[Woody Taylor]

Here's something that I as a one-dog non-sporting non-PSD non-PPD GSD owner cannot comprehend...how you hardcore folks can live lives as normal humans while simultaneously exercising/training/developing multiple and/or high-maintenance dogs (I can't even imagine what a multiple-Malinois/Dutchie household would be like, based on what you all tell me about the breeds). So I want to you all to describe a typical day with your dogs. Where they are kept. What exercise they get. When they eat. What interaction they have with you and your family. How long they're kenneled/crated and what benefits you think that has.

I think it would be awesome for people to see how you all interact with your pets, and how you carry your training philosophies through your regular day. I think this kind of stuff is just as instructive as thoughts on prongs, crates, ob training, etc. because--between us folks--it seems like more often than not what problem dogs (and all dogs) need before anything else are a nice, long walk. Maybe some fetch and a belly rub. :roll:

No cheating! I really want to hear what an "actual day" is like.

 

[Patrick Murray]

I have 2 GSD's, only one of which is working quality. The dogs are part of our family and are with us most of the time when we're home. They sleep in the same room with us and lay in the kitchen when we eat our meals.

When possible I take them in the car with me to run errands and I take them to a nearby field where I hit them tennis balls at least every other day. I run the crap out of them too; it keeps them from bouncing off the walls later!

Mike and I hook up, usually, 1-2x per week and we do some ppd work and, lately, some training for ASR.

I consider my family and our dog situation to be pretty normal.

 

[Woody Taylor]

Guess I should go as well, set the "low bar":

Annie's basic exercise (e.g., the routine I will actually swear to, not what I aspire to) is a sustained retrieving/ob session around 5 or 6 in the morning, some tug/ob and hopefully some walking around dinnertime, then a chill-out retrieving/walking session at night (but not tonight :roll. I don't do separate ob training, I just work it into the play. Neither of us are good with structured rules sessions so we keep it in the play. Annie is a retrieval nut and walks alone would not do anything for her, regardless of length.

My dog crates in our kitchen (that's the main room in the house, you walk through it to get to the family room, outside, etc.) with lots of breaks throughout the main part of the day. She spends 90% of her day inside and virtually all of that in the kitchen seperated from our two toddlers by baby gates. She is fed in the crate in the morning and at dinnertime, usually after or during we are eating. During the day she has screaming kids (and sometimes screaming wife) run by her constantly. Annie sleeps in our bedroom at night in an open wire crate upstairs.

On weekends I take her to Petsmarts and our local (and excellent) pet store chain here in MN, Chuck and Dave's. That's also cut in with retrieval/ob sessions on the soccer fields...now that the winter is over, lots of distractions to proof up her focus...and we have an excellent, excellent dog park here in Minneapolis that's on the Mississippi River (Connie :twisted:, this is not your average dog park, no congregating areas, it's built for keeping you moving, mostly informed and aware dog owners, takes you about 15 minutes to walk to the park itself, about 20-30 acres of mostly woods, river shoreline, and stuff for the dogs to explore. It's great. I highly recommend it if you all ever come through here with your mutts.).

 

[Bob Scott]

My working line GSD is trained in SAR work. That includes wilderness, disaster, cadaver and water work. He's also has two legs towards his AKC CD. His BH in Schutzhund. I also have two retired hunting terriers that I dug to more times then I can count.
For pocket money (dog trips, competitions, etc) I help my brother rehab old houses and my GSD is always with me. Break time means time for playing/training.
Being retired now is the easy answer for the time I spend training. A more accurate answer is that I've been doggy all my life (60yrs) and I'd rather play with my dogs then do anything else. It's what I am. It's what I do.
I would turn down free tickets to the Super Bowl AND the World Series if it ment I was going to miss a training day with my dogs.
Other then that, I'm.......somewhat normal. :wink:

 

[Mike Schoonbrood]

Well I have the benefit of working from home about 95% of the time, so I can spare alot of time to goof off with my dogs alot during the day, and I've been blowing off alotta stuff because my lil nightmare of a dog takes up so much of my time in her first few weeks of adjusting to a new lifestyle that I don't have the energy to do what I'm supposed to be doing LOL.

But my typical day is potty breaks every 1-2 hours with the pup, which leads me to having to take my GSD out so he doesn't feel neglected LOL. The pup eats 3 times a day, Cujo twice a day. I take either Cujo or both dogs on errands and to run around in a field most days, and try to do something new with the pup every day to let her experience new things. Spend 5 minutes getting the pup to swim every day, run around the yard a few times a day, play tug alot, and lots of crate time because she's a frikkin psycho (and she needs her puppy naps), and play fetch with Cujo a few times a day. Dogs take up about 70% of my time right now due to the puppyhood/potty training thing. I don't feel bad crating her, she is a psycho, she'd never stop running around the room finding things to bite if I didn't crate her LOL. She'll earn more freedom as she gets older, but I try to mentally stimulate her alot which wears her lil puppy brain out more than physical exercise could possibly do. Swimming doesn't tire her out from physical effort, it's the mental stress of facing a huge challenge that wears her out - swimming 10ft for her will knock her out for a good 2+ hours when she's dried off and crated LOL.

 

[Mike Schoonbrood]

Oh and ofcourse I forgot to mention the repeat potty breaks, where she decides she has to pee 4 seperate times in 10 minutes, as well as the false alarms.. I'm carrying her from crate to front lawn/back yard about 40 times a day LOL. One of my neighbors kids friends saw me with Lÿka yesterday, our conversation went something like this:

Him: "Got another one?"
Me: "Yep"
Him: "German Shepherd?"
Me: "No, Dutch Shepherd"
Him: "I've been thinking about getting a dog, but I have college all day and this that n the other blah blah blah, it's not really fair to the dog if I'm not home, I see you training with your dog all the time"
Me: "Uhuh"
Him: "But I want something like an all black german shepherd or something crazy like that"
Me: "Uhuh.. yeah it takes alotta work!"
Him: <insert surprised expression/reaction> - I swear he looked surprised when I told him it was alotta work, like he didn't realize.

Some people shouldn't own dogs... all the people who I've met that I feel shouldn't own a dog have all told me they want a black german shepherd.... weird.

 

[Connie Sutherland]

I think it would be awesome for people to see how you all interact with your pets, and how you carry your training philosophies through your regular day. I think this kind of stuff is just as instructive as thoughts on prongs, crates, ob training, etc. because--between us folks--it seems like more often than not what problem dogs (and all dogs) need before anything else are a nice, long walk. Maybe some fetch and a belly rub. :roll:....

I think so too, Woody! What a great question!

This thread could answer a lot of wondering in the minds of folks who "want one of those" and aren't sure what it entails.....and I mean even high-energy pets -- not necessarily doing special-purpose training, even.

I'm going to keep a log tomorrow, since you said "no cheating." I probably overestimate my dogs' exercise/training time (similar to underestimating my chocolate consumption).

 

[Mike Schoonbrood]

I'm going to keep a log tomorrow, since you said "no cheating." I probably overestimate my dogs' exercise/training time (similar to underestimating my chocolate consumption).

Interesting... I might consider doing the same thing... I'm curious now as to what all I do with the dogs every day lol, hopefully I can make a note of potty breaks before she pees in her crate

 

[Connie Sutherland]

I'm going to keep a log tomorrow, since you said "no cheating." I probably overestimate my dogs' exercise/training time (similar to underestimating my chocolate consumption).

Interesting... I might consider doing the same thing... I'm curious now as to what all I do with the dogs every day lol, hopefully I can make a note of potty breaks before she pees in her crate

Yeah........write fast.

 

[Khoi Pham]

Hello, my friend Chris Betin just turn me on to this site, seems like a nice site, my day with my dog start like this, 8:00 AM lay a FH track, 10:00 AM track with my dog, he eats on the track so after that, he is dead meat and sleep, so he leave me alone so I can work, then around 4:00PM I do some bite work with him, fun bite and work on his grip with him tie to a post, sometime I do bark and hold with him, then someday if I have time I do obedience at around 7:00PM, he is very mellow in the house, but once I turn him on outside he is crazy, here is a video of my dog and most dog in my ex club, I'm the first one on the video and Chris Betin is the next guy, he is also the decoy in the red cap.
www.proeditproductions.com/realaudio/highlights_1.wmv

 

[Selena van Leeuwen]

I´ve 9 dogs. 2 in house in crates, the others outside kenneled.

About 8 am, 17 pm and 10 pm, going out (all seperate) and eat. This takes about an hour and there are not long walks or anything.

2 or 3 dogs go to work with my husband when he leaves at 8, the others will be cared for by me.
The days I have to go to college I go, otherwise I´m home working on my schoolprojects or do the housekeeping

At work there will be full excercise as PSD. The others are old or to young.
3 times a week training "evenings 7pm-11 pm and saturday 11 am-17pm) . OB, bitework and now we get started the swimtraining again.

A great deal of our time is with the dogs, no vacations, days away are usually dogrelated (trial, trainingday somewhere else etc.)

 

[Jeff Oehlsen]

I find that my approach to training over the years has become more "zen" like. I have days where I want to really go at training. I am super motivated and rarin to go. On these days, if I get lucky and it is a club training day, I go first, stay on the field and hog up a lot of time, and generally get a lot done, and most importantly, I figure how to get better the next time.

On days that I am not in the above mood, I do not train. I find it is better not to go out there and half-butt it. If this falls on a training day, which normally happens, I help everyone else, and don't work my dog.

I am new to Mondio, I have been doing it for about 5 years now. There are so many things to learn, and my TD does things similar/different than how I trained before, so it is taking me awhile to figure it all out. Sooooo many exersizes, and putting them together, man, just when I think I am solid............... :lol: :x

 

[Woody Taylor]

This thread could answer a lot of wondering in the minds of folks who "want one of those" and aren't sure what it entails.....and I mean even high-energy pets -- not necessarily doing special-purpose training, even.

I'm going to keep a log tomorrow, since you said "no cheating." I probably overestimate my dogs' exercise/training time (similar to underestimating my chocolate consumption).

Yeah, you all are going to scare off all the lazy n00bs and drive them off to the survivalist forums to pick up Ovcharkas and Filas! :evil: You know, those low-maintenance protection-out-of-the-box type dogs.

My intentions here are selfish as usual...I really am curious as to how you all manage your days with your dogs, because I think I got very lucky with mine (as a corporate hack with little extra time in the day) and would be in a lot of trouble if she was not so easy-going...but you are making an excellent point. It probably does not hurt potential owners to see that many of you are full-time trainers, working from home, etc.

 

[Ingrid Rosenquist]

Great topic!

I have 4 dogs - three that I am actively train in some type of performance events.

Typical weekday:

I work from 8am to 4pm and 3 of the dogs are crated while the 4th sleeps on the couch

Dogs are all let loose when I get home and about 3-4 times per week, I usually take a couple hours and lay two tracks for the Schutzhund dogs, do obedience with my AKC obedience dog while the tracks age, do some prey work with the puppy, and do some obedience with the older SchH dog. Run tracks.

After the tracks are done, I get the kongs out and we play fetch for 15 minutes or so.

In the evening I do a lot of "mental" training such as trick training to keep their minds sharp. The two dogs that I show in conformation are bathed weekly and groomed 3 times per week as well.

Saturday is generally a day off of dog training.

Sunday I meet up with our group and we do tracking, obedience, and a couple rounds of protection in the span of 4-5 hours.

That is about it for me

 

[David Frost]

Since I'm the trainer, I get to pick on, uhhh I mean work with numerous dogs. If I feel like working drugs, or explosives or laying a track, or doing some bite work, I just get the training schedule out and see who's supposed to training. I think the most fun I have working with dogs is when training new dogs. There is just something about watching all those behaviors come together. I have to admit I get a chuckle out of watching new handlers. They are usually lost as last year's Easter egg. But still watching the team develop from the can't walk together stage - to the darn we can do it stage is tops in my book.

DFrost

 

[Mike Schoonbrood]

I logged all the stuff I did with my dogs today and posted it in my puppies blog. I'm sure I spend alot more time than "absolutely neccesary" with my dogs... but this is just how my day, especially today being a very busy day, happened to go. Every day is different, I never follow a schedule, and I don't like "consistency" in feeding time like some people are very adoment about -- I feel that a dog should be fed at MY convenience, that way if the schedule doesn't go the same one day, the dog doesn't freak out because they didn't get their meal at the same time as yesterday.

Anyway here's my log for today.
http://dutchshepherd.blogspot.com/2006/04/day-in-life-of-my-pup.html

 

[Connie Sutherland]

.......I think it would be awesome for people to see how you all interact with your pets, and how you carry your training philosophies through your regular day. ......No cheating! I really want to hear what an "actual day" is like.

I typed the whole log from yesterday and then copied it out of the file where I typed it, dumped the doc, and the lost the info on my clipboard when I copied something else. AAARRRGGGHHH!

So I will do a recap. Weekdays:

Up at 7:00 and dogs pee
7:15 the simpler dog meal (RMBs and meat)
Four fast walks around the block per day, plus 1 long one about 9 a.m. and again about 6 p.m.
Retrieve play sometime during the day. If time, short training sessions. All the walks involve heel (with plenty of releases).
4:30 is prep of the meal that includes the variety (one or more of these: fish, organ meat, greens, egg, plus the fish oil-plus-E).
I am able to walk almost everywhere (vet, library, a client, etc.) and a dog accompanies me on most errands. If I had to drive, dogs would come.
Weekends: More time for new training and for others' dogs.

I would add the raw shopping and prep, the monthly vet trips for claw-clipping for one dog (I have hand-joint problems), the occasional baths (at home), the wiping of the allergy-prone dog's feet every time he walks on grass, and the every-other week training club.

I have non-hyper, no-aggression, submissive dogs at the moment. If not, the structured exercise would have to go way up.

Indirect: I also spend at least 2 hours per week on canine health/nutrition/allergy research.

Much of this (which is far less than many on this board!) could be kept up with a job away from home with a lunch hour.

 

[madjos36]

2 working line gsd. We are involved in a Shutzhund IGP club, haven’t started up training for the year but we train everyday at home and I mean everyday.
6/7 am I take each dog out separately. Then OB with their kibble just started scentpads with my puppy so we’ll start our day tracking. An hour or so after they eat, I put them on the treadmill for 40 minutes. Then they go in their outdoor kennels.
12/1 pm take them out individually, we play tug, go for a walk, a ride. Then back in their outdoor kennels.
5/6 pm time to eat, OB session for both, back in kennels. A couple hrs later back out again either a short walk, some chuck~it, Ik their potty times so after play and potty they go inside, they are kept in crates, too much to be in the house loose. I spend at least 6 hrs out of my day with my dogs, some days I feel like I don’t do enough, I feel overwhelmed. I get through it, other dogs I’ve owned in the past we’re content on a walk during the day. I saw this forum and I see a lot of people don’t do nearly as much as I do! seeing this makes me realize how consumed I’am with my dogs. It’s almost to the point where it’s not healthy. When you own a working line dog, I feel I should be doing more, so after reading some of these responses, it puts things in perspective. I treat them like children, I stick to the same schedule everyday. I have to stop thinking they’re bored, sad etc…. my dogs have better lives than some people. I’am doing enough. I just have to keep saying this
If anyone on here is reading these responses, owning a working dog is a job, if not properly cared for it could lead to many behavioral issues, I don’t work I’m a stay at home mom, when I feel I haven’t done enough I remind myself that most people work 5 days a week 8 hrs a day, my dogs have it made.