents are pottering around. When it’s cleaning day she doesn’t budge or even shift position between 7:30 & midday. But will go for a decent walk once all the housework is done. She also does agility which provides extra stimulation and things.

[KeepSmiling83]

Thank you so much for all the replies - they are really interesting!

I'm not sure what I was expecting but great to see a range of different routines!

[Nesssie]

Every dog is different, some dogs can't be left for more than an hour, others do 6+ easily. And it will change as your dog gets older too. Mental exercise (games, training, treat toys etc) are also as important as physical exercise.

My Mon-Fri is (And I am lucky my dog will happily run 12 miles with me but is also content with an hours walk)

Up at 7.40am
20 min walk + toilet from 8.30-8.50
I leave for work at 9am
Back from work at 5.50pm
6pm-8pm Evening walk/Agility Class/Running
10.30pm last toilet in the garden and then up to bed

In the Summer, one day a week I have a dog walker for 1-2hours.

[mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork]

Working day:
Up at 6.00 am-ish (me) Stay snoozing under duvet (ddog)
7.00 am-ish After several calls to get up, ddog actually does
7.05 am out for 30 mins walk
8.15-30 am Given Kong and treats and hug and left with parrot
12.30 pm-ish Dogwalker comes for cuddles and walk
1.30 pm Dogwalker leaves
Inbetween human arrivals, dog sleeps under duvet a lot of time, I'm told.
6.00-6.30 pm Return of me - rapturous joyful welcome, leaping at owner for 5 minutes as if not seen for 10 years.
6.45 pm out for walk in forest - 45 mins to 1hr
Evening: eat/sleep/play with stuffed squirrel/sleep/ eat treats
10.30 pm to garden for quick wee or out round the block
Non-working day:
8.30 am - 9.00 am wake up
9.15 am Look at breakfast & accompany owner to wake up parrot
9.30 am Walk - 1 hr to 1 hr 30 mins
11.00 am home and sleep/look out of window/ eat some of breakfast/chew treats/ wait under parrot's cage to see if he drops any bits of food
4.30 pm Walk - 1- 2 hrs
6.30 pm Dinner - eat all and wait for dentastix hopefully in kitchen
7.00 pm Sleep rather a lot - occasionally wake to try to see barking foxes out of window and get a bit excited.
10.30 pm - wee in garden
10.45 pm - into bed under duvet
11.15 pm - get up to see why owner still watching telly instead of coming to bed - give meaningful speaking look and return to bed.
Repeat as necessary.

[OnTheEdgeOfTheNight]

3 year old cavalier King Charles spaniel-

Up and in the garden whenever the family is awake.
8.30-10.30am walk the school run, then walk to park for a run off lead.
If dry, open access to the garden for a wander. Snooze time.
2.30-3.45pm school run again, approx 1hr walk
6-7pm off lead again in the park

Also asks to play intermittently through the day and always after meals.
Ckcs need a lot of company.