# Need help with a new pup schedule.



## Firefighter195 (May 23, 2011)

Hello again everyone, down to under two weeks until we get our new pup. Were pretty sure were naming him Ecko. He's a W. German Show line pup and were very excited (nervous also) to get him. I've taken a few days off along with the 4th of July long weekend to get him acclimated to home life.

My question is, whats a rough schedule that will be good for him or do we just wing it. Do we force naps/quiet time in crate or let him drop wherever he wants until night time. Were going to put his crate in our bedroom for now, and probably put a crate in the living room for day/evening use.

Thanks for the help !!

doug


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I would feed meals on a regular schedule(3x's a day) and not crate more than 2 hours at a stretch til the pup gets a bit older. At 16 weeks or so, 4 or 5 hours is doable and the pup should hold his bladder for that long at that age.

Hopefully your breeder is teaching the pups that the crate is a good thing, and pup will be acclimated to one before going home. 
This link has great info on puppy raising done by the breeder so when pup comes home, the transition is very smooth.

Crating in the bedroom at night is good, I used a smaller varikennel for there and once my pup outgrew it, he was ok to be in the other room crated at night, but he was so good, I let him be free and he was just fine.
Because you'll have a few days off when you get him, be sure to try to stay with the routine you'll have when you are gone back to work. Pup will be confused otherwise. Some alone time is good to learn early on.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Ditto


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

I know I only crate at night or when I leave the house.

Otherwise I used closed doors and baby gates to keep the puppy in the room with me for training and house rule learning. I buy tons of tug type toys to have in the rooms we are in the most.

Lots of playdates, car rides, visits with good pups/dogs. Puppy classes/kindergarden are a good idea if you have them in your area.

Tons of love, patience, changing my life/schedule to include puppy activities for the first few months, all are key to exercise and socialize my pups.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

I do what MRL does,,crate when I leave and night, I'm mostly just following around the little monster keeping them out of trouble  Lots of outside potty breaks and exploring around..

Be prepared, even if the breeder has been crate training to some extent, for a screaming brat the first few nites

I try to keep to a schedule, but sometimes doesn't always work...feed 3x a day, (as jane posted),,outside ALOT,,and espec after eating, after first waking up, and be prepared to have a 2 am potty break,,I don't wake them up to go out, but they sure let ya know


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

along with the daily schedule this is a vaccination schedule that is worth looking at:
Dr-Dodds-ChangingVaccProtocol
Many vets like to vax the rabies and other puppy shots together, best to separate them out as stated in the link, and over vaccinating can be risky.


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## MicheleMarie (Mar 29, 2011)

i did the crate thing with my puppy until he was house trained.

outside-play time (up to an hour maybe a little longer just being out of the crate..not necessarily "playing" all the time)-outside-crate
and never any longer than 2 hours in the crate. whenever the pup comes out of the crate he will have to go. at 8 weeks whenever the puppy eats/drinks it will have to go in 5 minutes or less (usually).

when you start to see signs of him "having to go" you can keep him out of the crate longer-but less accidents in the house to me means he will get the point that he needs to go outside quicker


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## juliejujubean (May 4, 2011)

good luck with your puppy. With mine, she is doing great! I did constant bathroom breaks with her when ever she started sniffing. she started to learn to go outside. When i went back to work, i felt so bad to crate her, even though it was only for 6-8 hours. at first she could not hold her bladder, but now at 12 weeks, she can make it while i am at work!!! i even sometimes let her out of her kennel at night time. she is a perfect angel at night  I hope you have this luck!!!
also, be careful with which "good" dogs your pup hangs out with, don't want to get something from them... puppy classes are great, i recommend an akc trainer so it would be a little easier to get cgc because they know everything about that!
tell us how it goes and post lots of pictures!!!


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