When I wake up in the morning, all 5 of my pets are crying for their needs and I don’t know what to do? What is the most efficient way to take care of many pets in the morning? What is your personal routine?
I have 2 dogs and 3 cats. The dogs whine in their crates and the cats yowl their heads off..
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Well I guess I have to be honest then. : Don’t be too harsh on me. I wake up around 8 am to 10 am. I take my dogs outside to pee as soon as I can, but I often can’t, because they cry and I can’t respond to them until they stop crying. I then feed my three cats, the female ones first, then the male one, and this takes about an hour, more or less, because I’m trying to train the cats to stop yowling. The dogs are still whining after this, so I wait for them to… Read more »
Bones is almost 2, approximately 19 months. Coffee is about 9 months. Those are the dogs. Callie and Artemis are almost 2. Callie was a stray and is small, so it’s hard to know how old she actually is. Artemis was claimed to be 1 from the previous owner. Loki is approximately 12-13 years old. I’ve had Bones since he was 9 months, but my husband had him for a month before I started living with him. Callie and Loki were the only cats in the house back then. In May 2015, Artemis and Coffee were both added to the… Read more »
Yeah… My mistakes were the /reasons/ I got my pets. Loki and Callie were default for moving in with my husband, those two were his cats. I wanted Bones because I wanted a “dog that would love me since cats are mean,” Artemis because “white cat means marriage” and Coffee because “small puppy needs a good home.” And now I have all these trouble cases because I have so much to deal with lol… Yeah! I really REALLY overestimated (underestimated?) Bones because I (my husband too) was convinced that he was an adult, he should know better. But when I… Read more »
Ah, sorry, you didn’t ask. Bones is an American Bulldog mix. To be more specific, his previous owner said “half White English Bulldog and half pit” but considering he said he was a “lab and pit breeder” makes me think he wasn’t exactly trustworthy. He looks like an American Bulldog because he’s large (approximately 80-100 pounds) and he’s got those side lips that stick out. He’s also neutered. Coffee is a rat terrier chihuahua mix. She might be mixed with more, as her previous owners claim she’s half shih tzu as well 1/4 of those 2 other breeds, but it’s… Read more »
My husband isn’t /really/ fighting with them, that’s just what he says. : He thinks it is too hard to teach dogs how to learn. It quite frankly is, because I am still a novice, but he doesn’t even try. It’s been many months since he’s attempted anything close to training them with me. He works and I don’t, so there’s that, but I wish he’d at least try. He views methods that reward as allowing the dog to get away with things and doesn’t always work, and ultimately believes that dogs need a “firm hand.” : Honestly, I still… Read more »
So now that we talked about my situation, how is your morning routine like?
I let my dogs out as soon as I wake up. They usually pee immediately and run in. While they pee I get their food in the bowls. As soon as they finish eating I put them right back out. Then while they are out there running around and pooping or whatever I feed the cats so the dogs aren’t bothering them. I have coffee and by the time the cats are done eating the dogs are ready to come in.
Also, we take the water bowl away a half hour before bedtime so they don’t chug water and then they don’t have really full bladders all night
better question: what is YOUR daily routine? more info about the animals in question? are the cats free fed? we can help tweak if you share. 🙂
oof, that’s tough.
how old are the animals in question? how long have they been in your house, with you? routines can be tough, ESPECIALLY when there’s so much NOISE.
oof, puppies. one puppy is tough enough, but your older dog is still pretty much a puppy. i don’t envy you there!
i would ignore the cats until the dogs are dealt with. i understand wanting to make them stay in their crates until they stop crying…but i wonder, do you do any training during the day? do they understand that crate is for settling down? i’d maybe work on that when it isn’t early in the morning.
i’d also ask your husband to help out, if that’s possible.
so, here’s my thought. your husband should handle the cats’ breakfasts…especially if he wants nothing to do with the dogs. you should handle the dogs’ needs, absolutely, and i would put a lot of work into making them Good Dogs…dogs your husband might want to spend time with! i won’t knock you for crating – i used it for my girl until she was 18 months old because i had a geriatric cat i didn’t want her stomping on in the middle of the night. i also do not sleep with any of my pets, so i won’t knock you… Read more »
hmm, so the dogs are vastly different in their breed intentions, which means you MAY need to tailor training to work on their weaknesses. i think i’d work on Bones’ obedience. and i mean work HARD on it. bulldogs are stubborn noodges but really seem to excel in rigid structure, based on what i’ve seen. so work on the basics, then increase skills. work on things like rigid heeling. something that might help you here: http://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/obedience-courses (i’m a HUGE fan of Fenzi-style training, especially since you can do it at home) for Coffee, keep working on the basics for now.… Read more »
oh, forgot to mention: i would walk Bones a second time, at least, and i would do more yard play. hell, do obedience in the yard – the distractions help work dogs’ brains! Coffee probably shouldn’t be walked too much until she’s fully grown, but she’ll need a bit more exercise than you’re giving her, too.
i promise, with more frequent and comprehensive training your dogs will be less of a headache for everyone. 🙂
yeah…i’d ask him to involve himself in the cats’ care, and you take over the dogs. if he doesn’t want to be involved with training the dogs, so be it, but i wouldn’t LET him do anything with them henceforth, either.
oh, and to answer your questions: “Honestly, I still think I need to get a better understanding of heeling, because I’ve taught both my dogs to go behind me (as in to take a step back rather than actually right behind me) so I can avoid tripping over them. But then I realized that might not be actually heeling.” — as long as you’re happy with how they’re walking, that’s good enough. “What does housebreaking actually mean..? You mean house manners? Walking and not running, ignoring the cats, not tearing up pillows..?” — housebreaking involves eliminating bowels and bladder in… Read more »
mine is NOWHERE NEAR as chaotic as yours, as i have one dog and one cat. when i had two cats i had some excessive noise from the feline brigade, but felines in my house are free fed so the dog takes up 99% of my effort and time. she gets a quicky around-the-block morning walk and about a half hour of mental work. if i have to leave for the day, she gets another run outside in the yard before i leave, then she’s back out the second i get home. back in, train for a half hour, back… Read more »