New puppy daytime schedule

[firsttimewoofy]

Hello - first time dog owner and I I’m a new pup on Friday!

Ive read they needs lots if sleep, stimulation etc. So I’ve put this schedule together. Would you tell me what you think or if I’m being too optimistic? I plan on taking him out every hour for toilet breaks as well as the ones scheduled in.

8am - take pup out to potty

8:15 - pop in crate with some toys

8:45 - training session with food

9:15 - toilet break

9:30 - put in crate for nap

11 - play time in pen

12 - training session with food

2 - pop in crate for nap

3 - play time

5 - take out and about for socialisation

8 - meal

10 - crate for bed

We did have a fluffy sheep with a heartbeat in next to her to sleep so hopefully that helped. There was enough room in the crate next to her bed for a puppy pad but she never used it.

My puppy slept through the night from day one too.

@XiCi

Reminds me of a woman in work who thought her pup didn't need to poo in the night until she got up early one morning and caught him in the act - he'd been eating it

That's hilarious

And I suspect it happens far more often than people think.

The vast majority of puppies will not sleep through the night at eight weeks of age.

A lot of larger breed dogs will sleep through from 8 weeks or more likely 9 weeks when they are happy in the new home. 11-6 ish.

Lots of dog trainers and books now advise hand feed to build bond, help with impulse control, teach bite inhibition, and train and that mentally it's good for the dog to work for the food and they enjoy it more. I've spent the last year reading and watching videos on this. Don't mean to sound rude at all, but some of the advice here does seem to be a bit dated?

Literally no one has said don't do these things and only feed your pup from a bowl Also weird that someone who doesn't understand the concept of enrichment would be so critical but anyway....

I asked why you want to hand feed - if it's for activities that stimulate and enrich your dog's physical and mental well-being then it's not the hand feeding that matters - it's the training and the other activities that you're doing. I don't mean to be rude here but you don't seem to know much about pretty fundamental concepts of learning

Hand feeding alone won't teach bite inhibition, train your dog or mentally stimulate it. Think about what your saying, how is eating three meals a day from your hand more mentally stimulating than eating from a bowl? It isn't it's the fact that you're using the food as a training reinforcer that is rewarding because learning is fun (or it should be)

It's all of the stuff you do in order to give reward that teaches the things that you've listed. That's basically also how all positive reinforcement training works - but the key part of the learning process is the reinforcement, not the fact that you're hand feeding, so it's strange to be so fixated on it, especially when it's basically how everyone trains.

Also you may want to read up on puppy attention spans (as well as enrichment). Learning is mentally taxing and your pup will struggle to engage cognitively for more than a few minutes at a time. Short, frequent sessions are good. Ideally more than 3x day

@PollyRoulson

A lot of larger breed dogs will sleep through from 8 weeks or more likely 9 weeks when they are happy in the new home. 11-6 ish.

Yes, this has happened with my Saint. She has been doing 10 til 6 from around 15 weeks old (had her from 12 weeks old). She started to settle and feel relaxed just a week or two before then but we still did a 3am/4am stint for her. It got to the point she didn't seem that bothered to get up through the night! Lazy girl 😂

Our pup sleeps a huge amount and she’s 15 weeks. She wakes up 530 for her business, then back to sleep for a few hours. Out again for business and a drink and a snack then back to sleep in our bed whilst we watch news then get up and get ready. Then she has a walk which means she sits on the floor whenever she feels like it, sniffs EVERYTHING, walks backward and has to be carried. A 5 min walk takes 15 min. Back home for breakfast and zoomies.
Then a sleep. Then she’s lively for an hour or so, chews a bone, goes out, comes in and probably wees on the carpets and sleeps.
Eat, sleep, repeat until 7pm then she’s out cold for the night apart from her bed time toilet trip.

She thinks the sofa belongs to her. Sleeps lengthways. God help us if we get up. She’s in your spot sooner than blink. I’m surprised she’s not been squashed flat yet.

Good luck and enjoy!

@SummerSazz

We did have a fluffy sheep with a heartbeat in next to her to sleep so hopefully that helped. There was enough room in the crate next to her bed for a puppy pad but she never used it.

My 10 week old spaniel pup has one of these heartbeat sheeps too, and has slept through the night 10-630/7 every night for the last week now.

She’s currently sat ‘butter wouldn’t melt‘ on my feet, having had mad zoomies the last hour where she’s been hanging off the curtains, mutilated my house plant, and decided she had to have DDs sock, which was still on DDs foot at the time. Queue blood.

After 4 days of no accidents in the house she also decided to defiantly wee right in front of me.

Sigh.....but she is so adorable and gives the best cuddles!

Oh man, the thought of pups eating their poo overnight - our 14 week old has done 10-545 since we got her home, but now I’m thinking that this might be the case...

Schedule idea is great @firsttimewoofy but be prepared that your pup may be deciding to start the day very early - our lab wakes at 545 religiously, but has always slept all night downstairs alone so I’ll take that compromise!

Our biggest learning point is that an hour awake is plenty for her, she can stretch it sometimes if things are very exciting (or there’s food) but otherwise she’s a bitey terror, so needs an enforced nap (which she takes to happily, just won’t go alone). So your schedule is going to have to work and be adjusted from when pup awakes, but good to be thinking if everything to be factored into the day. Good luck!

Hmm WaltzingBetty, you do seem to be in a mood.

I don't think there's anything wrong with hand feeding to try and achieve those aims, not sure what you keep arguing about or why you think because I want to hand feed it means I will never use a bowl or am so 'fixated' on it. I literally said near the beginning I plan on going with the flow, and will hand feed throughout the day to help training - not hand feed per se just for the sake of it.

Maybe you need to learn to read? Honestly, the snidey tone really doesn't help you achieve your aims if you're trying to help new owners - using terms and being bitchy about them when people don't understand is just bad manners. I came on here for advice and won't be engaging with you anymore.

Thank you to everyone else. I will expect the unexpected!

It’s generally a baptism of fire, but then it all gets lovely. Enjoy!
& don’t forget to come back with a photo.

Thank you! The days can't come fast enough at the moment till he arrives!! Not sure I will be feeling quite that way next week....

@firsttimewoofy this is the comforter we got - overheard a customer in the pet shop recommending it to someone else, saying their puppy had slept through with one. We went home and ordered one straight away lol

Thank you! Did it work for you?

Sorry, apologies summersaz, just saw youre the poster from above! Will definitely give it a try!

Ah - be careful ordering those lambs - I ordered one from a well-known online store and when it came the ‘heartbeat’ was a very unpleasant and loud regular vibration. It came direct from China - I complained and got my money back! I don’t think it was the branded one - although supposed to be. Excuse my wittering

@firsttimewoofy

Hmm WaltzingBetty, you do seem to be in a mood.

I don't think there's anything wrong with hand feeding to try and achieve those aims, not sure what you keep arguing about or why you think because I want to hand feed it means I will never use a bowl or am so 'fixated' on it. I literally said near the beginning I plan on going with the flow, and will hand feed throughout the day to help training - not hand feed per se just for the sake of it.

Maybe you need to learn to read? Honestly, the snidey tone really doesn't help you achieve your aims if you're trying to help new owners - using terms and being bitchy about them when people don't understand is just bad manners. I came on here for advice and won't be engaging with you anymore.

Thank you to everyone else. I will expect the unexpected!

Fair enough. You want to imply my knowledge is out of date then call me bitchy when I point out that yours isn't exactly cutting edge, that's your choice.

I'm not trying to argue with you and literally no one has said not to hand feed - you seem consistently to be reading things that haven't been written. In fact I've pointed out hand feeding is totally standard for any training - it's so standard that it's not even really a technique, just a reward delivery method. My point is that hand feeding alone doesn't achieve the things you think it does, so you may want to actually read around teaching impulse control, bite inhibition etc if that what you're interested in achieving. They're all good things to train and hand feeding alone won't do that.

If you're as rigid in your approach to this puppy as you are to the schedule and your responses here then you may struggle, as other posters have pointed out - puppies tend not to read the rule book.
Good luck

Don't mean to sound rude at all, but some of the advice here does seem to be a bit dated?
Hmm WaltzingBetty, you do seem to be in a mood.
Maybe you need to learn to read?
the snidey tone really doesn't help you achieve your aims
using terms and being bitchy about them when people don't understand is just bad manners

I have asked you reasonable questions (which you haven't answered) and given you up to date advice @firsttimewoofy

You have consistently criticised me and personally attacked me. I'm not sure why?

What exactly have I said that is rude or bitchy? What advice have I give that is out of date? I've done nothing but give you constructive evidence-based support and advice (including explaining technical terminology that you're unfamiliar with to you).

The doghouse is a place where people share their expertise and experiences - usually respectfully. It might not line up exactly with what you've read - that doesn't mean it's incorrect, and your rudeness and personal attacks are unnecessary and unhelpful

My point is that hand feeding alone doesn't achieve the things you think it does, so you may want to actually read around teaching impulse control, bite inhibition etc if that what you're interested in achieving. They're all good things to train and hand feeding alone won't do that.

I have never said hand feeding alone will achieve that. I believe from what I’ve seen and read that hand feeding helps to achieve that. It’s you who keeps wanting to say hand feeding doesn’t achieve these things alone. I can’t see anyone disagreeing with you or saying it’s the only way to teach a puppy.

If you're as rigid in your approach to this puppy as you are to the schedule and your responses here then you may struggle, as other posters have pointed out - puppies tend not to read the rule book.

Again if you go back and read my posts, you will see that I’ve taken on advice about my schedule and to prepare for the unexpected - so literally the opposite of being rigid and refusing to understand puppies don’t read the rulebook. But you are determined to paint me as someone I’m not.

Im happy to chalk it down to being a bad day and you projecting if that’s what it is. If not, you banging on about things that simply haven’t been said and hectoring in this way is deeply unpleasant and really unhelpful for first time dog owners. Having lived experience doesn’t allow you to treat people like that and simply does you no favours.

@firsttimewoofy

My point is that hand feeding alone doesn't achieve the things you think it does, so you may want to actually read around teaching impulse control, bite inhibition etc if that what you're interested in achieving. They're all good things to train and hand feeding alone won't do that.

I have never said hand feeding alone will achieve that. I believe from what I’ve seen and read that hand feeding helps to achieve that. It’s you who keeps wanting to say hand feeding doesn’t achieve these things alone. I can’t see anyone disagreeing with you or saying it’s the only way to teach a puppy.

If you're as rigid in your approach to this puppy as you are to the schedule and your responses here then you may struggle, as other posters have pointed out - puppies tend not to read the rule book.

Again if you go back and read my posts, you will see that I’ve taken on advice about my schedule and to prepare for the unexpected - so literally the opposite of being rigid and refusing to understand puppies don’t read the rulebook. But you are determined to paint me as someone I’m not.

Im happy to chalk it down to being a bad day and you projecting if that’s what it is. If not, you banging on about things that simply haven’t been said and hectoring in this way is deeply unpleasant and really unhelpful for first time dog owners. Having lived experience doesn’t allow you to treat people like that and simply does you no favours.

Right so now you're going for patronising and gaslighting along with name calling and personal attacks. I'm finding it weird that you feel the need to try and bully me like this - why not have a sensible discussion and explain your reasoning instead? You aren't in primary school

You literally said
Lots of dog trainers and books now advise hand feed to build bond, help with impulse control, teach bite inhibition, and train and that mentally it's good for the dog to work for the food and they enjoy it more.

You haven't suggested any other ways of training these things so I'm literally going off what you have written. That's how discussion threads work. I had already given you good evidence based advice for why a range of feeding techniques are preferred when you posted this and then insinuated my knowledge was out of date (nice!)

If anything you're the one banging on about handfeeding being a behavioural cure-all (it isn't) rather than engaging and actually trying to understand how you might use different strategies.

I've asked you questions to try and better understand your reasoning as to how you think handfeeding achieves these things and you've ignored them and instead personally attacked me.

I don't need you to 'chalk' anything up. I'm a clinical animal behaviourist, with the experience and expertise of helping thousands of dogs and owners.
You're the one bullying, name calling and making personal attacks.
I know who I'd rather be

Ok, you really do seem to have a lot of time on your hands. You took umbrage with a PP who disagreed with you about hand feeding and now me.

Thanks for your advice but obviously it’s just not constructive any conversation between you and me. Good luck helping others.

@firsttimewoofy

Ok, you really do seem to have a lot of time on your hands. You took umbrage with a PP who disagreed with you about hand feeding and now me.

Thanks for your advice but obviously it’s just not constructive any conversation between you and me. Good luck helping others.

No I took umbrage as you so delightfully describe it with another poster describing a reasonable evidence based approach as 'spouting bollocks' because it didn't align with her personal viewpoint. I don't really see why adults can't have discussions without name calling and personal attacks.

But as you favour that approach, I'll leave you to it

But it was me that said "spouting bollocks" not the OP so have a go at me if you want too.

I am always around for a bit of online abuse from people, as it is water off a ducks back to me expecially when I know I am right

@PollyRoulson

But it was me that said "spouting bollocks" not the OP so have a go at me if you want too.

I am always around for a bit of online abuse from people, as it is water off a ducks back to me expecially when I know I am right

Yes I know. Hence my clear statement below

Where exactly have I 'had a go' at anyone?
I've no desire to - I thought this was thread was supposed to be for sharing experiences of puppy ownership, training and development. Not picking fights, calling names and needless criticism

My mistake.

I thought OP's 'schedule' was a jumping off point and has taken on board lots of suggestions and considerations? And I'm sure will be flexible when her pup comes home and they settle down together.