Puppy Schedule

[Kristina Cohron]

Anyone have a tried and true schedule for feeding, potty training and crate training all in one?? My Rex will be 9 weeks old when we bring him home. Thank you so much!

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

Hi Cristina...welcome and congrats !!  I'm not an expert on these but I will chime in only because I was where you were back in September (Teddy was home @ 7 weeks).

(1)  FEEDING:  I fed Teddy 3 times a day for the first few months, but often it was just 2 times a day (Brunch & Dinner).  It's good to make sure he doesn't just eat 95% of his food at 1 meal as veterans here explained it to me; try and spread it out.  You'll probably get down to 2 meals-a-day pretty quickly, Rex will let you know.  Keep his food dish out about 20 minutes before you pick it up.

(2)  POTTY TRAINING:  Get some potty bells, put them on the door he can always access, and whenever you take him out (probably every 2-3 hours the first few weeks), HIT THE BELLS and say REX GO POTTY or something like that.  After a few weeks he will associate the bells with going outside when he has to go potty.

(3)  CRATE TRAINING:  Everyone is different here, and I am probably an outlier.  Because I was pretty much home all day, I only crated Teddy when I left the apartment.  Gave him about 2/3rds of his Blue iCrate for space.  I tried to have him use the crate to sleep in, but after about 2-3 weeks he wouldn't sleep in it, even right next to me/my face in the bed, so I let him sleep in my bed.  As he got to 3 months, I would set up a playpen for Teddy with more space than the crate.  I only crated when I was gone LONG periods of time (4-6 hours) and the playpen was for shorter (1-3 hours long) trips.  He never had an accident in either ! 

The key is the potty training, IMO. While he won't be able to hit the bells when he is in his crate or your bed sleeping (?), he will bark to let you know he needs to go out.  You also should instinctively take him out 1st thing in the AM, barking or no barking, until probably 4-5 months.  At that time, when he has access to his potty bells when he is up-and-running (not in the bed or his crate), he may go 1/2 hour or more before ringing the bells.  Teddy at 6-7 months could go 3 hours after waking up without having to go outside (this will also be determined by when you last took him out and how long he went between breaks).

Hope this helps......

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

CRATE:  We crated Ned at night and when we had to be gone.  We were on summer vacation when we first got him and he was about 5 months old when he had to be crated for 5 hours at a time during the day. Most people limit the area the pup can be so that they can be watched more easily. We used a baby gate to block our kitchen/den from the rest of the house. 

POTTY: We took Ned out about every 30 minutes at first to learn HIS personal needs, but definitely right after waking up or playing, and about 30 minutes after eating.  We took Ned out about 11:30 at night, once during the night if he woke up, and first thing in the morning. Once he cut the nighttime potty break, he woke up pretty early in the morning for quite a while.  I carried him to the outside from the crate at first - until I could trust that he could hold it and understood we were on a journey to the great outside potty area.  When we took him potty at night, there was no playing around - just put him down, let him sniff, then pee and put him right back into the crate.  From the beginning, Ned had a bladder of steel and could go a good two hours, and usually more.

FOOD:  We kept Ned on the food from his breeder for two weeks, then transitioned him over the next week to the food we wanted to use.  We divided his daily portion into 3 servings.

[Ginny Nightingale]

This is great advice--but planning ahead to know your pup's schedule can be a real mistake--they are all different. I see that the first person told you they go out every 2-3 hours--if they are awake and playing, it is more like every 45 minutes to an hour at first--then they might sleep for a few hours and go out immediately upon waking (Should be in crate during any nap or they will get up, pee on the floor and go back to bed!) Here is what we give our new owners--but we tell them it is not written in stone--just a suggested schedule.

7 am:  wake up,  go outside to potty

(always scoop your puppy out of the crate and carry outside. Once his/her feet touch the ground they usually go potty right away. Puppies this age will pee and poop several times each, so give them enough time to do that. Praise your puppy for doing such a great job!)

 

6:30:-7am breakfast and then potty outside again. 

They will need to potty within minutes of eating

 

6:30-9:00: playtime/ a few minutes of training, with potty breaks when needed

 (training can be as simple as reinforcing good habits, sit, no jumping-sit for attention, no nipping or inappropriate chewing-give appropriate chew toys etc)

9:30 – 12:00 nap in crate (

 

12:00-2 pm: potty, lunch, play/train, potty breaks when needed.

(Remember you are forming new habits for your puppy by seeing how often you can get your puppy outside to potty. Refrain from yelling or reprimanding your puppy for peeing inside at this age because if he is scared he will learn to pee where it is safe, like a corner or even in his crate. Instead praise him enthusiastically for going outside.  And if he potties inside, reprimand yourself ;)

 

2-4 pm: nap in crate or tethered to you or your desk if you are sitting at it.

(During this time you may give the puppy a “snack”--it is fun to scatter some kibble or another small treat around the room and let him find it--or you can buy the toys that have room inside for treats and let them play with those--there are balls that you can load with kibble and as the roll, the kibble comes out. That will entertain the pup for quite a while!)

4pm: potty, play/reinforce good habits

 

5pm: dinner, potty,  play,  potty  (crate while you eat dinner)

 

8pm: we remove all water (as the puppy gets older and is house broken you can leave the water out longer)

(The evening is a good time for playing and snuggling, though s/he will probably take some naps also. Always keep your eye on your puppy and watch for signs of needing to potty as well as chewing inappropriate things. It’s a good time to show him what he can chew and what he can’t.)

10pm-11pm: potty, then crate for bedtime

3 or 4 am- outside for potty?

(For the first few weeks, it is very likely that your puppy will wake up during the night because he needs to go outside to go potty--this is normal and gradually the time he remains asleep in the crate will increase until that wonderful night when he sleeps all the way until morning! When the puppy cries during the night, go quietly to the crate keeping the lights and your voice low. Carry the puppy out and give him time to go potty, but keep everything low key. Once he is done, he should go back into his crate and the lights should be off---he will cry, but you need to leave him and let him settle himself back down. You can stand with your back to the crate for a few minutes, but do not speak to the puppy or play with him. Go back to bed !)

 

 Always crate your puppy when you can not watch him for his safety and the safety of your belongs. Gating off a small part of your house (kitchen is good) is important for keeping a good eye on your puppy when out of the crate. 

When he is not in the crate and you are moving all around the house, put him on a leash and have him come along. This way you can keep an eye on him. If you are sitting at your computer have him with you on a leash with a few good toys to chew. 

This schedule is just a guide, adjust it to your lifestyle.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Ginny, this is so perfect, I'm saving it to share with others who ask me.  You took the time to be complete and thorough.

[Ginny Nightingale]

No problem!! I  just cut and pasted it from my puppy documents that go home with our new owners--we very thoroughly educate everyone so that they have a happy puppy and a happy home!

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Terrific - I think these guidelines will help so many new puppy owners! Nice job!

[Lisa & Sunny]

This is awesome, thank you for taking the time to create this schedule.  We are bringing our puppy home on Saturday, and this will be very helpful.

[Cathy and Daisy and Harper]

I am saving this for when I get my puppy. Thank you!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I hope Adina sees this and is able to turn it into a meme or whatever they call them.