Author Topic: First dog, training/exercise regime  (Read 1757 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline ecclefechan

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 1
First dog, training/exercise regime
« on: July 07, 2021, 02:03:01 PM »
Hello all, first post here. I'm about to 'inherit' an 8 month old male Cocker Spaniel called Ben from my parents. I actually got them the dog about 6 months ago, but my dad's health has taken a turn for the worse and they're struggling to give Ben the time and exercise he needs with the caring responsibilities now required for my dad. I've got about 2 weeks to get my ground floor flat in order to receive him, including adding a pet gate so my resident cat can have some dog-free areas. I've never had a dog before, always had cats, so this is really new to me. I'll be continuing the dog training classes my mum has been taking Ben to, but I wanted to know what you thought of this daily weekday routine I had sketched out for my new furry housemate:

Time    Activity            Duration
06:15   Walk                    00:30
06:45   Breakfast   
07:30   Bathroom            00:10
12:00   Walk                    00:40
12:40   Lunch   
13:30   Bathroom            00:10
15:30   Play / Training    00:30
17:00   Walk                    00:45
17:45   Tea   
18:30   Bathroom            00:10
21:30   Play / Bathroom    00:30
-           Total time            03:25

Me and my girlfriend work full time, but both work from home and will be remaining so indefinitely, so I've had to try to manage the times around those schedules. Does this look reasonable? Any stuff I've missed or general tips?

All the best,

Richard




Offline bizzylizzy

  • Donator
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 4504
  • Gender: Female
  • 🙂 Jayne
Re: First dog, training/exercise regime
« Reply #1 on: July 07, 2021, 03:17:05 PM »
Hi and welcome onboard! As a first time dog owner I‘m sure you‘ll find plenty of help and advice on here. Its a great  idea to set a routine, I think it makes for an easier life all round, especially when you‘re working from home and the dog needs to understand when you have time and when he needs to settle and leave you to get on with things. There‘ll always be room for adjustments later on and dogs have to learn to be flexible, as situation demands but like us, they‘re creatures of habit!  ;)
The routine you’ve set out looks good, you might want to cut the meals down to twice a day at some point but that‘s just individual choice, there‘re no set rules.
Glad to hear you’re continuing the training, it‘ll help you as well as the dog.
If you need any advice, just fire away, there‘s always someone here to help. good luck!  :luv: