Average Time You Spend on you Doodle a Day

[Jennifer and Jack]

Of Course I know this is going to change with the day and what you have going on.. I am just wondering on average how much time do you actually spend hands or leash on with your doodle?

Just like all of you it depends on what we have going on..... but I try to in the morning before I even get up... give him snuggles. I always used to reach for my ipad first, now I snuggle him and give him hugs and belly rubs.

He doesn't really like to play in the yard, usually after he is up and went potty and ate, he goes to the guest room and lays on my bed and looks outside all day..... 

We always do a walk everyday for at least 30 minutes.... and then sometimes I try to engage him in toy playing..... 

At night.. I try to play with him a bit with toys on the bed and bedtime snuggles but that is it really. We don't do dog parks anymore... We don't go too many adventurous places... He does go for car rides with us, he goes shopping with me a lot when I can.. but  sometimes especially lately between this page and the page I am a moderator of for my breeder, I feel like I talk about him more then I spend time with him and I am trying to adjust that.

He has such a calming effect on me..... I am thinking of starting one day a week where I am very limited on computer and spend the day with him.... 

Time goes so fast.. He is four and a half already..... I want every day to count....

What is your normal routine with your guys?

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Good question Jen, and I bet you get as many different answers as there are doodles! When I am home from work (4 days a week) they are with me or near me all day. We walk, go to dog park, do some type of grooming or at least teeth brushed, play in back yard, swim at least once a day and some days my daughters two doodles come for a visit and they all play. While I was in the midst of my studies, it was hours and hours of the two of them at my feet while I was on the computer doing tests. They were lucky if I heard them go to the door to go out. But that's over! So we are back to our normal routine.
However the other 3 days they are home alone for 10-12 hours with a sitter mid day to take them out and play for 30 min or so. So I always feel guilty and try to make up for those work days.

[Jennifer and Jack]

That sounds like a fun life to me! Jack is flexible to my schedule and will let me stay in bed for a few days...then he needs stimulation ...

He doesn't enjoy playing with other dogs that much......he plays with Molly when they are together but that's it...I used to have a lot of pride in how active he was arranging play dates and stuff like that...he still likes to go to my one neighbors house but that's because they have cats....he loves to play with cats.....I think because he spent so much of his time with dogs as a puppy...he just isn't into them.

[Sarah Bennett]

hmmm...obviously, like you said, it varies-but if it's a "normal" work day... he gets a little bit of loving, petting, toy play before work.  After work, more physical play-usually toy play/fetch or bubbles.  Then usually later in the evening we either go for a walk at home or we go somewhere and walk or play and then walk.  it's hard on days when I work because he wants lots of attention and exercise and I'm exhausted... we try to meet in the middle!  lol!

[Jennifer and Jack]

I remember being so tired after work and Jack wanting to play ..I remember playi g with him with my eyes closed!

[Christy&Riley]

We have odd schedule because of hubby's work. Potty and breakfast around 4am. She sits with him for an hour before he gets ready for work. Riley goes back in pen or crate until I get up around 7. I take her out for potty around 7:30, cuddle for few minutes then into the crate while I go to work. Home for late lunch for me and potty break for Riley. I let her play for about 10 -15 minutes and cuddle then back in the crate with a treat. After work she follows us around and plays for a good half hour. Dinner, follow us around the house some more, maybe a nap, then an hour or so of hard play with us. When she settles down she'll cuddle up next to us throughout the evening. She's been hurt so no dog parks yet. Neighbors will stop with their dogs sometimes and she flips out she's so excited. Feeling better so starting to take her on walks. Yay!

[Jennifer and Jack]

4 am..gracious......from everything I read ....dogs love schedules!!!!! We don't have schedules here ...not at all...we have general times of things but I am always envious of people who stick to schedules!

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

Jen, love this question!  It really makes me think about the time I spend with Libby!   One thing for sure she is by my side most of the day and because we are retired it is a lot!  I must confess too I am on this computer a lot during the day and you know what site I am on most of the time.  LOL  We walk Libby every day two miles, we play fetch outside with her at least two times a day, she goes once in a while to the Dog Park, but we have cut down on that because we are not happy with the park. She loves to snuggle with us while watching tv, she is at my feet in our office and every chance I get I am hugging  and kissing on her.  At times I'm sure she is saying: "oh no here she comes again"!  She also sleeps in her our bed and we love it, although at times she takes over the bed!  She is a velcro Doodle and never lets either one of us out of her sight and we wouldn't trade it for the world.  She is very mellow, calm, and loves to just hang out with us, so maybe not a lot of activities, but for the three of us it is just wonderful:)

[Jennifer and Jack]

That is great, I think for where I am at in my life, it is good Jack is so easy going.... When he was a puppy and his first two to three years..we had play dates...all kinds of things to keep him stimulated....now he prefers home to daycare play time.....


I couldn't socialize a brand new puppy again especially now but I a, grateful for the days when I spent all my free time helping him adjust to the world.....I have pangs of missing that...of teaching him and showing him about life....new experiences ..new things.........

I will never get another dog but the socialization process for the first few years was the most fun ever for us both.....I loved finding adventures for us to explore and if I become stable again...I may look into some more fun things.....but he seems pretty satisfied with his walks....and his play time.....

I wonder if this is how a mom feels when their child is potty trained and older not needing their mom so much...sometimes when I go to Petsmart we go look at the birds....I would love for him to runon the beaches....maybe play more chasing birds....my boy is growing up.....

[Sally S Miles]

Interesting question and answers.  We have a 'rubber' schedule - it's a schedule, but has flexibility. DH works from home, so do I - and I have some health issues - typical day? hmmmmm   Our life just changed with new addition, but did make me look at our situation because now I have to think - keeping balance with newbie and trying to maintain pack order, not going to let Journey lose her ground.

I get up between 2 and 4, this is my feline time - I am greeted each morning by our Maine Coon cat and then our tabby. Both are three legged rescues who have enigmatic purrsonalities and varying opinions on dogs.  At 5-5:30 I wake hubby and Journey, we all go out back and then she gets breakfast.  Cuddling is something of an all day, touchy feely thing we do all day - - affection here is plentiful.  DH daily schedule determines when she gets her walk - interspersed with play time in back yard.  When she goes out, we go out - and vice versa, period.  Sometimes she takes a nap with me in late morning - sometimes it's late afternoon. She gets her ears cleaned, combed, and it's fun.  She has training sessions - - I treat puppies to a '5 x 5' life - they get focused task training five minutes at a time, at least five times a day, it's like breathing - nobody thinks about it, we just do it.   At almost a year this is now a 'whenever' thing except late afternoon when I hold 'class'.

She gets to sit with us for three meals a day. She follows me around all day long or pops in on DH to snooze if I have errand - sometimes she has to have crate time for us to have date time.   She lounges and chews toys after dinner, television and we all hang out. 

 

Hands on? All day, off and on. Lead on? 45 - 60 minutes.  Hanging out time?  all day

  If I chill with a book she happily chews a toy or puts her head on my feet (part of her winter job).  We do have a toucher - she craves touch and since I do too, we get on just fine. Mauka is also apparently a toucher, he seeks TLC and practically purrs as I stroke him.

If it rains she has to stop to get toweled off upon going back inside - - but since we got her haircut we also have to brush her off to get dried grass, mulch, and other schmutz off - more hand on.  Two or three play sessions with ball or Frisbee - remainder are just her doggie time.    Lately she has been supervising me efforts at re-doing our bathroom, apparently bathrooms are fascinating for dogs.  

She also gets some 'hands on' from our MC cat - they groom and cuddle, love on each other. Now that we have the 'new guy' I'm doling out gobs of hugs!

Allow me to clarify that part of the reason we have dogs is to have that hands on time - frankly I need it, they need it - so in my world that is the key.  We have been through phases with other outside demands, are at a place where two of us + dogs and cats is marvelous, but it does keep their expectations rather high.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

We don't have a fenced yard, so for us there are four or five "potty walks" a day.  Once a day we take a little "road trip" where we go to new places to walk.  There are lots of options in our area with great walking trails.  If I want distractions (for Murph's training) there are also parks with lots of other people and dogs. We also take them to places where they can run free and play ball....tennis courts are our favorite.  We try to do that a few times a week.  This usually takes a couple of hours (car trip and actual training walk).  They have their "play times" together two or three times a day.  One of them will initiate it...usually involves getting a toy, play bowing, and getting the other one to chase them around the house.  They do this for about 10 minutes a couple times a day, and then it's "nap time".  I also try to train in the house a few times a day....lots of long "down/stays" especially when there are distractions outside.  Their reward when I release them is an "indoor ball game".  I use soft balls to avoid breaking anything...they really LOVE this.  They seem to enjoy it even more than playing ball outside.  Other than that, it's 10 minutes here and there for grooming. 

[April S.]

I work from home so I am with Luna all day unless I go out somewhere.  Hubby or I get Luna out of her crate 6:30-7am - take her outside to potty, then inside for her breakfast... back outside for potty again a few minutes later and then we normally have our breakfast and Luna "plays" with our cats for a bit.  Then she normally has to potty again! Then we normally play a round of fetch with one of her toys in the house - I do this for probably 20-25 minutes until she is tired.  Then she curls up next to my desk so I can work and sleeps for a bit.  Luna doesn't really like to play outside - though I wish she did - there would a little more room to run - we have a HUGE yard... she just doesn't prefer it.  I take her for a walk around lunch time and come back and have a cookie treat..by that time, the sun is shining into the kitchen and she sleeps by our sliding glass door in the sun for the afternoon.  Later on - its dinner time, potty breaks, another walk and more fetch.  Around 8pm - she sleeps on the couch or on my LAP while hubby and I watch some TV or a movie.   This is the time that I take to brush her and comb her hair and clean that one ear that keeps getting yucky dirty.   :)   At 10:30-11ish - we tell her its time for bed, she goes to the door for potty - comes back in and goes straight to her crate on her own.  We close the door and put a cover over it.  Then we do it all over again the next day! :D

We also take her to doggy daycare 1 day a week...   She absolutely LOVES it there.  Hubby drops her off at 8am and picks her up around 4... she comes home and is barely awake enough to eat her dinner.  She knows the word "daycare" so we are very careful when we mention it or she gets disappointed when she doesn't go! She is too smart for her own good lol

[Breanna]

Crush wakes up at 6:15 to go potty and is always ready to play and train. If she plays hard in the morning she usually lays around for the remainder of the day, until the evening when she gets her second burst of energy. She will start chewing or barking at me and that's when I know it's time to go outside. Unfortunately, she wont' be done with her vaccines for another week so I am keeping it to throwing the ball in the grass. Once she's done we can go on walks. I start work again (I'm off for the summer from the preschool) and I'm hoping I can get up early enough to walk her before work. I'm a little worried that since I have to leave the house at 7 it will be hard to make time. All in all, we probably spend 30 minutes morning and 30 minutes evening of outdoor play, and 15-20 minutes a day of training. There's lots of cuddling in between.