Dog daily routine

[Dintananadinta]

Can anyone give me a detailed routine of what your dog does all day? How many hrs do they nap etc? I have a springer spaniel and pointer mix (nearly 2 years) and I'm really struggling to entertain him. It's hard to walk him due to the lead pulling but it's getting a bit better. I don't know what I should be doing with him all day. What does your dog do all day I would be very grateful to know.

Wakes at 6am almost on dot
out in garden for wee whilst I make scrambled egg and a handful of blueberries
she eats whilst I have coffee and unload dishwasher
then we go in to my daughter, and gets up and goes for thirty min walk
then back and she wanders around whilst we all get ready. 8.40 I put her in crate with a treat, fan blowing and radio on. I go to work. I return 11.45. Out she gets, I have a coffee and lunch, then we go out for her long walk.

Then back and she wanders around, playing occasionally. I’ll wrap kibble in atea towel - that kind of thing.

children home from school. Lots of playing.

dinner 4pm

then she wanders around. Flakes In my room at 7pm. Daughter sits with her and does homework. I join them at 8.30pm and read/tv
and then 9ish my son comes in, takes her into garden for a wee and then settles her In crate with a couple of dog biscuits

cavalier, very fit and healthy and happy

they love routine

hours napping…. No idea. She’s napping now though!

Springer.

Up at 6am (ish) and follows me about while I get dressed. Straight out for a walk. About an hour over the fields.
Back for 7.30am (ish). Breakfast for us both.
I start wfh at 8am, he comes and snoozes beside me. Occasionally bringing me a dirty sock to see if I will pay for it with kibble. Sometimes I do
As the rest of the house gets up, he typically goes off to greet them and follow them about a bit.
I stop work about 12 and take him out for another hour.
Back for 1pm. I make a sandwich and go back into my office. He watches me eat the sandwich with big hopeful eyes.
He then falls asleep on the sofa in the office and snores for about 2 hours.
I typically take a little break at about 3pm. Perhaps go and water the garden - he comes with. Perhaps give him a good brush. Sometimes just act daft on the landing and play for 10 mins.
Back to work. More snoozing, but this time with one eye open.
4pm he starts to nag me that it's the end of the day. We spend about an hour or so with me explaining slowly that It. Is. Too. Early.
About 5pm - 5.30pm I stop work and feed him.
He eats, poos, watches us cook dinner, then watches us eat dinner.
We clear up and he spends all that time trying to figure out how to lick the dishwasher when no one is looking. He fails (mostly).
I then have a shower and change into something a bit loungey. During my shower I might hide a few kibbles about the house or use his wobbly toy that he has to knock them out of.
Sit down for the evening. He gets his bone out (ooh matron) and chews on it for half an hour or so. Then sleeps until bedtime when he wakes up, has a wee (in the garden!) and falls back to sleep again.

Weekends are often different and with less routine - though almost always 2 hours of walking split into 2 walks.

Oh yes - weekends are different as children around. So lots more playtime, longer walks and consequently she wants to go in her crate for bed about 8 sometimes earlier

p.s. if you are home all day with him, he is a great breed mix to learn ways to 'help' you with whatever you are doing.

E.g. if I am taking washing upstairs, it's quite usual for mine to be given something to carry and follow me. Like a pair of socks.

If I am tidying up, mine is often asked to 'put his toys away' which he does. Kind of. Mostly just drops them near the box and I am the one actually puts them in.

Even something as a basic as a 'stay' command while you go for a pee - see if he can stay sitting in the same position until you get back. Brain stuff without it needed your full attention.

4.15pm He has just walked in to tell me It Is The End of The Day. Right on cue.

I have explained (again!) that it is too early.

Our Labrador is also 2.

He wakes up at 4am (yes 4am!) thanks to the crows and has his breakfast, a wee if he needs it and the morning garden inspection.

Then he cuddles on the sofa until we both fall back to sleep until 7am.

Then he follows me around the house while I get ready and get DS up etc.

He has a quick walk after I drop DS to his school bus at 8am.

Then he sleeps until lunch time when I or DH walk him if we’re working from home or my friend walks him if not. If I take him, he likes to visit the pet shop round the corner to choose a bone or a chew.

Then another nap followed by mothering me to play ball if I’m WFH.

Dinner is at 4:30pm ON THE DOT followed by second dinner (some of whatever we’re having) around 6pm.

His last walk will either be while DS is cooking dinner (I’m very lucky that my 14 year old cooks every night!!) or around 7pm if it’s hot or we fancy a walk on the beach or in the woods. Oh and on Wednesdays he goes to agility

He then naps until bedtime 😂 between 10 and 11 when he goes for a wee and does the final garden inspection although he’s trying to introduce supper as a thing 😂 he is a Labrador after all!

In between those things he follows me round the house, plays ball indoors, potters in the garden, cuddles, naps and snacks (he’s not remotely overweight, lucky thing!). I’d bloody love to be a dog!

I have an 18 month old Springer, I’ll give you an example day!

7am - we get up and DC have breakfast/DH get ready for work. Dog potters around, has breakfast and goes out for a wee.

8.10am - dog and I go out in car to meet a friend for a long walk, we usually do about 2 hours off lead (she has a cocker). Sometimes have a cup of tea afterwards. Usually home 11/11.15am. Dog then settles down for a nap while I do a bit of work/washing/boring household stuff.

12.30/1 - we both have lunch and a play in garden.

1.30 - we do a training walk. I’ll either stay local or drive somewhere. I do gundog training with him so we practise a lot of steady retrieves, hunts, whistle etc This walk probably wears him out more than the long morning one!

Home about 2.30/3 and again he’ll settle for a nap. DC are home 3.30/4 so he has an excited half hour charging around with them usually. He then usually is calm and either naps or plods about until his dinner at 6ish.

Evenings he sleeps solidly on the sofa until last wee at 10ish then bed.

I spend 95% of my time with him, only work very very part time self employed which helps a lot

14 month old Labrador here. Gets up when we do - 6.30am weekdays, 8.30 weekends. Breakfast then 1.5 hour walk with some training at intervals. Home in time for work for me and snoozes/mooches around from then until lunchtime, gets a treat and potters around in the garden. Usually gets another walk around 5.30pm, even if it's just 30 minutes or chasing his beloved ball. Supper at 6.30pm then goes nuts for half an hour. Generally snoozes all evening, getting up to throw a ball at us every so often if we look a bit too comfy on the sofa. Out for last wee in the garden around 10pm then bedtime.

5yo beagle.

During the week, DH gets up at 6am so he brings him downstairs, feeds him and lets him out, then he comes back to bed with me until I get up at 7.30am. I walk him for an hour and then he goes to my in-laws house while we work.

He does a mixture of napping, following FIL around while he gardens or does housework/DIY, and curling up with MIL while she watches TV. Some mornings he naps the whole time, other days he's awake the whole time - it really depends on the weather and what the IL's are doing. Sometimes FIL will take him for a short 15-20 pavement walk so he can pee/poo.

I pick him up anywhere between 12-2pm and he comes home for his lunch then sleeps all afternoon until DH gets home from work (around 4.30-5pm). He then spends an hour so following us about in the hopes of getting some titbits, then generally goes back to sleep around 6pm until we go up to bed which is anywhere between 10pm-midnight. Before bed he's let out to the toilet and he has a few biscuits before bed otherwise he wakes up vomiting bile at 4am.

At weekends he'll sleep until we get up which can be anywhere between 7-10am. He has a walk at some point in the day (normally an hour or two around 10am) then spends the rest of the day mooching at home - sometimes he gets a second walk in the evenings but he's not fussed either way. If we go out for a meal he'll come with us, or sometimes I'll go to a friends' house and he'll come and play with their dogs but that's not very often.

We don't really do much to entertain him - he just potters, sleeps, cuddles with us, plays with the cats or has some of his chews which he has free-access to as long as we're home to supervise.

Just a thought... dogs are crepuscular. They are naturallly more active in the morning and evenings. That means, if you are struggling to know what to do and when, it might be useful to play to his natural cycle and focus energetic activities during those times of the day. Leaving him to (naturally) snooze during the afternoons.

In the week.
Morning - let out for a wee 7ish
7:30 kibble on a snuffle mat
I start work at 8 and they generally just doze until 12
I take them out at 12 for round 45-50 mins.
they’ll doze/chew a buffalo horn, maybe play with each other (I have 2) until about 4.
I do a bit of training with them after I finish work, then when DP gets back we go on solo walks to focus on that dogs training needs for half an hour or so. (Mentally this works them quite hard and they can be quite wiped!)
Dinner on a lick Mat at about 7.

They sleep a lot…

on a weekend out for a wee at 7, 7:30 kibble.
We meet some doggy friends, one has a 6 acre garden so they go for a mad hoon for 60-90 mins, or we take them on a 4-5 mile walk. After which they’ll doze/chew/ play with a toy etc.

They are quite lazy and as long as they get about an hours walk and a bit of enrichment are more than happy to just lounge about for most of the day

Typical weekday for our 2 year old cockapoo

6:30 - walk for about an hour, including offlead in fields

8:00 - breakfast

morning spent napping, moseying about the house and garden (DH and/or I are wfh everyday)

12:00 - lunch (still has food split into 3 meals a day for stomach reasons) Lunch is dry food which is put into a dispensing toy so takes him a little while and gives some entertainment

13:00 - bit of a play in the garden or indoor enrichment, training some commands etc

More napping, moseying about

16:30 dinner.

18:30 - 30 mins walk (later in hot weather) tends to be on lead in local town area

Evening spent cuddled up on the sofa, supervising our dinner prep, a bit more play and training.

2 year old rescue
Wakes at 7-ish, says good morning then goes back to sleep until 9. If it’s hot goes for early walk before going back to sleep.
Has dog walker twice a week for 90 minutes of zoomies and daft dog antics with other dogs.
Spends most of the afternoon dozing, or pottering in and out of the garden or chucking her toys around.
Often has a walk early evening for an hour or so and a quick one about 10pm.
If I’m going out she comes with me and has a walk somewhere different.
She has natural chews, plenty of toys, enjoys being a (large) lapdog, spends much of her time upside down with a silly grin on her face 😊

8 month old lab x huntaway and 11 year old big mongrel.

7.30am get up, playtime with the puppy with lots of bits of training thrown in. Breakfast around 8am followed by watching me mooch about tidying up. Old boy chills out on the sofa.

9am settle both down with a filled kong (some of their breakfast with a bit of hotdog) whilst we both start wfh.

Old boy snoozes, pup mooches about in the living room with frequent breaks outside and the odd bit of play etc in gaps between meetings.

1-2pm walk, mostly structured and on lead not for the full hour cos the pup is only 8 months but generally at least half an hour

Napping on the sofa and playing similar to morning.

5pm ish a longer walk often with lots of off lead charging around or time chasing balls for the pup and mooching for the old boy

Mooching about the house watching us make dinner, tidy up etc.

8pm ish dinner followed by training opportunity for how we do not take food from plates, scream for treats or generally be a pain in the bottom for the pup whilst the old boy watches on and we try and eat dinner.

Then its just chilling on the sofa with cuddles before bedtime around 11pm

2 year old Lab, 10 year old springer spaniel.

Up at 6.15, dogs have wee, then breakfast, then poo. I drink tea then take them out for twenty minutes. They lie around till about 11 o'clock, then long walk. Or some days long walk from 1.30. Advanced training with Lab for half an hour most days. I wish I could do longer. Lying around till teatime at 5.30. Young one gets short stroll at 8 or 9 o'clock.

I have a almost 2 year old Cavapoo.
Week days look like this:
6.15 up with me and out for a wee. Snooze on the sofa while we get ready. Then breakfast.

Take DD to bus then go home and walk dog for an hour- sometimes in the park/sometimes just round the streets. She spends most of the time sniffing things and walks like a snail.

While I work, she sleeps most of the day under my desk or nearby with occasional trips to the garden for a wander or upstairs to my DH's office.

Usually a half hour walk when I finish work, then she has dinner and spends the evening snoozing, wanting food when we make dinner and then snoozing again until she comes to bed.

Two year old Viszla.
I am woken up at 5.30 for breakfast, then out at 6am for an hour and a half offlead walk and play with her dog friends in local park.
Morning wanders around the garden hoping for a squirrel, or dozing in the sun
<normal weather>11.30 lunch, then hour walk and play in the park during my lunch hour.
afternoon asleep.
daugher comes home from school at 4, and plays and cuddles ddog until dinner at 5.30.
<hot weather> evening walk and offlead play with friends.
Rest of the evening snoozing on sofa.

We don't do anything with her while we're working, but play with her in the evening hiding things and she finds them.
Although Viszlas are normally a high energy dog, ours is pretty chill when at home. She does have a very nice group of dog friends so gets lots of play and running around with them.

Thank you for all the replies, they are really helpful!

Border collie puppy 8 months.

Up at 6 - walk
7ish handfed while she does whatever training we're working on.
7.30 - 10 sleep in her crate
10 - out for a charge about in the garden, hours of this but it varies depending on what else we're doing. At least till 12
Midday - handfed training plus maybe some scent work
12.30-3 back to bed in crate
3 - back out in the garden or whatever we're doing
5 training and handfed
5.30 in crate while we eat
6 walk or playing in the garden, depends how long her walk was earlier
8 - last training and feeding then in her crate till 6

Wake at 6am, my dh walks them for about 5 miles
Breakfast at 8
Sleep for most of the day whilst I work from home
Back door is open so they wander in and out of the house and have a good sniff in the garden, take up rat watch for an hour etc
Dh and dc come in and play with them for an hour each in the evening
Tea at 5
We settle down to watch tv and they sit with us
One goes and sleeps on my dd's bed whilst she does 'god knows what in her room'
The other sleeps ion the sofa whilst we watch tv
Then we go to bed and they kip on the sofa.

Most dogs will sleep about 16 hours a day. I've got a terrier and a fox hound cross, both can be v energetic dogs, will walk up mountains if we did that, but have settled into this routine. They will spend a lot of time sniffing in the back garden etc.

On morning walk this morning - I passed just two walkers. And this is a market town with loads of dog owner, surrounded by parks, perfect weather… and i went through three of them this morning by. Two walkers. Yet on this thread of expect to see dozens!

2yr old mongrel, something shepherdy and 1 yr old collie.

Collie was living outside until about 4 weeks ago, so because we’ve had to housetrain him and he hasn’t fully adjusted yet.

Up about 5 for toilet trip to the garden, then back to bed until half 7 8 when they get fed.

They get about a 40 min walk any time between 11 and 3, unless it’s hot and it’s more like 9.30.

A slightly longer faster walk about 7pm and dinner about 8.30 - 9pm

The rest of the time, depends who is in and what we’re doing, they play with each other in little half hour spurts, we play with them, we do training as a few minutes as and when, they sleep a lot... they’re rarely active for longer than about half an hour unless we’re doing something with them or something they like to watch us doing. They go out to the garden about every 2 hoursish, how long and how often kind of depends on weather, neither like the rain.

Oh and weekends tends to be one long walk rather than two shorter ones.

When you say, in her crate... do you mean shut in? or just that’s where she goes to sleep?