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I like to know how every single bc owner spend their day with their BC.

 

mine is only 5 months old, she is up at 7 every morning, take her to the bathroom, feed her, then we play ball in the yard for like 15 minutes. then i give her a break untill like 9 o'clock, then we go to the park play ball for like 15 minutes, then let her play and do what she want for another 15 minutes. sometime she take a nap before lunch. then after lunch i take her for a long walk, then i leave to go to work @ 1:30, and usually she is her crate sleeping and playing for 4 hours untill my wife get home at 5:30, she feeds her, take her to the bathroom, then she take her for a roller blade for like 20 minutes, then she hang out with my wife all night, she play with her ball sometime if she is hyper, and when i get home at 10:30 i take her for like 20 minutes walk, then she hang out with us, untill about 11:30 or 12 max, then we all go to sleep.

 

so my dog gets about 2 hours of excercise a day between walks, chasing the soccer ball, and roller blading. I don't do with her more because she is still very young and i have to be careful.

 

I like to hear about your days with your dog

Joe

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Guest maya's mom

My husband and I both work, so week days are pretty routine. I get up about a half hour before I need to start getting ready, so that we can play with her toys inside. Ball fetching, general running around, etc. I give her a Kong while I am getting ready for work. Then she is in her crate for 3-4 hours, until I come home at lunchtime to check on her. We are able to play outside for about 15-20 minutes. She does full on running, frisbee catching during this time, so it is pretty tiring quickly. I also usually take her for about a 5 minute walk up the street to make sure she has gone to the "potty". Then she is in her crate for about another 3 hours until husband gets home. Depending on weather, they either play outside or inside for about an hour or two before I get home. After that, we play a little more, and/or do some 10 minute or so training sessions. But she likes to just watch me pick up the house, make dinner, etc. Then she gets another Kong while we eat dinner. Between 7 or 8pm, we go outside for about an hour walk. (One day a week, we go to an hour long puppy training class.) She used to get tired after that, and go to sleep around 9pm. But, she is now 8 months, and still has energy when we get back from the walk, so we play indoors some more, or she gets a "bone" to chew, and she now falls asleep around 10pm or so. Weekends, she has less crate time, sometimes never, and we go on 2 or three walks, or take her to a dog park, take her to swim somewhere, or go pet store visiting.

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so my dog gets about 2 hours of excercise a day between walks, chasing the soccer ball, and roller blading. I don't do with her more because she is still very young and i have to be careful.

 

When Quinn was your pup's age, his day was much more scheduled than it is now. I got up early to make sure he had time to play and we went for a 30 minute walk. He spent a couple days a week crated all day with a break to play at lunchtime. The other work days, he went with me to the office where he was usually crated at that age but came out more than just at lunch time when we played and trained. After work, he got another 30 minute walk, some more play and training -- basic obedience, agility foundation work, etc.

 

Quinn just turned three. Our walks are not every day. He gets about 15 minutes (total -- in 5 minute chunks, max) of outside running play in hot weather. Otherwise, he gets 30 - 60 minutes of exercise most days -- sometimes more, sometimes less. He spends most evenings hanging out with me and is an excellent car dog on errands. He still goes to work with me 1 - 3 days a week, but mainly dozes when he isn't schmoozing with clients at the front desk. We train off and on as the spirit moves me. Now that it is getting so hot, we're doing more trick training since outside play is curtailed. I don't train in agility or obedience any more. Quinn also has "play dates" every so often with 6 other BC's and a passel of terriers and gets to sheep lessons now and then.

 

I would be careful with 20 minutes of full out running, such as roller blading. That may lead to injury with her growing bones or future orthopedic issues. Are you doing any training with her? Just as much or even more than physical exercise, Border Collies thrive on good mental workouts.

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We have 2.5 dogs: 2 BCs and a pugaranian. The BCs are right at 2.5 yrs apiece, and the mutt is 1.5 yrs.

 

Now, keep in mind, that the only way I could really raise all three of these pups is due to my field of work. For the most of the BC's first years of life, I worked at a doggy daycare, where they attended work with me every single day, with loads of socialization and exercise. It was still by NO means easy--try training your dog with dozens of other around, not to mention the handful or so of dogs with terrible bad habits their own owners permit.

 

Just after the BCs turned a year, I wound up with the pugaranian, and changed jobs. I'm now a vet tech.

 

In the morning, I'm first up and out the door. Some days I take the dogs to work with me, if I'm going to be gone more than 6 hrs. (There are days I work 10 hr. shifts.) I don't feel right crating them longer than 6 hrs during the day.

 

If I leave them at home, my BF lets them out sometime after I leave. On days I don't work, we just let them out around 10-11am. (We go to bed late, and we always let them out last thing before bed.) They are crated until I get home. I promptly let them out, and feed them. (They get fed once a day.) I let the bird out, then check the snakes. The dogs get potty-time an hour later. Then, depending on the weather, we usually go out to one of the local parks for 1-2 hours for some off-leash ball play and all around doggy rough-housing. If the weather is disagreeable, we camp out at home, and they're pretty decent about chilling out if I throw a toy here and there. Once back, its chill-time while we eat dinner, play with the bird, and do whatever else needs done around the apt.

 

They usually sleep in their crates, unless my BF is away on business, then they sleep with me. :rolleyes:

 

This is our routine, with small variances here and there.

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Usher is a Service Dog-

His life is pretty boring. He gets up at 7 AM, plays tennis ball at the park 2 doors down until he's tired. I can tell. Then it is time for breakfast. We still play a little fetch inside, while "avoiding the sprinklers" and then we visit THE GRANDMA. He stays outside, unless invited, we see about her day and Dr. appts. Every day is different. Usher is always with me.

 

He goes to obedience twice a month. He doesn't leave my side. He is my constant companion.

 

We practice obedience almost every day, we play, we hug during naps- but we DO NOT sleep together- LOL. He's a crate dog. Through my years with BC's I have learned that even when living in the city, you do laundry, fold a sock, toss the ball, fold another sock toss the ball- no big thing.

 

This I have motivated to others and they adapted, yep......it's a BC thing and I LOVE IT!!

 

When I lived on the farm, it was MUCH different-

I would get up, put on my dress, nylons, everything for work and the "suit-up" I guess it's like a NASCAR suit. We'd all do the frisbee thing and then......I'd go to work, return and get the sheep out. Just seemed natural to me.

 

I am the city/turned country/ and HAD to revert to city people............. can anyone relate to this?

I never thought I would be a redneck and NOW I am proud of it!!

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Through my years with BC's I have learned that even when living in the city, you do laundry, fold a sock, toss the ball, fold another sock toss the ball- no big thing.

 

Quinn wants to know if he can come live with you! :rolleyes: His fetch toys are all put up unless we are specifically playing a game. Once in a while, he manages to pull a fetch toy down but as soon as I hear the romping, it is put back up again. Very mistreated. Otherwise he has to make do with chewing on Nylabones.

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I can't keep to a rigid schedule since each day I have a different schedule for myself depending on my classes or work for that day. I will try to sum up an average weekday though. Generally, we wake up sometime between 7:30 - 8:30 (depending on when class starts/how tired I am/if River let's me sleep in longer or not). River gets a good 5-10 minutes worth of petting/snuggling before we get out of bed. Then I take River out real quick (just to go pee). I come back in and change so that I can take her on a longer walk. (I used to do this because she used to not be able to hold it - since she has more bladdar control now, sometimes I change and all that before I take her out). Then I take on anywhere from a 10 to 20 minute walk, usually. Some mornings, if I wake up with enough time, I will take her for a morning run - it's usually just a walk, though. Then we come inside and River usually says hi to my roommate or just lays down for a bit while I eat breakfast/get ready for class. Depending on how much time I have, after getting ready, I play with River indoors for a little bit. Then she goes in her crate for about 3 1/2 hours or so while I'm at class.

 

My roommate and I get back around 12:45 and that's when River gets a whole lot of loving from both of us for probably at least half an hour, haha. She goes outside for a quick potty walk. Then I eat lunch while River, generally, chews a chew toy (sometimes she's not that perfect, though, and tries to get into trouble instead). Then sometime in the afternoon or early evening (depending on my work schedule for the day) we go to the dog park for anywhere from 1/2 hour to 4 hours (usually closer to 1-2 hours though, but I have stayed for 4 hours before) - also depending on how busy/my work for the day. At the dog park we do a variety of activities, from fetch with the tennis ball and/or frisbee to playing with other dogs and swimming. When we get back, River finds a good spot and goes to sleep, while I do homework or watch TV or whatever. If I have work that day, she instead goes in the crate for 3 1/2 hours or so (3 hour shift, plus travel time).

 

In the evening, I usually do some training sessions (5-10 minutes each, but generally at least two every evening). I do homework, usually, and River is either good and gets to stay out and just entertain herself or play with my roommate or if she's being a hassle, she get's some crate time. Same thing goes for when I'm eating dinner - but she's usually pretty good and entertains herself with her toy basket. I also take her for a 30 minute to an hour long walk in the evening, usually an hour or so before we go to bed. She usually sleeps in the bed with me. Most of the time she sleeps the entire night until the next morning. Occasionally I've had her wake me up to let her off the bed/out of the room to get to her water. I would just leave her water in the room for her, but I do not trust her enough to leave her loose in my room while I sleep. I only trust her not to do anything bad while she's on my bed.

 

And that's my best attempt at describing an average weekday - but they do vary a little from that depending on the exact day.

 

The weekends vary a lot as well - but they usually involve more sleeping (for both of us) and less crate time for her and maybe more than one trip to the dog park or just the park, in general. Also, trips to my brother's place and hanging out over there with his dog and random things like that.

 

I'm moving a week from today (and classes end a week from Friday), though, so my average day will change a lot in about a week or so. And then when Fall classes start, it will change again.

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since i am NOT SELFISH i spend a lot of time with all 4 and i babysit another.

We play mostly in the afternoons and evenings, usually one or two come with me during the day to visit Grandma.

They are my family they are my best friends. I would do anything for them and likewise.

Most of the time outside is spent playing with the 3 other bcs that live near us.

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I'm not single. You wanted to know how every single BC owner spent their day. But since I'm here, I'll play. Just watched the piece on the Today show about the horrors of professional grooming, so I'm a bit on edge. Also read the thread in Under the Handler's Tent on rate your club. Edgy there too.

I get up. My dogs have been watching me to see when that happens. Since my husband got up and left earlier, they might make a bit of noise. If he's there, they get a "SHUT UP MONGREL" and I remind him they're Border Collies.

Like I said, I get up (slowly). I'm overweight and getting old. I find the crocs under the coffee table (slept on the sofa again) and let out the pups (8 months, Dillon and Shea) from their crates in the living room with me. Simon goes too (Grandaddy), he slept with the Crocs. They head out the door like the kids in "A Christmas Story", falling over each other to get upstairs before Santa comes. Once out, they zoom around the yard, Simon goes to see where the horse and sheep are and comes back once he see they're where they need to be (about a thirty second trip). Nice thing, I can get up and go out in my jammies, nobody can see me (thank goodness for them) unless I have a horse kid come ride really early and I didn't know it. Once the zooming is over, the pups go to the kennel under the Pine tree and they are set for the morning. Sorry, no toys. Dull, sad life.

I put out Pearlie who likes her big crate stacked on top of Roly's (RIP) behind the back door in the laundry room. She does her stuff for ten minutes or so, with Simon, they come back in when I let Beryl and Turk out (SImon and Turk get into it if I don't go out too). IN another ten minutes or so I go find them (Beryl, if she went searching...)Turk is under the deck by then. Did it, wants in. Last goes Jane (is she still out there?) who is horribly distracted by all play and will not do her thing if not alone to do it. Party girl. Everybody has their crate, and except for Pearlie, it's in our bedroom/living room (tiny tiny house with 4 basic rooms downstairs).

Simon and I go feed, he goes into the feed room and sneaks out a half a dozen times before I hook the door unless he has a pang of ethics. If there's any horse nonsense he feels the need to "help" and I don't need that kind of help. I feed, turn out, do stalls, bring in the others, feed them, rake up the barn, other dumb stuff that takes til almost time to go to work. On a reasonable day, I let them all out together and we take a long walk or on a cooler day, a Gator ride down to the farm next door (unoccupied 80 acres) and we Run Run Run. I cool out dogs and feed, leave for workwith Simon, Dillon and Shea. We work at a vet hospital grooming and assisting, Simon stays in my "office" and sleeps in a corner and pups are in a run.

Come home, similar situation, except for the ride a horse or two part of my day and another possible Gator run. Depends on my day, depends on the spouse. Bed by 9-11, all is well. And boring, listening to the rest of the days other dogs have with play time etc. I think mine mostly sleep and watch us, and then there's trial days, horse show days, and other fun, but not so structured, except around the barn stuff. And all but Simon (and sometimes Jane) stay out of that. My work with my pups or the other dogs on our old sheep is rare.

They seem really happy though.

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What is the reference to not being selfish?

 

 

I was wondering the same. I hope it wasn't to me/my post :rolleyes: If it was - that's a first, most of my friends tell me I "spoil" River with how much attention I give her/how much time I spend with her.

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Up about 5, eat breakfast while dogs are doing their thing,

Fast walk for about an hour.

Drive for about 4 hours.

Fix lunch, walk dogs if place available.

Drive for 5 or 6 hours.

Walk dogs, if area available, frisbee or stick for older dog, she usually finds toys on her own.

Eat.

Do bookwork.

Go to bed.

 

Depending on where we are and weather 5 to 10 minute walks 2 or three times during the day.

When weather cools down long walks will be later in the day.

 

Mostly, I drive, they sleep.

 

post-9021-1217625550_thumb.jpg

 

Dick

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The dog's schedule is really depending on the schedule I keep but we'll go with the current one for ease of understanding. :D I have two dogs - 9yo and 16mo - and live in an apartment with them and my DH.

 

6:30am: get up, dogs stay sleeping on the bed with DH (:rolleyes:)

 

7am: walk dogs (between 3/4 mi and 1.5mi depending on day)

 

7:30am: feed dogs

 

7:45am: leave for work (sometimes Z comes with me)

 

Sometime between noon and 4pm: home for my lunchhour (this sometimes can be longer than an hour), pet/play with dogs, may have a short walk. Z comes back to work with me if I'm teaching a class and need her as a demo dog - usually once or twice per week.

 

Sometime between 5pm and 9pm: get home, chill with dogs on couch, potty break for dogs as needed

 

Bed is at 11pm-12am usually, so they get walked and fed just before then.

 

My DH is currently job hunting, so he takes care of any extra walks during the day. Usually each girl gets out at least once before I get home; one gets a long walk of about 1-1.5mi, the other gets a 15min walk (about 1/2 to 3/4 mi).

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It's amazing. People think border collies need Ton's of exercise. They really don't. They just need to be active, a part of the family and always thinking. If you DON'T do this, they find their own jobs- examples, barking, digging, etc... and that's why so many are in rescue or shelters.

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Hmm..when my kids are in school, we're up at about 6 am. I take the dogs outside and feed them and they run around and play a little while DH and I get the kids ready for school. Once the kids are on the bus at 7 am, the dogs come in and we go back to bed until 9 or 10....this is essential since DH and I both work evenings/nights. Once we're up for the day, we walk them if it's not too hot/cold/buggy...so not every morning. They basically hang out with me the rest of the day and sleep/play/chew a bone/get petted/go outside as needed. I take turns taking one or two of them on errands during the week, or DH and I will take all three to the park sometimes. In the evening, I feed them outside again and they run around and we play ball or play with the kids. If it's not too hot/cold/buggy, or if I'm not at work, I walk them. If it's Wednesday or Saturday, the two evenings a week that DH and I both work (and my kids are with my ex/their dad), then they are crated at 4 pm until we get home at 10 pm, and they are let out/fed then. DH has a training session with them every night after he gets home at 10 pm, that's his "thing" with them, then we all go to bed about midnight (cept the kids, they're in bed at 8:30), and the dogs sleep in our room at night.

 

As you can see, our schedule is tricky. Times vary depending on whether my kids are in school or at their dads on a particular day, and we don't have normal weekends, but we have alot of free time, so it works out.

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depends. when I am working we get up(cant give a time there, as I dont always work the same shift), I let the dogs outside to potty, and they go back to lseep while I get ready for work, I go to work, my mom feeds the dogs around 10am I have no idea what happens while my mom is with them, I get home I feed the dogs, I let them out. what happens after thats depnds entirly on the weather, the energy of the dogs, my energy, the time etc.. etc.. beyond feeding and potty breaks nothing is routine.

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I have no semblance of a normal schedule and probably never will.

 

For example, I just got home from work, it's 1:30 am (ok, so I've been goofing off a little since getting home.) I have to work the 11p-7a tomorrow, so I will stay up awhile to move my circadian cycle forward. Then that next day I have off (sort of), but have to flip back to days and be back at 7am, so I'll probably only sleep 5 hours and be grumpy all day. I don't have those rapid switches more than a couple times a month, but they suck. Then I have a 7a-4p, 2 8:30a-5:30p days, a day off, and then back to 11p-7a for a couple nights.

 

So any given day, I might have gone to bed anywhere from 9 pm to 9 am, and slept some amount while husband tried to keep the dogs quiet. Usually that means they are running around playing with each other, goofing off and/or napping. (We have 5 acres in the country.) He's home pretty much all the time (househusband), so he lets them in and out. I get up at some point, putter around, have coffee, possibly go to work, or shower, or go for a run (+/- dogs depending on heat and distance). And usually I go out and throw the ball awhile at some point. Or a couple of times if it's really hot and we have to do short bursts.

 

Um, and sometimes back to work, sometimes to nap, sometimes to run errands... like I said, I have no semblance of a schedule. I usually don't know if it's a weekend or a weekday because my life doesn't hinge on that. Eventually I'll go to sleep, generally with a couple dogs in crates, a couple loose in the house and Zoe who's prewarmed my spot.

 

So, yeah, I have no schedule. My dogs have a dedicated butler (DH), and they just have to let mommy sleep so she can bring home the proverbial bacon. They don't really get organized exercise, although I used to run more than I do now, and they'd each get in 10-20 miles a month. (Me doing multiple loops and multiple dogs, and running more than they did.)

 

Danielle

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I was wondering the same. I hope it wasn't to me/my post :D If it was - that's a first, most of my friends tell me I "spoil" River with how much attention I give her/how much time I spend with her.

 

I don't think so - maybe the previous thread on Wolfie and the poodle having issues? Just a guess. River seems very happily and appropriately spoiled to me. :D

 

I have a long and variable commute - depends whether I am going to some field site (could be anywhere in SF Bay area, Gilroy/Hollister area, mid-central valley, Santa Cruz) or to my office (about 45 miles south). So I usually am up ridiculously early - around 5 am. Odin and I go out for his potty, then we feed the mittens. I make his food and put on the coffee. Then I relax while he eats (read, tries to become not a zombie, as it is still like 5:15 am), and then we get on the couch together for cuddles. Depending on how late I can leave, he eventually gets games from a mostly dezombified mom, a 5 min training session, another visit to the yard. Then I get ready, DH wakes up, and I go to work at 6:05 (or hopefully later).

 

DH takes care of Odin for the rest of the day, giving him a 30-40 min am walk. Odin also gets games of tug and catch. DH will throw the ball almost endlessly and then be like, why won't he settle down? :rolleyes: Odin loves it, though. DH puts Odin in the crate for about 3-4 hours a day while going to the store, into the college where he works for meetings, or while he works on his book. I hear Odin also sleeps a lot during the day.

 

I come home at 5pm (hopefully earlier). Odin and I reunite like long-lost inmates from the asylum and tear around the house. We do games and several short training sessions. We do at least 5-10 min of C/T in the early eve. but also may do up to 1 hr of heel training, control and focus games, "mind games", and stays - most of which are non-treat training methods. I gotta spend time with DH and the mittens, too, so it becomes a family affair, with DH supplying a glass of wine and conversation, and the kitties supplying what we term "CAT HAZARDS" during fetch, or getting right in there and playing with me and Odin. :D We have class once a week (right now Wed at 6), so we might go to that. DH makes dinner while I do all this, then Odin is expected to be calm and lay down while we eat. Then, he and I go for a 40min-1 hr walk, depending how I feel. We come home and Odin has dinner. After, another break outside, then up to bed with a chew. Odin finishes the day with 10-15 minutes of grooming, and snuggles, and we are usually asleep by 10 pm.

 

I can't wait until he's older and can go with me to work - either the field or my office, crated and out for lots of breaks. I go to a lot of really nice places, and my work has beautiful trails and parks right beside it. We are thinking around the first of the year we'll start seeing how he's doing. Weekends (I work from home one day a week, BTW) are fun and we spend lots of time taking Odin places or hanging out here.

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considering I'm the lazy teenager on here, I soak in the chance to sleep in before school starts :rolleyes:

 

5: crazy border collie and malinois have a bark fest until I let them out to potty. They get some breakfast.

 

5 30: sleep or try to watch a movie while they burn off 500000000 calories by wrestling on my feet. I swear to God I haven't exercised Joy half as much as I should've this summer. Its all from the five-thrity-in-the-morning-lets-wake-up-mom zoomies the herding dogs get.

 

8: they get the rest of their breakfast and go outside for a while to play some ball

 

9-1 pm: quiet time for me no dogs aloud

 

 

 

after that i don't care about hours or schedules or anything and neither do the dogs. To them, this is when my friends are over, I have the most energy, and it's their time to drive us crazy. So we take the doggies to the dock for a swim (which they STILL don't get sick of, day after day after day) and some impressive, "hard" tricks to show off for the friends (roll over, touch, weave, paw...etc.). When every one is gone, we do a lot of concentration and focus work, heel work, and other hard obedience nonsense. Then it's dinner for all of us, another potty break, TV, then we hit the hay at around 1-2.

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