Given that I work full-time and I’m crate training, Ayla spends a pretty solid chunk of time in her crate. Therefore, I erred on crates that were big enough that she could lay splayed on her side (I actually washed, sanitized, & returned the crate I got at Petco and opted for my original loaner) and more importantly, I made sure any hours outside of her crate were super engaging. This was our typical routine for those first three weeks.
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5AM
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Wake up, get dressed, take Ayla out to potty.
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5:10AM
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Feed Ayla. Sit on kitchen floor to encourage her to eat.*
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5:30AM
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Lift food and water. Take her out to potty.
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5:40AM
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Give attention. Play with toys. Work on basic obedience for treats.
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6:15AM
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Ayla rests. Brush my hair and teeth. (I thought I’d be able to do this before coming downstairs. I was delusional. All that stuff now lives in my downstairs bathroom.) Pack lunch.
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6:30AM
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Take Ayla on 20 minute walk.
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6:50AM
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Eat my own breakfast. More petting.
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6:55AM
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Take her out for one last potty.
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7:00AM
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Leave for work.
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* The reason I had to sit with Ayla while she ate in the mornings was twofold. My first reason was that my tiny puppy digested fast and if I wasn’t watching, she’d go to the bathroom all over the floor before I even caught her by the door. Lucky for me, Ayla did go to the door. This was because after observing how much she loved peeing on carpets, I removed them all aside from my door mats (much to Ayla’s dismay) and replaced the living room rug with one of those grids of foam tiles for babies.
The second reason I sat on the floor with her was that she wanted to be around me and if I was trying to get ready for work, she wouldn’t eat. Since my goal was to get her fed and digested well before she went back into her crate, I found she was more likely to eat if I just happened to be sitting near her food bowl.
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10:15AM
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Dog walker comes for 20 min walk.**
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2:15PM
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Dog walker comes for 20 min walk.
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** At the risk of causing more accidents, I did ask my dog walkers to offer her water after they walked her. I know dogs can make it all night just fine without dehydration, but I felt that since she was getting exercise and some days were warmer than others, I wanted her to have the option of water during the day outside of her crate.
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4:40PM
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Get home. Take Ayla out to potty.
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5:00PM
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Feed Ayla.
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5:20PM
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Potty again. Another walk.
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6:00PM
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Play and pets. Hang out on my back deck, remove numerous wood chips from her mouth.
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7:00PM
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Eat my own dinner.
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7:30PM
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Another walk.
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8:15PM
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Sit on living room floor with puppy in my lap, watch TV, or read on my phone.
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9:00PM
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Take Ayla out before bed. Turn on white noise. Crate. Go take my shower.
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9:30PM
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Go to bed myself. Set alarm for midnight potty run. Check next day’s weather. Set out clothes.
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1:00AM
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Take Ayla out to potty. Reward. Crate. Go back to sleep.
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Ayla was an early riser. I’m pretty impressed that her breeder was also able to wake up and function that early with 10 puppies. It was a little too early for me. But I made it work in the beginning, and after two weeks, I gradually began inching our morning start-time back by 10-15 minutes each week, until we hit my normal 5:45AM wake-up. I did the same thing with my middle-of-the-night potty run and kept moving that a little later too. At 6 months, I finally got her to let me sleep until 6AM on workdays and even until 7:30AM on weekends.
I was sure happy when I began to get her to sleep through the night.
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