Puppy Schedule
A daily schedule for your puppy
Implementing a good schedule and routine is important from the moment you arrive home with your puppy.
There are 5 key aspects to routine – potty training, mental activity, physical exercise, supervision and alone time.
Potty Training
You will need to ensure your puppy has each of these throughout the day in order to fulfil their daily needs. Aim to repeat these activities approximately 3-4 times each day, with the exception of potty breaks which you need to offer every time your puppy wakes up from a nap, has a meal or drink or does physical or mental exercise. You’ll need to take young puppies out every 30 minutes to start with.
Mental and physical activity
After toileting the first part of your day should be a combination of physical exercise and mental activity. The order you do these in is up to you, but do be mindful if you have a breed susceptible to bloating that you should avoid exercising after food.
Mental activities include training games and exploring new things in a fun and safe way; enrichment puzzle feeders are a great alternative when you are busy.
Physical exercise can be tug of war, recall games, or going on a walk. It’s important not to overdo physical exercise while your puppy is still growing as this can cause damage to their joints. Typically 5 minutes per month of age, twice a day is recommended until your puppy is fully grown.
After this take your puppy out to the toilet before settling them down for some alone time.
Alone time
Alone time should be incorporated throughout the day to ensure that your puppy is happy to be left at home when you need to go out. Start off with a short absence whilst your puppy has something fun to do. Gradually you can extend the duration as long as your puppy remains relaxed. Always ensure your puppy has already had physical and mental exercise and a chance to go to the toilet before you leave them.
Supervision
Any time that your puppy is not sleeping or in their crate/pen, you need to actively supervise them. Block off any areas you don’t want them to have access to, provide them with appropriate things to do and consider using a leash to keep your puppy close by where you can observe them and prevent unwanted behaviour.
To succeed in raising a well mannered, happy and contented puppy, a well planned routine is essential.
Here is the schedule I used with my last puppy. We all have different lifestyles though, so this is just a general guide of an average day.
- 6am Morning! Straight out for a pee; followed by 5 min of training games. Then puppy goes into an x-pen near me during breakfast time and back into crate while I shower and get dressed
- 7am 5 min training sessions during which puppy earns breakfast
- 7.15am puppy goes into crate for 30 mins (very young puppies will need to potty straight after the meal)
- 7:45 potty break, then back into play pen, strategically placed near where I am
- 9am Potty break (skip if puppy asleep)
- 10am potty break followed by 5 min training session, then back into crate or play pen near me
- 12pm potty break followed by some action games (involving tugging, recall training, chase games) to burn up energy
- 12.15pm 5 min training session for puppy to earn lunch; if time allows, another romp around/ play session with me then a potty break and back into crate or x-pen for afternoon nap
- 2pm Potty break, if puppy awake
- 4pm Potty break followed by action games to burn up energy
- 4:15pm 5 min training games using a portion of the puppy’s dinner, then back in the X-pen or crate
- 6.00pm Potty break. Maybe a short walk around the garden (on a leash) then back into the play pen for dinner prep and while humans eat their meal
- 7.30pm Potty break. Some more exercise for the puppy, e.g. playing tug of war with me & recall training inside the house; followed by some supervised free time
- 8pm Take up water bowl
- 10pm Last pee and into the crate
If you need help with puppy training or if you are looking for more ideas about enrichment games, mental and physical activity for your puppy call or text me 081 8008 264 or check out my puppy training options.
Resources:
Susan Garrett’s Blog: A day in the life of a Susan Garrett Puppy
How to potty train your puppy (not only for puppies)
