# Day to day routine of your sports dogs



## katies mum (May 8, 2012)

Just wondered how you keep your sports dogs.What i mean by this is do they live in the house with you or do you kennel them,How much exercise do you give them,how much training,do you play with them everydaydo you allow them to mix/play with other dogs etc etc etc.

I have 3 working dogs and every single one of them is kept differently.One is kept in a kennel but has lots of contact through exercise,play and training but no play with other dogs.Another is kept with my pet dogs and plays with them etc but i have no problem then getting him to work with me.The other dog is kept as a guard dog loose on an area of my property permenantly.Again i have no problem then getting this dog to work for me.He also does IPO.

There seems to be differing opinions on how a working sports dog should be kept and just wondered what your experiences are with these dogs.


----------



## woganvonderweidenstrasse (Nov 22, 2012)

katies mum said:


> Just wondered how you keep your sports dogs.What i mean by this is do they live in the house with you or do you kennel them,How much exercise do you give them,how much training,do you play with them everydaydo you allow them to mix/play with other dogs etc etc etc.
> 
> I have 3 working dogs and every single one of them is kept differently.One is kept in a kennel but has lots of contact through exercise,play and training but no play with other dogs.Another is kept with my pet dogs and plays with them etc but i have no problem then getting him to work with me.The other dog is kept as a guard dog loose on an area of my property permenantly.Again i have no problem then getting this dog to work for me.He also does IPO.
> 
> There seems to be differing opinions on how a working sports dog should be kept and just wondered what your experiences are with these dogs.


Logan is kept in the house when were home and outside in yard when we're at work. I take him out twice/ day. We then first do a bit of work and then play. He is allowed to play with other dogs (if the dog is socialized), but most times when working he is not bothered by them anyway, especially when working with his toy/ play drive. I will not keep him in a kennel...he needs to be able to work, but he also needs to fit in with the family "switch off" when we're at home. He's very young still so the only exercise he gets is the short walk to the park and playing fetch or tug of war games. Training is not very long and varies between 10 - 30 minutes, twice a day....this will then include obedience and tracking. Bite work is only done on Sundays with the help of my trainer.


----------



## StdPooDad (Mar 16, 2012)

Holy crap! You train a young dog 10-30 minutes twice a day?



woganvonderweidenstrasse said:


> He's very young still... Training is not very long and varies between 10 - 30 minutes, twice a day....


----------



## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

StdPooDad said:


> Holy crap! You train a young dog 10-30 minutes twice a day?


That doesn't sound like too long to me. Especially for a working dog.


----------



## woganvonderweidenstrasse (Nov 22, 2012)

StdPooDad said:


> Holy crap! You train a young dog 10-30 minutes twice a day?


Yeh..remember it includes tracking, obedience and bite work (bite work is more playing tug than working) and just laying the tracks can take anything between 15 - 20 minutes depending on how many tracks you do - usually we aim for 2 scent pads and 1 straight track.
Obedience never takes very long - it's mostly the tracking that takes up most of the time.....so say 30 minutes in the mornings and 10 - 15 minutes in the evenings to be more accurate.  (mornings we use food drive, evenings we use play drive)


----------



## katies mum (May 8, 2012)

My 14 week old malinois puppy gets 2-3minute sessions 4-5 times a day of obedience training.He isnt doing protection work at the moment as is changing his teeth.The obedience sessions are very much play,it ia all kept very much a game.
My older dogs get 10-15 minute sessions of obedience once a day and go tracking 3-4 times a week.This may take upto 20 minutes each dog each day, thats tracking time,not laying the track.They both do protection work twice a week.


----------



## Kassandra (Jun 6, 2012)

Charlie is 2. She still gets obedience training 2 maybe 3 times a day for 20 minutes, longer on weekends. I think she looks forward to it even though I don't use treats any more for her. She is now completely trained for birds after 2 years, but 3 or 4 times a week we still do some field work when we are out in the fields (even though there is snow down right now). I am beginning to play with tracking work by myself and she seems to be enjoying it. I wanted something to keep her mentally stimulated but giving her exercise, too. We usually do this on the 2nd run of the day (off leash in a huge field) for 30/40 mins. She seems to be getting the hang of it now. 

Remi, she is around 7/8 months now. We don't know for sure, though if the old "owner" remembered correctly she might have been born sometime in July 2012. She isn't the brightest bulb when it comes to obedience work. When she gets something it's almost like it is cemented into her brain, it just takes her forever to learn it. I try to do obedience with her 5 or 6 times a day for 5 minutes each. I keep it short as to not stress her (or myself) out. That being said, as soon as we took her home I knew she was going to be good for birds. We got her at around 4 months, at that time she just wanted to play all the time but she was the "birdiest" dog I have ever seen. I don't hunt (don't have my gun lisence), I let my father take them as he is in no position to own a dog right now but he still loves to hunt and the dogs love it so I see no problem doing it. Usually, he would take both dogs and rotate (as he did when I was young) but he just wanted to take Remi out this time to see how she did and my god was he ever proud of her. Not one bit gun shy and apparently no training needed. This dog was born for birds. (I mean I know they are bred for it, but usually they still need training especially at 4 months!) I will probably try some track work with her once she gets older. I don't want to stress her joints and she needs a lot of obedience work yet.

They both sleep in the house with me, but Remi is a lot happier outside so she spends most of her day in the dog pound out back (her choice). If she wants to come in she just gives a little bark and out I go to get her but usually she is found outside, sometimes playing with neighborhood dogs, sometimes just sitting there enjoying the wind trying to pick up a scent. Charlie is a couch potato when inside. She sleeps all day unless Remi is trying to play with her, or we are out for our walks. She is a super energetic dog outside and doesn't stop, though. I'm glad she can transfer from crazy energetic dog to lazy family dog in less than 10 seconds.


----------



## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

katies mum said:


> Just wondered how you keep your sports dogs.What i mean by this is do they live in the house with you or do you kennel them,How much exercise do you give them,how much training,do you play with them everydaydo you allow them to mix/play with other dogs etc etc etc.
> 
> I have 3 working dogs and every single one of them is kept differently.One is kept in a kennel but has lots of contact through exercise,play and training but no play with other dogs.Another is kept with my pet dogs and plays with them etc but i have no problem then getting him to work with me.The other dog is kept as a guard dog loose on an area of my property permenantly.Again i have no problem then getting this dog to work for me.He also does IPO.
> 
> There seems to be differing opinions on how a working sports dog should be kept and just wondered what your experiences are with these dogs.


At this time of the year our GSPs are in the field training about 2 hours solid per week up at the field trial grounds on birds, with shotguns, etc. We also run them every other day (some weeks every day) at nearby equestrian parks where they often will find wild covies. This doesn't count them being in actual field events like hunt tests or field trials, which are going on almost every week up until the end of March, when things start to get too hot for outdoor work unless you are out very early.

We also have them in obedience classes: Utility for Zio & Open for Cheeney. They are an hour each class, but by about the 45 min point their attention spans are gone. They also get 15-20 minute sessions several times a week at home. Right now Zio's bane is metal articles. :wacko:

The dogs are house dogs. They have their own beds on the floor but often sneak up onto the bed in the middle of the night. Thank goodness for king sized beds! :lol:


----------

