# Puppy Schedule, does this look good?



## brandeeno (Jan 3, 2012)

Folks, below is the schedule I have drafted up for taking care of our GSD puppy on work days for the first couple months. We are getting her in February and she will be 8.5 weeks old. G is me, and T is my wife. We live in new York city, both work, and will have a dogwalker. We are thinking the walker should come 3 times a day. I think the rest should be self explanatory. 
I would appreciate any comments and feedback to the schedule. Is it missing anything? are times too short/long? Should other key points be added? Etc… 
Schedule is attached as a pic


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

Don't take her food while eating. It can make things worse than training by hand-feeding and other methods of preventing resource guarding. 
I can't speak to the times, etc. I'm sure others will.


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## chicagojosh (Jun 22, 2010)

"ingore puppy until calm" may sound better on paper than it works in reality. When Cody was a puppy, the moment you let him out of his cage you better take him immediately outside or you'd be cleaning up pee.


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## brandeeno (Jan 3, 2012)

Msvette2u,
I was told by a friend dog owner to play with food and take and return it while the puppy is eating. Thebtheory is that it will prevent food agression/ resource protection in the future. Can youbplease explain why you think this idea is bad?
Thanks


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## brandeeno (Jan 3, 2012)

Ingnoring concet is while.she.is still in the cage so she doesnt always expect to be released


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## chicagojosh (Jun 22, 2010)

brandeeno said:


> Ingnoring concet is while.she.is still in the cage so she doesnt always expect to be released


Oh, I gotcha...just don't let her out then ignore her


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

brandeeno said:


> Msvette2u,
> I was told by a friend dog owner to play with food and take and return it while the puppy is eating. Thebtheory is that it will prevent food agression/ resource protection in the future. Can youbplease explain why you think this idea is bad?
> Thanks


Well, by fiddling with their food you increase their stress levels and make eating a negative experience.

Handfeeding teaches your dog that you are in control. 
Taking and giving back their food won't do that, but it will create issues in a puppy with none present.
People who think that taking food and giving it back is a great idea also often advocate rolling puppies over (or pinning them down on their backs), have you been told that as well?


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## brandeeno (Jan 3, 2012)

Haha, yes i was told to roll her over too. Interesting. Though my friends dog os excellent, not food agressive and can handle hours of poking and.proding by a baby. So her dog is.not nervous to eat. It is a golden ret.
Can anybody else weigh in on this?


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

Don't roll her over or pin her down. 
The Monks who wrote the books with that advice have even retracted it, and those techniques were based on false information (captive wolves, not wolves in the wild = false information, as it was artificial environments). 

Resource Guarding Ahimsa Dog Blog DO read this and follow this advice.

BTW - although they have 4 legs and fur, GSDs are not Golden Retrievers and should *not* be trained or treated like one. I'm glad your friend's dog is okay but it could easily have gone the other way.


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## brandeeno (Jan 3, 2012)

Ok. Thanks for the info. 
To clarify, i meant rolling ovet playfully and randomly. Like play wrestling
Do you still advise against this?


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

Yes, do not physically roll the puppy over. If it presents it's tummy to you, do rub and play with her, pet her. 
But don't do it yourself. Let her offer the behavior and you will likely get some of that anyway.

Also be aware of submissive urination - a likely side effect from attempting to roll over the puppy (another reason to not do it). 

Can We Help You Keep Your Pet? Submissive Urination


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## wolfspirit (Dec 10, 2009)

By picking up your puppies food you are teaching her that humans coming near her bowl mean that the food might get taken away. Then she might start getting a bit stressed when she see's humans near her food. Instead, give her her food and then walk past and toss in a little piece of something yummy (cooked chicken etc) - that way she grows up knowing that humans coming near her bowl = the potential of a tasty treat being chucked in and is always relaxed with people near her food.


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