# Puppy Time Management



## Brandon Durham (Jan 24, 2013)

I know this topic really depends on the dog but I am looking to see what others are doing are far as splitting up the time in their pups day. I have a 10 week old Mal. What I am looking for is how much time of the day does the pup spend in the crate/ kennel and how much time does the pup spend training, exercising, socializing and other? Like I said I don't expect everyone to have the same answer but I would like to see what others are doing.


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## lannie dulin (Sep 4, 2012)

Brandon Durham said:


> I know this topic really depends on the dog but I am looking to see what others are doing are far as splitting up the time in their pups day. I have a 10 week old Mal. What I am looking for is how much time of the day does the pup spend in the crate/ kennel and how much time does the pup spend training, exercising, socializing and other? Like I said I don't expect everyone to have the same answer but I would like to see what others are doing.


When I got a new pup, only time it spent in the crate is at night, but the door was open all day. I get up at least 3-4 times a nite at first to let the pup out of the crate to go potty. That # drops to 3-2 after a few weeks, then 2-1 after a few more, then just once until the pup is about 4 months. Then I see if it can make it all night, if not then I go back to once a night for a few weeks, and repeat. 

During the day if I'm home I try to keep it in the house with me for bonding as much as possible (4-6 hours), but because I keep it on a leash and watch it I need breaks and will put it outside periodicly. I have 10x10 kennels outside, so I put it in with one of the other dogs when it's outside. My female is pretty good with pups, so he went with her. The pup gets his own space once he doesn't mind being alone. (I found that when they are that young they don't like solo time much.) This is usually the case when I'm at work, so the pup is in a 10x10 kennel for about 10 hours a day during the day. 

I don't do much training with them for quite a while when their pups, I'd call it more play (tug, luring into positions with treats, general playtime). I don't have an amount of time for this because it's really random and short in duration, maybe 5 minutes a few times a day, it's really not formal at all.


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## Matt Vandart (Nov 28, 2012)

This is a very good question because I completely over trained my dobes to the point they got bored (6months+)

I will be interested to see the answer.

With my Mal I spent most of her very early life socialsing her to both dogs and people because she had a problem with both.
She still has a bit of a problem with dogs but can be left off leash now with dogs she knows.

Now I do maybe 2 formal training sessions a day with her, most of the time we just bugger about, but I do have 5 dogs, lol.

This is interesting:
http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/applan/article/S0168-1591(11)00181-X/abstract


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## Brandon Durham (Jan 24, 2013)

Thanks for the input. I spend the majority of my time with my pup socializing, introducing him to any environmental experience available and allowing him the opportunity to watch other dogs work and train. I think I will start to give him more outside time in my 6x6 outdoor kennel but I wanted to make sure he had a solid foundation with crate training and he was settled in to my house before I let him spend too much time outside away from me. Thanks Again.


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## Brandon Durham (Jan 24, 2013)

Matt Vandart said:


> This is a very good question because I completely over trained my dobes to the point they got bored (6months+)
> 
> I will be interested to see the answer.
> 
> ...



That is very interesting. Thank you I will share this with some of my peers.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

I was retired by the time I got my last two dogs. They basically spent the day with me and all training was a game. Formal training was 3 times a week at a Schutzhund club. 
The past 3 yrs have been back to just having a good time and playing the games again.


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

This probably isn't going to be helpful but for me some of it depends on the pup, time of year, personal/work obligations, etc. When I get a pup I usually take the first week of work off and try to time it so I'm not raising summer puppies. In fact, I prefer fall/winter puppies to spring puppies.

I've raised up enough puppies to have developed a pretty fluid system/schedule during their first two weeks with me. From there, we play, and explore the hell out of the world around us. Sometimes I feel like a creepy stalker just by the way I notice/look for places to check out and investigate with the pup. If it's different or new it interests me.

Early on OB is free shaped/marker supported. Under 4 months the sessions are about 2-3 minutes long and could vary from 3-6 per day. Sometimes, days are skipped entirely. The last pup I got I spent considerably less time on OB and instead spent a large percentage of our time during the first year on environmental exposure and searching/finding hides.


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## Brandon Durham (Jan 24, 2013)

Nicole Stark said:


> This probably isn't going to be helpful but for me some of it depends on the pup, time of year, personal/work obligations, etc. When I get a pup I usually take the first week of work off and try to time it so I'm not raising summer puppies. In fact, I prefer fall/winter puppies to spring puppies.
> 
> I've raised up enough puppies to have developed a pretty fluid system/schedule during their first two weeks with me. From there, we play, and explore the hell out of the world around us. Sometimes I feel like a creepy stalker just by the way I notice/look for places to check out and investigate with the pup. If it's different or new it interests me.
> 
> Early on OB is free shaped/marker supported. Under 4 months the sessions are about 2-3 minutes long and could vary from 3-6 per day. Sometimes, days are skipped entirely. The last pup I got I spent considerably less time on OB and instead spent a large percentage of our time during the first year on environmental exposure and searching/finding hides.


No that is what I was looking for. I was just trying to see if there is something that I was missing that I needed to add to my routine. Thanks for the input.


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## leslie cassian (Jun 3, 2007)

I can tell you what I've done with the pups that I've raised, but each time I've had a pup, my choices were based on my circumstances at the time. 

One pup came to work with me every day. Never crated. Never did any training, she was just a good pet dog.

One pup I didn't have a job until he was 6 months old. Tried crating, but he stressed so badly I stopped and just gave him run of the house. Joined a schutzhund club when he was 18 months old and started training then.

Last pup, I had a full time job, so she spent the hours I worked and nights crated. Way more time crated than I liked, but she didn't seem adversely affected and was crate free 24/7 in the house by 7 months old. I was already a member of a club when I got the pup, so she started training of some form (lots of fun cookie obedience and some barking for a tug) from the day she was old enough to start coming out to the club.

So I don't have a set puppy raising routine. I do what works for me at the time. I take my dogs to different places with me as often as I can. Sometimes they just get a car ride, but sometimes they also get to go for a run st the park, or go to training, or meet new people or socialize with a friend's dogs or do other dog fun things. At home, they just hang out.


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## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

With puppy attention spans being short, how much time to YOU think needs to be used per training session?


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## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

Nicole Stark said:


> ...
> Early on OB is free shaped/marker supported. Under 4 months the sessions are about 2-3 minutes long and could vary from 3-6 per day. Sometimes, days are skipped entirely. The last pup I got I spent considerably less time on OB and instead spent a large percentage of our time during the first year on environmental exposure and searching/finding hides.


 I like and use the idea of twice a day, before meals, and 3-5 minutes per session. It isn't always the length of time but the quality of it...


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

With a new pup I work markers during tv commercials. They make a great times so you don't go overboard with training a pup.


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## Jojo Bautista (Mar 7, 2010)

I train 2x a day. I divide my pups time to:

Quality time - training session
Pack time - she gets to play with my other dogs
Crate time - when not training, i like to keep her crated to reserve her energy for the next session


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## Gillian Schuler (Apr 12, 2008)

I think it depends on your environment, job or not job, space outside house, etc. and, last but not least, the type of pup.

I had two GSDs, one not so interested in the environment but very willing to play in the garden, not much interest in tugging but loving ball, football games, searching for his kong, etc.

The younger, lighter end weight as opposed to his colleagues 45 kilos, very interested in the environment, not so interested in games, more into easy agility and extremely interested in other people, especially the kids that he met on their way to the village school. He loved the kids, they loved him. A real water baby - dived into a pool, jumped out of it, and back in again. This was a pup I knew I would never have to get used to strange situations.

They both adapted well to Schutzhund, especially the protection work - no difference between them.

I took all my pups on the bus, train, through crowded areas, village markets, Zürich at rush hour, fairs where the bands played at full blast, and so on.

I must say though that the Fila and the heavweight GSD might have profited from it. The others would have come through anyway.

5 minutes "brainwork" for the pup can be more beneficial than 15 minutes careering around.


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## Brandon Durham (Jan 24, 2013)

Howard Gaines III said:


> With puppy attention spans being short, how much time to YOU think needs to be used per training session?


I judge it by the pup. After a few days of observing the pup I can tell what indicators it starts to show when any session is going to come to an end. I try to motivate the pup a little more towards the end of each session to gain duration but it comes to a time when enough is enough and you have to call it before it becomes unproductive in my opinion. The main reason I am asking everyone is to see if there is something out there that is working better for someone. Always learning and evolving..That is the best part of this job.


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## Kim Cardinal (Oct 28, 2011)

Brandon Durham said:


> I judge it by the pup. After a few days of observing the pup I can tell what indicators it starts to show when any session is going to come to an end. I try to motivate the pup a little more towards the end of each session to gain duration but it comes to a time when enough is enough and you have to call it before it becomes unproductive in my opinion. The main reason I am asking everyone is to see if there is something out there that is working better for someone. Always learning and evolving..That is the best part of this job.


I'm in the exact same situation as you Brandon. Picked up my #DemonDog about a month ago, and with all the moving parts life can throw at us, it's a delicate balance. I planned for 3 years, for this new addition (blk./tan GSD pup, that I'll be training for SAR work, but the little crapper seems to be more cut out bite work), and now all of a sudden, my work life has exploded, so not being able to spend as much time at home, as I'd originally planned. I have him in tracking & simple puppy socialization class, but he sometimes has more energy, than a race horse, and the guilt can plague me, that I'm not doing enough for his little brain. Perhaps, I'm being way too clinical in my approach...perhaps I just need to let a puppy be a puppy to. At his age, (12 wks.), they still have little brains w/ zero filters, with lots of learning to be done.


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Kim, I wouldn't worry too much about that. I was in the same place you are once. I planned and waited for about 2 years to get the Dutch that I have now. A few months after she arrived life took over and my priorities got out of whack for a while. So I exercised the dog and pretty much left her alone where any formal OB was concerned. 

She's over 2 years old now but I didn't start any formal OB until November, then I had to leave the state and work took over again so I had to stop working with her. I started working with her again in Feb or so and have no regrets about delaying her training for as long as I did. Even with less time and a late start her recent progress has exceeded my expectations.

I think the key is that when I couldn't train/work with her I just made sure she was well cared for and that what time I could spend with her was time well spent.


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## Kim Cardinal (Oct 28, 2011)

Nicole Stark said:


> Kim, I wouldn't worry too much about that. I was in the same place you are once. I planned and waited for about 2 years to get the Dutch that I have now. A few months after she arrived life took over and my priorities got out of whack for a while. So I exercised the dog and pretty much left her alone where any formal OB was concerned.
> 
> She's over 2 years old now but I didn't start any formal OB until November, then I had to leave the state and work took over again so I had to stop working with her. I started working with her again in Feb or so and have no regrets about delaying her training for as long as I did. Even with less time and a late start her recent progress has exceeded my expectations.
> 
> I think the key is that when I couldn't train/work with her I just made sure she was well cared for and that what time I could spend with her was time well spent.


Good points Nicole. There's a part of me, that thinks once their minds are more developed/mature, they absorb more anyways, and the training to learning gap closes much quicker for sure.


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