I work 4 on 3 off (Tues-Fri). Hubby works Mon to Friday.

4:30 am – dog go out for morning pee and do their perimeter search (1 acre-six ft chain link). I get the boys’ breakfast and RMB’s ready.

5:00 – Shower, get ready for work – hubby gets up and bikes the GSD twice around our neighborhood (2 miles). Husky is 8 and Malamute just turned 1. Malamute has been introduced to biking and hubby will be doing tandem soon.

6:30 – I leave for work.

7:00 – Hubby feeds the boys breakfast.

7:30 - GSD comes in and is crated for the day and depending on weather, often the Husky and Malamute stay out in the yard under the watchful eye of an adoring neighbor – she’s a Godsend and just loves the pups -calls us on the drop of a dime if the slightest thing looks amiss. We also have video/surveillance cameras that run a feed into my computer.

4:30 – Hubby gets home and lets the GSD out – this may seem like a long time but he’s quite happy with this routine. Hubby has mentioned that if he doesn’t bring him in right at 7:30 am, he’s knocking on the door. He goes straight to his crate and settles in for the day. He’s always calm and content when he gets home.

5:15 ish I get home and the boys are collared up - we head out on one of three country walks. We’re usually back around 8:00 (these walks are filled with training – heel, watch me, leave it, fetch – lots of opportunities for sits and down). The last 3 months have been in the pitch dark (hubby has this great light that he carries though – it’s long and kind of fluorescent – brightens up a large area).

8:30 – I put on the Kraft mac and cheese for us while hubby doles out the slabs of beef, pork and/or chicken for the boys.

9:00 – 10:00 Quiet time and I try to teach the pup something new each week. This week he’s doing the paws on the nose. A tiny piece of electrical tape on the nose works great for getting the movement. I believe I read this on here – I wish I could give credit to who it goes to but I just can’t remember.

Then to bed – boys have cushions and crates –their choice – no one is ever locked in at night.

Weekends are all about the boys. Saturdays are 3 – 4 hour mountain hike in the morning, lunch and generally obedience training in the yard in the afternoon (hubby has made a couple of pieces of agility equipment so we’re having fun with these too).

I recently got my certification as a trainer but have absolutely no time to pursue a business – I will do the odd individual sessions on Saturday afternoon if it fits and will see folks after work depending on the urgency of training needed - boy word sure gets around fast – I’ve had to turn down more business than I can take. And, thank goodness for hubby – he will exercise the boys alone on these nights.

Sundays –9:00 am head to town - we belong to an off leash dog walk club - a great group of like-minded folks. We head out to 1 of about 30 different destinations and just have a blast. The energy in this group is incredible – great for socialization. Usually get home around 2:00 - enjoy each other – friends come over. We make ourselves a decent dinner and all eat around 8:00. Husky gets his medication – Lysodren (line bred apprehension from a puppy mill – has pituitary gland Cushing’s).

Mondays – Laundry/housework till about noon (boys are usually playing in the yard or helping me) then I get together with a couple of friends. We often head up to our other property and let the pups play – I give them training tips and they bake me stuff.

Then the week starts all over again and we look forward to vacations – consisting solely of camping and boating (yes, all the boys come in the boat with us – they’re great little riders – life jacket for the husky).

It's definately a life style choice where the dogs are the center of our universe.

CJ,

Ripley and I would like to move in. Your life sounds Heavenly.

Meredith

Man, all you guys are making me look bad...

Mon, Wed, and Fri

8:00 wake up, quick morning walk, breakfast
8:45 into crate, me dashing off to catch bus
9:05-11:00 classes for me
11:15-1:00 stop home, quick game of frisbee or some scootering (when there's not ice on the ground), walk
1:00-3:00 back in crate while I go to class
3:30 home for longer walk, more games, scootering if the weather is safe for deathscooter
5:00-6:00 dinner for puppy
7:00-9:00 training games (canine freestyle, working on manners, learning new stupid tricks, etc)
12:00-2:00am bed

Tue, Thur he's in his crate from 11:15-4:00 gets one walk before classes, then it's play play play outside until it's dark and we resume training games inside.

Weekends we usually go to the dog trails to play and once I can afford something other than deathscooter and he's old enough to do serious pulling we'll be dog scootering and bikejoring.

Like almost everyone else on this thread, I get up an hour or more earlier than I would in a dogless home.

No matter what happens to the rest of the day, that early-morning power-walk and play session (or whatever your dog's energy level requires) always gets done; the rest of the world is in bed instead of wreaking havoc with your dog-schedule.

LJ is my motivation to begin jogging again. I used to compete on endurance horses and jogged on non-riding days to help with fitness. I am getting up about thirty minutes earlier right now than seven weeks ago, but we're not yet up to morning jogging - turns out Harvey is incredibly lazy and is a late-riser.

I'm a SAHM but all 4 kids are now in school. I have a gym membership, but it's BORING so now I plan to jog and hike cross-country with LJ. So far we've stuck it out every day, regardless of weather. I did have to purchase a rain slicker.

During the day we have short spells of wild playing, tugging, chasing a ball or squeakie, and walks through the pasture. I have four rescue horses that need daily checking, so we go out through the pasture on short trips.

Other than that, so far we don't really have a routine.

Casey's schedule*

0630 - 0715: A run or some fetch and a brisk walk, reinforcing basic OB stuff.
0745: Breakfast for the dog, then into her crate. I go to work.
1200: Quick 15 minute walk to pee.
1630 - 1730: Run, agility, OB with HEAVY distraction, or whatever I feel like she needs.
1900: Dinner for both of us.
2100: Last chance to pee before bed.

*This is on those weeks I'm home and not on the road traveling. When I'm gone, my friend who does dog sitter duty has a schedule like this:

0700-0800: Walk.
0800: Breakfast, then they go to work (Lara can take dogs to her place of employment, so Casey spends most of the day sleeping under Lara's desk, so I've been told.)
1130-1215: Walk, then back to work.
1600-1700: Walk.
1700: Dinner.
1900-2000: Walk.

Casey gets to walk more with Lara, but she works harder with me. I'm fortunate that Casey is stable enough to handle the frequent changes in location and/or schedule.

 Quote: Meredith Hamilton

CJ,

Ripley and I would like to move in. Your life sounds Heavenly.

Meredith

Absolutely Meredith!!

We’d definitely make room for you in our pack! You’d be welcomed with open arms and paws. Well…..Vince has a bit of an assessment/adjustment period - but once you’re in, you’re in like Flynn. Pack your woollies.

Can you cook??