What was your routine?

[hopeful43]

Hi everyone,

I've had my baby for a month now - he is four months old. I am trying to find the right routine for him and was just wondering what was your routine with your pups when they were his age? I'm interested to hear from both working and at-home parents.

[Brookef18]

Hi, I'm a stay at homer. We get up at 6:30... do the potty run, I feed wet food mixed with dry morning and night. I leave dry food and water down all day long.

Sadie went out to potty about every half hour at first, now at 6 months it's about every 2 hours or so. SHe is doing very well with her potty training.

I take both babies out for a walk around 10:00 depending on how cold it is. (They have snow suits)

They play off and on all day.

I have an x pen in the living room and Sadie goes in there when I can't watch her or if I go out.

WE go up to bed around 9:00... it takes the dogs a while to settle down. But we are all asleep by about 9:30 -10:00

[maxlover]

We brought Abby home in December - the breeder had used potty pads so we continued with those as the weather was so cold and coyotes have been so bad here. (our five year old Max was killed by one) She slept with us the first night and has ever since. She licks my nose when she has to potty, so I would just put her on the floor by the bed on her potty pad then she came back to bed with us. She would go several times at night but now that she is 5 months she usually only gets up once and uses her doggy stairs which we have by the bed and also a set in the living room so she can come up on the couch with us. We were very lucky as our breeder worked all day and kept the puppies inside all the time so she was used to being in an enclosed area during the day. After she gets up in the morning she eats dry dog food and follows me around while I get ready for work, then I put her puppy pad, food and water and toys and puppy bed in the bathroom and that is where she stays while we are at work. She doesn't whine when I leave, as that is all she has known. As soon as I get home from work I let her out of the bathroom, play with her, then we go for a long walk. After that she eats her food then spends the evening with us on the couch. She does so much better when she has been exercised and has been easier to train. Good luck with your new puppy! They are so much fun and give so much love!

Jackie

[Crazy4Westies]

Hi hopeful! I hope you don't mind a Westie lover to answer your question! We bought Dylan when she was only six weeks old (I had no idea how bad that was for her either). We had a small enclosure with her crate inside of it.

We took her out to potty every hour and then every two hours at night (it's much tougher than when my kids were younger but then I wasn't a hundred years old then either!)

She had potty pads in the enclosure, but wouldn't really use them. The problem came when we would take her out to be with us in the living room, she would promptly use the bathroom. The vet said it was because she equated 'out' with the enclosure, and until we did away with it, she'd not get the 'out' was OUTSIDE.

We fed her three times a day, and then by three months, she was at twice a day. It took about four months to feel she was really potty trained, and now scratches at the glass door (and yes, SCRATCH, is the operative word, the door looks like a wolf is there instead of a lil westie!). We only take her out through the back door, so she doesn't get confused.

She is put down in her crate and we actually say 'crate time' and start shutting off lights and she knows she gets a 'lean treat' when she walks inside without being caught so she hangs her head and walks in and flips around waiting for that nibble. This is between 8 and 9 at night, and then she's up by 8 in the am.

Be patient and you'll do great, it's a wonderful time to take pictures of them going through all of these stages.

I'm sorry to hear about your puppy, maxlover, that's awful! I always thought coyotes were hunters, taking a small puppy sure isn't hunting! It's bad enough our furry friends leave us before we're ready, but that's a terrible way to lose a pup. I bet you never really relax when your dogs are outside.

[Candacekimble]

I work full time, but live close enough to come for lunch when she was 4months. Also, I crate trained with a small bed in crate.

7:00 am out for bathroom
7:15 am feed and water
8:15 potty break, to crate (then I leave for work)
12:45 Lunch potty break, and water
5:15 Come home, potty break, water and feed
6:00 potty break
8:00 Potty Break, last water (this was latest she had water, to hold it through the night - trial and error)
9:00 Potty Break
10:15 Potty Break, crate for the night
11:30pm Weekends, potty break so I didnt have to get up so early.


At this point, the schedule is condensed and I dont come home for lunch.
She is 7.5 months and no accidents for two months until I started leaving water out, probably will go back to the schedule - except she can handle water between 9-10pm now. This was all trial and error..good luck!

[CoCo Puffs]

Coco is almost 7 months now.

6 am - Wake up
6:30 am - Potty #1 and #2 and walk
7:10 am - Dry food (water is out all day)
8:00 am - Into 6x2 Xpen with water, bed, and wee wee pad
During the day she'll use the wee wee pad, couple of #1 and maybe a #2
5:30pm - Potty #1 and #2 and walk
6:10 pm - Dry food with some Nature's Balance Turkey roll
6:30 pm - 9pm couple of small Potty #1's and maybe a #2 on wee wee pad
9 - 10pm - Nite nite in crate

She's been sleeping in the crate since first night and only whined on about 5 occasions in the last 4 months to be let out to potty - having water too late in the evening after the zoomies . Otherwise, she'll sleep through the night.

Good luck with your puppy!

[ace611]

Bella will be 2 in November and i work full time 10am-6pm

We wake up at 7
go straight out and eat some breakfast
play around the house til mommy leaves at 930
930-i go to the loft with my food,water,bed,toys and pee pads
12-dad comes home to let me out
4-grandma comes home to let me out and feed me
630-mommy is home! and we go for a looong walk

[maxlover]

Originally Posted by Crazy4Westies

I'm sorry to hear about your puppy, maxlover, that's awful! I always thought coyotes were hunters, taking a small puppy sure isn't hunting! It's bad enough our furry friends leave us before we're ready, but that's a terrible way to lose a pup. I bet you never really relax when your dogs are outside.

I still miss Max so much. I took him out to potty early in the morning and was right there with him when a coyote grabbed him right in front of me just a few yards from our front door. I didn't think I could get another dog, but a friend of my husband's had just had a litter and said to just come over and look. Well, Abby licked my face and that was it!