Keeping Your Dog on a Schedule

20 Jul Keeping Your Dog on a Schedule

In our fast-paced world, it’s easy to overlook the little things, the small gestures, and schedules that make life easier – and happier – for everyone. Dog owners who practice routine with their pets find greater peace of mind, more harmonious relationships, and a better quality of life for themselves and their beloved furry fellows.

With routines in place, your dog will better understand what’s expected of them throughout the day. A schedule also helps owners identify patterns in their dog’s behaviour and know when they need to make adjustments.

That being said, establishing routines isn’t just something that works well for trained performance dogs—it’s an excellent practice for any dog owner who wants their pet to live a happy and healthy life.

Here’re some reasons routine is vital for dogs.

Routine Ensures Good Behavior

Whether you have a pup learning proper behaviour or an older dog with bad habits, establishing a routine can do wonders for their behaviour. Puppies have a lot to learn as they grow, especially when it comes to being house-trained.

A dog that lack’s a schedule for feeding, playing, sleeping, and walking can become confused and present erratic behaviour. Older dogs might have bad habits like chewing things they shouldn’t or barking too much. Having a routine can help curb these behaviours. You might have to get creative with ways to enforce, but it’ll be worth it in the end.

Routine Helps Your Dog Stay Healthy

You’re also helping your dog stay healthy by setting up a daily routine. Dogs who have set patterns are less likely to develop health issues. With a daily dog routine, your pet will know what to expect, and as a result, they’ll be less stressed overall.

Set up a daily exercise routine for your dog and keep them active through scheduled walks and playtime. Plus, don’t forget to set a pattern to feed your canine, as it can help prevent them from being overweight or under-weight.

Routine can also help you spot health problems because you’ll know your dog is unwell if it suddenly stops following the routine. We recommend you take your dog to a vet clinic in such a case. And if you live nearby, you may want to have your dog examined at our veterinary clinic in Dundas.

Routine Reduces Anxiety and Stress

Dogs thrive on having predictable daily patterns because it helps reduce their stress and anxiety levels. Structure and routine help dogs know what to expect and when it will happen.

You might notice that your pup is stressed or upset when things don’t go as expected. Structure helps your dog calm down. It can help your dog feel more relaxed and secure. And it can also help you feel more comfortable because you know exactly when you need to do things for your furry friend.

Routine Makes Dog Training Easier

Dog training is hard, especially if you are new to dog ownership. But did you know that a dog routine is an excellent way to the training sessions? Dogs are intelligent animals and can learn tasks with time and repetition.

It is a good idea to set up a routine for when your dog will walk on a leash and what is the perfect time for socializing with your family or other animals. You may also want to set a schedule for teaching your pup the basic commands like sit, come, drop it, and back up. This can help manage their behavioural problems.

For example, you can gently introduce the idea of sitting down all the time. You might have a designated spot where your dog sits while you’re getting ready in the morning or a corner in the kitchen where your dog sits while you prepare their food. This way, you’re not just introducing the idea of sitting down as a command but are also making it a part of their routine.

Routine is a great way to ease training your dog. It’s much more effective than just trying to cram everything into one day.